158 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



of the Kile, in the region of the cataracts. In Kordofan the 

 Delebl palms form large clumps witli tamarinds, cassias, adan- 

 sonias, and various mimosas. Straight as an arrow and per- 

 fectly smooth-rinded, this magnificent tree rises to the height 

 of a hundred feet, bearing large fan-like leaves, attached to 

 foot-stalks ten feet long, and armed with mighty thorns. From 

 ten to twent}^ large bunches of nuts, as big as a man's head, 

 hang beneath the fronds, but unfortunately these fine-looking 

 fruits disappoint tlie taste. 



Thus various forms of palms flourish along the banks of 

 "the Nile, but in general Africa has a smaller variety of these 

 trees to boast of than either Asia or America. On the other 

 hand, the forests of Brazil have no palms at all comparable in 

 commercial importance to the Cocos butyracea and the Elseis 

 gumeensis, the oil-teeming fruit trees of tropical West Africa. 

 The productiveness of the Elseis may be inferred from its 

 bearing clusters of from 600 to 800 nuts, larger than a pigeon's 

 egg, and so full of oil that it may be pressed out with the fingers. 

 As long as the slave trade reigned along the coast of Gruinea, 

 these vegetable treasures remained unnoticed ; but since Eng- 

 land began to raise her voice against this infamous traffic, they 

 have become the object of an immense and constantly increasing 

 commerce. 



The American palms are pre-eminent in beauty, and many 

 of them rank highly in the list of useful plants. 



The leaves of the Carnauba {Gorypha cerifera) furnish an 

 abundance of wax. The lowlands of Gruiana, between 3° and 7° 

 N. lat., are frequently covered with this social fan-palm, whose 

 full-grown fronds, when cut and dried in the shade, cover them- 

 selves with light-coloured scales. These melt in a warmth of 

 206° F., and then form a straw-coloured liquid, which again 

 concretes on cooling. It burns with as clear and bright a flame 

 as the best bees'-wax, and will no doubt become a considerable 

 article of trade, when once the spirit of industry awakens in 

 those rich but thinly-populated regions. I^ike many other 

 palms, the Carnauba does not confine her gifts to one single 

 product. The boiled fruit is edible, and the pith of the young 

 stems affords a nutritious fecula. Eoofs thatched with its leaves 

 resist for many years the effects of the weather, and its wood 

 may be used for a variety of purposes. 



