OF THE AMAZON. 7 



is worthy to be classed with these the most precious 

 gifts of nature to mankind. Unlike them, however, it 

 is neither seed nor root, but is the wood itself, the 

 pithy centre of the stem, requiring scarcely any prepa- 

 ration to fit it for food ; and it is so abundant that a 

 single tree often yields six hundred pounds weight. 



The canes used for chair bottoms and various other 

 purposes, are the stems of species of Calamus, slender 

 palms which abound in the East Indian jungles, climbing 

 over other trees and bushes by the help of the long- 

 hooked spines with which their leaves are armed. They 

 sometimes reach the enormous length of 600 or even 

 1000 feet, and as four millions of them are imported 

 into this country annually, a great number of persons 

 must find employment in cutting them. 



A variety of species, in all parts of the world, furnish a 

 sugary sap from their stems or unopened spathes, which 

 when jpartly fermented is the palm wine of Africa and 

 the Toddy of the East Indies ; and a similar beverage 

 is procured from the Mauritia vinifera and other species 

 in South America. Indeed, at the mouth of the Orinoco 

 dwell a nation of Indians whose existence depends 

 almost entirely on a species of Palm, supposed to be 

 the Mauritia flexuosa. They build their houses elevated 

 on its trunks, and live principally upon its fruit and 

 sap, with fish from the waters around them. 



Among the most singular products of palm trees are 

 the resins and wax produced by some species. The 

 fruits of a species of Calamus of the Eastern Archipelago 

 are covered with a resinous substance of a red colour, 



