20 



TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 



[ June^ 



log and in boards, and were told their various uses by Mr. 

 Leavens. Some are very hard woods resembling oak, and 

 others lighter and less durable. What most interested us, 

 however, were several large logs of the Masseranduba, or 

 Milk-tree. On our way through the forest we had seen some 

 trunks much notched by persons who had been extracting the 

 milk. It is one of the noblest trees of the forest, rising with a 

 straight stem to an enormous height. The timber is very hard, 

 fine-grained, and durable, and is valuable for works which are 

 much exposed to the weather. The fruit is eatable and very 

 good, the size of a small apple, and full of a rich and very 

 juicy pulp. But strangest of all is the vegetable milk, which 

 exudes in abundance when the bark is cut : it has about the 

 consistence of thick cream, and but for a very slight peculiar 

 taste could scarcely be distinguished from the genuine product 

 of the cow. Mr. Leavens ordered a man to tap some logs 

 that had lain nearly a month in the yard. He cut several 

 notches in the bark with an axe, and in a minute the rich sap 

 was running out in great quantities. It was collected in a 

 basin, diluted with water, strained, and brought up at teatime 

 and at breakfast next morning. The peculiar flavour of the 

 milk seemed rather to improve the quality of the tea, and gave 

 it as good a colour as rich cream ; in coffee it is equally good. 

 Mr. Leavens informed us that he had made a custard of it, 

 and that, though it had a curious dark colour, it was very well 

 tasted. The milk is also used for glue, and is said to be as 

 durable as that made use of by carpenters. As a specimen of 

 its capabilities in this line, Mr. Leavens showed us a violin he 

 had made, the belly-board of which, formed of two pieces, he 

 had glued together with it applied fresh from the tree without 

 any preparation. It had been done two years ; the instrument 

 had been in constant use, and the joint was now perfectly good 

 and sound throughout its whole length. As the milk hardens 

 by exposure to air, it becomes a very tough, slightly elastic 

 substance, much resembling gutta-percha ; but, not having the 

 property of being softened by hot water, is not likely to become 

 so extensively useful as that article. 



After leaving the wood-yard, we next visited the rice-mills, 

 and inspected the process by which the rice is freed from its 

 husk. There are several operations to effect this. The grain 

 first passes between two mill-stones, not cut as for grinding 



