THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 557 



lias been known to bear a flotilla of thirteen species of 

 plants from Brazil and Guiana to the shores of Congo in 

 Afx'ica. Another grand oceanic current, traversing an im- 

 mense space of the torrid zone, constantly transjiorts fruits 

 from the shores of India, which its waves tumultuously 

 scatter on the rocks of Brazil. 



The most important migrations in the vegetable kingdom 

 are due to the movements of fresh waters, rivers, and 

 streams. Pascal says that rivers are moving roads, 

 but the plants seem to have found this out before he did. 

 Carried away by the fugitive waves, seeds sometimes 

 travel great distances to seek a new country. It is thus 

 that the rivers Avhich spring from the glaciers of the 

 Upper Alps deposit in the plains of Munich some of the 

 species which grow on their lofty peaks; others descend 

 from the spurs of the Andes, to seek a humble shelter in 

 the isles by the mouth of the Orinoco. Plants are known 

 which fall from the lofty heights of the Himalayas and pass 

 safely through the turmoil of their foaming cascades, to 

 expand their corollas on the enchanting borders of the delta 

 of the Ganges.^ 



Dreading the agitation of torrents, some nautical fruits 

 trust to tranquil waters only; thus upon the waves of the 

 Nile sail peacefully the floating cradles of the plant dear 

 to Isis. For this purpose its fruits form little circular 

 boats, the interior of which contains the precious progeny. 

 At maturity the waves carry ofi^ these rejjroductive germs 

 en masse and transport them to a distance. Then when 

 the rude shocks of the voyage have finally torn the little 



' An alpine moss (Bryum alpinum), certainly torn away in the Tlniringian 

 forest, is borne by the water to the porphyry rocks near Halle. Darwin thinks 

 that the forests of peach and orange trees which cover the mouth of the Parana 

 owe their oi-igin merely to seeds carried by the river. 



