Parasitic Plaiits. — The Cipo Matador. 163 



enough to enter deeper into tlie interior, at least obtains here an 

 idea of what constitutes a primfeval Brazilian forest. The 

 wonders of tropical vegetation, as manifested not only by vast- 

 ness of form but also by gorgeous and rank luxuriance, strike 

 the eye at first-sight almost the same way as an overpowering 

 chorus affects the ear. It requires time to collect the thoughts, 

 so as to be able to appreciate and enjoy thoroughly the extra- 

 ordinary beauties that impress the wondering mind. 



If the eye of the astonished traveller has been but in the 

 most cursory manner directed to the vegetable phenomena that 

 surround him, it must have rested on a climbing plant, which 

 constitutes one of the chief marvels of the native woods. This 

 singular creeper is the Cipo matador^ a climbing plant of a very 

 peculiar aspect, at once the most powerful and most destructive 

 of all the Cipo tribe. It twines round the stems of lofty trees, 

 which its flattened coils gradually constrict with almost life-like 

 cruelty ! Its aerial roots run out from all parts and embrace 

 the tree like artificial clamps, forming in some places complete 

 rings, and in others growing into the very bark. The tree, in 

 consequence of this parasitic embrace, dies away by degrees, 

 whilst its destroyer continues to grow gaily on the corpse of its 

 victim, and spreads its leafy crown until it falls and perishes 

 simultaneously with the support that had hitherto upheld it. 

 To what profound reflections does the contemplation of this 

 spectacle give rise! Involuntarily our thoughts fly from the 

 wild Brazilian forest to the plains of civilization, — to the 

 modern society where, likewise, many a noble human nature 



M 9. 



