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Those climbers, again, which merely ascend the trunk, supporting 

 themselves by their numerous small roots, often become detached af- 

 ter reaching the boughs, and where many of them exist, the stem pre- 

 sents the aspect of a large mast supported by its stays. These rope- 

 like twiners and creeping plants, passing from tree to tree, descending 

 from the branches to the ground, and ascending again to other boughs, 

 intermingle themselves in a thousand ways, and render a passage 

 through such parts of the forest both difficult and annoying." — p. 23. 



" The Corcovado mountain offers a rich field to the botanist. I 

 frequently visited the lower portions, but only once ascended to the 

 summit. The ascent is from the N.W. side, and although rather 

 steep in some places, may be ridden on horseback all the way up. 

 Some of the trees on the lower parts of it are very large. The thick 

 underwood consists of palms, Melastomaceae, Myrtaceae, tree-ferns, 

 Crotons, &e. ; and beneath these are many delicate herbaceous ferns, 

 Dorstenias, Heliconias, and, in the more open places, a few large 

 grasses. Towards the summit the trees are of much smaller growth, 

 and shrubs belonging to the genus Croton are abundant, as well as a 

 small kind of bamboo. The summit itself is a large mass of very 

 coarse-grained granite. In the clefts of the rocks grow a few small 

 kinds of orchidaceous plants, and a beautiful tuberous-rooted scarlet- 

 flowered Gesnera. From this point a magnificent panoramic view of 

 the bay, the city, and the surrounding country is obtained." — p. 28. 



" The whole length of the road is through one dense forest, the 

 magnificence of which cannot be imagined by those who have never 

 seen it, nor penetrated into its recesses. Those remnants of the vir- 

 gin forest which still stand in the vicinity of the capital, although 

 they appear grand to the eye of a newly arrived European, become 

 insignificant when compared with the mass of giant vegetation which 

 clothes the sides of the Organ Mountains. So far as I have been able 

 to determine, the largest forest trees consist of various species of 

 palms, Laurus, Ficus, Cassia, Bignonia, Solanum, Myrtaceae, and 

 Melastomaceae. In temperate climates natural forests are mostly 

 coiuposed of trees which grow gregariously. In those of tropical 

 countries it is seldom that two trees of a kind are to be seen growing 

 together, the variety of different species is so great. Many of the 

 trees are of immense size, and have their trunks and branches covered 

 with myriads of those plants which are usually called parasites, but 

 are not so in reality, consisting of Orchideae, Bromeliacea?, ferns, Pe- 

 peromiae, &c, which derive their nourishment from the moisture of 

 the bark and the earthy matter which has been formed from the decay 



