EXPLANATORY INDEX. 433 



Its colour is dark brown, with four rows of white spots on 

 eafih side. The fur is considered useless. 



Lemon {Citrus limonum.) — This tree belongs to the same 

 genus as the orange, and there are nearly as many varieties of 

 Lemons as there are of oranges. 



Letter-wood (Brosimum auUetii). — The wood of this small 

 tree is intensely hard and vei-y heavy. It derives its popular 

 name from the colour of the wood, which is deep brown 

 scribbled over with reddish marks looking something like 

 Persian or Arabic letters. In consequence of its weight and 

 hardness it is much used for the " shimara-sherie " of the 

 long fish and hog arrows, q. v. 



In this tree, only the heart-wood produces the beautiful 

 markings, and in a tree of twenty inches in diameter the 

 heart-wood measures barely seven inches. It runs to about 

 eighty feet in height, and is rather scarce. The natives call it 

 by the name of Buro-koro, or Paira. It may be here men- 

 tioned that the native name for all heart-wood is Tacouba. 



Locust-Tree {ffymencea courbaril). — For its use in canoe 

 making see Purple heart. 



The bark of this tree has but one defect. It is rarely more 

 than a quarter of an inch in thickness, and so is easily bent 

 to the required form. But it is heavier than water, so that if 

 the canoe be upset, it immediately sinks, and cannot be raised 

 without difficulty. 



It is from the Locust-tree that the gum animi of commerce 

 is obtained. Very often, when the tree is dead and decayed, 

 enormous quantities of the gum may be found on the spot 

 which it had occupied. The wood makes excellent furniture- 

 being hard, heavy, brown streaked with veins, and taking a 

 fine polish. The tree is also known by the names of Simiri 

 and K'wanarri. 



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