MANCHINEEL AND HABELLA. 16 J 



Indians hasten to gather its almond-like fruit as a 

 never-failing remedy for the bite of malignant ser- 

 pents ; birds nestle at the fall of night among its 

 branches; and various animals resort beneath its 

 shade as to a place of rest. Yet the habella often 

 grows at a short distance from the manchineel: the 

 same earth nourishes the roots of each, the same 

 soft summer winds play among the branches, the 

 same warm sun brings forth the greenness in the 

 leaves, and the varied hue of the blossoms ; yet how 

 great the difference ! One bears a poisonous apple, 

 the other a sweet nutritious fruit. Tamarinds and 

 medlars, cassias and bananas, bejucos and palms, 

 also grow in the same soil, and are equally dissimilar. 

 But among the various productions of Terra Firma, 

 vegetation displays its greatest luxuriance in the 

 palm ; groups of these noble trees lift their heads 

 far above the towering branches of innumerable 

 others, and form a grand perspective on the moun- 

 tains. One produces the cocoa, another dates, a 

 third, called palma real, a small unpalatable fruit, 

 the fourth a kernel of delicious flavour. Palm wine 

 is equally extracted from the different species, and 

 both Negroes and Indians well know how to make 

 that incision in the trunk from which the sap exudes. 

 Habellas also, of which we have just spoken, differ- 

 ing in size and colour, are abundant in the forests, in 

 those parts especially which are the haunt of venom- 

 ous serpents. Those who frequent the forests, 

 either to fell the trees or hunt the game, never fail 

 to eat a little of the nut fasting. Thus protected, 

 they go without apprehension to their work, and 

 fearlessly explore the tangled thickets, or walk 



If 



