CHAPTER IV. 



CHARACTER OF VEGETATION OX THE BANKS. 



DENSE vegetation, though somewhat varied in 

 character, rises like a lofty wall of verdure along 

 the banks of the mighty stream, from the base 

 of the Andes to its mouth in the Atlantic. There, where 

 the influence of the sea-breeze is felt, the ever-present 

 mangrove of the tropics forms a thick belt round the shores 

 of its numberless islands. Higher up, various palms of many 

 graceful forms appear, interspersed with numberless other trees, 

 some bearing huge pods a yard lung, others vast nuts and 

 other curious fruits, — the banks below fringed either with 

 giant grasses and broad-leaved bananas, or here and there 

 with the large wide heart-shaped leaves of the aninga grow- 

 ing on the summit of tall stems, or in other places with 

 the murici of a lower growth close to the water's edge. 

 Among the most remarkable is the white -stemed cecropia, 

 the lofty massaranduba, or cow-tree, often rising to the height 

 of one hundred and fifty feet ; the seringa, or india-rubber 

 tree, with its smooth gray bark, tall erect trunk, and thick 

 glossy leaves. The assai-palm, with its slender stem, its 

 graceful head and delicate green plumes, is at first more 



20 b 



