Retrocession of the Forest 147 
But along the edge of the forest, by the sides of roads through 
it, that let in the air and sunshine, and in clearings, they 
abound. They are especially fond of the leaves of young 
trees, many of which are destroyed by them. Should the 
brushwood ultimately prevail, and cover the ground, the 
Indian or Mestizo comes again after a few years, cuts it down, 
and replants it with maize. But as most of his old clearings 
get covered with grass, he is continually encroaching on the 
edge of the forest, beating it back gradually, but surely, 
towards the north-east. As this process has probably been 
going on for thousands of years, I believe that the edge of the 
forest is several miles nearer the Atlantic than it wasoriginally. 
In this way many acres in the neighbourhood of Pital 
were taken from the forest, and added to the grass-lands, 
whilst I was in the country. The brushwood-land does not 
yield such good crops as the virgin forest, but it is nearer to 
the huts of the cultivators, who live out on the savannahs, 
so that whenever the weedy shrubs gain possession of a spot 
sufficiently large for a clearing, and choke off the grass, 
these places are again cut down and burnt, and thus the 
forest is never allowed to establish outposts, or advanced 
stations, in the disputed ground. What would be the result 
if man were withdrawn from the scene, I do not know, but I 
believe that the forest would slowly, but surely, regain the 
ground that it has lost through long centuries. The thickets 
and dense brushwood that always spring up along the edge 
of the forest, and consist of many shrubs that the leaf-cutting 
ants do not touch, would gradually spread, and beat back 
the grass. In their shade and shelter, seeds from the forest 
would vegetate and grow, and thus, I think, very slowly, inch 
by inch, the forest would regain its long-lost territory, and 
gradually extend its limits towards the south-west, until it 
reached its old boundaries, where a change in the physical 
character of the land, or in the amount of moisture pre- 
cipitated, would stay its further progress. It is far more 
likely, however, that man will drive back the forest to the 
very Atlantic than that he will quit the scene. 
After passing the Indian graves, about a league from 
Libertad, we turned off to the right, by a path that led 
directly to the Mico, without going through the town. After 
crossing several rounded grassy hills, we reached the river, 
K 
