A BAD ROAD.
"And, as if they were not rich enough in leafy decorations, the trees are adorned with numerous parasites, some in the form of creeping vines, and others in clusters and tufts springing from the crevices in the bark, where the winds and birds have deposited the seeds. Nourishment for these parasites come from the air, or from the trees to which they cling; sometimes the vines send down long threads which reach the ground, where they attach themselves and throw out roots. At a little distance they look like ropes, and you gaze at them in wonder. I have seen some of them more than fifty feet long, and about the size of my wrist; sometimes they are very thick and closely interlaced, so that it is no easy matter to ride or walk in a forest where they abound.
"As in Siam and Cochin China, the parasites frequently cause the death of the trees to which they cling; but the growth of trees is so rapid, and there is such an abundance of them, that nobody seems to have any sympathy for the victims in this matter of vegetable murder.
THE VANDA LOWII.
"Orchids are in great variety, and some of them are exceedingly beautiful. There is one known as the Vanda Lowii, which is described by Mr. Wallace in his account of the Malay Archipelago. It grows on the lower branches of trees, and its threads are often six or eight feet long, and strung with flowers that vary in color from orange to red. These flowers are often three inches across, and their brilliancy is increased by the gloominess of the forests where they are found. Sometimes twenty or thirty flowers may be found on a single thread, and they form a regular spiral, as though strung there by hand.
"In other places you will see orchids like bright tufts of green clinging to the bark of the trees, and apparently forming a part of it. The botanists have found more than twenty varieties of this strange production of nature in Java alone, and probably a more careful examination will reveal many more.