Scenery on the Isthmus of Panama Railway. 433 



record tills tribute with so much the more satisfaction, that I 

 felt it was not the individual but his profession that was thus 

 honoured, as is abundantly proved by the experience of many 

 another scientific traveller. 



The journey across the Istlimus, right through the heart of 

 the primeval forest, which was decked out in its gayest attire, 

 is one of the most exciting, soul-stirring scenes that the eye of 

 the lover of nature ever rested upon. In no part of the world 

 have I seen more luxuriant and abundant vegetation than is 

 presented by the forests of Central America, and more espe- 

 cially upon the Isthmus. And, as if to heighten still further 

 the sense of marvel and enchantment, one traverses this mag- 

 nificent forest landscape behind a locomotive running on its 

 iron track. What a contrast ! The wild ravel of creepers 

 and the green feathery branches of the palms almost pene- 

 trate into the waggons, and tell with unmistakeable emj)hasis 

 that the traveller is indeed surrounded by all the beauties of 

 Nature in her troj^Ic garb. Trees of the most varied descrip- 

 tion and of colossal dimensions flourish in the foreign gar- 

 ment of a borrowed adornment. Between each solitary giant 

 of a forest tree, parasites and Lianw spread their delicate green 

 coils, while many a gigantic stem, enveloped in thousands of 

 beautiful shoots, or dead trunk choked in the embrace of a 

 parasitic creeper, attracts the eye as the train speeds past. So 

 quick and so strong is the process of vegetation here, that 

 every section of this line has twice in each year to be freed 

 from the encroachments of the forest-children ; nay, were the 



VOL. HI. 2 F 



