206 ARBRE A CHEMISES. 



An excellent writing paper is made of another species of 

 Daphne (D. cannabina), which is a native of Cochin China. 



ESTHER. 



And then there are the bark dresses of South America, the 

 " chemises de Marima," as De Humboldt terms them. 



HENRIETTA. 



What tree produces them 1 ? 



ESTHER. 



That De Humboldt says he is unable to determine, but he 

 saw trunks of the " arbre a chemises"* more than fifty feet 

 long. The Indians cut them into cylindrical pieces of two 

 feet in diameter. They remove the red fibrous bark, taking 

 great care not to make any longitudinal incisions. The bark 

 furnishes them with a kind of garment, resembling sacks of 

 a coarse stuff. The larger opening serves for the head, and 

 they make two at the sides for arm-holes. In the rainy sea- 

 sons the natives wear these garments, which have the form of 

 the poncho, or South American dress. As in these climates 

 the richness and beneficence of nature are regarded as the 

 first causes of the indolence of the inhabitants, the mission- 

 aries do not fail to say, " that in the forests of the Orinoco, 

 garments are found ready made upon the trees." One might 

 add to this story the pointed caps, formed by the spathes of 

 certain palm trees, and which resemble a net-work of coarse 

 stitches. 



HENRIETTA. 



Like the caps which are made of the Talipot tree. 



ESTHER. 



Or the flowers of the Aristolochia,f which De Humboldt 

 found upon the borders of the Magdalena, four feet in circum- 

 ference, and which the Indian children amuse themselves 

 with putting upon their heads as caps. 



* Huraboldt's Voyage, t. viii. t Tableaux de la Nature. 



