chap. xr. APPEARANCE OF THE FEVER DISTRICTS. 
277 
were growing near the roots of leafless bushes, and having 
their own roots surrounded with long green grass. The 
bushes themselves were growing in loose sand. The 
very healthy state of these plants led me to think, that a 
moderate amount of shade and moisture suits them better 
than the dry exposed branches, or trunks of dead trees, on 
which I have often seen them growing. My attention was 
also arrested by a new species of pandanus, with dwarf stalks 
and broad pointed leaves. Amongst the varieties of indigo, 
a plant with a pink or red flower was unusually attractive; 
while a little modest blue tradescantia, somewhat resembling 
the wild forget-me-not, enlivened the borders of the path. 
But the greatest rarity was a kind of large-growing heath, 
with pink or lilac-coloured flowers. In some places I also 
saw large masses of creeping ferns entirely encircling the 
trees. The greater part of the road, however, had been over 
sandy plains, traversed by ridges or high banks of sand, 
which had at one time been the boundary of the sea. We 
also passed through regions of dead, blanched, barkless, 
forest trees, still standing; the only signs of life amongst 
them being a few orchids or ferns growing in the forks of 
their trunks and branches. Sometimes we passed through a 
tract of thick verdant forest of large timber; but in general 
there were ponds or stagnant marshes, on both sides of the 
path, sometimes overgrown with long grass or rushes, and 
just the region for fever. Along the borders of the running 
stream, I saw numbers of the tropical lettuce, pistia stratiotes, 
growing very freely. 
Heavy rain detained us until the afternoon, when we 
resumed our journey, and after travelling again over the same 
sort of marshy country, we reached Tranomaro — literally, 
Many houses — some time before dusk, and halted for the 
night at a house on the border of an extensive lake. 
Finding the captain of the bearers and the interpreter both 
