Chap. I. CURIOUS FRUITS. 49 



(Dipteryx odorata), used in Europe for scenting snuff, 

 is also of frequent occurrence here. It grows to an 

 immense height, and the fruit, which, although a 

 legume, is of a rounded shape, and has but one seed, 

 can be gathered only when it falls to the ground. A 

 considerable quantity (from 1000 to 3000 pounds) is 

 exported annually from Santarem, the produce of the 

 whole region of the Tapajos. An endless diversity of 

 trees and shrubs, some beautiful in flower and foliage, 

 others bearing curious fruits, grow in this matted wil- 

 derness. It would be tedious to enumerate many of 

 them. I was much struck with the variety of trees, 

 with large and diversely-shaped fruits growing out of 

 the trunk and branches, some within a few inches of 

 the ground, like the cacao. Most of them are called 

 by the natives Cupu, and the trees are of inconsiderable 

 height. One of them called Cupu-ai bears a fruit of 

 elliptical shape and of a dingy earthen colour six or seven 

 inches long, the shell of which is woody and thin, and 

 contains a small number of seeds loosely enveloped in 

 a juicy pulp of very pleasant flavour. The fruits hang 

 like clayey ants'-nests from the branches. Another 

 kind more nearly resembles the cacao ; this is shaped 

 something like the cucumber, and has a green ribbed 

 husk. It bears the name of Cacao de macaco, or 

 monkey's chocolate, but the seeds are smaller than those 

 of the common cacao. I tried once or twice to make 

 chocolate from them. They contain plenty of oil of 

 similar fragrance to that of the ordinary cacao-nut, 

 and make up very well into paste ; but the beverage 

 has a repulsive clayey colour and an inferior flavour. 

 vol.it. e 



