ON THE SAND-REEF AND MOUNTAIN. 229 



into plains of several miles in extent. The vegeta- 

 tion is quite distinct from that of the forest, not 

 only in form but also in kind, consisting of 

 clumps of thick bushes with spaces between, or a 

 thin forest somewhat resembling that of temperate 

 climates. Between these clumps the white sand 

 is often quite bare, and reflects the intense sun- 

 light to such a degree as to be quite painful. It 

 is often so hot that the bare-footed Indian has 

 to cut pieces of bark and make sandals before 

 attempting any long journey across it. Sometimes 

 we come upon open spaces of a moderate size, where 

 a thin wiry carpet of under-shrubs manages to exist, 

 mixed with a few annuals in the rainy seasons. 

 These little shrubs consist of several species of 

 Papilionaceae, Cinchonaceae, and Melastomaceae, 

 and the annuals of a Polygala or two, and a few 

 grasses. In such places also the pine-apple is 

 common, not perhaps truly wild, but probably the 

 offspring of the head of a fruit thrown down there 

 in some past time. Many of the plants on these 

 places are very pretty, with a heath-like habit, and 

 when in flower give the mourie quite a gay 

 appearance. All over the sand are myriads of 

 ant-tracks which remind us of the runs near a 

 rabbit warren in England. 



It is not however the open places that the 



