Flowers in the Guiana Forest. 



THE " spicy breezes " of the tropics are proverbial, and many 

 travellers have written on the beautiful flowers and their per- 

 fumes. According to the popular notion, these odours are perceptible 

 at considerable distances from the coasts, and greet the weary mariner 

 almost before he sights land. This, however, if not altogether 

 untrue, is highly exaggerated. When there is a land breeze, it more 

 generally brings with it a heavy stifling odour redolent of the man- 

 grove swamp and decaying vegetation, no doubt recalling memories 

 of the forest, but rarely pleasant, and, sometimes, even disagreeable. 

 On the rivers, where a heavy mist hangs at night, perfumes are some- 

 times wafted to considerable distances, but rarely can they be 

 detected at sea, probably because there is always some motion in the 

 air which disperses the vapour. 



The ordinary visitor, with exaggerated notions of the beauty of 

 tropical flowers, expects to see them here, there, and everywhere, and 

 is naturally disappointed when he finds so many trees and plants 

 with, what he considers, no blossoms at all. Coming from meadows 

 dotted with moon-daisies or golden with buttercups, he sees only a 

 few inconspicuous weeds, with here and there a yellow rattle-bush 

 (Crotalaria), or the blue Ruellin tuberosa. In the gardens, however, he 

 can hardly fail to be struck by the size and beauty of the numerous 

 species of Hibiscus, Convolvulus, and Bignonia, but these are not wild 

 flowers. 



The true native plants are neither to be found in field nor garden 

 in the cultivated districts. To see them he must paddle along the 

 rivers and creeks, walk on the sand-reefs, and explore the savannahs ; 

 but, even here, he will be disappointed if he expects to see anything 

 like a continuous stretch of colour such as gratifies the eye on an 

 F.nglish down or mountain slope. The flowers in the tropics do not 

 grow in great masses, like heather, furze, or broom, but one species 

 here and another there, rarely in anything like a clump, or even 

 scattered in any considerable number. Then they do not all open at 

 the same time, but some are earlier and some later, even in the same 

 species. Again, few remain open for any lengthened period ; some 

 can only be seen by the early riser, as they close soon after sunrise, 



