244 NOTES OF A BOTANIST CHAP. 
. . . The nuts are much the same as in the other 
species, only rather larger ; they are extensively 
used in the Sierra for making heads of dolls, saints, 
and walking-sticks. The Cadi produces a very 
excellent "cabbage," but the Indian and other 
inhabitants are fonder of a large maggot called 
Majon which is bred in its trunk. I have seen 
the Indians of the Rio Negro and of Canelos roast 
and eat the larva of a beetle extracted from the 
trunk of the Pupunha palm {Guilielma speciosa). 
In general, the arborescent vegetation seemed 
scanty in species and uninteresting. One of the 
most striking trees was an Erythrina with a slender 
tortuous (almost twining) trunk, from which sprang 
long spikes of scarlet flowers, and few branches 
bearing each a coma of ternate leaves, whereof the 
leaflets were sometimes i8 inches across. There 
were also a few Figs, and on the steep declivities 
there were patches of low forest, consisting chiefly 
of Clusise, Thibaudiae, and Melastomaceae. Two 
small Trichomanes crept along the branches of 
shrubs, but terrestrial ferns were all but absent. 
On returning that evening to our hut, I consulted 
with Bermeo about our ulterior movements. He 
told me that if I would go another day's journey 
into the forest, he could with certainty show me 
more trees of the Cascarilla roj'a, which he had seen 
not many months previously, and as on account of 
the Revolution no one had this vear entered the 
forests to collect Cascarilla, it was probable they 
were still untouched. But for this our stock of 
provisions would scarcely suffice, and I saw no 
probability of adding anything interesting to the 
