136 A VOYAGE TO 



most beautiful flowers, besides a number of aromatic 

 plants shed the most delightful fragrance; and, as if na- 

 ture were not satisfied with the exuberance of the earth, 

 a numerous race of parasites attach themselves to the 

 boughs and trunks of trees, receiving their nourish- 

 ment from the air. The whole forms a solid perennial 

 impenetrable mass, bound together with innumerable 

 vines or creeping plants. Nature seems no less pro- 

 lific in animated creatures; birds of the most brilliant 

 plumage and the most melodious song; thousands of 

 insects of the most beautiful colors, fill the thickets. 

 Innumerable species of lizards are moving in every di- 

 rection: and it is said that no country is more bounti- 

 fully replenished with snakes and venomous reptiles; 

 though we are informed that the inhabitants expe- 

 rience less uneasiness from them than we should ima- 

 gine. Dr. Baldwin, who lost no time in examining 

 the plants with tie eye and skill of the botanist, ex- 

 pressed himself highly gratified. For my part, al- 

 though at first as it were overpowered with admira- 

 tion and astonishment, I must declare that on reflec- 

 tion, I preferred the wild forests of my own country, 

 although stripped of their leaves during a portion of 

 the year. The vegetation is not so strong and so vi- 

 gorous, but it is more delicate and pleasing to the eye, 

 than this unshapen exuberance. When I recollected 

 how often I have wandered along a meandering stream 

 in the shady groves of oak, hickory, poplar, or syca- 

 more of my native country, under whose boughs sofi 

 grass and flowery herbs, spring up as a carpet to the 

 feet, I could not but give them the preference to the 

 forests of the tropic. It is difficult to conceive how the 

 Indians of this country, can make their way with any 



