:::::::;3s THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC m:::::;;;: 



ran might read. But the thousand and one influences, 

 subtle, far-reaching, and powerful, which were woven 

 into each such incident, could only be conjectured. The 

 biography of a tropical tree has never been written. 

 When it is, few books will equal it in interest. All the 

 environment aids its young growth ; every influence is 

 turned against it, when once it weakens. The rains, 

 which nourish the surging sap, later filter into every 

 crevice and rot the wood of its very heart. The myriads 

 of insects, which, in its vigour, it has defied, now de- 

 vour leaf and twig and bore it from bark to bark. The 

 lichens, which before only enriched the loam at its 

 roots, now bring swift decay to its noblest boughs. 



Long before our senses can perceive any lack of 

 vigour, word has somehow been passed, and the allies 

 of the fatal vine hasten, vulture-like, to take their 

 part in the unequal struggle. We read of savages 

 sometimes dressing their captives in most elaborate and 

 brilliant clothing before putting them to death. So, 

 when its fate is sealed, the tree occasionally bursts 

 forth into gorgeous bloom — a mock splendour not 

 its own. Such is the case when certain parasites, fol- 

 lowing the track of the vine, fill the branches, each 

 rooted deeply in the weakened wood, and living on the 

 very life-sap of the tree. These parasites unfold great 

 masses of deep scarlet blossoms, which light up the 

 dark glades of the jungle. Unless a branch is cut ofF, 

 and the section closely examined, the flowers would be 



«4 313 ^ 



