A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



point, where the vessels run from the roots to the crown, and 

 presently withers and rots. In the course of time the last vestige of 

 the tree disappears, but the tree-strangler grows unchecked on its 

 tall cylinder of trellis- work, which is continually reinforced. Growth 

 is added to growth, until at last the fig has a great, solid trunk, whose 

 origin is betrayed only by the serpentine ridges running along and 

 around its surface. On one of the hills near Olinda there was just 

 such a Gamelleira, as the Brazilians call the "Tree-strangler" found 

 thereabouts (Plate 19). The trunk was tall and massive, with a great 

 crown of thick, glossy leaves. This tree stood near an old deserted 

 monastery, whose cloisters opened on to the slope of the hill that fell 

 away to the sea. Every Thursday the Fathers and Brothers of Sao 

 Bento spent some quiet and happy hours there, and I gladly accom- 

 panied them, in order to study the plant and animal life on the 

 slopes of the hill, or to sit on the verandah of the quiet cloister, 

 looking across the glittering cashew-woods to the distant yellow 

 beach, overshadowed by rustling coconut-palms, beyond which the 

 emerald ocean lay outspread rising to the far horizon. 



With the inclusion of the epiphytes in the picture of the tropical 

 forest we have added the final touches of colour ; and now we may 

 once more briefly define its peculiar character. 



There are three features which distinguish the tropical forest from 

 the woods of Europe: its monumental structure, the mosaic-like 

 distribution of its details from the ground to the tree-tops, and the 

 changing, glittering light. In the tense cables of the lianas we see 

 the expression of mechanical strength, and the epiphytes with their 

 leaves and flowers which meet the eye on every side, and the birds 

 and butterflies which flutter round them, adorn all the planes of 

 the forest with scattered colour, while the many species of trees, with 

 their leaves of different shapes, still further enhance the variety of 

 the scene. Falling through the open foliage of the tree-tops, the rays 

 of sunlight, moving as the day wears on, light an ever-changing 

 picture until the approach of night. 



Thanks to these characteristics there is something gay and vital 

 and joyful about a tropical forest ; and it seems to the traveller who 

 passes through it that the pulse of life beats more strongly here than 

 elsewhere. 



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