298 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



dwell on scenes like this, for though seen only in imagina- 

 tion, they 



" Haunt us till they become a cheering light 



Unto our souls ; 



Nor do we merely feel these essences 

 For one short hour." 



And now, constrained at last to take our leave, how dif- 

 ferent to the Jagua Palms we have just left, but still how 

 beautiful, is the luxuriant spreading foliage of the Tan- 

 palms, which, just before the Orinoco plunges into the 

 ocean, we see standing so thickly together on the banks, 

 that they form a perfect forest. At times of inundation a 

 strange scene takes place here; the natives are then in- 

 debted to these Palms for their safety, when " they live like 

 apes upon the trees, in huts constructed upon mats, firmly 

 bound to contiguous branches,"* canoes being their only 

 means of locomotion. 



Forests of Bamboo-reeds are another feature of the river- 

 side vegetation in the Equatorial Zone. In New Granada 

 they are spoken of by Humboldt as "growing uninter- 



* According to Humboldt, the accuracy of this long-believed notion seems 

 doubtful; Father Jose Gumilla, who twice visited the natives as a missionary, 

 speaks indeed of pendent habitations supported by high pillars, but makes no 

 mention of platforms attached to still growing trees. 



