THE EQUATORIAL ZONE. 311 



tale] t the Orange, the Bread-fruit, and the Jack (Arto- 

 carpus integri/olia)" And on the high bushy hills in this 

 neighbourhood a wild fruit-tree grows plentifully, which the 

 Brazilians call the Mangaba (Hancornia speciosa) ; " it is a 

 small tree of the Natural Family Apocynece, the small leaves 

 and drooping branches of which give it somewhat the ap- 

 pearance of the Weeping Birch. The fruit is about the 

 size of a large plum, of a yellow colour, but streaked with 

 red on one side, and is of a delicious flavour." 



We must however spend no more time on the Brazilian 

 flora, as we have to learn something of the African portion 

 of the Equatorial Zone before we arrive at the conclusion of 

 our long travels; of the sea-coast plants in this part of 

 South America we can therefore mention but few, such as 

 " those curious mossy Cacti (Melocactus depresms,HoQ>k.)," 

 and two shrubs which are " common all along the coast of 

 Brazil/' Sop/wra tomentosa, of the Leguminous family, with 

 foliage like the North American Acacia (Bo&inia), and a 

 kind of wild Clove, Eugenia Michelii. 



As a matter of course we find Mangrove-trees growing 

 in numbers on the muddy shores, but we shrink from too 

 near an approach to them, as such situations abound with 

 mosquitos. As Mangroves are amongst the last sights we 



