132 THE PALM TREE. 
sipds or forest creepers; the leaves are those of the 
Caran4 palm. The door of the house is a framework 
of thin hard strips of wood neatly thatched over; it 
is made of the split stems of the Pashitiba palm. In 
one corner stands a heavy harpoon for catching the 
cow-fish; it is formed of the black wood of the 
Pashitiba. By its side is a blow-pipe ten or twelve 
feet long, and a little quiver full of small poisoned 
arrows hangs up near it; with these the Indian pro- 
cures birds for food, or for their gay feathers, or even 
brings down the wild hog or the tapir, and it is from 
the stems and spines of two species of Palms that 
they are made. His great bassoon-like musical in- 
struments are made of palm stems; the cloth in which 
he wraps his most valued feather ornaments is a fibrous 
palm spathe; and the rude chest in which he keeps 
his treasures is woven from palm leaves. His ham- 
mock, his bow-string and his fishing-line, are from 
the fibres of leaves which he obtains from different 
palm trees, according to the qualities he requires in 
them, — the hammock from the Miriti, and the bow- 
string and fishing-line from the Tucim. The comb 
which he wears on his head is ingeniously constructed 
of the hard bark of a palm, and he makes fish-hooks, 
of the spines, or uses them to puncture on his skin 
the peculiar markings of his tribe. His children are 
eating the agreeable red and yellow fruit of the 
Pupunha or peach palm, and from that of the Assaf 
he has prepared a favorite drink, which he offers you 
to taste. That carefully-suspended gourd contains 
oil, which he has extracted from the fruit of another 
