138 



THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



mine red of the under surface. Tlie odorous white blossoms, 

 deepening into roseate hues, are composed of several hundred 

 petals ; and, measuring no less than fourteen inches in diameter, 

 rival the colossal proportions of the leaves. The Victoria is 

 found all over the Amazon district, but rarely or never in the 

 river itself. It seems to delight in still waters, growing in 

 inlets, lakes, or very quiet branches of the river fully exposed 

 to the sun. 



The trunk of several tropical trees offers the remarkable 

 peculiarity of bulging out in the middle like a barrel. In the 

 Brazilian forests, the Pao Barrigudo (Chorisia ventricosa) 

 arrests the attention of every traveller by its odd ventricose 

 shape, nearly half as broad in the centre as long, and gradually 

 tapering towards the bottom and the top, whence spring a few 

 tliin and scanty branches. It is only by seeing great numbers 

 of these trees all with their character more or less palpable. 





H ^. 



BOTTLK-TREE. 



that one can believe it is not an accidental circumstance in 

 the individual tree, instead of being truly characteristic of the 

 species. 



