THE EQUINOCTIAL ZONE. 59 



macrocarpa, called by the natives "Negrohead." 

 It is found in the groves of Peru, in the hotter 

 part of the Andes. The latter (palm oil) is 

 obtained by expression from the fruit of Elais 

 guineensis, a native of the western coast of Africa. 

 Enormous quantities of this oil are employed 

 in Europe as a sort of grease, and in the manu- 

 facture of soap and candles. It is of a deep 

 orange colour, but is often bleached for use in 

 the arts. 510,129 cwts. were imported into 

 this country in 1848. 



A very remarkable feature in this zone is 

 that which we have already alluded to under 

 the name of arborescent grasses, and of which 

 one of the most remarkable is the bamboo, 

 (Bambusa,) which often forms woods as ex- 

 tensive as the pine and fir forests of the northern 

 regions. These gigantic grasses have a stem 

 often fifty or sixty, or even a hundred feet high, 

 sending out lateral branches. Their form is 

 remarkably elegant ; their slender trunks, with 

 bending branches, and long grassy leaves, are 

 very singular ; they somewhat remind the Euro- 

 pean traveller of the willows of his native coun- 

 try. They are planted in tropical countries to 

 adorn the landscape, as the willow is with us ; 

 and a beautiful lawn, surrounded by bamboos, 

 as may be seen in India, is a most charming 

 object. To the Indian savage, bamboos afford 

 almost all he wants, excepting food. " With their 

 lightest shoots he makes his arrows, the fibres of 

 the wood form bow-strings, and from the larger 

 stems he fabricates a bow ; a long and slender 



