284 



for exportation fifty thousand fanegas # of cacao, 

 the value of which in Europe would amount to 

 more than six millions of francs. Around the 

 connucoes of Pimichin grows in it's wild state 

 the igua, a tree that resembles the caryocar 

 nuciferum, which is cultivated in Dutch and 

 French Guyana, and which, with the almendron 

 of Mariquita (caryocaf amygdaliferum), the 

 juvia of the Esmeralda (bertholletia excelsa), 

 and the geoffrcea of the Amazon, yields almonds 

 the most in request of South America. No 

 commercial 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 

 stimulating power of light and heat, and on the 

 perfect elaboration of the juices, that circulate 

 in these gigantic plants. 



* A fanega weighs one hundred and ten Spanish pounds. 

 We estimate the hundred at one hundred and twenty francs. 

 See vol. iv, p. 238. 



