2 Brief Account of Mr. Colley^s 



so large a stream as the Essequibo, Massaroni, Corgooni, Ber- 

 bice, and other rivers which were afterwards visited, partakes 

 more or less of the characters of them all. The forest (or, as it is 

 there called, " the bush ") usually hangs over, or approaches near 

 to, the stream ; and, to a European eye, wears a rich but rather 

 monotonous aspect; relieved only by the " crowned heads " of 

 the majestic palms, or the broad-spreading foliage of the banana. 

 If we except the " silk-cotton tree," the trunk of which is found 

 of prodigious diameter, the trees are not usually of very large 

 growth: indeed, the redundance of vegetation, while it contri- 

 butes to the denseness of the forest, must naturally have a tend- 

 ency to diminish the size of the individuals of which it is formed. 

 The " bush rope," and many splendid climbers, hang in light 

 and elegant drapery round the higher parts of the trees ; while 

 their trunks and lower branches actually bristle with the various 

 species of TWYdiuAsia, Orchidese, ^riiideae, and ferns ; among 

 •which the right of " tree-room " is divided, the Tillandsz<s 

 having the largest share. Epiphyllum speciosum is also found 

 growing as an epiphyte, but has never a vigorous appearance. 



Flourishing as the various epiphytes appear, and securely 

 seated as they seem to be out of the reach of harm, there is, 

 nevertheless, a war of extermination continually going on among 

 themselves, as violent as that of the wild beasts which rove 

 beneath their feet. The seed of an orchideous plant vegetates 

 on some naked portion of a tree ; pseudo-bulb after pseudo-bulb 

 is formed, and the plant in time arrives at maturity, and begins 

 to bloom ; presently, a rapidly spreading fern advances up the 

 branch, and, fixing its unrelenting stolones among the clustered 

 pseudo-bulbs of the orchideous plant, literally tramples it beneath 

 its feet. Next comes the seed of some huge Tillandsm, which, 

 germinating among what you may almost term the " fur " of the 

 fronds and base of the fern, thrusts its wire-like roots into its 

 very vitals, and soon raises over its head a pyramid of prickly 

 leaves. Perhaps, too, while in the height of its glory, the tyrant 

 Tillandsm may itself feel the strangling grasp of a " bush rope ;" 

 and thus, in its turn, be driven from its station. Such is the 

 kind of vegetable retribution which is always going on, in damp 

 tropical forests, among a tribe of plants which, indeed, form 

 noble substitutes for the mosses and lichens which assume their 

 places in our own woods. It might be expected that, where 

 such numerous epiphytes flourish, moss would also be found in 

 abundance. The reverse, however, is the case : scarcely a hand- 

 ful could be collected in a day ; and, when observed at all, it is 

 generally found extending, in a narrow strip, from the trunk to 

 the branches. This scarcity of moss is severely felt by the bota- 

 nical collector ; for it forms, in a dry state, by far the best sub- 

 stance in which Orchidese and many other plants can be packed. 



