52 THE SEYCHELLES - ISLANDS OF THE GIANT PALMS 



of this in so many ways remarkable palm. We followed the path already 

 described into the Valley de Mai — May Valley — a somewhat pot- 

 shaped depression about 200 metres above sea-level, surrounded on all 

 sides by undulating granite formations. At the entrance to this valley we 

 found an almost virgin forest of Lodoicea, unfortunately small in extent, 

 where this is virtually the only vegetation. Here, under the immense 

 leaves which form an arch overhead, a mysterious greenish half-light 

 prevails. Hanging stiffly down the sides of the straight trunks, which stand 

 like pillars in a temple, are giant dead leaves, and others lie like bridges 

 across the little mountain stream which ripples between great boulders. 

 The silence is occasionally broken by the sound of small, dead fruits 

 falling like the crack of down on to the stiff leaves, and once we heard 

 the swish of a double coconut as it fell through the air, followed by the 

 flop which it gave as it hit the always moist soil. Here and there pale- 

 green seedlings peep out from among the boulders, and in places young, 

 non-fruit-bearing palms form a characteristic undergrowth with their 

 great circular fan of leaves which seem to rise straight out of the ground. 

 It stands like a palisade of leaf-stalks four metres high topped by the 

 enormous leaves, and is so entangled with fallen and withered leaves that 

 any idea of trying to force a way through it can be abandoned at once. 



On our laborious way back to the Galathea we took with us besides the 

 1 5 giant nuts with which we were loaded the memory of a narrow valley on 

 remote Praslin island, where the mysterious, almost temple-like forest and 

 the myths and legends associated with the great fruits hanging there above 

 our heads had left with us an impression of Nature at once fascinating 

 and unforgettable. 



