THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 79 



tree but the name does not at all belong to the tree, 

 which is known to botanists only as the areca palm. 



THE ELAIS PALM. 



Among the precious plants that grow in the for- 

 ests of Africa, beyond Cape Verde, there is a palm, the 

 leaves of which are spread out at the height of thirty 

 feet from the ground, and which the natives call their 

 Friend. Even those who have visited the splendid 

 forests of the Tropics are struck with the beauty of 

 this magnificent tree, the Eldis Guineensis, which 

 clothes all the slopes inclined towards the sea, and 

 richly rewards the care bestowed upon it by the na- 

 tives. And yet its beauty is by no means superior to 

 its usefulness, as the exports from Liverpool to New 

 York attest. And yet so far, of its many products, 

 oil only has been an object of extended commerce and 

 exportation. The natives, on the contrary, not only 

 draw wine and oil from the noble tree, but they man- 

 ufacture from it their fishing-lines, hats, baskets, wood- 

 en tools, and even timber for their houses. It is their 

 companion and stay, charged by nature to subserve all 

 their wants from day to day. 



Formerly the manufacture of this palm oil was 

 left entirely to the natives ; but now it is carried on by 

 foreigners in large farms among the forests of the 

 coast. When the seeds are ripe they are gathered, 

 cast into troughs and trampled under foot by negroes, 

 who are provided with w^ooden sandals. 



Palm oil is one of the most important products of 

 the African coast. The elais does not grow under 



