52 THE ISTIIMTJS OF PANAMA, 



three inches thick, and covered with sharp thorns. 

 These roots shoot out in a direct course towards the 

 ground, and increase in number according to the 

 growth of the tree, and the consequent necessity of 

 additional strength. I discovered one of these roots 

 when its point had but just entered the ground. It 

 was lighter colored than the older ones, although 

 equal in bulk, but pithy and full of sap. With little 

 effort I broke it from the parent trunk, to which it 

 soon would have contributed its support. So sharp 

 and strong are the thorns on these roots, that the na- 

 tives use them for graters. 



Dr. Eawley, who spent some time in New Grena- 

 da, says, that on the Magdalena, a palm plant is very 

 common, which produces an immense fruit, or cluster 

 of seeds, from which the natives extract, by compres- 

 sion, three different kinds of oil. The plant has 

 a long lanceolate leaf, and grows sometimes in the 

 crotches of trees where moss and dirt has accumula- 

 ted, but usually in the ground. The fruit, when ripe, 

 is red, and appears an aggregation of distinct seed 

 or nuts. These are broken and then pressed. One 

 oil is red, containing the coloring matter of the fruit, 

 and is used in cooking, dressing meats, and to burn ; 

 another from the same plant is used for the hair, 

 while the third quality is employed medicinally. 



It is said that the natives can subsist alone upon 

 the various products of the family of palms, which 

 also supply them with a variety of luxuries. " Wine, 

 oil, wax, flour, sugar, and salt," says Humboldt, 

 " are the produce of this tribe ;" to which Von Mar- 



