The Tte Palm's Friends. 
11 
ecl-for objective was soon reached, but our agony was in no sense relieved, 
for here we stood deluded upon the 25 to liO ft. high precipitous bankiS 
and gazed down on the bewitchingly sndling water, without being able 1o 
reach it. After following the stream for something like half-an-hour Ave 
at last found a spot where with the help of some tree-roots growing closp 
to the bank there was a chance of overcoming the difficulty that had hith- 
erto been tantalizing us. Regardless of danger everybo<ly tried to satis; fy 
his maddened greed a>s quickly as possible, and Ave were soon refreshing 
ourselves Avith the clear coffee-brown Avater. Strengthened and reviA'cd 
we endeavoured to climb the bank Avhich was certainly infinitely moio 
difficult than coming down it. 
27. The goal of to-day's journey, the mouth of the Mahn, still lay 
before us. and Ave sAviftly sped along. Several swampy places, that we 
had to wade through, were thickly covered Avith the glorious AlauritrJ 
burdened Avith their liuge often .5 to G feet long fruit-tufts. Although the 
fruits, dropping here and there as they become ripe, are greedily eaten 
not only by Indians Imt by several quadrupeds, the Psittavtts iiidhi- 
V'Uanna Linn . must be extra fond of them, because we rarely met a group 
of these palms on Avhich numerous flocks of these brilliant 
birds were not settled, they being very generally accustomed to nest in 
the holes bored in the trunks by the woodpeckers. At every group of 
palms we reached, the deep silence, which is especially noticeable in the 
tropics at midday Avhen most of the animals remain quiet in th(^ shadows, 
was broken by a peculiar rolling sound, that spread as a warning note on 
all sides, Avhen the numerous swarms Avould rise, and screaming and 
shrieking fly round the trees. The green colour of the feathers only rarely 
betrayed the parrots to the eye searching for them among the similarly 
tinted palm-fronds. Resides noisy bii-ds, a second but silent resident 
of the Maiiritia is to be seen here, the Vaiiilla pnJmariim Lindl. It is 
strange that this orchid is present on no other palm except the Mauritin. 
It always roots on the base of the leaf stalks, between which some humus 
collects, while its tendrils hang doAvn the smooth grey trunk. Now and 
again T found it also on granite boulders where it grows in the crevices 
filled with earth. 
28. ToAvards 4 o'clock Ave reached our destination, the junction of 
the Mahu with the Takutu. Like other savannah rivers, their banks are 
clothed Avith a thick vegetation, for which reason their immediate sur- 
roundings contrast so forcilHy 'r,-ith the more sterile i)lains. This forest 
fr'iuie that took us luilf-an-hour to cross Itefore reaching the river itself, 
consisted partly of lofty trees, ]iartly of a dense arboreal brushw >od 
stretching from the lianks right doAvn to the Avater-edge over Avhich it 
hung to shade the Avater quietly gliding along. Up above, this scrub 
wood Avas so thick that it only here and tliei'e let a passionate solar ray 
kiss its mother Earth. The larger trees lielonged mostly to the Cordiaccac, 
Malpighiaeeae, and Mimosac. The first genus was represented chiefly by 
Cordia tetraphi/lla Aubl. that interesting tree which the Colonists, on 
account of its broad flat depressed top, call the "Table tree " As the 
limbs all branch off at a right angle, the tree at a dis anee has really 
quite the appearance of a huge round table, Just as tlie Psitfactis mahi- 
