THE PALM TREE. 131 



some species adapted to these varied purposes, which 

 in temperate zones are generally supplied by a very 

 different class of plants. The Chip, or Brazilian- 

 grass hats, so cheap in this country, are made from 

 the leaves of a palm tree which grows in Cuba, 

 whence they are imported for the purpose. 



" The papyrus of the ancient Egyptians, and the 

 metallic plates on which other nations wrote, were not 

 used in India, but their place was supplied by the 

 leaves of palms, on whose hard and glossy surface the 

 characters were inscribed with a metallic point. These 

 leaves, when strung together, form the volumes of a 

 Hindoo library. 



" We have now glanced at a few of the most im- 

 portant uses to which Palms are applied, but in order 

 to be able to appreciate how much the native tribes 

 of the countries where they most abound, are de- 

 pendent on this noble family of plants, and how they 

 take part in some form or other in almost every action 

 of the Indian's life, we must enter into his hut and 

 inquire into the origin and structure of the various 

 articles we shall see around us. 



" Suppose then we visit an Indian cottage on the 

 banks of the Rio Negro, a great tributary of the 

 river Amazon, in South America. The main sup- 

 ports of the building are trunks of some forest tree 

 of heavy and durable wood, but the light rafters over 

 head are formed by the straight cylindrical and 

 uniform stems of the Jara palm. The roof is thatched 

 with large triangular leaves, neatly arranged in 

 regular alternate rows, and bound to the rafters with 



