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leaves with which the places are crowded, and in no respect is the 

 European more disappointed ; from cultivating in his gardens none 

 save the choicest and most brilliant flowers which the regions of the 

 sun are capable of producing ; from seeing on the stage tropical sce- 

 nery, which looks more like a representation of fairy-land than of sub- 

 lunar places ; and from reading those highly-coloured accounts with 

 which many travellers have endeavoured to embellish their narratives, 

 his imagination has drawn a picture of equinoctial countries which a 

 comparison with nature at once demolishes. The Espave {Anacardium 

 Rhinocarpus, DC.) and the Corotu {E titer olobium Timbouva, Mart.) 

 are amongst the most gigantic trees, attaining a height of from 90 to 

 , 130 feet, and a circumference of from 24 to 30 feet; and no better 

 estimate can be formed of their size, than by an inspection of the 

 port of Panama, where vessels of twelve tons burden, made of a single 

 trunk, are riding at anchor. The forests occasionally consist of only 

 a single species of tree ; but generally they are composed of different 

 kinds, the principal forms belonging to Sterculiaceae, Tiliaceae, Mi- 

 moseaB, Papilionaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Anacardiaceae, Rubiaceae, Myr- 

 taceae, and Melastomeae ; these, and the prevalence of palms, tree- 

 ferns, Scitamineae and Aroideae, stamp on them the real tropical 

 character. 



" Mountains exceeding 2000 feet in elevation, situated principally 

 in Western Veraguas, possess a vegetation which in many respects 

 resembles that of the Mexican highlands ; one in which the forms of 

 the torrid zone are harmoniously blended with those of the temperate. 

 Alders and blackberries are found with Fuchsias and Salvias ; the 

 brake grows in company with lupines and Ageratums ; oaks and 

 palms are intermingled ; fine large flowers are abundant. The ge- 

 nera represented are Styrax, Rondeletia, Salvia, Lopezia, Fuchsia, 

 Centradenia, Ageratum, Conostegia, Lupinus, Hypericum, Freziera, 

 Galium, Smilax, Euphorbia, Rhopala, Equisetum, Clematis, Chorisia, 

 Verbena, Condaminea, Inga, Solanum, &c. The oaks, like most tro- 

 pical ones, are scarcely higher than thirty feet, resembling neither in 

 size nor in grandeur those which our heathen forefathers worshipped; 

 their branches are smooth and devoid of that rugged appearance which 

 renders those of the northern species so picturesque. 



" The Isthmus is rich in medicinal plants, many of which are known 

 only to the natives, who have ably availed themselves of their proper- 

 ties. As febrifuges, they employ Chicoria {Elephantopus spicatus, 

 Juss.), Corpachi (Croton), Guavito amargo {Quassia amara, Linn.), 

 Cedron {Simaha Cedron, Planch.), and several Gentianeae, herbaceous 



