VEGETATION AT SANTAREM i6i 
somewhat heavier than water, so that a canoe made 
of it infallibly sinks when full of water, as I have 
found to my cost ; but for the construction of a large 
boat there is no timber on the Amazon equal to it. 
The Laurel amarilla (Ocotea cymbarum, H. et B.) of 
the Casiquiari and Alto Orinoco is the only Ameri- 
can tree superior to it, for the wood is equally hard 
and imperishable, and it is lighter than water. The 
Greenheart of Demerara belongs to the same family. 
The Itaiiba bears an oblong black berry, of which 
the pellicle is studded with glandular dots and has 
on it a bloom like that of a plum ; it contains a 
single large almond-like seed invested with pulp, 
an eighth of an inch thick, which is good eating, 
spite of its strong resinous flavour, and is sometimes 
made into wine like the pulp of the fruit of the 
Assai and other palms. The Brazilians compare 
them, and justly, to a small variety of olive of which 
large quantities are imported from Portugal. 
Cumarii-rana or Bastard Tonga-bean [Andira 
oblonga, sp. n.), a Leguminous tree growing in 
woods beyond a site called Urumanduba, is notable 
for its flowers and fruits, having a fine odour of 
orange-peel and balm (Melissa), approaching to 
that of the seeds of the true Cumaril (Dipteryx) ; 
whether they possess the same properties I know 
not. 
Cupa-iiba or Balsam Capivi tree (Copaifera 
Martii, Hayne). Of this there were a good many 
specimens on the wooded slope intervening between 
the upland campos and those of Mahica ; but they 
were said to yield so very little oil (or balsam) as 
not to be worth tapping. The habit of the tree 
was, however, quite the same as that of other 
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