VENEZUELA. 639 



The inaja-paliii, of various species, produces pellucid i)ods, 

 from one to two feet in length, containing a row of beans 

 — enveloped in white cottony pulp — grateful to the taste. 



The cocoa-palm, though at a distance from the coast, here 

 flourishes in great perfection, adding to the splendour of the 

 vegetation, ^vith its glorious crown of monster leaves ; while 

 the plantain and banana are widely cultivated, a few plants 

 of which are sufficient to supply a family with bread, vege- 

 tables, fruit, and preserves of various kinds. Humboldt 

 observes that an area planted with plantains produces nearly 

 twenty times as much food as the same space sown with 

 com. 



HUMMIXG-BIRDS. 



Amid this rich and varied vegetation, swarms of tiny and 

 brilliant humming-birds flutter round th(5 masses of highly- 

 scented blossoms that perfume the air, and which might be 

 mistaken by the stranger at first sight for some of the 

 metallic-coloured beetles which dispute with them the nectar 

 of the fragrant flowers, so brilliant is the lustre shed by both. 

 As Gosse well remarks : " For that peculiar charm which 

 resides in flashino- lio-ht, combined with the most brilliant 

 colours, the lustre of precious stones, there are no birds, no 

 creatures, that can compare with the humming-birds, confined 

 exclusively to America." These lovely little winged gems were 

 to the Mexican and Peruvian Indians the very quintessence of 

 beauty ; and were called by various names, signifying " tlie 

 rays of the sun," and the like. Fully four hundred distinct 

 species of these winged gems are supposed to exist on the 

 continent. 



TREES. 



Of the trees which have a wide range over the country. 



