September i, 1884] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



219 



Moraybo, a tributary it will be remembered of the Waini, 

 close." but on the opposite side to, the Barama, the troolie 

 region is aijain at once entered; and from there right 

 through to the Barima, and down that river, it is once more 

 abundant. The leaves of this palm being used by the 

 Indians of this district almost exclusively for thatching 

 their houses, those of them who live away from the troolie- 

 swamps have to travel far aud to carry home the leaves 

 with much labour. 



A few booba-palms (Iriartea exarrhiaaj are scattered 

 along the upper leaches of tho rivers ; but apparently no- 

 where within this district does this palm form the chief 

 vegetation of special tracts.of swamp, as is the ease in the 

 Oorentyn district. The only other palm claiming special 

 notice "is a small Bactris (like, but not identical with, 

 IS. leptocarpa of Professor Trail;, called by the Warraus 

 of this district yarooa, which occurs in very gnat abund- 

 ance on the lower part of the Barama, from its mouth 

 for some distance upward, and occurs scantily in one or 

 two spots on the upper 'Waini. 



Along the upper reaches of these rivers two flowering 

 trees form a special aud very noticeable feature. One 

 of these is the beautiful Brovmea racemosa, the ' rose of 

 the tropics' as Richard Schomburgk characteristically, but 

 somewhat inaptly, called it. It occurs scantily on the Pome- 

 roon, but apparently nowhere , in Guiana south of that. But 

 on the "Waini, the Barama, the Barima and their tributaries 

 this tree, for it there attains the dimensions of a small tree, 

 constitutes the bulk of the lower growth under the moras. 

 Though it appears not to flower abundantly, its few tut 

 very large bunches of blossoms are of such intensely brilliant 

 crimson colour as to attract the eye from afar. Equally 

 attractive are the enormous magnolia-like flowers of a 

 Gustavia, which is very abundant on these rivers. 



One other three, though occurriug throughout Guiana, is 

 nowhere soabundaut as here. This is a speciesof SpatheUa, 

 which makes a great show among the moras by the river 

 banks. In a young state its single upright stem and palm- 

 like crown of grandly cut, dark-green leaves make it 

 look like a young bo'oba-palm ; but as it grows older, it 

 branches scantily, and forms a widespreading head of a 

 few finely-grouped leaf-clusters, in the midst of each of 

 which is set, in the flowering season, a huge plume of 

 countless white flowers. 



Of the prickly bamboo which seems to belong, as regards 

 Guiana, almost exclusively to this district, I have written 

 already in an earlier number of Timehri. 



Orchids, as might be expected from the damp character 

 of the district, are unusually abundant; but these are not 

 very different from those of other parts of Guiana. Prob- 

 ably because the district has been less visited aud less 

 despoiled than many others, sevi ral orchids, however, which 

 were apparently once abundant throughout the colony but 

 are now rare elsewhere, are here abundant. As an ex- 

 ample of this kind, may be mentioned Oncidmm lanceanmn, 

 which, common as it is in quasi-cultivatiou in the gardens 

 of the coast, is now rarely to be seen in a wild state, ex- 

 cept in this district, in which it is fairly abundant. 



One very beautiful little yellow orchid (Oncidium indi- 

 folium), occurring sparingly and in very small clumps 

 'on the Peuieroon, grows wonderfully abundantly and 

 in very much larger clumps on the Barima. The 

 plant is fan-shaped, like- a tiny iris p'.ant, generally 

 not more than an inch high and as much across, from 

 which rises, well above the leaves, a delicate stem, on 

 which unfold, one at a time, many yellow flowers. Gener- 

 ally, each plant consists of one, or at most two, fan-like 

 tufts of leaves; but on the Barima plants are to be found 

 composed of a dozen or more tufts, but so small that one 

 can hold the whole clump, root and leaves, in the hollow 

 of both hands; and yet there may be on it, besides buds, 

 from thirty to forty open flowers each an inch long and 

 three quarters of an inch across, of brilliant yellow, and 

 like, but of more brilliant tint than single florets of 

 O-ru idium altdssimum. 



Another peculiar, and somewhat puzzling, orchid occurs 

 in this district, resembling in the general habit of plant 

 „,„] foal (though these latter are broader and of a darker 



Shade) Burlington^ ndida, but with a pendent wreath 



of greenish white flowers, like a long, downhangvng spike 

 of mignonette, lather the wild English mignonette than 

 the tweet kind of gardens 



A beautiful pure yellow (lemon coloured) variety of 

 Qongora is also noteworthy; a violet flowered 

 grows, though sparingly, on some of the tree trunks ; 

 and in the shady creeks, the lovely Stamkopea grand 

 hangs down many of its great white delicate flower! 



On the whole, it may safely be affirmed that while the 

 vegetation of this district resembles in tin- main that "I 

 the rest of Guiana, yet it has certain well-marked ami 

 noteworthy features. 



* * * * 



And this brings up the subject of the products of the 

 district. At present these are extremely few aud unim- 

 portant. Chief of those actually obtained is perhaps 

 balata, the milk of the bullet-tree (Mimusops batata);, 

 which till recently was abundantly and widely scattered 

 throughout the mora tract; but, owing to this same search 

 for balata anil the wasteful method in which it has In on 

 carried on, the tree is nownot far from being extermin- 

 ated. Almost every Indian collects bullet tree milk, and 

 in doing so unfortunately chops down the trees. Co 

 siderable quantities of locust gum arc also collected 

 by the Indians; but as is the case with this substance 

 elsewhere in the colony, the supply, by its very nature, 

 is limited, ami it must before long be virtually exhausted, 

 even under the very dilatory and inefficient system of 

 collectiou followed by the Indians. By the Indians a 

 few yams are grown for purposes of barter, and a few 

 fowls and parrots reared; and a very large quantity of 

 fish is caught, cured, and, with the corresponding amount 

 of fish-glue, bartered. And, considering the small amount 

 of land under such cultivation, large quantities of yams, 

 corn, and even cacao are produced by the few coloured 

 and Portuguese residents ; this produce finding its way 

 in about equal proportions into the English colony and 

 into Venezuela. A very little timber, chiefly red cedar, 

 is also cut by these people. This fairly exhausts the list 

 of produce at present obtained from the district. 



As to produce which might be obtained, the land is 

 very rich, and, under proper cultivation and with the 

 necessary heavy outlay on drainage, might undoubtedly 

 be made as fruitful as the similar lands aloug that part 

 of the coast which lies between the Essequibo and the 

 Oorentyn ; aud the uplands of the district seem especi- 

 ally suited for the cultivation of coffee and cacao. Timber 

 is abundant and fine ; the mora, especially on the upper 

 parts of the rivers, is far finer than any to be found 

 elsewhere in the colony. And up the Barima and 

 Amakooroo red cedar is very abundant and fine. Nor 

 would there be much difficulty in getting this timber, 

 when once cut, to market ; for the rivers are large and 

 fine and afford an unsurpassed system of water carriage. 

 Lastly — and according to some this is the most important 

 fact about the district — it may lie taken almost for granted 

 that gold will, for good or evil, one day be found there. — 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society 

 of British Guiana. 



Captain Liljeblad, of the L. M.S., schooner Ellangowan, 

 has brought over four new varieties of sugar-cane from 

 South Cape (says the Cooktoun Courier). These he has 

 handed to Mr. F. Bauer, who thinks very highly of two 

 of these varieties, aud intends to plant them at the 

 Bloomfield. Too much credit cannot be given to Captain 

 Liljeblad for thus introducing New Guinea product-yield- 

 ing plants. The betel palm would be well worth cultiv- 

 ating here, and should thrive admirably. — Queenslander. 

 Utilisation of Maize IHsks. — The husks of maize, or 

 Indian corn, after the grain has been extracted, serve ouly 

 for manure, or, in some cases, as fuel for portable engines 

 for agricultural purposes. But tiny contain starch, albu- 

 men, and othtr substances capable of being turned to ac- 

 count, and even afford an alcohol which is at hast equal 

 to potato spirit, leaving a pulp suitable for the food of 

 various animals. Heir Holl, of 'Worms, has invented a 

 process for utilising thtse husks, by which he exposes the 

 husks for an hour or an hour and a-half to the action of 

 steam, at a pressure of 35 to 451b, per square inch, iu 

 order to reduce them to powder, and thus open the starch 

 cells, when distillation is proceeded with in the ordinary 

 manner. — Journal of the b'pcietjf of Arts, 



