FLORA AND FAUNA 
37 
it into the projecting branches and there these gregarious 
insects make their black ball-shaped nests of three feet 
in diameter. 
The numerous epiphytes that locate themselves on 
the trunks form a picturesque element of the scenery 
in the forests of Madagascar. At the edges of the 
forest or in the clearings may be seen the luxuriant 
blooms of the parasitic orchids {Angi^cEctiuz). One spe¬ 
cies [A. sesqmpedale) is often brought by the natives to 
Tamatave, and is thence transmitted in boxes to Europe 
to form an ornament of the orchid houses. It is now 
comparatively cheap, but in former times large sums of 
money were paid for a single specimen. 
Among the ferns in the interior of the forest the 
Asplenium 7 iidits stands out in exceptional beauty. This 
cryptogam plants itself wherever a little mould of rotten 
wood has collected between the tree trunks and climbing 
lianas, and looks like a gigantic nest or basket; its 
dense bright green fronds are three feet in length, 
and are sword-shaped with entire edges. In the vicinity 
of the mountain streams stand groups of tree ferns with 
graceful feathery fronds. 
The impressive, well-nigh crushing, solemnity of the 
forest disappears when one is able to enjoy it during 
a journey by river, for then the mighty masses of foliage 
arrange themselves in beautiful and picturesque forms. 
Many valuable kinds of timber are found in these 
regions,—rosewood, palisander, and occasionally ebony. 
Unfortunately the natives treat these treasures of nature 
very carelessly; they simply burn down extensive tracts 
of wood to obtain arable land. This is especially the 
case in the north, where the forest comes down to the 
neighbourhood of the sea. When journeying along the 
coast to Antongil Bay and Vohemar, I saw the sky red¬ 
dened, night after night, as the enormous conflagrations 
pursued their work of destruction without interruption. 
