54 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 
we may be certain that the causes of this and of 
the host of other unreasonable realities which 
fill the path of the evolutionist with never- 
quenched enthusiasm, will extend far beyond the 
colors of two tropical birds. They will have 
something to do with flowers and with bright but- 
terflies, and we shall know why our “favorite 
color” is more than a whim, and why the Greeks 
may not have been able to distinguish the full 
gamut of our spectrum, and why rainbows are 
so narrow to our eyes in comparison to what they 
might be. 
Finally, there was thrown aside all finesse, all 
delicacy of presentation, and the last lingering 
feeling of temperate life and nature was erased. 
From now on there was no confusion of zones, 
no concessions, no mental palimpsest of resolv- 
ing images. The spatial, the temporal,—the hill- 
side, the passing seconds,—the vibrations and 
material atoms stimulating my five senses, all 
were tropical, quickened with the unbelievable 
vitality of equatorial life. A rustling came to 
my ears, although the breeze was still little more 
than a sensation of coolness. Then a deep whirr 
sounded overhead, and another, and another, and 
with a rush a dozen great toucans were all about 
