54 Soil-Binders 



there follow shrubs and small trees, such as do not 

 object to the saltness of the soil ; and finally, when the 

 way has been carefully prepared, the once barren 

 sand-banks are covered with groves of coco-palms. 

 It is a fact never to be lost sight of, that here, as so 

 frequently elsewhere, the first all-important work is 

 done by comparatively feeble instruments; the dust- 

 like lichen prepares the way for the pine, and the 

 insignificant salt-worts, and weak-stemmed, creeping 

 bindweeds make ready for the palm. The pine could 

 not have found foot-hold or sustenance on the granite, 

 nor the palm on the sand-bank, but for these indis- 

 pensable fore-runners. 



The mangrove, like the coco-palm, thrives in salt 

 water, but is unlike it in being able to grow without 

 any preparation, and itself does much to consolidate 

 the mud in which it grows. A mangrove-swamp is not, 

 by all accounts, a delightful place, and is strongly 

 suggestive of malaria and fever, but it must be regarded 

 as only a first step towards arresting and cultivating 

 the mud in many tropical regions. 



The mangrove is a low-growing tree with widely- 

 spreading branches, and is wonderfully adapted by its 

 peculiarities to the situations in which it grows. It is 

 found on many tropical coasts, growing between high 

 and low water-mark, and in river estuaries washed by 

 the sea during one part of the day, and left exposed 

 during another. From its branches it sends down 

 long roots which, on reaching the mud, fix themselves 

 firmly in it, and become independent trees ; and the 

 seed, which begins to germinate and grow while still in 

 the fruit and on the bough, also sends out branches 

 and roots sometimes long enough to touch the ground, 



