8 
vitifolia (PassifloreaB) and Echites riparia (Apocyneae).' Here and there oddly shaped trunks of Bombax 
Mompoxense+ (Bombacineae) and Pharmacosycea dendroctona^ (Moreae), the latter with board-like excrescences 
of the root, are seen rising. Puyas’’’ (Bromeliaceae), eight or nine feet high, stretch their long, narrow and 
prickly leaves wide over the ground, and vigorous canes, as Oryza latifolia^ (Gramineae) cover the banks in 
some places. 
Ad fol. 11. 
Bay in the Magdalena River near S. Pahlo. 
Where the strong current strikes against prominences of the banks, it gradually washes away the sandy 
soil. Trees are undermined and carried away. They are driven ashore in other places, and, in quiet water, 
aquatic plants, animal and vegetable remains are caught between their branches, and, when rotten, with the 
sand of the river form a slimy mud. This is strengthened by young shoots and fibres from the roots of trees 
on shore. It gradually thickens, and, at the retreat of the water, becomes solid soil. Thus, in quiet bays, the 
river continually adds to the land, what it washes away at sharp angles and wherever the current is strong. 
The woods consist here of Madura tinctorial (Moreae), Rhinocarpus excelsa"'' (Terebinthaceae),^ a Morus^ 
akin to Moms celtidifolia, of Amyris pinnata (Amyrideae),® Hasseltia pubescens and Hasseltia floribunda 
(Tiliaceae), ^Cupania latifolia (Sapindaceae), Laetia apetala (Bixineae).^ The slender white stems of a graceful 
Euterpe^ shine through the darkish green of the shrubs, among which are found Guazuma tomentosa (Biittne- 
riaceae),® Bunchosia Hartwegiana (Malpighiaceae), Psychotria acuminata, Rondeletia brevipes (Cinchonaceae), 
Tabernemontana grandiflora (Apocyneae), Callicarpa acuminata (Verbenaceae),^ Ardisia micrantha (Myrsineae),^ 
Mimosa ignova (Mimoseae) and Pionandra Hartwegii (Solaneae), and among the herbs Gesneria eriantha and 
G. spicata (Gesneriaceae),® Aphelandra Hartwegiana (Acanthacem) and Cassia Mutisiana,^“ a Caesalpinea 
furnished with thick, setacious, expanding hairs. Bamboos (Guadua angustifolia^)" stretch their long canes over 
the water and stout reeds (Sacharum contractum^, S. dubium) render the banks in some parts inaccessible. 
Ad fol. 12, 
A branch of the Magdalena River near Regidor. 
Guaduas+,'^ representing the Bambusm of India, are met with both in the hot plains and in the mountains. 
The largest and most beautiful kinds, however, prefer a moist and hot atmosphere. The cane grows to a 
height of forty-five to fifty feet ; all the branches and twigs are perfectly developed before the leaves appear. 
As it grows older, the cane bends gradually down to the ground till it withers. Narrow arms of the river, 
called cafios by the natives, are often totally arched over by the canes, and the broken light, entering through 
the delicately woven roof of the grass-like foliage, has an almost magic effect. The canes, set off darkly against 
the transparent leaves appear not unlike the ribs of a gothic vault. 
In this part of the river a species of Willow,'® probably Salix Humboldtiana, is rather of frequent 
occurrence ; here and there it covers the banks, and small islets are wholly overgrown with it. A thorny 
Astrocaryum+ is found in the thicket of the shore between Inga coruscans (Mimoseae),'* Artanthe tuberculata 
(Piperaceae), Micania Bogotensis, Micania leiostachys (Compositae), Rondeletia eriantha (Cinchonaceae), Cordia 
alliodora (Cordiaceae). Of herbaceous plants occur Angelonia salicariaefolia, Capraria biflora (Scrophularineae)'® 
Hydrolea spinosa (Hydroleaceae),'® Sida acuta (Malvaceae), and the floating Jussiaea sedioides (Onagreae). 
Ad fol. 13. 
Banks of the Magdalena in the neighbourhood of S. Pedro. 
The margin of the forest on the river side generally consists of a thick hedge of luxuriant shrubs, 
intermixed with canes and small thorny Palms. Croton salviaefolius and C. leptostachys (Euphorbiaceae),"' 
Chamissoa macrocarpa (Amaranthaceae)'® and a great many creepers render the thicket impenetrable. Heliconias+ 
1 Kunth, Synops. pi. vol. IV. p. 372 . ^ Ibid. p. 395. » j^id. p. 164. ^ Ibid. p. 387. ® Ibid. p. 388. « Ibid. p. 387. Hbid. 
p. 366. ® Ibid. p. 373 . ® Ibid. p. 368. Ibid, p. 394. Ibid. p. 353. Baron A. Humboldt, Aspects of Nature, vol. ii. 
p. 183. Humb. et Bonpl. Plantes equinoxiales i. p. 68. tab. 20. Baron A. Humboldt, Aspects of Nature, vol. ii. p. 195. Kunth, 
Synops. pi. vol. iv. p. 393. i^jd, p, 367. Ibid. p. 371. Ibid. p. 360. Ibid, p. 365. 
