THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA. 53 



tins adds, " thread, weapons, utensils, food and habi- 

 tations." The most remarkable is the Cocoanut. 

 The root is sometimes masticated, and of the small 

 fibres baskets are made. The hard case of the stem 

 is made into drums, and used in the construction of 

 huts. The base of the leaf of the Palma Real is made 

 into cradles, and from the fibres they make cloth. 

 The unexpanded terminal bud is a delicate article of 

 food ; the leaves furnish thatches for habitations and 

 materials for fences, buckets and baskets. The mid- 

 rib of the leaf serves for oars, the juice of the stem 

 and flower " is replete with sugar ; and is fermented 

 into an excellent wine, or distilled into a sort of 

 spirit called arrack." The Cocoanut alone furnishes 

 food, a nourishing drink, and the shell makes a dur- 

 able cup. " The juice which flows from the wound- 

 ed spathas of several varieties, is not only grateful as 

 a beverage, but it is found the surest and safest re- 

 medy for constipation of the bowels, especially in 

 delicate females." The finest Sago is prepared from 

 the pith of some varieties of the palm, which yield 

 from six to eight hundred pounds the single tree. 

 The tough, hard fibres are also used to a considerable 

 extent for making brooms, under the name of vegeta- 

 ble bristles. A beautiful material, called vegetable 

 ivory, is obtained from a palm that grows upon the 

 Magdalena. The tree which produces it is near 

 the size of the Cocoanut, and resembles it. The 

 fruit is about as large as an orange, and covered with 

 a thick rough shuck ; it is at first a clear fluid, and 

 sometimes drank, but afterwards becomes white and 



