6 WANDERINGS IN 



FIRST nourishment. It was to an undigested seed, pass- 



JOURNET. 



- ing through the body of the bird which had 

 perched on the mora, that the fig-tree first owed 

 its elevated station there. The sap of the mora 

 raised it into full bearing ; but now, in its turn, it 

 is doomed to contribute a portion of its own sap 

 and juices towards the growth of different species 

 of vines, the seeds of which, also, the birds de- 

 posited on its branches. These soon vegetate, and 

 bear fruit in great quantities ; so what with their 

 usurpation of the resources of the fig-tree, and 

 the fig-tree of the mora, the mora, unable to sup- 

 port a charge which nature never intended it 

 should, languishes and dies under its burden ; and 

 then the fig-tree, and its usurping progeny of 

 vines, receiving no more succour from their late 

 foster parent, droop and perish in their turn. 

 The bush- A vine called the bush-rope by the wood-cutters, 



rope. 



on account of its use in hauling out the heaviest 

 timber, has a singular appearance in the forests of 

 Demerara. Sometimes you see it nearly as thick 

 as a man's body, twisted like a corkscrew round 

 the tallest trees, and rearing its head high above 

 their tops. At other times, three or four of them, 

 like strands in a cable, join tree and tree, and 

 branch and branch together. Others, descending 

 from on high, take root as soon as their extremity 

 touches the ground, and appear like shrouds and 

 stays supporting the mainmast of a line of battle 

 ship; while others, sending out parallel, oblique, 



