according to the seasons. Few parts of Carthagena are so well deserving of attention as this celebrated spot; itself a vast plain, covered with volcanic cones, whose deep and sullen sounds break at intervals the silence of the place; and bounded by a forest of palms, beautifully varied with balm of tolu trees, and the flowers of the Nymphea and the Cavanillesia mocundo, whose membranous and transparent fruit resembles elegantly shaped lamps, suspended at the ends of the branches. Botanists repair thither from the beautiful village of Turbaco, in search of plants, and are amply rewarded, not only by collecting such as grow within, or on the verge of the forest, but by such as seem peculiar to the marshy plain of the Little Volcanoes. The situation of the village also is one of peculiar interest, and affords a secure retreat to Europeans who are unable to endure the excessive heat of Carthagena, and of the arid coasts of Baru and Tierra Bomba. At an elevation of nearly a thousand feet above the level of the sea, the inhabitants enjoy the most delightful breezes, especially in the night; beautiful views extend on every side, while, to the south-eastward, a majestic forest skirts the village, and reaches far as the canal of Mahates, and the river Magdalen. The houses, built of bamboo, and covered with palmtrees, rise among the limestone rocks, which often contain numerous fragments of petrified coral; from these clear sparkling streams leap forth, even by the doors of the inhabitants, and are often overshadowed by the splendid foliage of the Anacardium caracole, a tree of colossal size, to which the natives attribute the property of attracting from a dis

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tance the vapours that are distributed throughout the air.

Scarcely can the native of a temperate zone picture to himself the beauty and magnificence of those noble trees which adorn the vast forests of equinoctial America. Such as attain the most stupendous height and size, are often covered with a profusion of climbing plants, and even the same lianas which trail in a different latitude upon the ground, run up the giant stems, till they reach the topmost branches, and pass from one to the other, presenting their gaily tinted blossoms to the air and light. Hence it often happens, that the botanist confounds the flowers, fruits, and leaves, which belong to different species, because he cannot separate the interlaced plants. The traveller who presses on amid the continually recurring luxuriance of vegetation, till he reaches the banks of the Cassiquiare, where that river branches off from the Oroonoko, would soon forget all which had before astonished or delighted him in the aspect of its stupendous forests. There is no longer any breach; a living palisade of tufted trees skirts the noble river. That river is at least four hundred and twenty-six yards across, and on either side extend two enormous barriers, clothed with foliage and lianas. To penetrate them is impossible. Humboldt, to whom we owe the interesting narrative, endeavoured to land with his companions, but was unable to step out of the boat. They sailed down the river for some time, hoping to discover, not an opening, for none existed, but a spot less wooded, where the Indians might gain, by means of their hatchets and manual labour,

space sufficient to contain twelve or thirteen persons. Most of the trees which thus formed a living fence were more than one hundred feet in height, while some, especially of the palm tribe, attained an elevation of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet.

Humboldt noticed during his progress through South America, many extraordinary specimens of vegetable grandeur. He measured, on the banks of the Atabapo, a Bomban ceiba, more than one hundred and twenty feet high, and fifteen feet in dia. meter. Near the village of Turmero, south-west of the city of Caraccas, was found the celebrated Zamang del Guayra, a species of mimosa, of which the hemispherical head shadowed a space of six hundred feet. The branches extended like an immense umbrella, drooping at the extremities, and forming a canopy at the height of about twelve or fifteen feet from the ground. The circumference of the head in this extraordinary species is uniformly regular, varying in different specimens from 204 to 198 feet.

Beautiful, too, is the effect produced by the blended foliage of the cocoa, the Theobroma cacao, and that of the coral-tree, madre del cacao, or mother of the cocoa, which spreads its fostering arms above the cocoa, as if to shield it from the fierce beams of a tropical sun. This guardian plant rises to a considerable height, and is covered with bright yellow blossoms, while the cocoa is not unlike a cherry-tree in form, and seldom exceeds ten feet in height; but the general aspect of the tree is pleasing to the eye; its oblong and pointed leaves

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are, when young, of a pale red, and the flowers, which generally spring from out the larger branches, are nearly of the same hue, mixed with yellow. Unlike many trees which present in their leaves and flowers and fruit the most striking contrast, even the oval pods, when ripe, are red or yellow. The effect, therefore, of the blended foliage is extremely pleasing, especially when seen amid the mountains, and often in situations of peculiar and romantic beauty. Two varieties are cultivated by the natives, which they call forastero and creole. The first produces fruit at the end of three years, and though not generally considered equal to the former, is far more productive, and has in consequence nearly superseded it. The second bears fruit after five years' growth, and continues in perfection for twenty years. Manumissions were granted formerly in Trinidad to every slave who could at any time deliver one thousand cocoa-trees to his master: it was required that they should be planted by himself in an allotted space. Many of the most industrious purchased their freedom in this way, as the cultivation of them did not infringe upon their daily tasks.

The gathering of the seeds of the cocoa-tree occurs twice every year. The principal season is in December, though a considerable number are collected in June. Men and women may be seen busily employed, and even children, in pulling off the pods, from which the seeds are speedily extracted and placed in heaps on platforms of clay, where they are suffered to ferment for a day and night. They are then dried in the sun, in a manner like that employed in preparing coffee; and when

required for the table, are roasted till the husks may be taken off, after which they are ground to a fine powder. Chocolate is merely a preparation of the cocoa made by bruising it into a paste, which is afterwards smoothed with an iron. This is commonly flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla.

Plantain-trees are found to grow profusely, wherever the nature of the soil and the degree of solar heat render them essential to the well-being of the inhabitants. Humboldt relates that they present their fruit indifferently to the natives of equinoctial Asia and America, of tropical Africa, and the islands of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; and that, when the heat of the country exceeds 75° of Fahrenheit, the banana forms a principal article of food to a large portion of mankind within and near the tropics. Standing singly or in groups, the plantain produces a pleasing effect, especially when contrasted with the luxuriant foliage of tropical plants. The top is surmounted with a cluster of leaves and a spike of flowers, that rise from out the centre. The leaves are long and narrow, smooth and beautiful to the eye, and strengthened down the centre with a firm middle rib. The fruit is about two inches in diameter, yellow when ripe, and pleasant to the taste.

This valuable plant has not been found in an uncultivated state, nor is it generally increased by seeds. The wildest tribes of South America, who depend upon the fruit for their subsistence, transplant the suckers around their huts, and gather from them ripe fruit in less than a year. When the fruit-stalk is cut off, a sprout quickly appears beside