54 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



itself a long time rather than relinquish its hold. The In- 

 dians avail themselves of this cupidity to entrap the mon- 

 keys. They open the lids of several capsules^ and then throw 

 them under the trees : the greedy monkey will not be sa- 

 tisfied with one pod^ but will thrust its hands into two_, and 

 will not relinquish its hold; the encumbrance renders its 

 capture easy^ and has led to a saying amongst the Brazilians 

 equivalent to our ^^Old birds are not caught with chaff it 

 is^ He is too old a monkey to be caught by a cabomba/^ 

 the capsule being called by them a cabomha. 



The Sapucaia nut is long^ rather curiously but slightly 

 curved in the S form^ and the surface is deeply wrinkled 

 longitudinally; the shell is softer than that of most nuts. 

 It is to be regretted that this delicious fruit is not more 

 generally known. The nuts come in small parcels, and are 

 sold cheaply in consequence of the ignorance which prevails 

 respecting their good qualities. 



SuRAHWA, SouARi, or SuwAEEOW NuT. CaryocaT Imty- 

 Tosum, (Nat. Ord. Ehizohalace^e.) (Plate YI. fig. 28.) 



This large and singular-looking nut is the produce of a 

 gigantic tree found in Demarara, whence we receive the fruit. 

 The Surahwa nut is somewhat kidney-shaped, about half 

 the size of an egg ; it grows in bunches, and where the nuts 



