236 



TREES. 



ation, produces the celebrated 'Cauim' (Caju-ig) 

 of the Brazilian Tupy-Guarani race, a wine here 

 unknown. The still yields at first a watery spirit, 

 which by cohobation becomes as fiery and dan- 

 gerous as new rum. The lower orders like it ; 

 the effects, they say, last out the week. 



The principal wild trees are the following. 

 The fan palm, a native of the Island and the Con- 

 tinent, supplies the chief African industry — mat- 

 making. The 8 Toddy palm' is found every- 

 where; the fruit is eaten, but no one cares to 

 draw off the beverage. The Dom, or Theban palm 

 (Hyphene Thebaica), is a rare variety, and the 

 wood is used chiefly for ladder rungs. Gigantic 

 Raphias, called by the Arabs Nakhl el Shaytan, 

 c the Devil's palm,' throw over the streams fronds 

 30 and 40 feet long : these, cut, stripped, and 

 bound into rafts, are floated down and exported 

 from the Mainland to the Island ; the material is 

 soft and good for hut-making. The graceful 

 Areca palm flourishes everywhere, especially 

 upon the banks of the Pangani river : at the 

 mouth of this stream a saw-mill might be set up 

 for a few dollars, and I have no doubt that it 

 would yield large profits, and extend its business 

 as far as the Bed Sea. 



The Bombax, or silk-cotton tree (Erioden- 



