The Palm a7id its Varieties. 55 



A noble palm erows in the neighborhood of Santarem, which 

 the natives call Bacaba (CEnocyrpus distichus). It grows to a 

 height of forty or filty feet. The crown is of a shining glossy 

 emerald -green, and of a singularly flattened or compressed shape; 

 the leaves being arranged on each side in nearly the same plan. 

 The fruit ripens towards the end of winter, and the natives manu- 

 facture from it an agreeable liquor, by rubbing off the pulpy coat 

 of the nuts and mixing it with water. The beverage resembles 

 milk, and possesses a piquant nutty flavor. As the Bacaba, on 

 account of its smooth stem, is very difficult to climb, the natives, 

 whenever they want to quench their thirsi with its fruit, cut down, 

 and thus destroy — with the wasteful thoughtlessness of all savages 

 — a tree which has taken a score or two of years to grow. 



The Urucuri ( Attalea excelsa) is another Brazilian or Amazon- 

 ian palm, and one of singular beauty. It flourishes in immense 

 groves under the crowns of the loftier forest trees; the smooth 

 pillar-like stems being nearly all of equal elevation, forty or fifty 

 feet ; and the broad, finely-pinnated leaves interwoven above in a 

 natural dome-like vault of ever fresh greenery. The fruit, which 

 in size and shape resembles the date, is never eaten by the In- 

 dians. It is palatable but not wholesome. 



But still more celebrated in Tropical America is the wide-spread 

 Peach palm (Gulielma speciosd), called by the Tupe Indians the 

 Pupunha. The English name would seem to allude to the color 

 of its fruit jather than to its flavor, which travelers contemn as 

 " dry and mealy," or like a " mixture of chestnuts and cheese." 

 Vultures devour it eagerly, and hover about the tree, when it is 

 ripe, in noisy and quarrelsome flocks. The Pupunha is a noble 

 ornament to the landscape, being, when mature, from fifty to 

 sixty feet in height, and frequently as straight as a scaflbld-pole. 

 A bunch of ripe fruit is a sufficient load for a strong man, and 

 each tree bears several of them. The nut, in good condition, is 

 as large as a full-sized peach, and, if boiled, will bear comparison 

 with an Irishman's delicacy — a mealy potato. In the neighbor- 

 hood of Egra, where the Pupunha is carefully cultivated, it is 

 thus prepared for table, and eaten with treacle or salt. A dozen 

 of the seedless fruits make, it is said, a good meal for a grown-up 

 person. 



It is astonishing to what a varietv of uses the Amazonian In- 

 dians apply the palm. It provides them with house, food, drink, 

 raiment, ^alt, implements, weapons, fishing tackle, and even 

 musical instruments. The rafters of their huts are formed, per- 

 haps, of the straight and uniform palm called Leopoldina pul- 

 chra ; the Carana is brought into requisition for the roof; and the 

 split stems of the Iriartea exporiza furnish the doors and frame- 

 work. The wide bark which grows beneath the fruit of another 

 species is woven into an apron. The comb with which many of 

 the natives adorn their heads is made from palm wood, and thtir 



