CiiAr. II. THE MURDERER SIP6. 53 



there is no situation more favourable for his indulging 

 the tendency. There is something in a tropical forest 

 akin to the ocean in its effects on the mind. Man feels 

 so completely his insignificance there, and the vastness 

 of nature. A naturalist cannot help reflecting on the 

 vegetable forces manifested on so grand a scale around 

 him. A German traveller, Burmeister, has said that 

 the contemplation of a Brazilian forest produced on him 

 a painful impression, on account of the vegetation dis- 

 playing a spirit of restless selfishness, eager emulation, 

 and craftiness. He thought the softness, earnestness, 

 and repose of European woodland scenery were far more 

 pleasing, and that these formed one of the causes of 

 the superior moral character of European nations. 



In these tropical forests each plant and tree seems to 

 be striving to outvie its fellow, struggling upwards to- 

 wards light and air — branch, and leaf, and stem — regard- 

 less of its neighbours. Parasitic plants are seen fastening 

 with firm grip on others, making use of them with reckless 

 indifference as instruments for their own advancement. 

 Live and let live is clearly not the maxim taught in 

 these wildernesses. There is one kind of parasitic tree, 

 very common near Para, which exhibits this feature in a 

 very prominent manner. It is called the Sipo Matador, 

 or the Murderer Liana. It belongs to the fig order, 

 and has been described and figured by Von Martins in 

 the Atlas to Spix and Martius's Travels. I observed 

 many specimens. The base of its stem would be 

 unable to bear the weight of the upper growth ; it is 

 obliged, therefore, to support itself on a tree of another 

 species. In this it is not essentially different from 



