244 NOTES OF A BOTANIST CHAP. 



. . . The nuts are much the same as in the other 

 species, only rather larger ; they are extensively 

 used in the Sierra for making heads of dolls, saints, 

 and walking-sticks. The Cadi produces a very 

 excellent "cabbage," but the Indian and other 

 inhabitants are fonder of a large maggot called 

 Majon which is bred in its trunk. I have seen 

 the Indians of the Rio Negro and of Canelos roast 

 and eat the larva of a beetle extracted from the 

 trunk of the Pupunha palm (Guilielma speciosa). 



In general, the arborescent vegetation seemed 

 scanty in species and uninteresting. One of the 

 most striking trees was an Erythrina with a slender 

 tortuous (almost twining) trunk, from which sprang 

 long spikes of scarlet flowers, and few branches 

 bearing each a coma of ternate leaves, whereof the 

 leaflets were sometimes 18 inches across. There 

 were also a few Figs, and on the steep declivities 

 there were patches of low forest, consisting chiefly 

 of Clusiae, Thibaudiae, and Melastomaceae. Two 

 small Trichomanes crept along the branches of 

 shrubs, but terrestrial ferns were all but absent. 



On returning that evening to our hut, I consulted 

 with Bermeo about our ulterior movements. He 

 told me that if I would go another day's journey 

 into the forest, he could with certainty show me 

 more trees of the Cascarilla ro/'a, which he had seen 

 not many months previously, and as on account of 

 the Revolution no one had this vear entered the 



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forests to collect Cascarilla, it was probable they 

 were still untouched. But for this our stock of 

 provisions would scarcely suffice, and I saw no 

 probability of adding anything interesting to the 



