worn in many shapes and forms by natives, Creoles, and 
tourists in Mesoamerica (Standley and Steyermark 1958: 
273) and in Brazil (Wallace 1853: 70). I have not seen 
them used by the Warao as bags and wrapping cloth (ibid. ) 
or as loin cloths (Braun 1968: 111). 
The fruit. The fruits (yawihi aukwaha) serve the Warao 
as food and drink. One specimen of infructescence that I 
examined weighed 12 kg; the clear liquid inside the nuts 
accounted for approximately one-third, i.e., 3.75 liters (PLATE 
LXXVIII). The entire bunch was 87.5 cm. long and 25 cm. 
wide and was composed of 67 fruits: 22 one-seeded, 25 two- 
seeded, and 20 three-seeded ones.'° The single fruits mea- 
sured between 7 and 8 cm. in diameter, twins and triplets 
9.5 cm. All a Warao needs do to satisfy his thirst, whether 
in the jungle, along the coast, or in the field, is to cut just 
one bunch of temiche fruit and drink his fill. In times of 
non-potable water, the Indians take along a load of fruit 
clusters in their dugouts (Turrado Moreno 1945: 92). To 
get at the water, the Indian bites into the corky exocarp 
(nakoro ahoro) or cuts a hole in it and drinks the water 
from a calabash or from its natural cup. The fleshy homo- 
geneous endosperm of the as yet immature fruit (nohi) is 
greatly relished by the Indians; the fruit is opened with a 
blow of a heavy stick and the jelly-like substance scraped 
out with the thumbnail. Fully matured fruits, which re- 
semble miniature coconuts (ya umo) fall to the ground. 
They get buried in the detritus or are washed out to the 
rivers and the sea. In this state, they are hard and inedible, 
but find use as whorls in the manufacture of toy tops for 
boys (PLare LXXIX). 
The seedlings. Seedlings (emukohoko) are sought after 
by the Indians, young and old. If the germination results 
obtained by Braun (1968: 54) for cultivated Manicaria 
saccifera are any indication, the seeds of this palm germinate 
in four months, more or less. The Indians searah for seedlings 
that are developed enough to have grown their characteristic 
bifid eophylls up to 30 cm. above the ground.'' They pull 
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