THE TROPICAL ZONE. 229 



In the same situation grow two different species of a shrub 

 (or small tree) called Eckites. It belongs to the same tribe 

 as our Periwinkle (Apocynacete) , and many of the family are 

 very much like it both in leaf and blossom ; but in Brazil a 

 very peculiar character is to be observed in the leaves, the 

 under surface of which looks as if it were lined with white 

 flannel; in some, both the upper and under surface have 

 this woolly appearance. The seed-pod grows to the length 

 of half a foot, and is shaped something like that of the 

 crane's bill. 



But we must not forget that, in Brazil, large tracts of 

 the country have long been brought into cultivation ; that 

 the wild beauties of Nature have been made to feel what 

 the axe can do in the hand of "civilized man/' and are 

 retiring before his face towards the interior, like the red 

 Indians themselves, to make room for orderly plantations. 

 Still, these plantations are sometimes beautiful to look at, 

 particularly those of the Coffee-plant, which generally oc- 

 cupy the slopes of hills, not being allowed to grow higher 

 than ten or twelve feet. "Nothing is more beautiful 

 than a Coffee-plantation in full bloom ; the trees come into 

 flower at the same time, but the blossoms do not last more 

 than twenty-four hours. Seen from a distance the planta- 



