Fkuit m THE Valley of the Amazons. 



509 



CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 



The Fruits of the Amazons, Edible and Medicinal. 



The valley of the Amazons, so remarkable for the abun- 

 dance and variety of its timbers, is equally rich in the 

 other products of the vegetable kingdom. The field is 

 so vast, it can hardly be said to have been explored ; but 

 enough has been seen to justify the remark that if the val- 

 ley is not the Ophir of Solomon, as some suppose, it is cer- 

 tainly worthy of the name. The industrial, medicinal, and 

 food plants already known and used are beyond enumera- 

 tion ; but when science and commerce shall have threaded 

 every part of the great forest, an immense harvest will be 

 reaped. It should be remembered, also, that almost ev- 

 ery product at present utilized is taken directly from the 

 hand of Nature. Very few articles have been altered by 

 cultivation, by the chemist, or by the ingenuity of man: 

 there is no horticultural society between Para and Lima. 

 The fruits attain a larger size on the Middle and Upper 

 Amazons than on the Lower. 



The Pine-apple {An- 

 anassa sativa) is culti- 

 vated in almost every 

 lai'ge village throughout 

 the Amazons. There are 

 three kinds — abacaxis, 

 ananas, and curand. 

 The first is the largest 

 and best, of a conical 

 shape, and confined to Pine-appie. 



