729 



enthusiasm will probably never lead any Ame- 

 rican sty lit es*. I have already mentioned in 

 another place, that the mauritia palm-tree, the 

 tree of life of the missionaries, not only affords 

 the Guaraons a safe dwelling during the risings 

 of the Oroonoko 5 but that it's shelly fruit, it's 

 farinaceous pith, it's juice abounding in saccha- 

 rine matter, and the fibres of it's petioles, fur- 

 nish them with food, wine-^, and thread proper 

 for making cords and weaving hammocks. These 

 customs of the Indians of the delta of the Oroo- 

 noko were found formerly in the Gulf of Darien 

 (Uraba), and in the greater part of the inundated 

 lands between the Guarapiche and the mouths 

 of the Amazon. It is curious to observe in the 

 lowest degree of human civilization the existence 

 of a whole tribe depending on one single species 

 of palm-tree, similar to those insects, which feed 

 on one and the same flower, or on one and the 

 same part of a plant. 



We must not be surprised to find the breadth 



* This sect was founded by Simeon Sisanites, a native of 

 Syria. He passed thirty-seven years in mystic contem- 

 plation, on five pillars, the last of which was thirty-six cubits 

 high. The Sancti columnares attempted to establish their aerial 

 cloisters in the country of Treves, in Germany; but the 

 bishops opposed these extravagant and perilous enterprises. 

 (Mosheim, Instit. Hist. Eccles., p. 192.) 



T The use of this murkhi wine however is not very common. 

 The Guaraons prefer in general a beverage of fermented 

 honey. 



