284 



tation fifty thousand fanegas* of cacao, the va- 

 lue of which in Europe would amount to more 

 than six millions of francs. Around the connu- 

 coes of Pimichin grows in it's wild state the 

 igua, a tree that resembles the caryocar nuci- 

 ferum, which is cultivated in Dutch and French 

 Guyana, and which, with the almendron of 

 Mariquita (caryocar amygdaliferum), the juvia 

 of the Esmeralda (bertholletia excelsa), and the 

 geoffroea of the Amazon, yields almonds the 

 most in request of South America. No commer- 

 cial advantage is here made of the igua '; but I 

 saw vessels arrive on the coasts of Terra Firma, 

 that came from Demerary laden with the fruit 

 of the caryocar tomentosum, which is the pekea 

 tuberculosa of Aublet. These trees reach a 

 hundred feet in height, and display by the 

 beauty of their corolla, and the multitude of 

 their stamens, a magnificent appearance. I 

 should tire the reader by continuing the enu- 

 meration of the vegetable wonders, which these 

 vast forests contain. Their variety depends on 

 the coexistence of such a great number of 

 families in a small space of ground, on the stim- 

 ulating power of light and heat, and on the per- 

 fect elaboration of the juices, that circulate in 

 these gigantic plants. 



* A fanega veighs one hundred and ten Spanish pounds. 

 We estimate the hundred at one hundred and twenty francs. 

 See vol. iv, p. 238. 



