CnAi". II. CLIMBINCx TREES. 47 



few cattle belonging to an estate down a shady lane 

 were congregated, panting, under a- cluster of wide- 

 spreading trees. The very soil was hot to our feet, and 

 we hastened onward to the shade of the forest which 

 we could see not far ahead. At length, on entering it, 

 what a relief: We found ourselves in a moderately 

 broad pathway or alley, where the branches of the trees 

 crossed overhead and produced a delightful shade. The 

 woods were at first of second growth, dense, and utterly 

 impenetrable ; the ground, instead of being clothed 

 with grass and shrubs as in the woods of Europe, was 

 everywhere carpeted with Lycopodiums (Selaginellse). 

 Gradually the scene became changed. We descended 

 slightly from an elevated, dry, and sandy area to a low 

 and swampy one ; a cool air breathed on our faces, and 

 a mouldy smell of rotting vegetation gi'eeted us. The 

 trees were now taller, the underwood less dense, and we 

 could obtain glimpses into the wilderness on all sides. 

 The leafy crowns of the trees, scarcely two of which 

 could be seen together of the same kind, were now far 

 away above us, in another world as it were. We could 

 only see at times, where there was a break above, the 

 tracery of the foliage against the clear blue sky. 

 Sometimes the leaves were palmate, or of the shape of 

 large outstretched hands ; at others, finely cut or 

 feathery like the leaves of Mimosae. Below, the tree 

 trunks were everywhere linked together by sipos ; the 

 woody, flexible stems of climbing and creeping trees, 

 whose foliage is far away above, mingled with that of 

 the taller independent trees. Some were twisted in 

 strands like cables, others had thick stems contorted in 



