48 PALM TREES 



apple and covered with rather small, smooth, brown, 

 reticulated scales, beneath which is a thin coating of 

 pulp. A spadix loaded with fruit is of immense weight, 

 often more than two men could carry between them. 



The leaves, fruit and stem of this tree are all useful 

 to the natives of the interior. The leaf-stalks are 

 applied to the same purposes as those of the species last 

 described, the Jupati. The epidermis of the leaves 

 furnishes the material of which the string for hammocks, 

 and cordage for a variety of purposes is made. The 

 unopened leaves form a thick-pointed column rising 

 from the very centre of the crown of foliage. This is 

 cut down, and by a little shaking the tender leaflets 

 fall apart. Each one is then skilfully stripped of its 

 outer covering, a thin riband-like pellicle of a pale 

 yellow colour which shrivels up almost into a thread. 

 These are then tied in bundles and dried, and are after- 

 wards twisted by rolling on the breast or thigh into 

 string, or with the fingers into thicker cords. The 

 article most commonly made from it is the " rede," or 

 netted hammock, which is the almost universal bed of 

 the native tribes of the Amazon. These are formed by 

 doubling the string over two rods or poles about six or 

 seven feet apart, till there are forty or fifty parallel 

 threads, which are then secured at intervals of about a 

 foot by cross strings twisted and tied on to every longi- 

 tudinal one. A strong cord is then passed through the 

 loop formed by all the strings brought together at each 

 end, by which the hammock is hung up a few feet from 

 the ground, and in this open net the naked Indian 



