VENEZUELA. 639 



The inaja-palm, of various species, produces pellucid pods, 

 from one to two feet in length, containing a row of beans 



enveloped in white cottony pulp — grateful to the taste. 



The cocoa-palm, though at a distance from the coast, here 

 flourishes in great perfection, adding to the splendour of the 

 vegetation, with its glorious crown of monster leaves ; while 

 the plantain and banana are widely cultivated, a few plants 

 of which are sufficient to supply a family with bread, vege- 

 tables, fruit, and preserves of various kinds. Humboldt 

 observes that an area planted with plantains produces nearly 

 twenty times as much food as the same space sown with 

 corn. 



HUMMING-BIRDS. 



Amid this rich and varied vegetation, swarms of tiny and 

 brilliant humming-birds flutter round the masses of highly - 

 scented blossoms that perfume the air, and which might be 

 mistaken by the stranger at first sight for some of the 

 metallic-coloured beetles which dispute with them the nectar 

 of the fragrant flowers, so brilliant is the lustre shed by both. 

 As Gosse well remarks : " For that peculiar charm which 

 resides in flashing light, combined with the most brilliant 

 colours, the lustre of precious stones, there are no birds, no 

 creatures, that can compare with the humming-birds, confined 

 exclusively to America." These lovely little winged gems were 

 to the Mexican and Peruvian Indians the very quintessence of 

 beauty ; and were called by various names, signifying " the 

 rays of the sun," and the like. Fully four hundred distinct 

 species of these winged gems are supposed to exist on the 

 continent. 



TREES. 



Of the trees which have a wide range over the country. 



