142 PALMS 



in the deep valleys not a mile distant there is still much virgin 

 forest, and many trees of considerable height ; and on the road- 

 side in the Mandraka valley, along which the automobile road 

 and then the railway have been constructed within the last ten 

 or twelve years, both cut through dense forest, there are many 

 lofty and isolated trees still left standing, as well as numbers of 

 them in the adjoining woods. Like most tropical trees, these 

 show the generally vertical habit of the branches ; in the crowd 

 of competitors there is no room for lateral expansion by wide- 

 spreading branches ; every tree presses upwards to get the 

 light and heat of the sun. In many parts of the forest, the 

 small palm, commonly called the " bamboo-palm " (Mai. 

 Fdri-hdzo i.e. " woody sugar-cane), is very plentiful, giving a 

 thoroughly tropical appearance to the vegetation. Few trees 

 are more beautiful than this palm, with its ringed stem, three 

 to four inches in diameter, and its graceful crown of light green 

 pinnate leaves, through which the sunlight shines. Its usual 

 height is twelve or fourteen feet, but it occasionally attains 

 double that height, or more, in certain situations. A much 

 larger, but far less common, palm is the anwona, but this is 

 because of its being cut down for the sake of its tough wiry 

 bark, of which the people make the flooring of their houses, and 

 also use in the construction of the old-fashioned timber-framed 

 Hova dwellings. The bamboo-palm seems of much less 

 practical use, and is therefore much more plentiful. Here and 

 there a still smaller species of palm may be found, with a stem 

 not exceeding an inch in diameter. 



A very noticeable feature of these woods, as indeed of all 

 tropical forests, is the profusion of climbing plants. Even the 

 smaller trees and bushes have their twining and creeping 

 parasites, tightly wound round their stems. And from the 

 tallest trees there hang and intertwine all manner of lianas, 

 some as big as a ship's cable, and others of all intermediate sizes 

 ropes of every dimension, down to the finest cord, and often 

 forming an almost impassable barrier, an inextricable tangle 

 of dense vegetation. Frequently these climbingjDlants seem 

 to strangle and squeeze out the life of their unfortunate hosts ; 

 and it is often difficult to distinguish the foliage of the original 

 tree, and that of the parvenu, which has used its more robust 

 neighbour to climb up to the light and heat above the surround- 



