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trunks which, after creeping along the ground a few yards, ascend, 

 and attain about an equal height. Their leaves, also, resemble each 

 other; and their fruit grows in a similar way, attached to short pe- 

 duncles, and almost hidden in the axils. * * * The uses to which the 

 Anta is applied by the Indians are nearly the same as elsewhere. 

 With its leaves their huts are thatched, and the young liquid albumen 

 is eaten. The ' nuts,' however, are turned to no useful purpose. 

 The Spanish Isthmians did not know, before I visited the Isthmus, 

 that vegetable ivory, or Marfil vegetat as they call it, existed in their 

 country ; and although they have been told that with the produce of 

 the groves of Darien whole ships might be loaded, no one has yet 

 taken advantage of the discovery." 



I will conclude these extracts with the following account of the 

 Jipijapa: — 



" An indigenous production deserving especial notice is the Jipi- 

 japa [Carludovica palmata, R. et Pav.), a palm-like plant, of whose 

 unexpanded leaves the far-famed ' Panama hats ' are plaited. * * * 

 The Jipijapa, or Panama hats, are principally manufactured in Vera- 

 gaus and Western Panama : not all, however, known in commerce by 

 that name are plaited in the Isthmus; by far the greater propor- 

 tion is made in Manta, Monte Christi, and other parts of Ecuador. 

 The hats are worn almost in the whole American continent and the 

 West Indies, and would probably be equally used in Europe, did not 

 their high price, varying from 2 to 150 dollars, prevent their importa- 

 tion. They are distinguished from all others by consisting only of a 

 single piece, and by their lightness and flexibility. They may be 

 rolled up and put into the pocket without injury. In the rainy sea- 

 son they are apt to get black, but by washing them with soap and 

 water, besmearing them with lime-juice or any other acid, and ex- 

 posing them to the sun, their whiteness is easily restored. So little 

 is known about these hats, that it may not be deemed out of place to 

 insert here a notice of their manufacture. The ' straw ' (paja), pre- 

 vious to plaiting, has to go through several processes. The leaves 

 are gathered before they unfold, all their ribs and coarser veins re- 

 moved, and the rest, without being separated from base of the leaf, is 

 reduced to shreds. After having been put in the sun for a day, and 

 tied into a knot, the straw is immersed into boiling water until it be- 

 comes white. It is then hung up in a shady place, and subsequently 

 bleached for two or three days. The straw is now ready for use, and 

 in this state sent to different places, especially to Peru, where the In- 

 dians manufacture from it those beautiful cigar-cases, which fetch 



