IN THE SWAMP. 1*3 



seasons this savannah is quite gay it is a" veritable 

 flower garden. Round the borders grow miniature 

 pine-like forests of Lycopodiums, in the midst of 

 which the beautiful blue bells of the Lisianthus 

 hang and relieve the otherwise uniform but pretty 

 mass of foliage. All over the savannah the phlox- 

 like flowers of Sipanea pratensis give a blush of 

 pink to the whole expanse, but not so as to ex- 

 clude a number of others. In one place every 

 tuft is occupied by a plant of Cleistes rosea, that 

 pretty ground orchid with flowers as brilliant as a 

 Cattleya, although not so large. Then there are 

 Burmannias, a host of Utricularias growing from 

 pretty rosettes, or accompanied by grassy leaves ; 

 and the daintiest gem of all, the ruddy Drosera, 

 here as everywhere else entrapping the myriads 

 of microscopic gnats which frequent such places. 



Leaving this savannah, on which we have been 

 able to walk and admire the host of pretty flowers 

 that deck the surface, we come back to the creek, 

 which has by no means received the attention it 

 deserves. Its most striking feature, besides its 

 dark waters, is the almost total absence of current 

 in the upper reaches. Whereas, near the mouth, 

 the stream is narrowed by the intrusion of a 

 thousand clumps of palms and marantas, as well 

 as great boles of trees, here it widens out into still 



