306 VEGETATION OF 



twisted and wrinkled climbers, and the elegant palms, are what 

 strike the attention and fill the mind with admiration and sur- 

 prise and awe. But all is gloomy and solemn, and one feels a 

 relief on again seeing the blue sky, and feeling the scorching 

 rays of the sun. 



It is on the roadside and on the rivers' banks that we see 

 all the beauty of the tropical vegetation. There we find a 

 mass of bushes and shrubs and trees of every height, rising 

 over one another, all exposed to the bright light and the fresh 

 air ; and putting forth, within reach, their flowers and fruit, 

 which, in the forest, only grow far up on the topmost branches. 

 Bright flowers and green foliage combine their charms, and 

 climbers with their flowery festoons cover over the bare and 

 decaying stems. Yet, pick out the loveliest spots, where the 

 most gorgeous flowers of the tropics expand their glowing 

 petals, and for every scene of this kind, we may find another 

 at home of equal beauty, and with an equal amount of brilliant 

 colour. 



Look at a field of buttercups and daisies, a hill-side covered 

 with gorse and broom, a mountain rich with purple heather, 

 or a forest-glade, azure with a carpet of wild hyacinths, and 

 they will bear a comparison with any scene the tropics can 

 produce. I have never seen anything more glorious than an 

 old crab-tree in full blossom ; and the horse-chesnut, lilac, and 

 laburnum will vie with the choicest tropical trees and shrubs. 

 In the tropical waters are no more beautiful plants than our 

 white and yellow water-lilies, our irises, and flowering rush ; for 

 I cannot consider the flower of the Victoria regia more beautiful 

 than that of the Nymphaa alba^ though it may be larger ; nor 

 is it so abundant an ornament of the tropical waters as the 

 latter is of ours. 



But the question is not to be decided by a comparison of 

 individual plants, or the effects they may produce in the land- 

 scape, but on the frequency with which they occur, and the 

 proportion the brilliantly coloured bear to the inconspicuous 

 plants. My friend Mr. R. Spruce, now investigating the 

 botany of the Amazon and Rio Negro, assures me that by far 

 the greater proportion of plants gathered by him have incon- 

 spicuous green or white flowers ; and with regard to the 

 frequency of their occurrence, it was not an uncommon thing 

 for me to pass days travelling up the rivers, without seeing 



