274 THE GREAT FOREST EAGLE 



the same, whether in Central America, or the Amazons, 

 or the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Its peculi- 

 arity from the human point of view is that life goes on 

 on two levels. There is an upper story and a basement. 

 The basement is the ground, on which by the strict law 

 of the forest no creature is supposed to live at all, 

 except perhaps the few species of forest swine which, 

 with various differences of form, haunt the great forests 

 in America and the Malay Archipelago. But of all 

 ground-dwelling creatures which venture into this 

 ' crypt ' of the tropical forest, man is at the greatest 

 disadvantage. He walks beneath a roof of foliage so 

 lofty that he can scarcely distinguish the forms of the 

 branches which support its leaves, supposing that there 

 were light sufficient to use his sight to good purpose. 

 But the tops of the giant trees are so dense that light 

 scarcely penetrates, and the would-be explorer of the 

 forest, and discoverer of new species of birds and 

 beasts, finds that he has to tread the mazes of a temple 

 of twilight, in which all the life, light, and beauty exist, 

 not below and within, but upon the roof. On the side 

 remote from earth life goes on gaily, and with such 

 completeness, that not only do the birds, insects, and 

 monkeys enjoy a world of their own, but in the cups 

 and reservoirs of the gigantic flowers and creepers 

 water-insects and molluscs live and reproduce them- 

 selves without ever coming in contact with the ground. 



