250 TROPICAL NATURE n 



over shrubs and in thickets like endless serpents. They must 

 attain an immense age, and apparently have almost unlimited 

 powers of growth, for some are said to have been found 

 which were six hundred or even one thousand feet long, and 

 if so they are probably the longest of all vegetable growths. 

 The mode in which such great lengths and tangled convolu- 

 tions have been attained has already been explained in the 

 general account of woody climbers. From the immense 

 strength of these canes and the facility with which they can 

 be split, they are universally used for cordage in the countries 

 where they grow in preference to any other climbers, and 

 immense quantities are annually exported to all parts of the 

 world. 



Uses of Palm-trees and their Products 



To the natives of the equatorial zone the uses of palms 

 are both great and various. The fruits of several species 

 more especially the cocoa-nut of the East and the peach- 

 nut (Guilielma speciosa) of America furnish abundance of 

 wholesome food, and the whole interior of the trunk of the 

 sago palm is converted into an edible starch our sago. 

 Many other palm -fruits yield a thin pulp, too small in 

 quantity to be directly eaten, but which, when rubbed off 

 and mixed with a proper quantity of water, forms an exceed- 

 ingly nutritious and agreeable article of food. The most 

 celebrated of these is the assai of the Amazon, made from the 

 fruit of Euterpe oleracea, and which, as a refreshing, nourish- 

 ing, and slightly stimulating beverage for a tropical country, 

 takes the place of our chocolate and coffee. A number of 

 other palms yield a similar product, and many that are not 

 eaten by man are greedily devoured by a variety of animals, 

 so that the amount of food produced by this tribe of plants 

 is much larger than is generally supposed. 



The sap which pours out of the cut flower-stalk of several 

 species of palm, when slightly fermented, forms palm-wine or 

 toddy, a very agreeable drink ; and when mixed with various 

 bitter herbs or roots which check fermentation, a fair imita- 

 tion of beer is produced. If the same fluid is at once boiled 

 and evaporated it produces a quantity of excellent sugar. 

 The Arenga saccharifera, or sugar-palm of the Malay coun- 

 tries, is perhaps the most productive of sugar. A single tree 



