192 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



to digest such an unsavory hirsute object, it would well be 

 dismayed at the transformation. 



Everywhere we observe examples of protective form or 

 coloration. On the under side of a branch in front of us 

 are what appear to be many tufts of blackish moss— until 

 we brush against some of it and a few of the tufts resolve 

 into dense bunches of caterpillars. Others which we touch 

 on purpose to see if they be caterpillars or not, deceive us 

 doubly by retaining their vegetable character. 



On the ground at our feet are scattered seed sheaths which 

 have fallen from the branches high overhead. There are 

 myrials of them. Suddenly one takes legs to itself and 

 moves and only after examining it closely do we know it for 

 a beautiful brown elater, a beetle (Semiotus ligneus) embossed 

 with pale ivory — a perfect li\'ing counterpart of the arbo- 

 real seed sheaths strewn all about. Words completely fail to 

 give an idea of the wonder and delight of having one's senses 

 set at naught by these devices of nature. After being taken 

 in by several, we imagine we see them everywhere in inno- 

 cent leaves or bit of lichens! 



Many travellers — Wallace ana Bates among them — 

 speak often of the scarcity of flowers in the tropics, but here 

 at Hoorie and on our later expeditions we were hardly ever out 

 of sight of blossoms. A few feet behind us, as we sit on the log, 

 are two Solomon-seal-like plants {Castiis i.^).) eighteen inches 

 high, with the stem and leaves growing in a wide ascending 

 spiral — making one revolution throughout its course. A sheaf 

 of flower heads appears at the top of the plant with a single 

 white open flower, giving forth the sweetest perfume. Bell- 

 shapei, it is formed by a single sweeping petal, the edges 

 apposed along the summit, and the mouth rimmed with the 

 finest hair-like fringe. The slit in the upper part is protected 

 by a second narrow petal recurved at the tip, showing the 

 heart within. Such a blossom would be a splendid addition 



