I 



THE CABBAGE PALM. 159 



A kind of wax, exuding from the rings of its trunk, is also 

 produced by tlie beautiful Ceroxylon andicola, which grows on 

 the slopes of the Andes, up to an elevation of eight thousand feet. 

 Even the lofty vault of the Crystal Palace would be unable to 

 span this majestic palm, which, according to Humboldt's accu- 

 rate measurement, towers one hundred and eighty feet above 

 the ground, and bears a tuft of fronds each twenty-four feet long. 



Tlie cabbage-palm of the Antilles (Oreodoxa oleracea) almost 

 rivals the mountain Ceroxylon in magnificence of growth, as 

 its stem, which near to its base is about seven feet in circum- 

 ference, ascends straight and tapering to the height of 130 feet! 

 Its lofty fronds, moved by the gentlest breeze, are an object 

 of beauty which can hardly be conceived by those who are 

 unused to the magnificent vegetation of a tropical sun. Within 

 the leaves which surround the top of the trunk, the cabbage, 

 composed of longitudinal flakes, like ribands, but so compact 

 as to form a crisp and solid body, lies concealed. It is white, 

 about two or three feet long, as thick as a man's arm, and per- 

 fectly cylindrical. When eaten raw, it resembles the almond in 

 flavour, but is more tender and delicious. It is usually cut into 

 pieces, boiled, and served as an auxiliary vegetable with meat. 

 To obtain this small portion, borne on the pinnacle of the tree, 

 and hidden from the eye of man, the axe is applied to the stately 

 trunk, and its towering pride laid low. 



Besides its cabbage, the Oreodoxa furnishes another great 

 delicacy to the table. After the removal of the heart, a kind 

 of black-beetle deposits its egg in the cavity, from which fat 

 grubs are developed, growing to the size and thickness of a 

 man's thumb. These, though disgusting in appearance, when 

 fried in a pan, with a very little butter and salt, have a taste 

 which savours of all the spices of India. 



Both the Oreodoxa and the Ceroxylon are far surpassed in 

 height by the Californian firs and the Eucalypti of Australia, 

 but no other trees rise so proudly in the aiii on shafts com- 

 paratively so slender. While the enormous trunks of the 

 Sequoias and Wellingtonias remind one of the massy pillars of 

 our old gothic churches, the graceful palms recall to our memory 

 the slender Ionic or Corinthian columns which adorn the master- 

 pieces of Grecian architecture. 



The oil of the Corozo {Elceis oleifera) is usually burnt in tlie 



