GIANTS OF THE FOREST. 387 



ordinary burthen is of immense height. It is closely allied to the 

 Brazil-nut tree,* whose seeds are likewise enclosed in large wooden 

 vessels, but these are without lids, and fall entire to the ground. It is at 

 least 120 feet high, and rises to the noble stature of 100 feet before 

 it throws off any branches. From twelve to twenty of these sweet 

 edible nuts lie in a pod. The monkeys are very partial to them, and 

 will patiently sit for hours hammering at a capsule with a stone, in 

 order to open it ; and as soon as they have succeeded, the on-lookers 

 rush to the spot, to purloin as many as they can. The natives assail 

 the quarreling party with stones, a proceeding which incites the 

 monkeys to revenge themselves by a discharge of nuts. By this 

 means the Indians load their boats without trouble, and the monkeys 

 are left to make a fresh foray." 



In his forest wanderings, Mr. Bates was especially attracted by 

 the colossal trees. He says that, on the whole, they had not remark- 

 ably thick stems ; the great and uniform height to which they grow 

 without throwing off a branch is a much more noticeable feature than 

 their thickness ; but at intervals he paused before a veritable giant. 

 Only one of these huge patriarchs of the woods can flourish within a 

 given space ; it monopolizes the domain, and none but humble indi- 

 viduals can nestle within its shadow. The cylindrical trunks of these 

 larger trees were generally about twenty to twenty-five feet in cir- 

 cumference. Von Martius, another Brazilian traveller, mentions 

 having measured trees in the Para district, belonging to various 

 species (Symphonia coccinea, Lecythis spirula, and Cratseva Tapia), 

 which were fifty to sixty feet in girth at the point where they become 

 cylindrical ! The height of the vast column-like stems could not be 

 less than 100 feet from the ground to their lowest branch. The total 

 height of the Pao d'Ano t and the Massaranduba, stem and crown 

 together, may be computed at from 180 to 200 feet. Where one of 

 them stands, the vast canopy of leafiness rises above the other forest 

 trees like a domed cathedral above the minor buildings of a city. 



A very curious feature in these trees is the growth of buttress- 

 * Bertholletia Excelsa (Lecythidacex). t Order, Bignoniacex. 



