110 MIOCENE LOCALITIES. 



pine-apple (Puya Gaudini}, the spiny leaves of which, united into 

 a crown, spring from a woody stem. A crocodile close by is 

 about to leap into the water, from which some tapirs are emerg- 

 ing after their bath. In the distance a herd of rhinoceroses is 

 approaching the marshy shore, whilst some Anthracotheria ad- 

 vance from the shadow of the forest towards the cool waters. 



At the present day, to see similar forms of vegetation we must 

 transport ourselves some 15 degrees further south; and even 

 then we shall nowhere find them assembled together in the same 

 way as in the Miocene period. The best comparison may be 

 made by visiting the morasses which in the southern United 

 States of America spread over an immense district. There the 

 fan-palm (Sabal Adansoni, the swamp-palmetto) covers wide 

 regions of marshy land ; many large grasses form lofty reed- 

 beds, sometimes united into almost impenetrable masses; the 

 drier spots are covered with the magnificent foliage of Weymouth 

 pines, evergreen oaks and hollies, lofty walnut- and maple-trees, 

 and shining magnolias and tulip-trees, often entwined by vines, 

 sarsaparillas, and shrubby Berchemm. 



The swamp-cypress (Taxodium distichum) penetrates into the 

 most marshy localities, spreading its mighty roots over the soil, 

 and forming with its branches, covered with elegant feathery 

 twigs, a wide-spread dome supported on a lofty trunk. Here 

 and there in these morasses small lakes are formed. Lesquereux 

 describes one of these in the interior of the Great Dismal Swamp 

 of Virginia, which vividly resembles the Swiss Miocene marshy 

 lakes. ' ' It is," says Lesquereux, " only accessible in a boat ; 

 for when we approach the shore some of the trees descend into 

 the lake, so that only their summits are visible, whilst others have 

 their trunks half covered with water. When once we have got 

 away from the trees and into the true lake, the view is wonderful. 

 Not that it is exactly picturesque ; but the perfect uniformity of 

 its surroundings and colours harmonizes admirably with the ab- 

 solute solitude and death-like stillness of the scene. I saw there 

 no single creature except the Negro whom I met in the forest 

 and who guided the canoe, which glided so gently over the black 

 waters that, although I was entirely occupied with my investi- 

 gations, a deep melancholy affected my heart, as if I had been 

 alone upon a desert island or in a new world." 



