The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-03-03

solitary mimosa than could be found in
acres upon acres OF comparatively barren
northern lands. The birds that futter
among its gigantic branches, the arboreal
and semi arboreal quadrupeds which re-
sort there, those InDumerabie insects,
arthropoas, and larval forms, found in the
earth under its buttIeSSed roots, its bark
and leaves, or frequenung the family pink
feathery flowers, would fill a cabinet by
themselves. Here sapucayaS tower on
high, with their rich nuts, closely resem-
bling those called Brazil nuts, Enclosed in
large wooden globes with neatly fitted lids,
which loosen as they ripen, and are cast
off, when these capsules tCuyas de Macao,
monkey cups) fall, scattering their con-
tents around.
Many trees are of great hight-Sym-
phonia. Crata-va, Pao d Arco, the king tree,
and others-but they are not proportion
ateIy thick through. There is a bitter
struggle for life always going on in an
Amazonian forest. Each Of these lofty
stems literally conquers its own domain.
Ii must push upward 80 the sun and air in
order To develop; yet notwithstanding that
every one Oh them stands TO a certain eX-
tent alone, keeping down or killing COM
petitors II cannot get enough nutrlment TO
make il symmetrical.
Hence those columnar boles without
branches for a hundred feet, rising from
eDcircling buttreSSeS-aerIai ToOsS getting
higher and more massive as the ascend
ing trunk and superintendent foliage be-
come more and more in need OF support.
This peculiarly marks all larger arbo-
real forms, ineSpectively OF their species,
and among others the MaSsaTanduba or
COW tree; so called from nlilk-ike exuda-
ton of its bark. Ii is, in fact, very good
milk and pleasant to drink, unless, indeed,
the beverage be somewhat stale. or is
taken. undiutcd, in cHceS3-whcn th!S
liquid may probably turn into an extremely
tough kind OF glue inside one, and kill Il
person in q very disaweeable manner.
Despite the varieties OF animal lie ex-
listing within these tropical woodlands,
their fauna * so evenly distributed owing
To uniform physical conditions, that To
unframed eyes this sea OF Verdure might
seem almost untcnanted. There is moth
ing here to correspond with such grand
asScmblaGcS OF imposing creatures as
often gather upon African plains.
Shy deer conceal themselves within
dense brakes the tapir and wild hog hide
in nlarshy coverts; punlaS and iaguars-
lions and tigers in native parlance- crouch
in secret LARS, monkeys peer silently down
from lofty boughs; while the greater land
/ birds run swiftly and nolSeleSSiy away,
/ and turtles. snakes, ant eaters armadillos,
/ capybaras, and saurianS, squirrels, haTes
/ and opossumS, with an intnity Of other
/ fo-ms, cover up amidst leaves, sink in
water, seek burrows, coil among deep
/ SiidNoHS, vi tlhiiS 10 DdfhS OH WHICH
! at a little distance il is impossible TO dis
ungulsh their similarly colored bodies
4 There Is plenty Of chattering, grunting,
roaring and screaming, however, at Ger
/ tain times
Not only as symboliZing the ocean
! through its vastness, as recalling it in the
roar Of its wind-swept boughs, or by that
deep murnlur which never ceases. is this
/ great forest like a sea. TideS-tideS of
/ life-ebb and flow there endleSsly. Slow
| oscillations OF existence whose shore
marks so TO speak, reveal themselves by
bloom and yigor; lie close on every side 10
/ evidences Of Intellectually issuing in de-
cay and death.
Associated with these secular changes
there is also daily rise and fall of vitality
among plants and beasts and men. AS
| the sun ascends, each sound that be-
! tokened activity is hushed. Except cica-
| da's harsh whirr the silence of exhaustion
broodS upon nature. Human beings, pros
trated by heat and electric tension, sink
into a languor from WHICH they cannot
rouse; lethargy accompanied with uneasi-
ness, Expresses bird and mammal; relaxed
leaves droop, and the petals of flowers fall
Towards night this tide OF living energy
flows anew, and again il is spent. Added
| beauty, increased strength, a more certain
assurance of heightened life, accompanies
the completed cycle on one hand, and or
the other lie its wrecks.
| Rewriting TO our nautical experiences
they were many and varied. We had q
blaci. squall at least once every day
When opportunity offered we took refuge
within some inlet; otherwise things wen
on as il pleased heaven, and our ships
company performed feats Of seamanshiI