Live and let live is clearly not the maxim taught in these wildernesses.

There is one kind of parasitic tree very common near Para which exhibits this feature in a very prominent manner.

It is called the "Sipo Matador," or Murderer Liana.

It belongs to the fig order, and has been described and figured by Von Martius as the Atlas to Spix and Martius' Travels.
I observed many specimens.

_The base of its stem would be unable to bear the weight of the upper growth_; it is obliged therefore to support itself on a tree of _another species_.