THE V.' OF VEGETATION. 135 



In the midst of a dense forest in Guiana, the chief 

 of the tribe, after having stretched his hammock be- 

 tween two great magnolias, rests under the shade of 

 the large leaves of a banana-tree. He smokes indo- 

 lently, and watches the movements going on around 

 him. Meanwhile his wife crushes the manioc roots 

 she has painfully gathered, in the hollow of a tree, by 

 means of a wooden pestle ; wraps the pulp in a net 

 made of the leaves of a large lily, and suspends it 

 upon a fork, tying a heavy stone to the lower part, so 

 as to compress the contents and to squeeze out all the 

 juice of the manioc. This juice, as it drops, is re- 

 ceived in a calabash; and a little boy squatting by 

 its side, steeps his father's arrows in the deadly 

 liquid as it drops down; while the mother makes 

 a fire to roast the strained porridge, and thus to rid 

 it entirely of its volatile poison. After this, being 

 ground to powder between two stones, the i ! 

 flour is ready for domestic use- 

 Meanwhile the bov also has finished his dangerous 

 c 1 



task. The juice has deposited a delicate white starch, 

 which he separates from the liquid, and which, after 

 having been washed once more in fresh water turns 



OUt to be tapioca ! In this Or a similar manner the 



manioca and tapioca of the tropics are prepared ev- 

 erywhere. 



The savage, having satisfied his hunt^er, flinnipfB 

 about in search of a new resting-pJaee; but woe to 

 him ! he has chanced to encamp under a redoubtable 

 manehineel tree ; rain suddenly falls, dropping from its 

 leaves upon him. and the unfortunate man awakens 



