IIOUTKULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 



285 



sirup, is used as an agreeable substitute for honey ; and the 

 small nuts, about an inch in diameter, of which every tree pro- 

 duces a great number, are highly esteemed, and form a con- 

 siderable article of export to Peru. A curious method is em- 

 ployed to free the nut from the green husk that envelopes it ; a 

 process formerly attended with great loss of time, and much 

 trouble. A number of cows and oxen are driven into nn enclo- 

 sure, where a quantity of this fruit is spread, and being very 

 fond of its husk, they presently set to work, eating the fruit, 

 very slightly masticating it in the first instance, and swallowing 

 it whole J afterwards, while chewing the cud, the nuts are 

 rejected j and when the meal is finished, a heap of them is found 

 before each of the animals, perfectly free from the husk ; the 

 cattle being thus supplied with food at a season when little grass 

 remains on the hills, at the same time that they effectually per- 

 form a very useful operation." A valuable syrup is also furnished 

 by this plant by boiling down its juice. 



" The land in which these Palm trees grow is damp and 

 sandy, and is w^atered by a considerable rivulet. On entering 

 the Valley, the Palms are scarce, and, amongst bushes, two or 

 three appear together ; but on advancing farther they increase in 

 number, and I found clumps of thirty to fifty, being also informed 

 that farther in the interior, they had taken almost exclusive pos- 

 session of the land. 



The workmen distinguish two Palms by the name of Capi- 

 tanas, which are the highest ; — one they call Gemeos (twins), 

 because it produces a second shoot from the middle of the tree ; 

 the other is called Amarilla on account of the foliage being yellow. 

 One of the Capitanas which I saw was, without doubt, 130 feet 

 high, and appeared to me to be as tall as any of the trees in 

 our Brazilian forests ; it was impossible to obtain the Cocoas on 

 account of its great height. The nuts germinate after having 

 been planted one year, but grow very slowly, and at the expi- 

 ration of a hundred years they begin to bear fruit. 



" It is during the dry season only, which occurs from October 

 to April, that the syrup is made. For this purpose the Palm 

 tree is partially cut through near to the root, and a rope being 

 fastened to the branches it is forced down to the ground, but 

 with care, in order to avoid its being broken ; this frequently 

 happens, in which case it does not yield juice. The female trees 

 only are cut down. The leaves of the Palm tree being stripped 

 off, a piece is cut out of it, in a cross direction, from which the 

 juice begins to run. When it ceases, another aperture is made 

 higher up j this is repeated every time the flowing stops, until 

 the sprout or top cf the tree, called by the Chilians Palmito, 

 is approached to within about nine inches of its base. I was 



