134 SOUTH AMERICA 



in the hollows being locally called ' capoes '. The trees 

 are mostly bushy and deciduous, often, however, with 

 hard much divided leaves, or thorns and prickles, rhopala 

 and sivartzia being the best known. 



Though the rainfall appears to be low in the Guiana 

 savanas, night-dew is always abundant, accounting for 



Fig. 44. Tangle of Mangrove roots at low tide 

 British Guiana. 



the grassy character of this belt, which passes, almost on 

 all sides, into the tropical selvas. Such campos are but 

 sparsely peopled, and hardly tilled except for local crops 

 of maize, cacao, sugar-cane, and manioc. 



To the south, the undulations gradually disappear, 

 and the park landscape becomes more and more crowded 

 till the tall and gloomy Amazon selva is reached. 



