A TROPIC GARDEN 241 
seam of the great lobes, and serving, also, as 
drainage outlet for excess of rain. 
A young leaf occasionally came to grief by 
reaching the surface amid several large ones 
floating close together. Such a leaf expanded, 
as usual, but, like a beached boat, was gradually 
forced high and dry, hardening into a distorted 
shape and sinking only with the decay of the un- 
derlying leaves. 
The deep crimson of the outside of the rim 
was merely a reflection tint, and vanished when 
the sun shone directly through; but the masses 
of sharp spines were very real, and quite efficient 
in repelling boarders. The leaf offered safe 
haven to any creature that could leap or fly to its 
surface; but its life would be short indeed if the 
casual whim of every baby crocodile or flipper of 
a young manatee met with no opposition. 
Insects came from water and from air and 
called the floating leaf home, and, from now on, 
its surface was one of the most interesting and 
busy arenas in this tropical landscape. 
In late September I spread my observation 
chair at the very edge of one of the dark tarns 
and watched the life on the leaves. Out at the 
