184 The Naturalist in Nicaragua 
showing all the gradations by which the flat constricted 
joints thicken out into stems. In some parts, as we travelled 
on, we found the oak trees and many of the pines completely 
draped with hanging festoons of the grey moss-like Tillandsia 
usneoides, or “old man’s beard.” Not a bough but had 
a great fringe hanging down, sometimes as much as six feet 
long, like a grey veil swaying in the breeze, and giving the 
trees a strange and venerable look. The ride was delightful 
after the stagnation at Matagalpa: everything was fresh 
and new tome. The aspect of the country, the trees, shrubs, 
and flowers, the birds and insects, the aromatic perfume 
from the pines, claimed my attention every minute. 
After four hours’ riding across the pine-clad ranges, we 
reached a gorge leading up to the heights overlooking the 
valley of Jinotega. The path was along the steep side of this 
gorge, often along the side of a precipice, where a few logs 
were laid to prevent the mules going over, but really increas- 
ing the danger, for they were old and rotten. Large boulders, 
imbedded in dark-coloured earth, lay on the steep slopes, 
and about these grew small herbaceous ferns in the greatest 
variety and profusion—a very paradise for a fern-collector. 
In some parts a light green maiden-hair fern covered the 
ground with its beautifully tender foliage, reminding me of 
shady banks in the north of England, covered with the 
equally lovely oak-fern. Every few yards discovered some 
new species, filling the mind with delight at their beauty and 
variety. In dryer and more stony places, a pinnatifid club- 
moss stood up amongst the stones in crisp tufts, like the 
parsley fern on mountain-sides at home. A black and blue 
bird (Cyanocitta melanocyanea), about the size of a jackdaw, 
flew in small noisy flocks; and I noticed a beautiful trogon, 
with burnished green back, and rose-coloured breast. The 
highest points of the ranges enclosing this ravine were 
covered with pine trees (Pinus tenuifolia); lower down grew 
evergreen oaks, and lower still a variety of small trees, shrubs, 
and herbaceous plants, reaching to the dry bed of the brook. 
After a steep and rocky ascent, we reached the top of the 
range, and before us lay the upper end of the valley of 
Jinotega. Here it was very narrow, hemmed in by rocky 
ranges capped with pine forests. Descending the steep and 
rocky slope, we soon left the pines and oaks above us, and 
