

THE MAHOGANY TRADE. 267 



Central America cannot fail to strike every observer, 

 and they maintain this character far beyond the limits 

 which we have assigned to our Equatorial Forest Zone. 

 It may therefore appear to be somewhat difficult to 

 reconcile this fact with the theory of the existence of 

 climatic zones encircling the earth. 



We, however, venture to think that it is by no means 

 inconsistent with it, for as we have already pointed 

 out, there are no hard and fast lines in Nature : like 

 the margins of the ocean, these different territories are 

 at all times liable to be pushed backwards and for- 

 wards, at particular points, owing to local circumstances. 

 In the sea, this is governed by the elevation and de- 

 pression of its shores upon the shores of the climatic 

 zones, it is governed by the winds of heaven. Accord- 

 ing to the natural law, the set of prevailing winds is 

 produced by variations of temperature, which thus cause 

 these winds to blow with more or less regularity in 

 a certain direction. We have endeavoured to explain 

 these matters, to the best of our ability, in our section 

 on "Climates and Temperatures," to which we beg to 

 refer the reader for a fuller statement of these subjects. 

 Now, in the special case before us, we find, as we have 

 said, that a dense forest of thoroughly equatorial 

 character, runs up far beyond the usual limits of that 

 great forest zone, and that it covers a very large pro- 

 portion of what would naturally form the Bush Country 

 in Central America. How shall we account for this 

 phenomenon ? 



In the first place, what creates the dense forest 

 growths of the equatorial zone is the permanency of 

 high temperatures and moist atmosphere, combined 

 with a superabundant water-supply derived from the 



