18 PALM TREES 



entirely concealing the stem, and giving the tree a most 

 curious and unique appearance. The leaves form an 

 excellent thatch, and are almost universally used in 

 that portion of Venezuela situated on the upper Bio 

 Negro, and the adjacent tributaries of the Orinoco. 

 The fruit is said to resemble that of the Jara in colour, 

 but it is globose and eatable, being used principally to 

 form a thick drink by washing off the outer coating of 

 pulp. 



The fibrous or hairy covering of the stem is an ex- 

 tensive article of commerce in the countries in which it 

 grows. It seems to have been used by the Brazilians 

 from a very early period to form cables for the canoes 

 navigating the Amazon. It is well adapted for this 

 purpose, as it is light (the cables made of it not sinking 

 in water) and very durable. It twists readily and firmly 

 into cordage from the fibres being rough -edged, and as 

 it is very abundant, and is procured and manufactured 

 by the Indians, piassaba ropes are much cheaper than 

 any other kind of cordage. The price in the city of 

 Barra in June 1852, was 400 reis or Is. for 32 lbs. of 

 the fibre, and 800 reis or 2s. for every inch in circum- 

 ference of a cable sixty fathoms long, which is the 

 standard length they are all made to. 



Before the independence of Brazil, the Portuguese 

 government had a factory at the mouth of the Paduari, 

 one of the tributaries of the Bio Negro, for the purpose 

 of making these cables for the use of the Para arsenal, 

 and as a government monopoly. Till within these few 

 years the fibre was all manufactured into cordage on 



