River Country of Georgia 



tough skin, and when opened resembles a many- 

 chambered box full of translucent purple 

 candies. 



Toward evening I came to the country of one 

 of the most striking of southern plants, the so- 

 called "Long Moss" or Spanish Moss [Til- 

 landsia], though it is a flowering plant and be- 

 longs to the 'same family as the pineapple 

 [Bromelworts]. The trees hereabouts have all 

 their branches draped with it, producing a re- 

 markable effect. 



Here, too, I found an impenetrable cypress 

 swamp. This remarkable tree, called cypress, 

 is a taxodium, grows large and high, and is 

 remarkable for its flat crown. The whole forest 

 seems almost level on the top, as if each tree 

 had grown up against a ceiling, or had been 

 rolled while growing. This taxodium is the 

 only level-topped tree that I have seen. The 

 branches, though spreading, are careful not to 

 pass each other, and stop suddenly on reach- 

 ing the general level, as if they had grown up 

 against a ceiling. 



[57] 



