324 
Buttresses Support Colossal Trees. 
the Ampullaria guianensis and papyracea Spix. But what passionate 
mollusc-eaters the water and swamp-fowl of this district must be,, 
for amongst the thousands of empty shells not a single one was found 
uninjured ! 
897. After crossing the dried-up swamp, we were confronted with a 
large provision field of growing Musa and luxuriantly thriving sugar- 
cane and soon stood in Jront of a small lowly and miserable empty 
house. Curiosity had also driven the occupants to Pirara: legions of 
hungry fleas alone remained behind to attack us with such raging greed 
that my trousers were completely dotted with them while the Indians 
tried to keep free by stamping with their feet. The longed-for 
rest which it was therefore impossible to get inside the house had now 
to be found outside, when the Indians brought us the ripest of bananas 
and the juiciest of sugar-canes, so that with the help of the latter our 
frenzied thirst was somewhat soothed. 
898. After a few hours’ rest we resumed our journey through the 
sombre and shady forest, the thickly interlaced tree-tops of which re- 
called to mind exactly the giant vegetation of the Upper Barima. Had 
we not been able to follow a much frequented path, the innumerable 
lleliconiac, Rapid cue, Brorneliae, Galathea, Alpinia latifolia Willd. 
and huge ferns and tree-like grasses would have offered obstacles which 
we should have had difficulty in overcoming in our present exhausted con- 
dition. The huge Bombaccae , often more than 160 feet in height, 
specially interested me on account of their curious root-necks. One could 
almost regard the radiating tabular roots, if one may thus designate 
these peculiar structures, running out from the trunks in some trees 
ten to twelve feet above the ground, as the normal buttresses which 
Nature has lent the colossal trees to protect them against the fury of 
the tropical storms. When the Indians want to fell a tree of this descrip- 
tion they erect a scaffolding that reaches up to the real trunk. I also 
found the Spondias lutea uncommonly plentiful here: 
its ripe fruits perfumed the whole forest. Amongst 
the palms new to me, I was very much taken with the 
Triartca ventricosa Mart., Badris concinna Mart., B. mitis Mart.., 
r/7 lamacclorca pauciflora Mart., the delicate Geonoma acutiflora Mart., 
G. laxiflora Mart., and the tall slender Acrocomia sclerocarpa Mart., 
all of them forms with which von Martins’ had already made us ac- 
quainted, but which, however, were seen by me for the first time, while 
those that were familiar to me, the Oenocarpus Bataua and minor, Lcpi- 
docaryum gracile, Euterpe oleracea, Maximiliana regia, Dcsmoncus 
polyacanthus and macroacanthos, Badris and Astocaryum, were ex- 
tremely numerous in situations that were damp. 
899. After pursuing our course for several hours on a greasy soil of 
clay and sand in continued twilight, because the dense foliage and the 
innumerable creepers, that formed the most fantastic festoons and 
figures, only allowed a few sunbeams to pass, we reached the small river 
Nappi, where we were able at last to quench our burning thirst. A huge 
tree that had fallen across the stream served as a bridge. Several 
travellers’ houses showed that this place must have been frequently 
