glossy and dark green. Some of them were elegantly veined and
hairy (Melastomae), while many, scattered amongst the rest, had
smaller foliage (Myrtles), but these were not sufficient to
subtract much from the general character of the whole.

The sun, now, for we had loitered long on the road, was
exceedingly powerful. The day was most brilliant; the sky without
a cloud. In fact, it was one of those glorious days which
announce the commencement of the dry season. The radiation of
heat from the sandy ground was visible by the quivering motion of
the air above it. We saw or heard no mammals or birds; a few
cattle belonging to an estate down a shady lane were congregated,
panting, under a cluster of wide spreading trees. The very soil
was hot to our feet, and we hastened onward to the shade of the
forest which we could see not far ahead. At length, on entering
it, what a relief! We found ourselves in a moderately broad
pathway or alley, where the branches of the trees crossed
overhead and produced a delightful shade. The woods were at first
of recent growth, dense, and utterly impenetrable; the ground,
instead of being clothed with grass and shrubs as in the woods of
Europe, was everywhere carpeted with Lycopodiums (fern-shaped
mosses). Gradually the scene became changed. We descended
slightly from an elevated, dry, and sandy area to a low and
swampy one; a cool air breathed on our faces, and a mouldy smell
of rotting vegetation greeted us. The trees were now taller, the
underwood less dense, and we could obtain glimpses into the
wilderness on all sides. The leafy crowns of the trees, scarcely
two of which could be seen together of the same kind, were now
far away above us, in another world as it were. We could only see
at times, where there was a break above, the tracery of the