.GROVES. 



61 



edge, so that to a stranger who goes up the 

 rivers the country appears to be uninhabited, 

 until he passes some of these small openings, at 

 which a canoe or a jangada is moored ; but the 

 openings are very narrow, and are only to be 

 seen on coming immediately opposite to them. 

 The mangroves grow as far down as low water- 

 mark, and when the tide is out, their entangled 

 roots and sprouts, and their stems covered with 

 oysters and besmeared with mud, are left un- 

 covered ; but at the height of the tide these are 

 concealed, and the water reaches up to the 

 branches of the trees, so that those which bend 

 downwards are partly wetted, presenting to the 

 beholder the view of a forest growing in the 

 water. This species of mangrove sometimes 

 attains the diameter of fifteen or eighteen inches, 

 and the height of twenty-five or thirty feet. 

 There are two species with which I am ac- 

 quainted, the mangue vermelho or red mangrove, 

 of which I have been speaking, and the mangue 

 bravo or wild mangrove. The bark of the 

 former is used for tanning, and the timber is 

 much esteemed for beams and rafters in build- 

 ing, but it cannot be used as posts, for under- 

 ground it decays very quickly ; nor as railings, 

 for it does not bear exposure to the weather. A 

 considerable trade is carried on from Itamaraca, 

 and from some other parts, to Recife, in the 

 wood of these plants, which is used as fuel. 



