BRITISH GUIANA AND BRAZIL SMITH 335 



knotted, and contorted in the fight for moisture and air. The pali- 

 sade of moca-moca stalks vibrates slowly in the inshore current. On 

 the broad leaf of one, 50 ants scurry in hysterical confusion; they 

 have gained the leaf by swimming from their nest, which, dislodged 

 from above by a falling branch, now floats downstream. In twos 

 and threes they leave the leaf and strike out for the bank, their ranks 

 being steadily depleted by the attacks of little fish from beneath. 



During the first month or two in the forest one is conscious of 

 oppression and uneasiness. In contrast with the brightness of the 

 open river the forest floor is wrapped in gloom relieved here and there 

 by the bright dots of sunlight which filter through the roof above. 

 The thickly packed trees average 100 feet in height, their upper 

 branches merging into an almost solid roof. Here and there indi- 

 vidual giants rise to 300 feet, their trunks 45 feet in circmnference 

 at ground level ; a silk cotton tree of these dimensions was actually 

 measured. The ground between the trunks is covered by slender 

 saplings and cluttered with the debris of fallen and decaying vegeta- 

 tion. Visibility is about 20 yards, beyond which stealthy movement 

 is difficult to detect. Here and there a pimpler palm rises, its bole 

 well protected by long slender poisonous needles arranged in clusters 

 of seven at regular intervals; or the friendly tauri, its giant fronds 

 spreading in graceful curves. Everywhere there is creeper twining 

 everything in its path in a relentless grip. It swarms up the tree 

 trunks and spreads outward through the roof above or hangs in 

 festoons, tying each tree firmly to its neighbors so that the whole 

 roof is one tangled mass. 



The forest consists of many different kinds of trees in haphazard 

 arrangement, but areas where one or two kinds are in preponderance 

 are sometimes met. Thus Wonatobo is surrounded by mora forest 

 almost to the exclusion of all else ; and at the source of the Oronoque 

 the pimpler palm is everywhere. The mora is a magnificent tree 

 standing firmly on a base of solid buttresses which radiate like veins 

 from, the trunk 10 feet above ground level, spreading outward and 

 decreasing in height, twisting in freakish folds until they disappear 

 below ground level 10 feet from the bole. Mora is much prized for 

 boat building and is reputed to be superior to English oak. An- 

 other truly magnificent tree is the cedar, the reddish-colored wood 

 of which gives off a delightful odor. The yariola tree makes ex- 

 cellent ax handles and paddles. The trunk is not solid, but consists 

 of many smaller trunks joined to each other at intervals, the whole 

 sweeping aloft like a beautiful fluted cathedral column. The boles of 

 some trees are rough, others smooth and slippery, while some are 

 studded by enormous conical spikes for several feet above ground 



