THE FALLS OF IGUAZXT. 
29 
and windows to keep out the sand flies, and it 
was a relief when the sun sank lower and lower, 
showed a flaming rim over the edge of the 
world, and then disappeared. A sigh of 
thankfulness seemed to run through the air, and 
with the sun disappeared the mosquitos and 
sand flies. 
We were to start next morning early for the 
Falls, and a dilapidated car appeared to take 
us. The road was sandy, and very red in 
colour, and the small township stood amongst 
orange trees covered with fruit. A sackful 
could be bought for the equivalent of a shilling, 
fresh picked from the trees. There were only 
a handful of houses on the hill, cattle were 
sheltering from the sun in the open Assembly 
Hall, and the whole place seemed asleep. 
Our road lay away from the settlement, and 
we passed a few scattered plantations and 
gardens before we reached the forest. Little 
by little we penetrated into its silence. Palms 
grew here and there, and tall trees to whose 
stems clung orchids pouring forth their 
cascades of white or golden flowers. Butterflies 
passed and repassed. The air was heavy with 
fragrance, and on both sides of the road tree- 
ferns spread their feathery fronds to the sun. 
It became an avenue of tree-ferns, with their 
red-brown mossy boles, from which the delicate 
greenery sprang. Some were a few feet high, 
others towered eighteen feet or more, making 
