64 BKITISH HONDURAS. 



life, toning down more and more until it merges into the scant, 

 sparse vegetation of the pine-ridge country. Often, the belt of 

 intermediary low growth between the coast and the virgin 

 forests is termed broken-ridge ; but, in this case, it is one that 

 has probably been artificially formed by abandoned cultivated 

 areas, and does not occur under the conditions which obtain in the 

 natural state. The broken-ridge is no doubt due to a difference 

 in the character of the soil, which, having a slight depth only 

 of humus and alluvium, is able to support a less luxuriant vege- 

 tation than the cohune-ridge,* but a little more so than the pine- 

 ridge, which is almost devoid of these important elements of 

 plant food. 



Starting from a river-bed, and traversing the country at 

 right angles to its course, there first comes the cohune country, 

 then the broken-ridge, and lastly the pine-ridge. The latter 

 generally acts as a watershed between the several river basins, 

 and the order in which the ridges come may be shown as 

 follows : 



Cohune I I Cohune Broken Brofcen Cohune 



| River | | Pine-ridge | | 

 ridge | I ridge ridge ridge ridge 



River 



The vegetation of the cohune-ridge comprises tall-towering 

 timber-trees, the lordly mahogany and luxuriant palms ; while 

 the ground below is covered with shade-loving ferns, selagi- 

 nellas, and aroids. The broken-ridge has fewer, less luxuriant, 

 and somewhat stunted timber-trees, such as the cockspur, 

 abundant in prickles and thorns ; the supa, or gru-gru palm 

 (Acrocomia sclerocarpa), and small-leaved spiny shrubs of Randia, 

 Capparis, &c. In the more open spaces, coarse bromeliads, rank 



* The term "ridge" is not quite applicable, as often a cohune-ridge, for 

 instance, is really a valley. It is more applicable in the case of pine-ridge, 

 where probably the term had its origin, but the terms are here used as 

 understood in the country. 



