India Rubber and Gutta Percha. 47 
display their own bloom, whether its character be attrac- 
tive or not, but their lofty crowns are also made a conve- 
nience of by other plants to the same end. Slender 
creepers ascend the trunk, or lift themselves from 
branch to branch till they reach the height they need ; 
and innumerable forms of epiphytal and parasitical sub- 
jects find lodgment on the branches. 
A crew having been obtained, we left Kalacoon for Kaow 
Island, intending to examine the river side vegetation on 
the way down, for which purpose we moved slowly, keep- 
ing close along shore to get what was in flower on the 
way. What appears a curious freak of nature is com- 
monly exhibited here and in other parts of some rivers 
by several species of Orchids, which clothe the upright 
stems of such bushes and trees as grow within reach of 
the tide. Orchids, as a rule, delight in a moist atmos- 
phere but are very impatient of too much water, and 
where the surplus is not speedily withdrawn they show 
signs of decay, and in a short time die. The stems and 
leaves of the orchids now before us were, however, 
coated with mud-like slime, and are evidently covered 
periodically by the rising water. How they bear this 
submersion and the after exposure to the sun, from which 
the sparsely branched bushes afford little if any pro- 
tection, it is not easy to conjecture. They are, however, 
generally quite healthy, but bear exceptionally few stems 
and an unusally large quantity of root-fibres, which latter 
twine round and quite encircle the supporting tree in 
a densely interlaced mass. This arrangement, whatever 
the influence causing the unequal development of the 
different parts, is doubtless a provision of nature to 
