250 
TROPICAL NATURE 
ii 
over shrubs and in thickets like endless serpents. They must 
attain an immense age, and apparently have almost unlimited 
powers of growth, for some are said to have been found 
which were six hundred or even one thousand feet long, and 
if so they are probably the longest of all vegetable growths. 
The mode in which such great lengths and tangled convolu- 
tions have been attained has already been explained in the 
general account of woody climbers. From the immense 
strength of these canes and the facility with which they can 
be split, they are universally used for cordage in the countries 
where they grow in preference to any other climbers, and 
immense quantities are annually exported to all parts of the 
world. 
Uses of Palm-trees and their Products 
To the natives of the equatorial zone the uses of palms 
are both great and various. The fruits of several species 
— more especially the cocoa-nut of the East and the peach- 
nut (Guilielma speciosa) of America — furnish abundance of 
wholesome food, and the whole interior of the trunk of the 
sago palm is converted into an edible starch- — our sago. 
Many other palm -fruits yield a thin pulp, too small in 
quantity to be directly eaten, but which, when rubbed off 
and mixed with a proper quantity of water, forms an exceed- 
ingly nutritious and agreeable article of food. The most 
celebrated of these is the assai of the Amazon, made from the 
fruit of Euterpe oleracea, and which, as a refreshing, nourish- 
ing, and slightly stimulating beverage for a tropical country, 
takes the place of our chocolate and coffee. A number of 
other palms yield a similar product, and many that are not 
eaten by man are greedily devoured by a variety of animals, 
so that the amount of food produced by this tribe of plants 
is much larger than is generally supposed. 
The sap which pours out of the cut flower-stalk of several 
species of palm, when slightly fermented, forms palm-wine or 
toddy, a very agreeable drink ; and when mixed with various 
bitter herbs or roots which check fermentation, a fair imita- 
tion of beer is produced. If the same fluid is at once boiled 
and evaporated it produces a quantity of excellent sugar. 
The Arenga saccharifera, or sugar-palm of the Malay coun- 
tries, is perhaps the most productive of sugar. A single tree 
