OF THE AMAZON. 9 



ters of the Pali and Sanscrit languages were inscribed 

 with a metallic point. The leaves of the Corypha taliera 

 are used for this purpose, and when strung together, 

 form the volumes of a Hindu library. 



A favourite stimulant too of the Malays is furnished 

 by a palm. The fruit of the Areca catechu is the betel- 

 nut, which they chew with lime, and which is their 

 substitute for the opium of the Chinese, the tobacco of 

 Europeans, and the coca of the South Americans. 



One of the most recent introductions into our own 

 domestic economy is the fibre of a palm, the Piassaba, 

 which is now generally used for coarse brooms and 

 brushes ; and in the valley of the Amazon, of which it 

 is a native, the same material is manufactured into 

 cables, which are cheap and very durable in the water. 



We have now glanced at a few of the most important 

 uses to which Palms are applied, but in order to be able to 

 appreciate how much the native tribes of the countries 

 where they most abound are dependent on this noble family 

 of plants, and how they take part in some form or other 

 in almost every action of the Indian's life, we must 

 enter into his hut and inquire into the origin and struc- 

 ture of the various articles we shall see around us. 



Suppose then we visit an Indian cottage on the banks 

 of the Rio Negro, a great tributary of the river Amazon 

 in South America. The main supports of the building 

 are trunks of some forest tree of heavy and durable 

 wood, but the light rafters overhead are formed by the 

 straight cylindrical and uniform stems of the Jara palm. 

 The roof is thatched with large triangular leaves, neatly 



