91 



stamen thrusting off and replacing the one that preceded it. The 

 whole has a most disagreeable, oily odour, and if cut and put in 

 any accessible place, is greedily attacked by ants. It may be seen 

 in all stages upon the same tree — in full bloom, faded, and quite 

 decayed. 



The female blossoms spring from a strong stem forming a regu- 

 lar zigzag, and are composed of three bracts three or four inches 

 in diameter. A gummy secretion exudes from the apex of these, 

 which secretion doubtless arrests and secures the pollen necessary 

 for their fecundation. The fruit stalk is supported by three very 

 strong bracts ; the outer one of these, the top of which is wedge- 

 shaped, penetrates the stalk of the leaf immediately above it, in 

 the under side of which nature has left a fissure accessible to it. 

 By this provision the stalk is enabled to support the weight of 

 fruit which hangs upon it, sometimes exceeding four hundred- 

 weight. Eleven nuts have been seen on one stalk, the probable 

 weight of each being about forty pounds. Such clusters are, how- 

 ever, very rare, and four or five may be taken as the average num- 

 ber on one stalk. 



From fructification to full maturity a period of nearly ten 

 years elapses. The fruit attains its full size in about four years, 

 and is then soft, and full of a semi-transparent jelly-like substance 

 of an insipid, sweetish taste. The mesocarp is a leathery sub- 

 stance of a brownish-green colour, adhering to the shell. As the 

 nut ripens this gradually dries up into a white, horny kernel, 

 about half an inch in thickness, and of no use whatever, supposed 

 to be poisonous, but, probably, only quite indigestible. The nut 

 in its perfect state is about eighteen inches long, and of the same 

 breadth, something in the shape of a heart, with two separate com- 

 partments. It is enveloped, like the Coco-nut in a fibrous husk ; 

 but its texture is not nearly so thick or so strong, and it drops off 

 soon after the nut falls from the tree. The nuts, sawn in half, and 

 divested of the kernel, form excellent calabashes, and are uni- 

 versally used for baling boats. The entire nut is frequently used 

 as a water-keg, and holds three or four gallons of water. It has, 

 however, to be " caulked" in the centre, where germination takes 

 place, before it becomes completely watertight. 



The arrangements provided by nature for the roots of both 

 male and female trees are of a most peculiar nature, quite distinct 

 from those provided for any other known tree. The base of the 

 trunk is of a bulbous form, and this bulb fits into a natural bowl, 

 or socket, about two and a half feet in diameter and eighteen 

 inches in depth, narrowing towards the bottom. This bowl is 

 pierced with hundreds of small oval holes about the size of a 

 thimble, with hollow tubes corresponding on the outside, through 

 which the roots penetrate the ground on all sides, never, however, 

 becoming attached to the bowl ; their partial elasticity affording 

 an almost imperceptible but very necessary " play" to the parent 

 stem when struggling against the force of violent gales. 



This bowl is of the same substance as the shell of the nut, only 

 much thicker. As far as can be ascertained, it never rots or wears 



