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leaves, from fifteen to twenty feet long, of a light green colour, 

 particularly graceful in their aspect. In old leaves the midrib is 

 flattened ; in young, but fruit-bearing ones, it is round. The aspect 

 of both sexes is the same, except that the male plants produce a 

 distinct spatha, the female none ; or, if it does, it is only perfect in 

 an early stage, afterwards torn into shreds. The male flowers 

 and the spatha are produced from the axils of the inner leaves, 

 and are recurved outwards. The extraordinary heads of fruits 

 are seen around the base of the plant (one plant frequently bear- 

 ing six at a time) ; the heads resting on the ground, or lodged 

 between the leaves, on a footstalk so short as to be buried among 

 the bases of the leaves, and of which the fibre is extremely tough. 

 Each is composed of three to five, but generally four, large nuts, 

 wedged in and firmly knit together, of a roundish, but more or 

 less angled, form, depressed at the top, and there covered with 

 conical or pyramidal woody-fibrous protuberances, from half an 

 inch to an inch or more long ; the whole forming a compact mass 

 or dark-coloured head, whence the name given to it by the colo- 

 nists " Cabesa del Negro" the form not only representing the 

 head of the negro, but the fibrous protuberances the coarser hair. 

 The styles, of the female flower, I find to be concentrated to a 

 point, terminated by a long stigma, four to five inches long, and 

 again divided in as many points (of about half an inch in length) 

 as there are seeds or cavities in the cluster. At a very early stage 

 these cavities contain a watery fluid of a sweetish taste, which 

 gradually diminishes in quantity as the fruit advances to maturity. 

 The leaves are employed to thatch houses, and the whole of the 

 village of the Paroquia del Carmina and the houses, generally, in 

 this district, are covered with it. This, however, arises from the 

 great number of this kind of Palm in the neighbourhood ; for 

 there are many other species of Palm whose leaves are far supe- 

 rior for this purpose. Enclosing the fresh mature seeds is a yel- 

 low, sweet, and oily pulp, which is collected in the proper season 

 (October) and is called " Pepa del Tagua," which I am informed 

 is sold by the Indians in Ocana at one rial per pound. A spoon- 

 ful of this, with a little sugar and water, makes the celebrated 

 " Chiche de Tagua," said to be the most delicious drink in the 

 country, but it is slightly drastic in its effect. The fluid, although 

 containing much oil, does not become rancid, but keeps for months, 

 in a crude state, without losing flavour or quality. The Palm 

 itself grows in the greatest abundance in dense shaded woods, 

 at an elevation of from one to three thousand i'vvt, along the 

 mountains facing the Magdalena. I do not think it is to be 

 found in the hot plains. In the season of its ripe fruit it is said 



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