FOREST VISTAS. 



glass, at a distance of one or two miles, all the leading 

 features ought to be thoroughly discernible. 



We are quite aware that a hasty and superficial 

 observer may object, with some apparent show of 

 reason, that the dense nature of the jungles, in these 

 regions, would render the use of a glass, according to 

 his idea, a matter of impossibility and we do not deny 

 that in many places this is so. But in all great forests 

 we venture to point out there are lofty ridges, rocky 

 crests, windfalls, and barren spots, where occasional gaps 

 occur in the thicket ; as well as numerous streams and 

 rivers and paths, wherever there are inhabitants, travers- 

 ing the primeval forest in every direction. Even the great 

 forests of the Upper Congo, brought into notice by 

 Mr. Stanley, form no exception to this rule. And from 

 these positions distant views of the forest, if they are 

 carefully looked for, may frequently be obtained, 

 especially where the country is of a broken nature, or 

 where there are ravines or mountains. The views up 

 and down ravines, or along the course of rivers, streams, 

 and dry watercourses, are often of the most striking 

 character imaginable, opening up vistas of extraordinary 

 beauty from whence all the hidden glories of the great 

 wilderness of verdure may frequently be inspected, 

 and valuable details of a technical nature taken note 

 of, by a careful and intelligent observer, in a way that 

 will often be surprising, even to himself. Nothing can 

 be done, comparatively speaking, from such places 

 without the aid of a good glass, but by its assistance 

 numerous details entirely hidden to the naked eye 

 become at once perfectly apparent. 



As regards the means of communication through 

 these great forests, which are generally represented as 



