214 ^ YEAR OF COSTA RICAN NATURAL HISTORY 



ing the policeman to hunt for me since It was growing late 

 and dark — It was, Indeed, no less than 6.45 P. M. ! 



Although there were patches of cultivated ground In the 

 valley bottom, at other places the forest was still untouched 

 and Its appearance was very tropical, with Its palms, big 

 coarse ferns, wild plantains, lianas hanging from every tree 

 and Incredible numbers of perching epiphytes. Many big 

 trees had huge buttresses. In places the earth had washed 

 out from under the supporting roots, which writhed over the 

 ground like monster snakes. 



There were always many dead leaves on the ground. Our 

 diary for September 29 expressly records that on that day 

 there were yellow leaves on some trees, occasionally even a 

 bright red one, but the great mass of vegetation was strongly 

 green, with many tender green shoots on shrub and tree; the 

 coffee plants showed their glossy dark green foliage and 

 most of their berries were still green though some were 

 reddening. On the other hand, the fields of maize were 

 brown and withered. 



On February 15 we noted that many of the large trees In 

 the Reventazon canon, particularly those bearing much 

 Tillandsia, were leafless and putting out tiny young leaf 

 buds. This gave the canon sides a very different appear- 

 ance from that of six months earlier, and the views of the 

 river were more extensive than we had ever seen them. 

 Both the Naranjo and the Reventazon were extremely full 

 and correspondingly noisy. Along the road down the 

 cuesta — Indeed everywhere nearby — were wonderful gar- 

 dens of begonias. In places the flowers formed masses 

 yards across so that the canon side was tinted white, pink or 

 coral red with the profusion of blossoms, a most beautiful 

 and striking floral display. There were at least four species 

 In great abundance and all seemed to be at the height of 

 their flowering at this time. At the end of April the num- 



