196 

 Here is a pretty picture that the Colonel paints: 



" In the deep valleys were magnificent woods, in which giant rubber-trees towered, 

 while the huge leaves of the low-growing pacova or wild banana, were conspicuous 

 in the undergrowth. Great azure butterflies flitted through the open, sunny- 

 glades, and the bell-birds sitting motionless, uttered their ringing calls from the 

 dark stillness of the columned groves." 



While going down the famous River of Doubt, now the Rio 

 Teodoro (River Theodore), the undergrowth was so dense that 

 trees leaned over the river from both banks, forming barriers, 

 which the men in the leading canoes cleared away with their 

 axes. There were many palms and the Colonel noticed a hand- 

 some species of bacaba. He also gives an interesting descrip- 

 tion of stopping at a bee-tree to get honey. 



"The tree was a towering giant of the kind called milk-tree, because a thick 

 milky juice runs freely from any cut," he wrote. "Our camaradas eagerly drank 

 the white fluid that flowed from the wounds made by their axes. I tried it. The 

 taste was not unpleasant, but it left a sticky feeling in the mouth." 



He also speaks particularly about the cajazeira tree, whose 

 fruit he found delicious, and makes the suggestion that this fruit 

 would make a valuable addition to our orchards, pointing out 

 that, although tropical, the tree thrives when domesticated and 

 propagates rapidly from shoots. He advises the Department of 

 Agriculture to experiment and see if this tree would not grow in 

 Southern California and Florida. 



While going down the Rio Teodoro, Colonel Roosevelt saw 

 many trees, the tops of which were covered with yellow-white 

 blossoms and red blossoms. Then he mentions a peculiarity 

 that demonstrates his closeness of observation : 



"Many of the big trees were buttressed at the base with great thin walls of wood. 

 Others, including both palms and ordinary trees, showed an even stranger peculi- 

 arity. The trunk, near the base, but sometimes six or eight feet from the ground, 

 was split into a dozen or twenty branches or small trunks which sloped outward in 

 tent-like shape, each becoming a root. The larger trees of this type looked as if 

 their trunks were seated on the tops of the pole frames of Indian tepees." 



While it was the fauna more than the flora that interested 

 Colonel Roosevelt, as has been remarked at the beginning of this 

 article, nevertheless his remarkable powers of observation were 

 always in evidence, which lends interest to everything that he 



