FEBRUARY. 39 



flagration, and are soon followed by shrubs with prickly seeds that 

 stick to every thing — by Acgenae, Unciniae, and many others. Next 

 comes the Colligue, an arborescent gramineous plant, as peculiarly 

 remarkable in many parts of Chili as the Bamboo in the warm 

 regions of Asia, or the endless thickets of the climbing Scleriae of 

 tropical America. The stems shoot in numbers from a creeping 

 root, and in rich soil rise to the height of 12 to 18 feet, covered 

 through their whole length mth bunches of sappy, green leaves, and 

 a hard, polished, yellow rind that resists the knife. They are very- 

 elastic, and recoil with a smart stroke if carelessly pressed down. 

 The Colligue is found almost every where from the sea to the highest 

 Andes ; but dmndles near the snow-line into a low bush, through 

 which it is difficult to make one's way without falling, as the smooth 

 stems stretching along the ground are extremely slippery to tread 

 upon. To the Chilian this plant is in some respects as useful as the 

 Bamboo to the Asiatic ; and his dwelling is often made entirely of 

 it. But it does him harm in a still greater degree when it makes 

 its appearance in his newly -ploughed field, where perhaps some 

 pieces of the root have remained after the clearing away of the forest. 

 Its shoots come up amongst the young corn in spring, and are a 

 great hindrance to the harvest in autumn; and the extirpation of 

 them is almost impossible, as the smallest portion of root will grow 

 and produce a fresh succession.* 



" The great number of fallen trees obliged us to make a long 

 circuit along the steep and difficult side of the mountain, which was, 

 however, repaid by the acquisition of many beautiful plants. The 

 handsomest Tropoeolum (T. specwsum) which Peru or Chili produces 

 spreads itself in abundance over the shady bushes, and delights the 

 eye from a distance with its purple-red flowers. It was evening ere 

 we reached the summit of the tolerably high ridge which shuts in 

 the back-ground of the valley ; and the sun went dovra as we reached 

 the first Araucarias, whose dark crowns had for some time been dis- 

 tinctly visible, and inspired us with new strength, by showing us 

 that we had nearly reached the goal of our expedition. We had, 

 however, a little time left to look about us. On the rocky ground, 

 nearly bare of soil, stretched, like gigantic serpents, roots from two 

 to three feet in thickness, covered with bark like the columnar stems, 

 which rose to the height of 50 to 100 feet. The crown, a broad, 

 flattened cone, does not begin till the last quarter of the whole height. 

 The lower branches, to the number of eight to twelve, stand in a 

 circle round the trunk ; the upper ones grow in fours and sixes, so 

 that the form is perfectly regular. They all spread horizontally, the 

 ends only being slightly turned upwards, and are covered through 

 their whole length with scaly leaves, an inch in breadth, sharp at 

 the point, and of so ligneous a texture that it requires a sharp cut 



• The same remarkable change in the vegetation takes place in Brazil wher- 

 ever the original forest is destroyed. It never reappears, but is succeeded by 

 trees of lower growth and entirely different kinds. These secondary woods are 

 known in the country by the name of capoeiras^ as distinct from the primitive 

 forests, mato virgem. 



