50 THE WOELD OF LIFE 



left, with a spray of foliage showing light against the dark 

 trunk, may be an Ixora. On the left, crossing the spined 

 trunk, is one of the climbing palms or rotangs (commonly 

 called ^'rattan'' in England), while the dense mass of vege- 

 tation to the right is largely composed of slender bamboos. 



The other view (Fig. 2) is more characteristic of the dense 

 Malayan forest, where trees of all sizes, climbers of many 

 kinds, and tangled undergrowth, of dwarf palms, shrubs, and 

 herbs, fill up every spot on which plants can obtain a foot- 

 ing. The large twisted climber in the foreground is perhaps 

 a Bauhinia (Leguminosse), thougli it may belong to any of 

 a variety of genera, and even orders, which form such ropes. 

 The distinct ribbed leaf showing to the left of the most 

 tw^isted part is probably one of the Melastomacege. The dwarf 

 palms in the foreground are also very characteristic. Just 

 above where the twisted climber goes out of sight is a climb- 

 ing fern (Acrostichum scandens), and it seems to grow on 

 a knobbed or spined trunk like the one in the other picture. 

 A close examination will show that the five or six trunks 

 of tall trees visible have each peculiarities of growth or of 

 bark which prove tbem to belong to quite distinct species. 

 The very straight one to the left of the rope-climber is a 

 palm. The abundance of climbers is shown by the numerous 

 very fine wdiite or black lines here and there crossing the 

 picture, especially in the lower portion, each representing a 

 liana or forest-cord striving to work its way upward to the 

 light. In the original photograph the tangled mass of foliage 

 in the foreground is seen to consist of a great variety of plants. 

 The fern with very narrow fronds at the base of the rope is 

 NepJu'oIejns cordifolia, while the large closely pinnate leaves 

 in the foreground, as well as the smaller ones, truncate at 

 the ends, are various species of palms. The prints, unfor- 

 tunately, do not show all the details in the original photo- 

 graphs. 



Professor O. Beccari, in the interesting volume on his ex- 

 plorations in Borneo, tells us that when building a house 



