CLIMBING TREES, 
45 
with Darwiu and DntrcMjIiet, tl»at jjlants have feeling, or 
tempticg one to exclaim witli Wordsworth — 
It ia Liiy fiilll), tliut evtiry flower 
En joy 6 Uic air It broatht-s," 
Among the most remarkable forms of tropical vege- 
tation, the creepiiif^ plants, bush-ropes, or Itanaf^j that 
contribute so largely to thi? impenetrability of the forests, 
hold a conspicuous rank. Often three or four bush-ropes, 
like strands in a cable, join tree to tree, and branch to 
branch; others, descending from on high, take root as 
Boon as their extremity touches the gi'ound, and appear 
like shrouds and stays supporting the maimnast of a liue- 
of-battle ship; while others send out parallel, oblique, 
horizontal, and perpendicular shoots in all directions. 
No European is able to penetrate the intricate network 
of a forest thus matted together; astonished and despair- 
ing, he stands before the dense cordage that impedes his 
pathj and, should he attempt to force his way through the 
maze, the strong thorns and hooks w ith which the tropical 
creepers are generally armed would soon make him repent 
of his boldness. The Brazilian planter never thinks of 
entering the forest without a large knife, or without being 
accompanied by slaves, who, with heavy scythe-Hke axes 
attached to long poles^ clear the way by severing the 
otherwise impenetrable cordage. 
The enormoas climbing trees, that stille the life of the 
mightiest giants of the forest, offer a no less wonderful 
spectacle. At first, these emblems of ingratitude grow 
straight upwards like any feeble shrub, but as soon as 
they have found a support in other trees, they begin to 
extend over their surface; for, while the stems of other 
plants generally assume a cylindrical form, these climbers 
have the peculiarity of divesting themselves of their rind 
when brought into contact with an extraneous body, and 
of spreading over it^ until they at length enclose it in a 
tubular mass. When, during this process, the powers of 
