THE CABBAGE PALM. 93 
There are in and near Nassau a few African palms which are 
much admired. They are tall, stately, branchless and truly royal 
trees, pre-eminently graceful and beautiful. The stem of this 
palm is very delicately moulded, of small diameter, enlarging at 
or near the center, and gradually tapering each way, presenting 
a novel ‘and pleasing outline. Its long, feather-shaped, curved 
and drooping leaves stretch out from its top on all sides, a chap- 
let, light, airy and so exceedingly attractive that we never ceased 
to look at it but with regret. While strongly resembling the 
cocoanut palm, this tree appeared to expend less of its vital ener- 
gies in the production of fruit, and more in the development of 
a higher type of beauty. The palms, esthetically considered, 
rank high among the trees of the forest, and in the perfection 
of grace and comeliness the African palm surpasses them all. : 
In this connection, the cabbage palm is entitled to a passing 
notice. In some more favorable localities it is said to attain a 
height of one hundred and twenty feet—nearly twice that of any 
we saw in the Bahamas. As if animated by a noble ambition, 
it wastes none of its energies upon ‘‘side issues,” but, pushing 
its branchless stem up boldly towards the heavens, it towers 
above its less successful rivals, and in the bright, warm sunlight 
of the upper air matures those long, drooping, graceful and 
feathery leaves which reveal, even to the casual and distant ob- 
server, the noble family to which it belongs. Young, tender 
and succulent leaves, at the base of those which are fully devel- 
oped, are formed and compacted into a light-colored head, which 
is eaten asasalad. It is also cooked and prepared for the table 
like the cabbage—hence its name. 
Mr. Kingsley in his “‘ At Last,” gives the following descrip- 
tion of some cabbage palm trees which he saw in the West Indies. 
“We stopped at a manager’s, with a palmiste (oreodoxa olera- 
cea) or cabbage palm on each side of the garden gate—a pair of 
