162 THE PALMS OF AMERICA. 



months in the year depends as much on the 

 farinaceous fruit of the pihijao as on the cassava 

 and phmtain. The Indians of the missions are 

 unwearied in their praises of this noble palm, 

 which might be called the peach palm. It is 

 cultivated by them with Jatropha maniliot and 

 Indian corn, and is regarded by them with 

 such veneration that they Avill not cut it down, 

 though, from the hardness of the wood, it is 

 evidently admirably adapted for the manufac- 

 ture of a variety of utensils, 



Atfalea fumfaxi, called by the natives '' Pia- 

 caha" is found in the richest soil in the native 

 forests in the hotter parts of the maritime pro- 

 vinces of Brazil, where it is one of the most 

 valuable gifts which the bountiful hand of Pro- 

 vidence has conferred on the inhabitants. The 

 best cordage in America for naval purposes is 

 manufactured from the fibres of the leaf stalks 

 and other parts ; such ropes are of great, 

 strength, and are extremely durable in salt 

 water, no other cables being employed in a 

 •great part of the Brazilian navy. This species 

 does not grow more than from twenty to thirty 

 feet high ; and its nuts, Avhich are about as 

 large as an ostriclrs egg, have a hard shell like 

 that of the cocoa nut, which is very thick, and 

 is much used for turning iiito oriaamcuts ; they 



