494 The Andes and the Amazons. 



majority of forest trees sink, it is the main wood seen float- 

 ing down the Amazons. It is the most common timber of 

 the country — the pine of Brazil and Peru — and grows all 

 along the river. That growing on high ground is the best. 

 Trees have been found seven feet in diameter and one 

 hundred high. There are two varieties — the white or yel- 

 low, which is worthless, and the red, which is much used 

 for cabinet-work and canoe-building. At Moyobamba they 

 speak of three kinds — Cedro (white), Huasca-cedro (red), 

 and Rnmi-cedro (bright red). In the Montana grows also 

 the Cedron maclio {Hiiertea grandulosa), a valuable wood. 

 The flowers of the Cedro are small and white, grouped in 

 terminal panicles. The leaves are pinnate and opposite. 

 The wood is not proof against insects. 



AcAPTJ", the "Wacapou" or "Black Heart" of foreign- 

 ers. — It is the Andira auhletii, one of the Leguminosoe. 

 This is the most durable ship-timber in Amazonia, resist- 

 ing the teredo. Inland it is largely used as uprights in 

 construction. There are two kinds — that of terroj firma 

 (the best) and that of the lowlands. The wood is heavy, 

 hard, and of a light-brown color, sometimes mottled brown 

 and white. It has a lofty, naked trunk, yielding clear 

 timber sixty feet long. Acapil is the pride of the Brazil- 

 ians, being invaluable in the naval art, and admirably fit- 

 ted for piles and railroad-ties, as it endures moisture and 

 is tough. The leaves are alternate; the flowers in pani- 

 cles. It grows the whole length of the main river, and I 

 have seen it on the Huallaga. 



Sabokana. — This fine wood resembles Acapii, but does 

 not appear to be so heavy. I have found it only on the 

 Lower Amazons. It is used by the carpenters of Manaos. 



Itauba, or IcAUBA, the " Stone-wood " of the Amazons, 

 belonging to the Laurels. — One of the most valuable and 

 most common woods in the valley. It is hard, heavy, and 



