THE PALMS OF AMERICA. 163 



are known, in this country by the name of 

 cocos nuts and coquilla nuts. Such articles 

 are brown, prettily marked, and capable of 

 taking a fine polish. 



Iriartea ventricosa is a very remarkable palm. 

 It flourishes on the banks of the Japura, in the 

 primeval woods bordering the course of the 

 Solimoes, and betw^een the Rio Negro and I^a. 

 The stem is eighty feet high, and rises from a 

 dome or pyramid of arched roots, which is five 

 or six feet in height above the surface of the 

 ground. It is marked with rings, and is of 

 equal thickness throughout, except a little 

 above the middle, where it gradually swells, 

 until it reaches double its former thickness, 

 after which it diminishes again, till it is reduced 

 to an equal size with the lower portion, when it 

 retains the same diameter to the summit. Here 

 it is terminated by a splendid canopy of from 

 eight to fifteen large winged leaves, the sepa- 

 rate leaflets of which are broad and curiously 

 japged at the end. The Indians make a variety 

 of domestic utensils from the various parts of 

 this tree. From the external portion of the 

 trunk, which is excessively hard, and black as 

 ebony, they make the clubs which they carry 

 in war, the arrows which they tip with the 

 tirari poison, and their spindles for weaving. 



