278 IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 



Europe : they can be found in young plantations, 

 disappear as the trees become more crowded, and 

 again come to the front after a clearance has been 

 made. In such cases the time during which they 

 lie dormant cannot be very great, but here, in 

 many cases, it must be something enormous. 



In the absence of other indications of man's 

 former presence, it is to the cultivated plants we 

 must look ; and here we meet with a great 

 difficulty at the commencement. Except the 

 cassava and capsicum, there are no others in 

 general cultivation by the red man, and these are 

 utterly unable to contend with the wildings of the 

 forest. The cassava is very quickly overcome, and 

 although perhaps the bird-pepper may endure a 

 little longer, the annual capsicums, in all their 

 varieties, are even more weak. We are therefore 

 reduced to the pine-apple, the krattee, the arrow- 

 cane, and a few beenas, and of these only the two 

 first are able to exist alone for any length of time. 

 These, however, are so common, and are of such 

 great evidential value, that we need hardly ever 

 entertain a doubt of the existence of a settlement 

 wherever they are found. A less obvious but 

 certain indication is the tobacco, which almost 

 always comes up when the soil of such places 

 is disturbed, the seeds having lain dormant for an 

 indefinite period. 



