K. T. CRESSON. 



according to latitude and situation ; but everywhere the two are 

 sharply defined, and the forest species are nearly all diflferent from 

 those of the canipo. The forest is a thick growth of high trees, 

 with a tangle of woody vines, so matted that a knife must be used 

 continually in passing through it. Few of the trees have deciduous 

 leaves ; sunlight only reaches the ground here and there ; the grasses, 

 where they occur, are arboreal or climbing species ; and instead of the 

 ordinary herbaceous plants the ground is often covered with ferns. 



" The campo land may be quite open, or with scattered low trees 

 and clumps of bushes. Sometimes these are thick enough to form 

 a kind of pseudo-forest ; but even in such places the sunlight reaches 

 the ground freely, and there is always a growth of herbs and grasses ; 

 no large, woody vines are seen, and one can walk or ride freely 

 almost anywhere. The trees are gnarled and crooked, and most of 

 them shed their leaves in the dry season ; at that time the grass is 

 burned off by the herdsmen. The impression is almost irresistible 

 that this is an old, worn-out vegetation ; a plant woidd in its de- 

 crepitude. 



" Forest and campo are intermingled ; generally the forest lines 

 the banks of rivers and streams; little patches, often of only a few 

 acres, are seen in damp hollows ; and steep hillsides are often covered 

 with it. Sometimes forest spreads over level ground, precisely simi- 

 lar in soil and character to the campo, and rising from it like a wall. 

 Very old forest trees do not occur close to the campo ; it is evident 

 that the forest is gradually encroaching on the open land, young 

 trees springing up in the shade of the old ones, so that the forest 

 wall must advance very slowly. 



"Campo land, almost exactly like that of the })lateau, occurs at 

 intervals on both sides of the lower Amazons. I believe, in fact, 

 that the extent of the Amazonian forest has been overestimated. 

 Travel in that region is almost confined to the rivers, and explorers, 

 seeing only the forest lined bank, jump to the conclusion that the 

 whole region is like it. The Amazonian forests are more extensive, 

 becau.se they are favored by the heavy rain falls ; but I have infor- 

 mation from Indians and others which leads me to suppose that 

 much of the land between the lower Amazonian tributaries is campo. 

 If this view is correct, the campo extends — with little interi'uption — 

 from Paraguay to the Amazons and beyond it to Guiana ; appar- 

 ently there is similar land beyond the Paraguay — in Bolivia. 



