THE FORESTS OF THE GABOON. 183 



wall of verdure. So that before a man can in any way 

 realize the abundance of magnificent trees and other 

 beautiful things these forests contain, he must pass some 

 time in exploration. 



The late Major Levison, the well-known sportsman, 

 (who wrote under the nom-de-plume of H.A.L. "The 

 Old Shekarry") for instance, in describing his trip into 

 the deadly forest region of the Gaboon, in Western 

 Africa, was greatly struck by the exuberant wealth of 

 its vegetation, and the splendid timber it contained. 



" Some of the forest trees" (he says) " were of gigantic 

 size, having their trunks, which often rose straight for a 

 hundred feet without throwing out a branch, entwined with 

 a festoon of beautiful parasitical plants. "* And again "In 

 some parts of the forest a kind of frankincense tree fills 

 the air with a perfume that is almost oppressive; and I 

 often fell in with magnificent forest trees that were perfectly 

 new to me, for which the natives appear to have no name." 

 "In one patch of forest I came across a beautiful small 

 lake covered with waterlilies, having large leaves resembling 

 those of the Victoria Regina, and here I saw a couple of 

 ' lotus birds.' " f 



Baron Humboldt also, the great German philosopher 

 and traveller, was evidently deeply impressed upon his 

 first arrival in the equatorial regions, by the luxuriance 

 and beauty of Nature, and tells us that 



" He is unable to determine what most excites his admira- 

 tion : the solemn stillness of the wilderness, or the individual 

 beauty and contrast of forms, or the vigour and freshness 

 of vegetable life, which characterize the climate of the 

 tropics." 



* The Forest and the Field, by H. A. L., "The Old Shekarry" 

 (Major H. A. Levison); 2nd edit., 1867, p. 402. 

 f Ibid., pp. 448 449. 

 Travels, by Baron von Humboldt. 



