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In general habit it suggests the cultivated umbrella plant, Cy- 

 perus alternifolius . A tall erect stem reaches a height which 

 may be as much as eight feet, and consists apparently of but 

 one internode. At the summit it bears a whorl of branches, 

 which stand horizontally or at some oblique angle. These con- 

 sist also of one internode each, and may bear tertiary branches 

 at their summits in turn. 



The trail winds on up the side of the mountain, past giant 

 baletes and under giant lianas, now turning around a shoulder 

 of the mountain, now descending slightly to cross one of the 

 numerous small streams, and then ascending steeply on the 

 other side. In every direction the dense forest intercepts the 

 view. One never gets a glimpse of the valley which he has left, 

 or of the peak which is his goal. He must merely continue 

 along the trail, knowing that in due time it will lead him to the 

 surnmit. Little lizards scurry silently off the path into the 

 vegetation at the side, gallinaceous birds scratch in the leaves 

 and hurry away when alarmed, a pair of unseen songbirds whistle 

 to each other in the treetops overhead. The animal life is 

 smothered and lost in the overwhelming luxuriance of the vege- 

 tation, and the few sounds heard in evidence of its presence 

 impress one by their mystery and secrecy. The only exception 

 comes from the hoarse-voiced hornbills, whose raucous cries 

 are heard frequently, although the big birds themselves keep 

 well hidden. 



Approximately a third of the way up the mountain the forest 

 decreases in height, and consists now of two stories of trees 

 where there had been three before. The general character of the 

 vegetation, however, is virtually unchanged. The general 

 size of the lianas is decreased. The screw-pine, Pandanus, 

 becomes relatively common. Great masses of the climbing 

 pandan, Freycinetia, join with the aroids in covering the trunks 

 of the trees. Occasionally among the trees one gets a glimpse 

 of a giant erect aroid, of a species as yet unnamed, with a trunk 

 ten feet tall or more, and with spreading leaves whose length, 

 including the petiole, may reach twelve feet. A leaf of that 

 size on a palm is not very impressive, because the leaves there 



