304 



VEGETATION OF 



are collected together in small heaps, where they are opened 

 with an axe, an operation that requires some practice and skill, 

 and the triangular nuts are taken out and carried to the canoes 

 in baskets. Other trees of the same family {Lecyfhidece) are 

 very abundant, and are remarkable for their curious fruits, 

 which have lids, and are shaped like pots or cups, whence they 

 are called " pot-trees." Some of the smaller ones are called by 

 the natives cuyas de macaco," — monkeys' calabashes. 



The next most important vegetable product of the Amazon 

 district, is the Salsaparilha, the roots of Smilax syphilitica^ and 

 perhaps of other allied species. This plant appears to occur 

 over the whole forest-district of the Amazon, from Venezuela 

 to Bolivia, and from the Lower Amazon to Peru. It is not 

 generally found near the great rivers, but far in the interior, on 

 the banks of the small streams, and on dry rocky ground. It 

 is principally dug up by the Indians, often by the most 

 uncivilised tribes, and is the means of carrying on a consider- 

 able trade with them. 



The Brazilian nutmegs, produced by the Nectandrum Puchury^ 

 grow in the country between the Rio Negro and Japura. 



The Cumaru, or Tonquin-beans, are very abundant on the 

 Upper Rio Negro, and are also found near Santarem on the 

 Amazon. 



A highly odoriferous bark, called by the Portuguese " Cravo 

 de Maranhno " (Cloves of Maranham), is produced by a small 

 tree growing only on one or two small tributaries of the Rio 

 Negro. 



A peculiar transparent oil, with an odour of turpentine, 

 called Sassafras by the Venezuelans, is abundantly obtained by 

 tapping a tree, common on the Upper Rio Negro, whence it is 

 exported to Barra, and used for mixing oil-colours. In the 

 Lower Amazon, a bitter oil, called Andiroba, much used for 

 lamps, is made from a forest fruit. 



A whitish resin, with a strong camphorous smell, is pro- 

 duced very abundantly in the Rio Negro and the Amazon, and 

 is commonly used as pitch for the canoes and all the Inrger 

 vessels of the country ; while the inner bark of young trees of 

 the BerthoUetia excelsa^ or Brazil-nut tree, is used instead of 

 oakum for caulking. 



Among the forest-trees of the Amazon, the Leguminosm are 

 much the most abundant in species, and they also most attract 



