OH;, A TRTX’ TO TTIE MAINLAND. 
19 
chiHj the folIoMhng comment is made on the beneficial influence 
exerted by members of the order Palma3, both in arid as well as 
humid districts : — 
Si, dans les contrees tropicales marecageuses les palmiers 
favorisent Tassecheraent du sol, ils exercent aussi une bienfaisante, 
influence sur Phygiene et la fertilite des contrees desertiques, re- 
tardant I’evaporation trop rapide des eaux pluvials sous les rayons 
du soleil, et conservant' ainsi plus longtemps au sol I’humidite 
necessaire a la culture. 
Grace au voisinage des tallies de chamgerops hdmilts, cer- 
taines terres arides pu etre utilement cultivees en i^lgeria et en 
Espagne.”^ • 
It will be seen therefore that not only is vegetable life gene- 
rally beneficial, but that it exerts its influence for the well-being 
of man in more directions than one at the same time. 
Wallace describes the Raphia as being one of the most strik- 
ing of the noble palms which grow on the rich alluvium of the 
Amazon, and after noting its local name of Jupati” he goes on to 
describe it in the follov/ing manner : — ^^Its comparatively short 
stem enables us fully to appreciate the enormous size of its 
leaves, which at the same time are remarkable for their elegant 
form. They rise vertically from the stem and bend out on every 
side in graceful curves forming a magnihcient plume seventy 
feet in height and forty in diameter.’’’ The leaves alone of those 
we saw on the Warri-Biarra Ptiver were fully fifty feet in length 
and about six to eight in width, forming as Wallace says, pro- 
bably the largest sized leaf in the whole vegetable kingdom.” 
The tree bears a fruit oval in outline, some three inches in 
length, and two in diameter, which is covered with regularly im- 
bricated brown polished scales, making it look at first sight, more 
like the fruit of a coniferous tree than the seed of a palm. It 
forms a very pretty ornament for the drawing room table when 
fully ripe. For some two or three miles our route lay through the 
district on which these trees were growing, but ere we had reached 
their inland limit, we were overtaken by a perfect deluge of rain, 
which effectually put a stop to our observations for the evening. 
The storm continued for two or three hours during which we pro- 
gressed but slowly, as v/e were now propelled by oars only, and 
the gathering darkness made our journey anything but acomfort- 
* If in swampy tropical countries palms favor draining of the soil, they ex- 
ercise too a benehcient influence upon the Hygiene, and the fertility of desert 
countries retarding rapid evaporation of the rain water bj'' the rays of the 
sun, conserving to the soil for a long time, the humidity necessary for cultivation . 
Thanks to the vicinity of copses of Chamasrops Humilis certain barren wastes 
have been profitably cultivated in Algeria and Bpain. 
