PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 139 



cry of " A wood-slave bite me," comes down with 

 nothing but one of the Catasetum bulbs, which 

 he has hurriedly torn off in his fright. The poor 

 little reptile could not injure him in any way, but 

 as our specimens would be useless if torn to pieces, 

 we resolve to cut down the palm. At first the 

 axe rings on the hard trunk, as if both instead of 

 one were made of steel, but presently, as an entrance 

 is made, the wood proves quite soft. Then the 

 mighty prince of the vegetable kingdom, as Lin- 

 naeus would have called it, bends over, comes crash- 

 ing down, and throws up sheets of water and mud 

 as it strikes the surface of the swamp. We wade 

 towards the crown and begin feeling below for the 

 Catasetums, and presently notice that the water is 

 black with ants, which soon make their presence 

 known most unmistakably by their virulent bites. 

 However, we are not to be daunted by these pests, 

 and soon manage to loosen an orchid, bringing 

 up with it a nest of hairy spiders, the dreaded 

 wood-slave, a little harmless snake, quite a number 

 of cockroaches, and two or three beetles. We also 

 discover that several plants have entered into com- 

 petition with the Catasetums, including a small 

 species of Vanilla, a few ferns, and one of the 

 Bignoniaceae. 



Like an island in the sea this palm crown stood 



