SOUTH AMERICA. 7 



horizontal, and perpendicular shoots in all direc- FIRST 



JOURNEY. 



tions, put you in mind of what travellers call a 

 matted forest. Oftentimes a tree, above a hun- 

 dred feet high, uprooted by the whirlwind, is 

 stopped in its fall by these amazing cables of 

 nature ; and hence it is that you account for the 

 phenomenon of seeing trees, not only vegetating, 

 but sending forth vigorous shoots, though far from 

 their perpendicular, and their trunks inclined to 

 every degree from the meridian to the horizon. 



Their heads remain firmly supported by the 

 bush-rope; many of their roots soon refix them- 

 selves in the earth, and frequently a strong shoot 

 will sprout out perpendicularly from near the root 

 of the reclined trunk, and in time become a fine 

 tree. No grass grows under the trees ; and few 

 weeds, except in the swamps. 



The high grounds are pretty clear of under- 

 wood, and with a cutlass to sever the small bush- 

 ropes, it is not difficult walking among the trees. 



The soil, chiefly formed by the fallen leaves and soils. 

 decayed trees, is very rich and fertile in the vallies. 

 On the hills, it is little better than sand. The 

 rains seem to have carried away, and swept into 

 the vallies, every particle which nature intended 

 to have formed a mould. 



Four-footed animals are scarce, considering how Four footed 

 very thinly these forests are inhabited by men. 



Several species of the animal, commonly called 

 tiger, though in reality it approaches nearer to 



