CHAP. XVIII. 



ABSENCE OF THORNS IN FOREST. 



233 



any damage with his horns, which were Lent downwards and 

 imng loosely, lie adopted another mode of venting his spleen. 

 As we wended our way slowly along the path, he would sud- 

 denly dart aside, and, in spite of all my endeavours, would 

 persist in his course until I was unseated by some climber 

 that crossed the path, when he availed himself of the oppor- 

 tunity to try to kick me. The ordinary method of guiding 

 an ox is by a string tied to a stick put through the cartilage of 

 the nose ; but Sinbad was utterly indifferent to the hints he 

 received through this contrivance whenever he determined on 

 taking his owe course. 



A remarkable peculiarity in the forests of this country is 

 the absence of thorns ; there are but two exceptions — one 

 bearing a species of mix vomica; another, a small shrub very 

 like the sarsaparilla, bearing in addition to its hooked thorns 

 bunches of yellow berries. This absence of thorns is espe- 

 cially noticeable to those who have been in the south, where 

 we have thorns of every size and shape ; straight and curved, 

 thin and long, short and thick, and so strong as to be able to 

 cut even leather like a knife. Seed-vessels are scattered 

 everywhere by these appendages. One lies flat as a shilling, 

 with two thorns in its centre, ready to run into the foot of 

 any animal that treads upon it, and stick there for days 

 together, Another (the Uncaria procumbens, or grapple-plant) 



Seed-vessel of the ■ grapple-plant/ 



