Plants That Look Like HoLse-Tails. 
323 
off to rob them of their produce. The first glance at the ripe greenish 
fruit which had an extremely sweet aromatic taste, told me that it must 
belong to the Myrtaceae family : 4 was confirmed in this by several iso- 
lated blossoms tliat the tree still possessed. It was a true Myrtus, which 
Dr. Klotzsch has named Myrtus Schomburgkii. As this same genus 
strangely enough, notwithstanding the numerous kinds of Psidium and 
Eugenia , is only represented by a, few species, the discovery was all the 
more acceptable, particularly because its juicy and aromatic fruit proved 
at the same time so refreshing in the scorching heat. In the wooded 
oases past which the path now led, 1 was also struck with the peculiar 
i Tullanasia usneoides Liun. on the living as well as dead and leafless 
trees : they hung like long horse-tails down from the branches, and were 
swayed hither and thither by the current of air. Upon looking at this 
peculiar plant without inflorescence, especially for the first time, it 
must surely be taken for a lichen. The dead and withered trees with these 
dependent Tillandsia presented a particularly striking appearance; for 
with the death of the host the parasite also dies though it long retains 
its position. I have only rarely seen it on the lifeless trunks, gener- 
ally upon the outermost twigs of the branches and tops.* 
894. An extensive swampy flat, into which some white herons and 
great crowds of waders put some life, and where the most lovely groups 
of Mauritia palm could be seen, alone separated us now from the wall- 
like virgin forest out of which the densely wooded Canuku Range, with 
its two remarkable and distinctly prominent rocky pinnacles, the Nappi 
and Curassawaka, was striving to the skies: the latter in particular 
rose bleak and bare above the obscure forest like a giant cylinder, its 
immediate summit being again clothed with thick vegetation. 
895. It was high time for us to seek shelter under the forest shadows, 
because for more than an hour we had been pressing along in a temper- 
ature of 134° Fahr., and I must admit that during all this time I was not 
full master of my senses, for thousands and thousands of glimmering 
stars kept madly rushing past, until I finally seemed to be rushing 
through a complete rain of fire with everything at the same time swirl- 
ing and circling round me. The same thing happened to Tiedge, but 
neither cf us was in a position to bring a single word out of our 
parched up mouths. What with the burning and scorching rays of the 
sim from above and the reflected heat of the savannah from below, we 
thought we were treading on hot slabs — truly it was almost unbearable. 
896. While making our way over the swampy flat, a relief from our 
distress, T noticed several Cyrtopodiue, Galendra juncea and Baueri 
Lindl., TTabenaria longicauda Book., and the Mormchanthus viridis 
Lindl. On arriving at the banks of the Quaye, we greedily sought in 
vain the refreshing and cooling waters which the glowing sun had long 
ago consumed: its bed like the banks of the Amucu lay full of shells of 
* On the edges of the wooded oases which we passed I found particularly plentiful : — 
Helicteres puazitmaefolia Humb. Bono., Apeiba Tibonrbou Aubl., Herpesf-is ffratioloidex Benth., 
Cassim undulata Benth.. C. viscosa Humb. Bonp., Peltopyne panienlata Benth., Mimosa foribiend a. 
Willd., Miconia brevipes Benth., while the thorny JSntada myriadenia Benth. covered whole 
surfaces of the undergrowth with its white blossoms. 
