TREES THAT TRAVEL 131 



which form the bases from which new trees spring. 

 If the old section dies or the connection is severed, 

 the tree may be said to have literally walked the 

 distance separating the two. 



The mangrove does the same thing above ground. 

 Standing knee-deep in the water, it often sends 

 down shoots from its arms, which, taking root, are 

 the beginnings of a new tree. The willow ac- 

 complishes the same thing by bending over until 

 one of its branches takes root. Frequently all of 

 the energy of the tree is devoted to the freshly 

 started sapling, so that the old trunk at length 

 withers and dies. But the tree lives on new and 

 fresh, removed to the lot next door. It is said that 

 a freshly felled willow, if used to bridge a small 

 stream, will grow into the banks at either end 

 and make the structure particularly secure. 



Full-grown, mature trees may not actually walk 

 across the landscape, but they do swim. There are 

 many records of floating islands which not only 

 make voyages up and down rivers but occasionally 

 embark on ocean trips. At the mouth of the Ama- 

 zon River sections of land frequently break off 

 and float serenely out to sea. Needless to say, many 

 of these adventurers succumb to the fury of the 

 waves' bombardment, but there have been observed 

 instances when they reached port safely. Nautical 



