46 THE FLORIST. 



to sever them. The whole appearance of the tree is enchanting, 

 though it bears a distant but unmistakable resemblance to our 

 Firs. The fruit grows at the extremity of the branches, in a per- 

 fectly round ball the size of a man's head. It is formed of scales 

 laid regularly one over the other, and covering the seeds Avhich give 

 its first and most peculiar importance to this, in itself, fine tree. 

 The Araucaria is the Palm of the Indians who live in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Chilian Andes from the 37th to the 48th degree 

 of S. lat. It yields to these nomade tribes a supply of vegetable 

 food, which, to such of them as are far removed from all traffic with 

 the whites, by which corn may be procured, forms almost exclusively 

 the only diet of that kind which they possess. The vast extent of the 

 Pinares or Araucaria forests, and the astonishing quantity of nutri- 

 tive seeds which are produced by a single tree, might nearly secure 

 the Indians from all danger of famine, if their mutual anmiosities 

 did not prevent them from gathering them in peace. A single caheza 

 or fruit contains from two to three hundred kernels ; and twenty or 

 thirty of these fruits may often be counted on one tree. Now an 

 Indian, if not altogether destitute of animal food, cannot, even if he 

 has a stout appetite, eat more than two hundred of these kernels in 

 a day; so that it follows, that eighteen trees at the most would be 

 required to support him a whole year. The kernel is shaped like 

 an almond, but is twice the size, and is covered with a leathery skin 

 easily rubbed off. It is very agreeable to the taste, but not easy of 

 digestion; and is apt to disorder the stomachs of persons unaccus- 

 tomed to it, as it contains a great quantity of gum, with very little 

 oleaginous matter, and becomes as hard as a stone in a very^ short 

 time. A sweet exudation, which seems to have its source in the 

 embryo, comes out of the seeds, if not over-ripe, when dried in the 

 sun. The Indians eat them in all states, fresh, boiled, or roasted. 

 In the last state they taste like the edible chestnut, except a certain 

 bitter flavour. For winter use they are steeped in warm water, and 

 then dried ; and the women know how to make them into a kind of 

 flour, and even pastry. The collecting of them would be a work of 

 no small difficulty were it necessary to climb the trees for this pur- 

 pose. But towards the end of March, when the fruits ripen, they 

 fall of themselves, shedding their scales and contents on the ground, 

 to be picked up without trouble by the small parrots and finches, 

 who alone divide the spoil with the Indians.* They lie in such 

 quantities in the forests of this tree which border the country of the 

 Pehuenches and Huilliches, and which it requires a long day's jour- 

 ney to pass through, that only a very small part is made use of. In 

 former times a large quantity was brought to the cities of Concep- 

 cion and Yaldivia through the traffic wdth the Indians, and found 



* The large triangular kernels sold in the shops as Brazil nuts are obtained 

 in the same way. They are enclosed in a round ligneous capsule, larger and 

 thicker than the cocoa-nut, without the covering in which that is enveloped. 

 They fall when ripe from the lofty trees on which they grow, and split open ; 

 and the monkeys, squirrels, and other wild animals, regale themselves on their 

 contents. 



