54 TROPICAL WILD LIFE IN BRITISH GUIANA 



between the fallen trunks and stumps, he planted his spind- 

 ling rubber yearlings. 



Not for a moment must the new growing tangle be 

 allowed to smother these tender growths, and today the 

 coolies scrape the ground clean at frequent intervals. In 

 the coiu'se of time the rubber will dominate all other growths, 

 becoming trees in reality and like a second jungle begin to 

 interlock its branches high overhead. The shade which it 

 casts makes easier the labor of clearing, and this tiny scar — 

 tinj^ in comparison with the enormous expanse of jungle 

 round about — comes wholly under man's dominion, and day 

 by da}^ yields its quota of merchandise to the world's marts. 

 In place of the lofty jungle which for unnumbered centuries 

 covered this area, we have orderly ranks upon ranks of white- 

 barked rubber trees, radiating park-like over the rolling 

 hills, while the wliite sandy roads wind about them, having 

 nothing in common with the animal and Indian trails which 

 such a short time ago, zigzagged over this very ground. 



I have gone thus into particulars to show the reason for 

 the arising of a fauna, wholly foreign to that of the jungle, 

 and this not after years and decades, but almost at once, syn- 

 chronously as it were, with the change of vegetation ; coming 

 from long distances, sometimes singly, sometimes with a 

 sudden rush of numbers. 



The five hundred odd acres which, after being cleared 

 had been allowed to grow up undisturbed, were of even 

 greater interest to the naturalist than the more open part 

 of the clearing. The destruction of the jungle was here 

 also complete and the very thorough burning had evidently 

 destroyed all jungle seeds. In their place sprang up at 

 once a maze of weeds, vines and woody shrubs, reeds, ferns 

 and grasses, all foreign to the dark jungle and whose nearest 

 congeners were miles away. Yet here were their seeds and 

 spores, baffling all attempts at tracing their migration or 

 the time thev had lain dormant. 



