sake of its tough wiry bark, of which the people make the flooring of their houses, and also use in the construction of the old-fashioned timber-framed Hova dwellings. The bamboo-palm seems of much less practical use, and is therefore much more plentiful. Here and there a still smaller species of palm may be found, with a stem not exceeding an inch in diameter. [Sidenote: CLIMBERS] A very noticeable feature of these woods, as indeed of all tropical forests, is the profusion of climbing plants. Even the smaller trees and bushes have their twining and creeping parasites, tightly wound round their stems. And from the tallest trees there hang and intertwine all manner of lianas, some as big as a ship’s cable, and others of all intermediate sizes—ropes of every dimension, down to the finest cord, and often forming an almost impassable barrier, an inextricable tangle of dense vegetation. Frequently these climbing plants seem to strangle and squeeze out the life of their unfortunate hosts; and it is often difficult to distinguish the foliage of the original tree, and that of the parvenu, which has used its more robust neighbour to climb up to the light and heat above the surrounding mass of leafage. Some of these climbers have prominent and beautiful flowers, which mark their presence very distinctly; one of these, first sent home by a lady, proved to be a new species. This liana is about as thick as a one-inch rope, and its spikes of creamy-yellow flowers are set from one to two feet apart on the main stem. These spikes are from ten to sixteen inches in length, each containing from forty to sixty large flowers growing closely together, so that they are very conspicuous in the forest, forming immense festoons of flowers, mounting to the tops of lofty trees, crossing from one tree to another, and shining almost golden in colour in the brilliant sunshine. These lianas are very plentiful and may be recognised at a considerable distance, so that they form in November one of the noticeable features of the upper line of forest. In the cold season, during which many of these observations were made, of course this liana is indistinguishable from the tangled mass of vegetation.