176 TRANSACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE [Sess. lv. 



mentioned, and a very similar one of the same genus, E. 



stenophylla, Trail, the latter being solitary, and the former 



caespitose. The solitary species did not seem to be common. 



I have now to mention two very fine palms, those, namely, 



which are known there as the Acta and the Kokerite. The 



latter is common on the Pomeroon and its tributary creeks, 



while the former occurs here and there in the same district. 



But wherever either appears it arrests the attention at once. 



They are entirely different in every feature, but both are 



magnificent. The Aeta {Mauritia Jicxuosa) is the only 



native fan-leaved palm I saw in Guiana. It is a tall, robust 



tree 50 feet high and 3| feet in girth, the trunk circled with 



rings, which are the marks of attachment of the old leaves, 



and the crown of very long-petioled leaves forming an 



extremely handsome termination above. The petioles are as 



much as 9 feet long, and the leaves themselves 6 feet. 



From the base of the crown three or four old dead brown 



leaves hang vertically down, the petiole having not yet 



become detached from the trunk, and form a striking feature 



in the appearance of the tree. If the prize for beauty 



were contested by all the palms of which I know anything, 



the Acta would certainly be one of two or three among 



which a judge would have to make his final choice. And it 



is as usefid as it is beautiful. The Indians find it serviceable 



in many different ways. The outer skin of the young leaves 



yields an excellent fibre, which they twist into string for the 



manufacture of hammocks. The leaf-stalks are used for the 



shafts of fish harpoons, and to form house partitions. The 



pitli of the trunk forms a kind of sago, and the juice which 



exudes from the trunk when felled supplies a palatable 



drink. The young leaf, as yet unexpanded, forms an 



excellent " cabbage," and the fruit is also prized as a food. 



It is the most valuable of trees to the dwellers in the forest. 



The Kokerite (Maximiliana Martiana) is no less beautiful, 



and hardly less useful. It may have a distinct stem of 



considerable height, or wlien immature its leaves may spring 



direct from the ground. From base to apex the leaf may 



be 35 feet in lengtli, and nothing could surpass its beauty. 



The pinucC on this enormous leaf are arranged in a peculiar 



fashion. They are not all set in the same plane, but you 



have sets of two or three or four arrani^ed in two different 



