the locality the more acceptable to the presence of
plants which luxuriate in sweetness and solid earth.
Another denizen of the partially reclaimed area of
the mangrove swamp is the “milky mangrove,”
or river poison tree, alias “blind-your-eyes”
(EXCAECARIA AGALLOCHA). In India the sap of this
tree is called tiger’s milk. It issues
from the slightest incision of the bark, and is so
volatile that no one, however careful, can obtain
even a small quantity without being affected by it.
There is an acrid, burning sensation in the throat,
inflamed eyes and headache, while a single drop falling
into the eyes will, it is believed, cause loss of
sight. Yet a good caoutchouc may be prepared
from it, and it is applied with good effect to ulcerate
sores, and by the blacks of Queensland and New South
Wales for the relief of certain ulcerous and chronic
diseases; while in Fiji the patient is fumigated with
the smoke of the burning wood. Several of the
plants produce more or less valuable woods. BRUGUIERA
RHEEDI frequently grows slender shafts, favoured by
blacks for harpoon handles on account of their weight
and toughness. White mangrove provides a light,
white tough wood eminently adapted for the knees of
boats. The seeds resemble broad beans, and after
long immersion in the sea will germinate lying naked
and uncovered on the scorching sand, stretching out
rootlets in every direction in search of suitable
food, and expanding their leathery primary leaves—even
growing to the extent of several inches—while
yet owing no attachment to the soil. If it were
not capable of surviving and flourishing under conditions
fatal to most plants it could not contribute its quota
to the formation of humus favourable to the progress
of the advancing hosts of tropical vegetation.
A weird and stealthy process is this invasion of the
ocean, which leads to the alteration and amendment
of the surface of the globe. Here, may be watched
the very growth of land—land creeping silently,
irresistibly upon the sea, yet with a movement which
may be calculated and registered with exactitude.
Having fulfilled its purpose, the mangrove suffers
the fate of the primitive and aboriginal. Tyrannous
trees of over-topping growth, which at first hesitatingly
accepted its hospitality, crowd and shove, compelling
the hardy and courageous plant to further efforts to
win dominion from the ocean. So the pioneer advances,
ever reclaiming extended areas as the usurping jungle
presses on its rear.
Nor must it be imagined that mangrove swamps are unproductive.
Fish traverse the intricacies of the arching roots,
edible crabs burrow holes in the mud, and in them
await your coming, and more often than not baffle
your ingenuity to extricate them. Among other
stalked-eyed crustaceans is that with one red, shielding
claw, absurdly large, and which scuttles among the
roots, making a defiant clicking noise—the
fiddle or soldier crab (GELASIMUS VOCANS). Oysters
seal themselves to the roots, and various sorts of