The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

v.] BORNEO—JOURNEY IN THE INTERIOR. 63to the ground below, and so spreading on every side, tliat onecan stand in the very centre with the trunk of tlie tree immediatelyoverhead. Treesof this character arefound all over the Archipelago,and the precedingillustration (takenfrom one which I oftenvisited in the Aru Islands)will convey someidea of their genei'alcharacter. I believe thatthey originate as j)ax'asites,from seeds carriedby birds and dropped inthe fork of some loftytree. Hence descendaerial roots, claspingand ultimately destroj^ingthe supporting tree,which is in time entirelyreplaced by thehumble plant which wasat first dependent uponit. Thus we have anactual struggle for lifein the vegetable kingdom,not less fatal tothe vanquished than thestruggles among animalswhich we can somuch more easily observeand understand. The advantage ofquicker access to light and warmth andair, which is gained in one way by climbingplants, is here obtained by a foresttree,which has the means of starting in life atan elevation which others can only attainafter many years of growtli, and thenonly when the fall of some other tree liasmade room for them. Thus it is tliat inthe warm and moist and equable climateof the tropics, each available station isseized upon, and becomes the means ofdeveloping new forms of life especiallyadapted to occupy it.On reaching Sarawak eai'ly in DecemberI found there would not be an opjior-VANDA LOWirtunity of returning to Singapore till the latter end of January.I therefore accepted Sir James Brooke's invitation to spend a