SOIL AND VEGETATION. Of 







stock which is sent (these savannahs being public pasture-lands) 

 to graze therein. On these occasions the rush of animals and 

 game of all kinds which had been sheltered for months under 

 cover of the long-tufted grass is astonishing. Some are shot, or 

 cut down by the watchers around the fire, and others caught by 

 dogs ; many make their escape, and a still greater number are 

 afterwards found either stifled by the smoke, or consumed almost 

 to cinders in the flames. 



The vegetation of Trinidad, like that of all intertropical 

 climates, is dense and luxuriant. Some trees attain the loftiest 

 heights, and display the most majestic forms. In the palm 

 family, the Moriche (Mauritia) and Mountain-cabbage (Oreodoxd) 

 grow perfectly straight like columns, supporting a tuft of fan-like 

 and pinnated leaves : over its humble associates towers the giant 

 Cedar, whilst the noble Balata rears its magnificent trunk, ex- 

 panding above in vigorous branches clothed with a dark green 

 foliage. The Poui and Bois Immortel periodically change their 

 verdant foliage, the former for a thick covering of pure yellow, 

 the latter of brilliant crimson blossoms ; and, in like manner 

 also, the flowering Roble assumes its orange- coloured garment, 

 and spreads far around a delicious perfume. The Ceyba, the 

 Sand-box and wild Plum-trees display, on their branches and 

 along their trunks, a thick vegetation of Epidendra and Til- 

 laridsias. The underbrush, in some parts, is so thick that a 

 passage must be effected with the cutlass. Bauhinias, Bignonias, 

 and other lianes, are everywhere seen climbing up the trunks of 

 the loftiest trees, whilst, from the branches of others, depend the 

 twining roots of the Mamure (Carludovicia) and the Seguine 

 (Philodendrum) . The vigorous Matapalo (Ficus), accidentally 

 implanted on some tree, sends down into the soil its cable-like 

 root, meanwhile encircling its supporter with an inextricable net- 

 work of pliant root-stems, which, by a gradual yet rapid growth, 

 eventually stifle and destroy the most luxuriant tree. In copses 

 are met the more humble individuals of the vegetable kingdom 

 the beautiful Passiflora, the delicate Convolvulus, the more robust 

 Bignonia, and the useful Guaco and Pareira Brava. Poisonous 

 as well as wholesome medicinal plants grow everywhere ; and 

 from our forests we may draw an almost inexhaustible supply of 

 valuable timber, as well as cabinet and other woods, applicable 

 o all descriptions of useful purposes. 



