IQ2 WILD JUNGLE TREES. 



forest, whose lofty crown towers high above the sur- 

 rounding timber, where it seems to stand alone in 

 its grandeur, without any other tree of a similar species 

 near it. The height of some of these great trees, and 

 the consequent distance of the leafy crown above the 

 observer's head, but above all, the mass of trailing 

 creepers which spread themselves over it, often render 

 it difficult to determine what sort of tree it is which 

 thus excites our wonder and admiration. This will 

 also probably account, to a certain extent, for the 

 great difficulty that exists in obtaining information of 

 a really reliable character about jungle trees in general; 

 for until the trees are actually cut down, everything 

 is more or less a matter of guess work, with those 

 species which are not in common use for building and 

 other purposes ; and of which perhaps only a few 

 specimens exist, scattered over a wide extent of country. 

 Even in India or Ceylon, the natives can afford but 

 little information about them ; and if questioned on the 

 subject, reply, "Me not know He jungle tree!"* 

 Nor can much more distinct information be obtained 

 from planters and other white residents. " They are 

 jungle trees" that is all they can say about them. 



But besides these peculiar buttressed roots, there is 

 another way in which some of these great trees are 

 anchored to the ground; for in addition to the ordinary 

 roots descending into the ground, we often find the 

 surface, for a considerable distance around the trunk, 

 covered by what we shall call "surface roots," which 

 stand out above the surface of the soil like the giant 

 coils of an assemblage of enormous serpents. Some 



* The word "Jungle, " so common in the mouths of Europeans, is. 

 derived from the Hindu "Jangla, " signifying wild. 



