THE GREAT CRESTED COQUETTE. 99 



orange, and is as much as six miles in 

 breadth. 



Trunks of trees, and fruit and leaves, 

 and fragments of the forest, float in vast 

 quantities down the river. And beds of 

 aquatic plants line the shore. Masses of 

 these plants, looking like sea-weeds, detach 

 themselves, here and there, and form float- 

 ing islands. 



On either bank of the river is the dense 

 and mighty forest, that presents us with a 

 succession of pictures. Here are stems of 

 different colours, — black, red, yellow, and 

 silvery gray. And here is the feathery 

 palm ; and here are festoons and garlands 

 of colour, as the parasitic plants droop 

 from the branches and, in places, touch 

 the water. 



The water's edge is alive with birds. 

 Here are crowds of water-fowl. Here is 

 the Heron, standing patiently for hours, 



