280 



THE CARNAUBA PALM. 



is a useful attempt, because, besides its commercial yield, it con- 

 tributes to render wholesome the locality where it grows. The col- 

 lection of the wax is a very simple afifair. When the leaves comprising 

 the network which crowns the head of the palm, separate in the form 

 of a fan, they are cut, taking care to leave the sheath in the centre, 

 which forms the network of the new shoot. To effect this, a sickle, 

 or gardener's knife, is attached to a long handle of bamboo. A native, 

 well up to his work, can with this cut thousands of leaves in a day. 

 As the cutting continues for six months, one would suppose that the 

 tree would soon be deprived of its fans, but this is not the case, for 

 the vegetation is so rapid that the young shoots follow immediately 

 the removal of the leaves, and the rest of six months given to the 

 carnauba is sufficient to repair the damage from the pruning to which 

 it has been submitted. The leaves are dried on the spot, extended 

 in rows, the exterior on the ground, so that the wax may not escape 

 by the opening of the angles of the fan. In about four days they are 

 collected or heaped up, and a cloth sufficiently large is spread on the 

 ground, around which two or three females place themselves, and 

 taking the leaves beat them with a stick, so that the powder which is 

 to become the vegetable wax falls on the cloth. In order that the 

 powder may be more easily detached, a man splits the leaves into 

 strips by means of a stiletto. To obtain the wax, this powder is 

 immediately melted in clay or iron pots, a few drops of water being 

 added. The melted wax is run into moulds of earth, by which it is 

 transformed into cakes, of about 4 lbs. ; these, on cooling, however, 

 break into small pieces, owing to the brittle property of the wax. 

 After the removal of their coating the leaves are burnt, in default of 

 any other convenient means of utilizing them. But independent 

 of the wax which they furnish, the leaves might be applied to economic 

 purposes. From time immemorial the aborigines of Ceara have pre- 

 pared from the leaves a fibre which they twist into twine more or less 

 fine, which is used for a number of purposes, such as for hammocks, 

 cordage, fishing lines, &c. This industry has made much progress 

 since the conquest of Brazil by the Portuguese, but it still remains in 

 the hands of the semi-civilized natives. The leaves are reduced into 

 fibre without any previous maceration, by first cutting them into 

 strips, and then passing them over a rough card, consisting of points 

 of iron fixed into a piece of wood. The aborigines make theirs of the 

 teeth or bones of fish. I have no precise data upon which to form an 

 estimate of the value of the fibre thus employed, but it is in such 

 general use in the province that it must be considerable. The inhabi- 

 tants of this country, with but rare exceptions, sleep in hammocks, 

 and the cords by which these are attached to posts or trees are 

 usually made of carnauba fibre. It would be possible to form an 

 approximate estimate of the yards of cord employed for this purpose 

 if it were all made of this fibre. However, I may, without much 

 error, take the consumption of cords employed for this purpose at one 

 million. If we calculate them at six yards, we arrive at an annual 

 consumption of six millions of yards, supposing that the cords last 

 but one year. Besides this special use, the cordage is employed 

 for a great number of other uses : for securing the loads which are 

 carried on the backs of beasts of burden; for lashing the bales of 



