The Struggle for Life in the Swamp. 253 
ful. On the shore however we have a different state of 
affairs. Spring tides and strong winds continually recur, 
while now and again a storm or change of current tears 
away large portions. Under such conditions it is won- 
derful that anything could hold its own, yet both man- 
grove and courida do this and more. 
Let us see how the mangrove sets to work. Begin- 
ning in very babyhood it develops one contrivance after 
another until every part is ready for the battle of life. 
To fix up a wharf or pier, nothing better than the pile 
has been invented, and in this the mangrove was before- 
hand with man. It does not scatter its seeds carelessly 
but keeps them hanging from the branches until 
they have grown large enough to stand alone. There 
they are, miniature piles of a foot long, club-shaped 
below to keep them upright, hanging straight downwards 
until ready to drop. Then they fall, and penetrate 
the soft mud below, and are soon able to strengthen 
themselves by rootlets on every side. Now the leaves 
begin to open, and as the young tree grows upwards, 
flying buttresses are thrown out until they form a sort of 
cage like the structure which supports a beacon. 
Unlike the forest trees, which rise to such a great height, 
it commences to spread out immediately above the 
water, every branch throwing down its crutch and an- 
choring in the mud. There is no great trunk to obstruct 
the flow of the water, no tall stem with a canopy of 
foliage to give play to the wind, but a confused assem- 
blage of small props which allow the waves to circulate 
between, and a low mass of branches that a hurricane 
could hardly disturb. 
Nature teaches that there is more than one right way 
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