ong
the prolific undergrowth. Vivid colors flashed before the observer,
caused by the blue and scarlet plumage of the feathered tribe among the
branches of the trees, some with pleasant trilling voices, and others
uttering harsh, shrill, unfamiliar cries. The variety of birds was a
very marked feature of this tropical region. The keen voice of the
Ceylon thrush rang in our ears like the scream of a young child. Many
other smaller birds were seen in rainbow feathers; and a sparrow, like
his English brother, except that the Ceylon species wear a white shirt
bosom.

The difference between a tropical forest and that of our temperate zone,
which at once challenges the notice of the traveler, is that trees of
the same families do not characterize any particular spot. We have pine
forests, oak forests, cedar, birch, and maple woods, and the like; but a
tropical forest contains specimens of the most widely different classes,
with every possible variety of family; and the same may be said of the
countless climbing plants which cling to the vertical trunks. The
various kinds of the palm are sure to assert their predominance
everywhere in the wooded districts and jungles of the tropics, yielding
an abundance of their valuable fruits. But at the north, to see a peach
or apple-tree bearing fruit in a pine grove, or fruitful cherry and
pear-trees among a forest of oaks, would cause surprise. It is, after
all, only a peculiarity born of the wonderful vegetable productiveness
of the equatorial region, which gives birth to fruits and flowers
wherever there is space to nourish their roots, and where moisture and
heat have no other outlet whereon to expend their fructifying powers.
The bread-fruit-tree is especially interesting, with its deeply
serrated, feathery leaves, and its melon-shaped fruit, weighing from
three to four pounds. This the natives prepare for eating in many ways,
and as the tree bears fruit continually for nine months of the year, it
forms a most important food supply. Two or three trees will support a
hearty man, and half a dozen, well cared for, will sustain a small
family, a portion of the fruit being dried and kept for the
non-producing months. The tree grows to nearly fifty feet in height, and
only requires a little attention,--no more than that marvel of
productiveness, the banana.

Here we saw, for the first time, the cardamom and pepper bushes full of
fruit, and the kitool-palm yielding its harvest of sugar,