THE MURDERER SIPO 



35 



days every week, and never failed to obtain some species 

 new to me, of bird, reptile, or insect. It seemed to be 

 an epitome of all that the humid portions of the Para 

 forests could produce. This endless diversity, the cool- 

 ness of the air, the varied and strange forms of vegetation, 

 the entire freedom from mosquitoes and other pests, and 

 even the solemn gloom and silence, combined to make 

 my rambles through it always pleasant as well as pro- 

 fitable. Such places are paradises to a naturalist, and if 

 he be of a contemplative turn there is no situation more 

 favourable for his indulging the tendency. There is 

 something in a tropical forest akin to the ocean in its 

 effects on the mind. Man feels so completely his insigni- 

 ficance there, and the vastness of nature. A naturalist 

 cannot help reflecting on the vegetable forces manifested 

 on so grand a scale around him. A German traveller, 

 Burmeister, has said that the contemplation of a Brazilian 

 forest produced on him a painful impression, on account 

 of the vegetation displaying a spirit of restless selfishness, 

 eager emulation, and craftiness. He thought the softness, 

 earnestness, and repose of European woodland scenery 

 were far more pleasing, and that these formed one of the 

 causes of the superior moral character of European 

 nations. 



In these tropical forests each plant and tree seems to 

 be striving to outvie its fellow, struggling upwards to- 

 wards light and air — branch, and leaf, and stem — regard- 

 less of its. neighbours. Parasitic plants are seen fastening 

 with firm grip on others, making use of them with reckless 

 indifference as instruments for their own advancement. 

 Live and let live is clearly not the maxim taught in 

 these wildernesses. There is one kind of parasitic tree, 

 very common near Para, which exhibits this feature in a 

 very prominent manner. It is called the Sipo Matador, 

 or the Murderer Liana. It belongs to the fig order, 

 and has been described and figured by Von Martins in 

 the Atlas to Spix and Martius's Travels. I observed 

 many specimens. The base of its stem would be unable 

 to bear the weight of the upper growth ; it is obliged, 

 therefore, to support itself on a tree of another species. 

 In this it is not essentially different from other climbing 

 trees and plants, but the way the matador sets about 

 it is peculiar, and produces certainly a disagreeable im- 

 pression. It springs up close to the tree on which it in- 



