tall Q^rasses and tano-lecl shrubbery throua;h which
wild beasts with difficulty force their way. What in
our colder climes are rare exotics, here riot in the
open air, bursting with exuberance. Innumerable
flowers of every hue gild the landscape ; the tiny blos-
soms of the north spread out in flaming proportions, or
assume shapes in which they almost lose their iden-
tity, while innumerable species unknown to the north-
ern naturalist abound in rank profusion. Chief among
these, and one of the most remarkable that blooms in
any clime, is the Flor del Espiritu santo, the flower of
the holy ghost. Lifting its graceful form from marshy
pools and decayed logs to a height sometimes of six
or seven feet, it throws out broad lanceolate leaves
by pairs from jointed leaf-stalks, while on a leafless
flower-stalk springing from the bulb are sometimes
ten or fifteen tulip-shaped blossoms of alabaster white-
ness, and powerful magnolia perfume, enfolding with-
in their tiny cups the prone image of a dove, formed
in such consummate grace and symmetry as no art
could approach. And with this emblem of innocence
and celestrial purity rising from a sensual paradise;
with its gentle head bent meekly forward, its exquis-
itely shaped pinions hanging listlessly by its sides, its
tiny bill, tipped with delicate carmine, almost resting
on its snow-white breast, in form and feature the very
incarnation of ethereal innocence — shall we blame the
early priests for pointing the poor natives to this
flower, and telling them God is here ?
Palm trees of various descriptions line the banks, and gorgeous water lilies dip their fragrant heads as the boat passes over them. Every shower of rain is like the sprinkling of perfume on the vegetation. Birds of richly painted plumage and shrill song illum- inate the forest; the dark, scarlet-breasted toucan, which tosses its food from its long serrated beak into the air and catches it in its throat, and in drinking, as the padres say, makes the sign of the cross, whence they call it Dios te de, (May God give thee) ; scream-
