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the natives in conducting their canoes through the mud-banks. On 

 the sand of the sea beach the Ipomaea pes-caprse grows in wild hixu- 

 riance, producing runners often more than two hundred feet long. 

 Higher up, where the ground is firmer, are groves of cocoa-nut palms, 

 poisonous Manzanillo-trees, and spiny Piosopises and Pitajayas, or 

 thickets of Crescentia cucurbitina and Paritium tiliaceum. 



" Far different is the vegetation of the Savanas. The ground, being 

 level or slightly undulated, is clothed during the greater part of the 

 year with a turf of brilliant green. Groups of trees and bushes rise 

 here and there ; silvery streams, herds of cattle and deer, and the iso- 

 lated huts of the natives, tend to give variety to the scene, while the 

 absence of palms and tree-ferns imparts to the whole more the ap- 

 pearance of a European park than a tract of land in tropical America. 

 The turf is almost as dense as in an English garden, and contains, be- 

 sides numerous kinds of grasses, many elegant Papilionaceae, Poly- 

 galeae, Gentianeae, and Violaceae ; the sensitive plant {Mimosa pudica, 

 Linn.) prevails in many localities, shutting up its tender leaves even 

 upon the approach of a heavy footstep. The clumps of trees and 

 shrubs, over which the Garumos and Pavas are waving their large 

 fohage, are composed of Myrtaceae, Melastomeae, Chrysobalaneae, 

 Papilionaceae, Verbenaceae, Compositae, Aristolochiae, Apocyneae, and 

 other climbing or twining plants. Orchideae are plentiful in the vici- 

 nity of the rivers, where the trees are literally loaded with tTiem. The 

 Vainilla {Vanilla sp.) climbs in abundance up the stems of young 

 trees, and often increases so much in weight as to cause the downfall 

 of its supporters. The Chumicales, or groves of sandpaper trees {Cu- 

 ratella Americana, Linn.), form curious features in the landscape. 

 They extend over whole districts, and their presence indicates a soil 

 impregnated with iron. The trees are about forty feet high, have 

 crooked branches — an approximation to the twining habit of the tribe, 

 and their paper-like leaves, if stirred by the wind, occasion a rattling 

 noise, which strongly reminds one of the Eui'opean autumn, when 

 northerly breezes strip the trees of their foliage. 



" Forests cover at least two-thirds of the whole territory. The 

 high trees, the dense foliage, and the numerous climbing and twining 

 plants, almost shut out the rays of the sun, causing a gloom, which is 

 the more insupportable as all other objects are hidden from view. 

 Rain is so frequent and the moisture so great, that the burning of 

 these forests is impossible ; a striking difference to those of the tem- 

 perate regions, where a fire often consumes extensive woods in a very 

 short space of time. Flowers are scarce in proportion to the mass of 



