OF THE PALJig. 33 



blossoms, which are often suspended from stems 

 formidably armed with huge thorns, and rising 

 to a height of between sixty and seventy feet. 

 They who contemplate distant travels from 

 Europe for the purpose of investigating subjects 

 of natural history, picture to themselves visions 

 of efficient shears and curved knives attached 

 to poles, ready for securing everything that 

 comes in their way, and of boys Avho, obedient 

 to their mandates, are prepared, with a cord 

 attached to their feet, to climb the loftiest trees. 

 Unfortunately, scarcely any of these visions are 

 ever realized, while the flowers are almost 

 unattainable owing to the great height at which 

 they grow. In the settlements of the river 

 network of Guiana, the stranger finds himself 

 among Indians, who, rendered rich and inde- 

 pendent by their apathy, their poverty, and 

 their barbarism, cannot be induced, either by 

 money or presents, to deviate their steps from 

 the regular path, supposing one to exist. This 

 stubborn indifference of the natives provokes 

 the European so much the more from his being 

 continually a witness of the inconceivable agility 

 with which tliey will climb any height when 

 prompted by their own inclination, as, for 

 instance, in the pursuit of a parrot, an iguana, 

 or a monkey, ^Yhit■h, Avounded by their arrows, 



B 



