The Cocoa-nut. 



515 



little use is made of it. There are two kinds — one large 

 and edible, the other worthless. 



The Cocoa-nut is naturalized and cultivated to a small 



extent in the 

 villages on 

 the Lower 

 Amazons. 

 The Cejlon- 

 ese have a 

 superstition that it 

 will not grow out of 

 the sound of the hu- 

 man voice, and it cer- 

 tainly does not thrive 

 without attention, nor 

 distant from the sea. 

 CAS'iA-KEAs{BertholettiaexGelsa),the^^Bra.- 

 zil-nuts " of commerce, are gathered in March 

 and April, the same time as the Cacao — ^. e., 

 at high water. They are eaten, and the oil 

 is also expressed for machines, illumination, 

 etc. ; but they are mainly exported to En- 

 A Bunch of Cocoa- gland and the United States, yielding an an- 

 ''"''■ nual revenue of $200,000. The tree (called 



Castanheiro), one of the forest giants, grows on all the 

 Brazilian Amazons, or wherever terra jirma reaches the 

 margin of the river. 



Sapucaya {Lecythis ollaria) is a gigantic tree, having 

 the same distribution as the preceding. The pericarps 

 (called " Monkey-pots "), having natural lids, are used as 

 drinking-cups, and the seeds are richer than the Casta- 

 nhas ; but, as they fall to the ground, when the ripened lid 

 drops out, they are picked up by the wild animals, and, 

 therefore, few come to market. 



