88 INTRODUCTION. 



compared with Guiana for vigour and luxuriance of 

 vegetation. The fertility of the soil, the humid cli- 

 mate and congenial temperature, insure a succession 

 of flowers and fruits. To a person accustomed to the 

 sleep of Nature during winter in the northern re- 

 gions, that continued luxuriance of vegetation can- 

 not but raise astonishment and admiration; here 

 with bountiful liberality she has clothed it in the 

 richest garments of tropical verdure, and with a 

 mighty hand has stamped it with a portion of her 

 sublimest features. The majestic scenes which I 

 viewed during my exploring tours, impressed them- 

 selves with indelible characters upon my mind; 

 which are the more powerfully awakened since my 

 return to Europe, when comparing our vegetation 

 with the magnificent scenes Avhich plain, mountain, 

 dale, or forest present under the tropics. 



On ascending the great rivers, which have been 

 so happily called " the veins of the country," we 

 find them covered with verdant isles; and as we 

 approach the primitive forests, the landscape as- 

 sumes the features peculiar to the tropics. Gigantic 

 trees raise their lofty crowns to a height unknown 

 in the European forest, and display the greatest 

 contrast in the form and appearance of their foliage. 

 Lianas cling to their trunks, interlace their wide- 

 spreading branches, and having reached their sum- 

 mits, their aerial roots descend again towards the 

 ground, and appear like the cordage of a ship. 

 Clusters of palm-trees, of all the vegetable forms 



