Chap. III. 
CURIOUS FRUITS. 
217 
more elevated and drier situations. A third kind is 
the Pama, which is a stone-fruit, similar in colour and 
appearance to the cherry, but of oblong shape. The 
tree is one of the loftiest in the forest, and has never, I 
believe, been selected for cultivation. To get at Ijie 
fruit the natives are obliged to climb to the height of 
about a hundred feet, and cut off the heavily laden 
branches. I have already mentioned the Umari and 
the Wishi : both these are now cultivated. The fatty, 
bitter pulp which surrounds the large stony seeds of 
these fruits is eaten mixed with farinha, and is very 
nourishing. Another cultivated fruit is the Puruma 
(Puruma cecropisefolia, Martins), a round juicy berry, 
growing in large bunches and resembling grapes in 
taste. The tree is deceptively like a Cecropia in the 
shape of its foliage. Another smaller kind, called Pu- 
ruma-i, grows wild in the forest 
close to Ega, and has not yet 
been planted. The most sin- 
gular of all these fruits is the 
Uiki, which is of oblong shape, 
and grows apparently cross- 
wise on the end of its stalk. 
Uiki Fruit. 
When ripe the thick green 
rind opens by a natural cleft across the middle, 
and discloses an oval seed the size of a damascene 
plum, but of a vivid crimson colour. This bright hue 
belongs to a thin coating of pulp which, when the 
seeds are mixed in a plate of stewed bananas, gives 
to the mess a pleasant rosy tint, and a rich creamy 
taste and consistence. Mingau (porridge) of bananas 
