42 
Messrs. Salvin and Sclater 
ferring the colours of the soft parts to the permanent colours 
of the plumage may occasionally be employed with great 
advantage. 
On the 24th July Mr. Wyld and I set out for Calderas, a 
locality in the Yolcan de Fuego well known to my friend as a 
favourite resort of many birds not found in the lower districts. 
We started at six o'clock in the morning, intending to reach our 
destination at an early hour, but I found so much to attract 
attention on the road, that it was past noon ere we arrived at 
the haunts of the Quesal (Pharomacrus paradiseus ), to obtain 
which was the chief object of our ride. Leaving Mr. Wyld to 
make a sketch of a magnificent isolated tree of the celebrated 
Hand-plant ( Chirostemonplatanoides ), I struck up the mountain, 
keeping near to the edge of a deep ravine, or, as it is called here, 
“ barranco," to serve as my guide. What a contrast are these 
elevated forests to those of the coast! The lofty trees, it is true, 
correspond, but how different the vegetation, how different the 
climate ! Instead of the incessant noise and buzzing of myriadsof 
insects, insect life seems almost extinct, and a dead silence reigns, 
broken only by an occasional gust of wind. It is the region of 
mosses, and cvfery tree, every branch is covered with clustering 
and pendent mosses*. Everything reeks with moisture, the 
sun being shut out from penetrating below by the closing tops 
of the trees. The soil in this region of perpetual damp is of the 
richest quality, its excellence being testified as well by the 
mouldering ranks of the fallen trees as by the luxuriant growth 
of a species of bamboo. It is no easy matter to ascend; the 
fallen trees and the dense jungle of bamboos render the path 
tortuous and difficult; “barrancos" too, innumerable sweep the 
mountain on all sides, rendering considerable care necessary to 
keep to the one chosen as the guide. 
One would think that to ascend a mountain and descend 
again were easy enough, and so it is; hut to return to the same 
place by the same road is another matter altogether. The forest 
entirely shuts out the view of the surrounding country, and con¬ 
sequently landmarks are not available. One ravine is exactly 
* Are not these rather epiphytous TillandsicB , belonging to the natural 
family Bromeliacecct— Ed. 
