VAUIKD CHARACTER OF TROPICAL FORESTS 81 



the lianas still appear in large numbers, the eye delights in 

 palms of every variety of form, in terebinthinaceas, in legumi- 

 ;nosas, whose sap is rich with many a costly balsam; in 

 laurels, bearing an abundance of aromatic fruit ; or it admires 

 the broad-leaved heliconias, the large blossoms of the solaneas, 

 and thousands of other flowers, remarkable for the beauty of 

 their colour, the strangeness of their form, or their exquisite 

 I aroma. 



i| In the deep lowlands the forest assumes a severe and gloomy 

 character: dense crowns ef foliage form lofty vaults almost 

 impenetrable to the light of day ; no underwood thrives on the 

 swampy ground; no parasite puts forth its delicate blossoms 

 where the mighty trees stand in interminable confusion ; and 

 •only mushrooms sprout abundantly from the humid soil. 

 'i\ Nothing can equal the gloom of these forests during tbe rainy 

 * season. Thick fogs obscure the damp and sultry air, and clouds 

 of mosquitos whirl about in the mist. The trees are dripping 

 •with moisture ; the flowers expand their petals only during the 

 few dry hours of the day, and every animal seeks shelter in the 

 thicket. No bird, no butterfly comes forth ; the snorting of the 

 capybaras, and the monotonous croaking of frogs and toads, 

 tare the only sounds that break the dull silence. Night darkens 

 with increasing sadness over these dismal solitudes ; no star is 

 visible ; the moon disappears behind thick clouds ; and the roar 

 of the jaguar, or the bowlings of the stentor-monkey, issue like 

 .notes of distress from the depth of the melancholy woods. 



A hurricane bursting over the primitive forest is one of the 

 most terrific scenes of nature. A hollow uproar in the higher 

 regions of the air, as if the wild huntsman of the German 

 legends were sweeping along with his whole pack of phantom 

 hounds, precedes the explosion of the storm, while the lower 

 atmosphere still lies in deep repose. The roaring and rushing 

 descends lower and lower ; the higher branches of the trees strike 

 i wildly against each other ; the forked lightning flashes through 

 the night-like darkness; the thunder, repeated by a hundred 

 echoes, rolls through the trembling thicket ; and trees, uprooted 

 by the fury of the storm, fall with a loud crash, crushing every 

 stem of minor growth in their sweeping ruin. The bowlings 

 'and wailings of terrified animals accompany the wild sounds of 

 ! 'the tempest. 



