244 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 
matter which species of palm I look upon, I am 
tempted to say, this is the most beautiful ! 
But to return to the groo-groo and gris-gris. The 
former rises straight up, with a gray trunk, scarred 
all the way up with little circles left by former 
leaves, fusiform, swelling out in the middle like the 
main-boom of a ship, supporting a solid head of leaves, 
which are curled like the heated feathers of an ostrich 
plume, and form a dense bail almost circular in shape. 
At the base of these leaves springs out a branching 
stem covered with the seeds which, when ripe, are 
black, like small grape-shot, and sheltered by a 
spathe shaped like a shield. Both trunk and leaf- 
stalks are covered, especially in young trees, with 
black spines; which detract from its beauty some- 
what in the estimation of one who has stepped upon 
them. The seeds are made into a variety of chate- 
laine ornaments, as they are black and hollow, and 
take a fine polish. The wood is black as ebony, and 
is. also susceptible of a high degree of polish. 
Scarcely had these observations on the palms been 
written down when my retreat was invaded by a 
buxom Indian girl of fourteen or fifteen, carrying a 
cutlass. She stood by the stream for some time, 
wondering, perhaps, what “ buckra ” was doing there: 
comely features, black braids of hair, shapely limbs, 
short and ragged dress. She was even more pictu- 
resque than all the palms. And if there could be a 
more attractive picture, it was when she returned, an 
hour later, bearing on her head an immense bunch of 
plantains, and stood poised upon a rock, where she 
lingered for some time gazing at her image in the 
stream. 
