HABITAT OF THE COATI. 59 



We have reason to believe that the species of 

 which we have just spoken is principally confined 

 to the province of Rio de la Plata to that woodless 

 and mighty plain that continued level, uninter- 

 rupted by the smallest hill for several hundred miles, 

 yet beautifully varied with rich pasture grounds, 

 and fields producing an abundance of trees yielding 

 delicious fruits, with cotton and tobacco, indigo, 

 pimento, and ipecacuanha, and the valuable herb 

 called paraguay, which is annually exported to the 

 value of one hundred thousand pounds, merely to 

 the provinces of Chili and Peru. This plant is ser- 

 viceable in disorders of the head and stomach, it 

 preserves the miners when brought in contact with 

 the noxious mineral streams that would otherwise 

 suffocate them ; it is also a sovereign remedy in 

 many fevers, it allays the gnawings of hunger, and 

 purifies the most unwholesome water. 



Palms also grow there, the noblest productions of 

 the vegetable kingdom in southern countries, but no 

 where so abundant or so beautiful as in the finest parts 

 of South America. It is curious to trace their progress 

 from the equator to the temperate zone, to observe 

 how gradually they diminish in size and beauty, 

 and how fully they expand in countries where the 

 usual degree of heat is from 75 to 80 or 83 of 

 Fahrenheit. America is, therefore, the land of 

 palms, for both in Asia and in Africa the species are 

 comparatively rare, with the exception of the date, 

 which is invaluable in the country where it grows, 

 and which even thrives in the south of Europe. 



The Jagua and the Piriguao are the most magni- 

 ficent ; the first especially, which seems to concen- 



