The First Ascent of Roraima. 39 
Interspersed with this Brocchinia, almost on every inch 
of ground where the former was not, and indeed more 
abundantly than its rival plant as we neared the top of 
the ledge, were large quantities of the remarkable, dwarf 
and compact, yucca-like plant which we had noticed 
as one of the most prevalent forms of vegetation in the 
swamp near our house and had seen in very widely sepa- 
rated patches on the savannah even as far as the valley of 
the Arapoo river. The exceedingly stiff habit of this plant 
and the very acute point at the top of each of its leaves, 
together with a reputation which we heard assigned to 
it — as, after much subsequent practical but involun- 
tary experiment, I now believe most unjustly — of 
poisoning every wound which it might inflict, made us 
walk over it as over carefully arranged rosettes 
of poisoned daggers. But, interspersed arnon^ these 
two most prominent plants, was a vegetation new 
and lovely enough to reward much suffering. Of this the 
most striking plant was a gloriously beautiful crimson 
flowered Befaria, a small, very dwarf and compact heath- 
like shrub with very dark green leaves, thickly encrusted 
with many wide-open star-shaped flowers, each some half 
inch across and of the richest and most intense crimson. 
A second Befaria, pink-flowered, was also either new 
to me or at least a much more dwarf and at the same 
time very much larger flowered variety of a species 
occurring in the swamp below. Another tiny shrub had its 
leafage and wiry stems completely obscured by wonder- 
fully large pink-flowers, clustered and shaped after the 
manner of those of rhododendron flowers. A curious 
fritillary like flower was in abundance ; and there were 
numerous small and delicately pretty, but not showy, 
