THE CONVICT TRAIL 197 



began and soon the ground beneath the trees 

 was solid cerise, a carpet of tens of thousands 

 of fallen stamens, and within the length of a 

 foot on one small branch were often a score 

 of blooms. This feast of color was wonderful 

 enough, and it made us want to know more of 

 these trees. But all the information we could 

 glean was that they were called French cashew. 

 Yet they had not nearly finished with the sur- 

 prises they had in store. A hummingbird or two 

 was not an uncommon sight along the trail at 

 any time, but now we began to notice an in- 

 crease in numbers. Then it was observed that 

 the tiny birds seemed to focus their flight upon 

 one part of the clearing, and this proved to be 

 the four cashew trees. 



The next few days made the trees ever memo- 

 rable: they were the Mecca of all the humming- 

 birds in the jungle. In early morning the air 

 for many yards resounded with a dull droning, 

 as of a swarming of giant bees. Standing or 

 sitting under the tree we could detect the units 

 of this host and then the individuals forced 

 themselves on our notice. Back and forth the 

 hummers swooped and swung, now poising in 

 front of a mass of blossom and probing deeply 



