498 The Andes and the Amazons. 



OcBsalpinea ferrea of science. The wood is reddish black, 

 very hard and heavy (sp. gr. 1.086), and durable under 

 water or in wet places. It is admirably fitted for all kinds 

 of construction — as houses, bridges, ships, etc. The leaves 

 are opposite, and the racemose flowers yellow. Pao-ferro 

 grows on the Rio Negro and the Lower Amazons. The 

 Pao-ferro of Rio is Swartzia tomentosa. 



Pao - SETIM, or " Satin-wood." — This precious wood is 

 very close-grained, heavy, and durable, of a deep-yellow 

 color, and is used for veneering, inlaying, picture-frames, 

 etc. It has more lustre than the Oriental Satin - wood 

 {Chloroxylon), and belongs to an entirely different order 

 — the Ehenaceoi. It is probably the same species {Maba 

 Guia7iensis) as the West Indian. Logs can be procured 

 eight inches square and ten feet long. It is said to grow 

 in Peru. 



Pao-Brasil, or " Brazil-wood," known among the Tupi- 

 speaking tribes as Ibira-pitanga (Red-wood), and doubtless 

 identical with the Pnna-caspa on the Huallaga. — Botanists 

 call it Ccesalpinea eehinata, a leguminous species, related 

 to Pao-ferro. The leaves are bipinnate, the flowers are in 

 racemes, and the branches spinous. The bark is reddish, 

 the wood fiery red, compact, tough, and heavy, having a 

 specific gravity of 1.129. It is very durable in moist 

 grounds, and would be verj' serviceable in the construction 

 of railroads and bridges. It is chiefly valuable, however, 

 for its dye. It has a wide range, growing around Rio, at 

 Pernambuco, along the main Amazons, and up the Napo 

 and Huallaga. 



Pao-mtjlatto, called Capirona on the Maraiion. — It is 

 allied to the Cinchonas {Euhylista Spruceana), and grows 

 every where on the flooded lands of the Amazons, far up 

 the Andean tributaries, to the altitude of 2000 feet. It is 

 a tall, elegant tree (from eighty to one hundred feet) con- 



