66 



PLATE XXIII. 



LUZON, ONE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 



VEGETATION OF THE PLAIN OF THE PASSIGr RIVER. 



January. 



This plain, in which the populous city of Manilla is situated, everywhere bears 

 proofs of an ancient population and cultivation. The river, which flows not very 

 rapidly, has numerous tributaries, the banks of which are either swampy or sandy. 

 The present view is intended to give a notion of such localities as are not under 

 immediate cultivation. It will not appear strange, considering the great hurry in 

 which we left this country, that I have little to say about the plants here seen. 

 The most important among them is the bamboo (Bambusa arundinacea), which 

 nourishes in great abundance, and the gigantic stems of which serve as fuel and 

 even as timber (6 | 7 c). A low Pandanus, generally having several crowns, and 

 growing on the sandy banks, will attract attention (12 n). Fig. 3 e is a yellow- 

 flowering Acacia, often seen isolated on these banks; behind it are rising several 

 fruit trees, amongst them, one must fancy, a tamarind, and a specimen of Artocar- 

 pus incisa, perhaps escaped from cultivation. The mango (Mangifera Indica) 

 is a tree often planted, but which has also become wild, and now grows in great 

 numbers in these woods, and even in fields. In the foreground a specimen of a 

 beautiful Erythrina will arrest attention, which seems to be rather indigenous 

 than to have escaped from cultivation. Its bark is soft, smooth,, and of a light 

 colour. It is now, during winter, without the slightest trace of leaves, but 

 covered with large flowers of a pale-purple or blood-red colour. The bright 

 colours with which the tree is decorated are therefore, about this season, one of the 

 most striking objects in the country. 



