THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 77 



(northern Africa), the Arabs drink their laqby daily, 

 as they smoke their pipe contemplatively on the bank 

 of a water-course. 



AKECA PALM. 



By the side of the champagne palm we must 

 mention the slim areca palm, so highly esteemed 

 by the Indians for its leaves and its fruits. In spite 

 of its height, which often reaches 40 feet, the stem is 

 exceedingly slender, and it is only by means of its 

 deep roots that it can withstand the fierce winds 

 of the tropics. Like all the trees of this class, the 

 areca palm also is crowned w r ith a magnificent plume 

 of gigantic feathery leaves, some of which measure 15 

 feet in length ; if cut before they leave the massive 

 bud in which they -are at first carefully enclosed, they 

 furnish the. famous palm cabbage, a great favorite 

 with Indians and Europeans alike. 



A plantation of arecas is continually producing 

 fruit, and often on the same tree three stages of ripe- 

 ness may be observed in as many clusters of fruit. 

 These fruits, when about the size of an egg, grow in 

 groups, and assume, as they ripen, the color of an 

 orange. They are sometimes gathered before being 

 ripe, for the sake of their pulp, called pinang, which 

 is then of an agreeable taste. But generally the grow- 

 ers wait till the usual six months bring perfect matu- 

 rity, because thepinang is changed into a seed of the 

 size of a nutmeg ; this nut is one of the three ingre- 

 dients which make up the famous betel, so extensively 

 chewed by the Indians, and which gives to their teeth 



