

■■■ 



k*9$*- 



866 



roco NAJA. 



[-APPEND. 



Coco Naia, a large palm-tree, which is to be found 

 abundantly in Cariri Novo and Piauhi ; the nut contains 

 three or four seeds, from which oil is extracted, and 

 this is applied to the same purposes as that of the cocos 

 nucifera. The nut is covered with a feculous substantial 

 flour, which has afforded much relief in times of need. 

 From this fecula is made a soup or angk, as it is called, 

 which is seasoned with the emulsion or oil obtained 

 from the almond of the same fruit. The pith of the 

 tops of these palms is a white substance, tender, juicy, 

 sweetish, and pleasant to the taste, and it is harmless 

 even if eaten raw. If it be boiled with meat, the taste is 

 not unlike the cabbage, but it is more solid. After 

 having taken from it the saccharine parts by means of 

 one boiling, it becomes capable of being seasoned, and 

 many excellent dishes are made from them, after the 

 manner of the areca oleracea. For the knowledge of 

 these last uses the inhabitants of those parts are indebted 

 to my example. The same may be practised with the 

 palmeira pindoba (cocos butiroza, Lin.) which is very 

 common at Pernambuco. For these purposes the larger 

 trees should not be cut down, but rather only those 

 which have attained the height often or fifteen feet. * 



* Excepting in times of famine, the food which may be thus ob- 

 tained causes too much destruction to allow of its becoming general, 

 and even if it should for a time afford subsistence to the people, 

 this cannot last long, for the trees will soon be destroyed. The 

 quantity of food which each tree yields is too small, the growth of 

 the trees too slow, and the space which each plant occupies too con- 

 siderable ever to render the cabbage of the palms a permanent 

 staple food of any country. 



Dr. Arruda has not spoken of the dendczeiro or dende tree, 

 which, next to the coco-tree, is the palm which is of the most 

 service to the Pernambucans. An oil of good quality is made from 

 the nut, and is sold in Recife as a culinary ingredient, being more 



