54 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 



we may be certain that the causes of this and of 

 the host of other unreasonable realities which 

 fill the path of the evolutionist with never- 

 quenched enthusiasm, will extend far beyond the 

 colors of two tropical birds. They will have 

 something to do with flowers and with bright but- 

 terflies, and we shall know why our "favorite 

 color" is more than a whim, and why the Greeks 

 may not have been able to distinguish the full 

 gamut of our spectrum, and why rainbows are 

 so narrow to our eyes in comparison to what they 

 might be. 



Finally, there was thrown aside all finesse, all 

 delicacy of presentation, and the last lingering 

 feeling of temperate life and nature was erased. 

 From now on there was no confusion of zones, 

 no concessions, no mental palimpsest of resolv- 

 ing images. The spatial, the temporal, the hill- 

 side, the passing seconds, the vibrations and 

 material atoms stimulating my five senses, all 

 were tropical, quickened with the unbelievable 

 vitality of equatorial life. A rustling came to 

 my ears, although the breeze was still little more 

 than a sensation of coolness. Then a deep whirr 

 sounded overhead, and another, and another, and 

 with a rush a dozen great toucan? were all about 



