EQUATORIAL VEGETATION. 153 



tinual succession ; and the spectacle of a tree covered 

 with flowers, while the ripening fruits hang from its 

 branches, is common. The trees as a rule are always 

 green, very few being deciduous, indeed a tree without 

 leaves is generally a dead one: except perhaps the 

 " Bombacece " or Wild Cotton Trees * splendid trees 

 with thorny trunks, which in spring appear bare of 

 leaves, and covered with a magnificent display of 

 large crimson flowers. There are some few other sorts 

 of the same habit, but these exceptions to the general 

 rule are comparatively rare. 



The prevailing tint of the landscape is a dark and 

 rather sombre green, very striking at first to the 

 newcomer conveying to the mind an idea of boundless 

 fertility, but apt to become somewhat monotonous, as 

 the eye gets accustomed to it; and as a rule the land 

 in its natural condition, even to the top of the hills, 

 is covered with a dense mass of verdure. 



The rapid growth of vegetation in these regions is 

 something that must be seen to be fully realized, as 

 it would otherwise appear altogether incredible to 

 residents in temperate climates: " beneath a vertical 

 sun, new leaves and buds unfold almost before the 

 eye, and fresh shoots may often be observed to have 

 grown many inches since the preceding day. " f 



Another characteristic which is always very striking 

 to strangers, is the rapid succession of day and night. 

 The length of the days in these latitudes is of course 

 pretty well the same throughout the year ; but it is 



* A good example is the Red Cotton Tree or Bombax Melibaricum 

 of Ceylon and British India. The bark of these trees is generally 

 covered with spines. 



f Tropical Nature, by Alfred R. Wallace, 1878, p. 22. 



