A LAND OF SPICES. 421 



branches. Mangroves and Avicennias thrive upon the littoral. The 

 latter are specially noticeable on account of their roots, which climb to 

 a great distance above the muddy soil, and throw off a number of 

 suckers, not unlike gigantic water-pipes (asperges}. Among the 

 palms most abundant at Java, I confine myself to naming the Borras- 

 sus, the Corypha, and the Areca, The Vaquois (a species of Pan- 

 danus), which in stature and appearance resemble the palms, are also 

 widely diffused in that rich and fertile island. In the forests of its 

 interior swarm such splendid Ferns as the Niphobolus pubescens, and 

 such graceful Archids as the Aei^ides suaveolens, with its far-shooting 

 fronds and flowers, and the Phalcenopsis amabilis. There, too, the 

 traveller pauses before the Cyeas circinnalis, whose trunk, upright 

 and cylindrical as a Grecian column, is surmounted by a crest of 

 feathery leaves, each six to seven feet in length, stiff, and cut into 

 numerous strips, somewhat like our native bracken ; or he refreshes 

 himself with the pure liquid which the winding Nepenthes distilla- 

 toria, or Pitcher plant, collects in its horn-shaped leaves, as a constant 

 source of nutriment for its active life ; or, finally, he gazes wonder- 

 ingly at the Scindapsus pertusus, an epiphytous plant, whose cartila- 

 ginous leaves are perforated with an infinity of small circular holes, 

 and which twines itself round the tallest forest-trees in an embrace as 

 close as love's ! 



The forest-flora of the Moluccas differs but little from that of the 

 Sunda Islands. It presents, however, a few plants particularly 

 calculated ta excite our interest. Thus, at Amboyna, the Sago-Palms, 

 with other trees of the same family, accumulate in immense woods, 

 spreading over hundreds of acres. Everybody knows that the pith 

 of this palm is a white farinaceous substance, called sago, which not 

 only enters largely into the daily food of the natives, but forms an 

 important item in the European bill of fare, at least for children and 

 invalids. Amboyna, moreover, is the classic land of spices. The air 

 is thick with " Sabsean odours." Every breeze comes laden with per- 

 fumes. The Nutmeg (Myristica aromatica), the Clove (Caryophyllus 

 aromaticus), and the Pepper-plants grow there in a wild state. 



