FIELD GLASSES IX THE FOREST. 223 



generally overlooked in books, and by writers in their 

 descriptions of the tropical landscape: perhaps because 

 in many cases it is mistaken for that of flowers for 

 these young growths have all the effects which can 

 be produced by the finest display of floral magnificence, 

 their tints including nearly every hue and colour 

 commonly met with in tropical flowers. The young 

 leaves and shoots, for instance, will represent the most 

 brilliant reds, scarlets, claret-colours, purples, browns, 

 and yellows, of every conceivable shade as well as 

 the most perfect and delicate shades of white so that, at 

 a distance, they have all the effects of beautiful flowers. 

 These brilliantly coloured growths, moreover, often 

 cover the entire surface of groups of gigantic trees, 

 forming the natural growths of the jungles and primeval 

 forests of the equatorial zone. You may, with a good 

 glass, see them almost everywhere; and nothing can 

 be more beautiful and more striking than the effects 

 which are often produced by them. 



And here, perhaps, we may take the opportunity of 

 pointing out the capital importance for the observant 

 traveller, of being possessed of a good glass. This is 

 a matter which we have not failed to insist upon in 

 another portion of this work, which treats more parti- 

 cularly of these subjects, and gives some technical 

 details respecting them, to which we beg to refer the 

 reader. Without a good glass, we venture to think 

 that the explorer of tropical forests is nowhere. The 

 altitude, and inaccessible position of some of the trees, 

 is so great and so frequent, that there is very often 

 no other available means of examining the details 

 of the distant landscape, or even of individual trees, 

 except by means of a glass; and with a really good 



