12 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



before exhaustion and an impassable gap of mud and water 

 stopped all progress. As never before we realized how safe 

 from man are the denizens of these strange swamps. Mon- 

 keys fled swiftly before us, birds rose and flew overhead, 

 while we painfully crept and pulled ourselves along over the 

 slippery stems. 



More wonderful even than the coral polyps are these man- 

 groves, for by this plant alone all this region has been rescued 

 from the sea and built up into land. In future years, as the 

 mud banks become higher and are fertilized by the ever- 

 falling leaves, other growths will appear, and finally the coast 

 of the continent will be thus extended by many scores of 

 miles of fertile soil. 



A network of narrow channels stretches through this 

 wilderness and allowed us to explore the far interior in our 

 shallow curiara or dug-out. Thus we spent days and weeks 

 in search of the creatures which lived in this land of a single 

 tree, and here we learned how delightful the climate of such 

 a region can be. Every night we slept under blankets, and 

 during the day the temperature ranged from 66 at five and 

 six o'clock in the morning to about 86 at noon, although we 

 were within nine degrees of the equator.* One could paddle 

 all day with more comfort than on a hot summer day in the 

 north. By day mosquitoes were generally absent, and only a 



* Actual temperatures (Fahrenheit) taken in the mangrove forest on 

 board the sloop are as follows: 



March 3oth April ist 



5.30 A.M. 66 6.00 A.M. 73 



9.30 86 10.00 80 



11.30 86 2.00 P.M. 85 



1.30 P.M. 86 6.00 80 

 7.00 78 



March 31 st April 2nd 



5.30 A.M. 71 5.30 A.M. 69 



6.30 72 7-3 77 



