246 IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 



courida bush they can never be seen in this state, 

 but only peeping from the mud for an inch or two 

 here and there. It can be easily understood that 

 when every crevice between the tangle of roots is 

 filled with mud and layers of the same are held 

 together by the pegs, the tree is so weighted down 

 as to be able to defy every wind that blows, and 

 say to the waves, " Thus far shalt thou come, but 

 no farther." 



Notwithstanding all its precautions, however, its 

 victory often recoils upon itself. Year after year 

 it goes on extending farther and farther, reclaiming 

 acres of mud flat from the raging waters, until 

 perhaps a headland is produced which forms a 

 great obstruction to some particular current. Then 

 ensues a greater struggle than ever. The north- 

 east wind comes at a time when the tide is at its 

 highest, dashes the waves against the barrier, they 

 undermine it, drag away one great mat of roots after 

 another, and again flow past where was once the little 

 cape. But, even then the courida has the best of it, 

 for rarely does it happen that the sea recovers all it 

 has lost and the general result is something added 

 to the muddy fore-shore. Again, there are times 

 when, notwithstanding all their exertions, the waves 

 do not succeed in removing the barrier, and then 

 they have to take themselves off to some other 



