THE FOREST OF EL YUNQUE. 



23 



impassable for man and beast. The forests on El Yunque consist of an 

 almost impenetrable jungle of trees, underbrush, and lianas, and are 

 exceedingly wet, the rainfall averaging 120 inches per year. 

 The following interesting description of some of the trees of the 



Fig. 7.— Woodman with ax. 



primeval forest of El Yunque has been given by Dr. George Eggers, the 



only botanist who 

 Hooker in 1883 : l 



has studied it, in a letter written to Sir Joseph 



Have at last accomplished ray long-cherished design of exploring the 

 Luquillo Mountains in Porto Rico, which island I visited during April and May this 

 year. I spent about five weeks there, living for some time in the hut of a gibaro, or 

 native laborer, on the sierra, at an altitude of about 2,200 feet, on the edge of the 

 primeval forests that still cover all the higher part of the mountain range. 



As for the general character of the Sierra Yunque forests, they of course resemble 

 in their main outlines those of the other West India Islands. There is, however, 



See "Nature/' London, 1884, Vol. XIX, page 129. 



