absence of life everywhere — no whir of insects or twitter of birds; and though everywhere but in the forest each blade of grass and every inch of soil is teeming with life of some sort, here there is no sound or movement. The dank heavy smell which pervades everything is unrelieved by other odours, or even breezes; for in a tropical forest a very strong wind only can make itself felt. There are no flowers, and no birds sing. Miles and miles of sombre greens and browns stretch unrelieved by a single blossom. Of the life, the flower-wonders, the brilliance told of tropical forests, there is no sign.

It has been said that these may all be found on the tree tops, a hundred feet or more overhead; but though on several occasions I climbed to the summit of a spur of rock rising out of the forest into the sunlight, and