BOOK IV. 



THE FORESTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE VIRGIN FORESTS. 



' ; The noonday sun 



Now shone upon the Forest, one vast mass 

 Of mingling shade .... 



Like restless serpents, clothed 

 In rainbow and in fire, the parasites, 

 Starred with ten thousand blossoms, flow around 

 The gray trunks, and, as gamesome infants' eyes, 

 With gentle meanings, and most innocent wiles, 

 Fold their beams round the hearts of those that lovo, 

 These twine their tendrils with the wedded boughs 

 Uniting their close union ; the woven leaves 

 Make net-work of the dark blue light of day, 

 And the night's noontide clearness, mutable 

 As shapes in the weird clouds." 



SHELLEY. 



N all parts of the world some regions exist where, owing to 

 a concourse of favourable circumstances, the productive 

 forces of Nature have been able to manifest themselves 

 with an exceptional energy where vegetable life, in particular, has 

 acquired an extraordinary development. The rich soil is covered, 

 over more or less extensive areas, with vivacious plants, robust and 

 of great stature, which closely rooted, one against another, with inter- 



