46 TlMEHRl. 
hammocks in an outbuilding. The heavy rain of the 
afternoon had saturated everything with moisture which 
had not dried, and, sleeping in hammocks without cover- 
ing, the temperature at night appeared very cold, though 
as registered by a minimum thermometer, it only went 
down to 70 Faht. It did not however descend again to 
this ; the next lowest being 73 °, to which I have observed 
it has since fallen on one occasion in Georgetown. On 
the bushes about Kalacoon the scarlet passion-flower 
{Passijiora coccined) was very common and, being in 
bloom, produced a very noticeable effect. Higher on the 
river it was also abundant in half-open places. It is a 
plant well worth cultivating, though I have not observed 
it in any garden in town. In the morning while a crew 
was being procured, we went through the woods at the 
back of Kalacoon collecting specimens to dry. Not many 
were however obtained. Comparatively few flowering 
plants are found in the shade of a dense forest. If the 
situation be moist, cryptogams are generally plentiful, but 
flowering plants are generally represented only by mem- 
bers of the natural orders Aroidece, Musacea?, Palmse and 
two or three others closely allied. Nature as represented 
by vegetable life appears unwilling to hide her charms in 
obscurity. Sunshine is essential for their full develop- 
ment and display, and it is interesting and not uninstruc- 
tive, to notice the incessant strife, the crowding and crush- 
ing of the weaker, the advantage taken one of another. 
In a forest all the functions connected with reproduc- 
tion are carried on over-head. The surface of many a 
tree would present a bright and gorgeous sight when in 
flower could it only be seen. For not only do the trees 
