Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-03-06
Braziiiian Forest Life.

The broad, rounded outline of the
Brazilian forest is not SO unlike that of
our native woods as mi ght be imagined :;
but it is the immense size Of the trees.
the deep green color Of the leaves, and
the strangeness of each individual form
that distinguish it. Palms of hun
dred species are mingled with the swoll-
Ell stemmed ceiba; while the gigantic
mora, the bertholletia, or Brazil-nut,
and the cow-tree, tower, with several
palms, above their fellows, two hundred
feet from the ground. In some place
there is thick growth Of underwood
and ferns in others the ground is a
bare swamp, rank and steaming, where
no plant grows among the tall trunks
but gloom-loving fungi Few trees
bear flowers indeed, it seems to be a
law Of nature, the great mother, that
trees constantly bearing leaves should
seldom produce flowers, and there
void be little color in the variously
shaded mass Of green but for the lianas
which form it's distinguishing features
10 call them creepers is to describe
them ieebly; they are rather climbing
trees, and sometimes of a large size.
Twining their 1.-THE, ribbon-like arms
round the nearest trunk, they obtain
a firm support, and spread from tree to
tree in labyrlnthine iestoons, display
ing wealth Of brilliant flowers that
lrradiates the dimness of the forest.
Often the trees dies in the murderous
hug OF It's beautiful parasite, and hangs
suspended, n the act Of falling, by the
llama, now acarccly smaller than itself.
Nothing IS at rest; but every living
thing Is fighting its own battle for .ex-
lstence. Heat and moisture are two
great agents who are ceaselassly at
work noursh'ng them all; no slight la
Dor when it is remembered that the
equatorial rains, constant thought they
be, have to feed the Great River and
lts tributaries, as well as the forest that
clothes their shores. To this excess
OF sunlight and rain does nature owe
Its marvellous freshness, life perpctually
sprlnglng forth, hiding and sweeping
away decay.
At every hour of the day and night
some living creatures awaken to aetivi-
ty. Sunrise is announced by general
chorus, especially Of loud-voiced ami
mails, as monkeys and parrots, whose
varied cries continue in bursts until
the forest rings with the uproar. This
gradually ceases as the sun rises higher
in the sky; till afternoon, dcathIike
stiffness prevails. The snake and cay
man lie basking in the open places,
drinking in the fierce heat that drives
other ANIMALS to seek shade Only a
solitary cry is heard until sunset, when
the chorus is renewed; but this time
by different voices--those Of the hun
cry jaguar and panther, the taper, pc
carri, and others besides noisy frogs.
and those creatures which always Ca
company night, the owl and bat--the
latter being often, iu the tropics, the
formidable bloodsucking vampire. 1t
i, at this time that fruit and flowers
send forth their most delicious fra
GRANGE, and swarms of goat-suckcrs ap,
pear chasing night insects, That much
malignel, bat innocent bird, the goat,
sucker, sleeps on the ground or on a
low branch, and makes no nest, laying
its eggs no the bare soil
The sound of the night are nearly
the same, but even fewer than those OF
the day the crash of the fallen trees
the mournful vail of the sloth, that
seems to implore pity as the crawls slowly
along the under side of branch the
cayman cry, hidious and terrible, for il
means that the monster is seeking fol
prey. Sometimes, too, there is the
roaring of the jaguar on the same qnest
or prehaps lost in the wilderness, q
thing which not unfrequently happens
and the perplexed animal live for week:
in the trees, the terror OF monkeys and
birds while that peculiar species o.
monkey called the bowler makes ter
rife noise, most depressing tc the
spirits, generally before sunrise.
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