54 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



not only found the tree, but cut it down, and the 

 creek, across which it had fallen, was whitened by its 

 milk. A knife stuck into the bark immediately 

 brought forth a stream of sap, which the Indian drank 

 eagerly. Smith drank after the Indian, and found the 

 milk excellent. "It was," he says, "thicker and 

 richer than cow-milk, entirely free from bitterness, 

 and the only slightly unpleasant feature was, that af- 

 ter drinking my lips felt slightly viscous. As I 

 passed the night in the village," the traveller contin- 

 ues, " I had in the morning a glass of this milk for 

 my coffee, and it proved such a good substitute for 

 cow-milk that no one could have told the difference ; 

 for the slight viscousness which I had noticed in tast- 

 ing it before, disappeared when it was mixed with the 

 coffee." 



The milk flows more freely if the opening made 

 is transverse or oblique, than if it is longitudinal. 

 The bark of the hya-hya is gray, rather rough, and 

 has to be cut completely through in order to make 

 the milk flow. This tree is very different from the 

 other cow-tree. Its leaves are elliptical, and grow in 

 couples. The chemical composition of the milk also 

 differs it is not equally nourishing. 



Besides these remarkable species of milk-producing 

 trees belonging to America, a milk-tree not less remark- 

 able, called Masaranduba, by the Indians, is found in 

 the port of Para (Brazil). It is one of the largest 

 trees in the Brazilian forests, and furnishes a wood 

 highly prized for ship-building. The tree blooms in 

 February and yields a delicious fruit, the taste of which 



