AMAZONIAN VEGETATION 355 



which spring up to replace the Primitive Forests 

 destroyed by man, and, notwithstanding their 

 weedy character, consist chiefly of shrubs and trees ; 

 a fifth in the savannas or campos - - grassy or 

 scrubby knolls, or glades, or hollows (dried -up 

 lakes), which bear a very small proportion indeed 

 to the vast extent of woodland in the Amazon 

 valley proper, but towards its northern and southern 

 borders compete with the w r oods for the possession 

 of the ground, and in the centre of Venezuela enlarge 

 to interminable grassy llanos or plains. 



From an elevated site that should embrace the 

 landscape on all sides to the extreme limit of vision, 

 as, for instance, from the heights at the confluence 

 of the Rio Negro and Amazon, or, better still, from 

 one of the steep granite rocks that overlook the 

 noble forests of the Casiquiari, a practised eye would 

 distinguish the various kinds of forest by their 

 aspect alone. The Virgin Forests are distinct 

 enough by the sombre foliage of the densely-packed, 

 lofty trees, out of which stand, like the cupolas, 

 spires, and turrets of a large city, the dome-shaped 

 or pyramidal or flat-topped crowns of still loftier 

 trees, overtopping even the tallest palms, both palms 

 and trees being more or less interwoven with stout, 

 gaily-flowering lianas ; the White Forests by the 

 low, neat-growing, and thinly-set trees and bushes, 

 with scarcely any lianas - - the Palms few, but 

 peculiar, and often odd-looking on a near view 

 by the greater abundance of Ferns, especially on 

 the trees, and sometimes of terrestrial Aroids and 

 Cyclanths ; the Recent Forests by their low, irregular, 

 tangled growth, paler foliage, and general weedy 

 aspect ; the Riparial Forests, even where the water 



