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70 
which is to shelter the travellers who cross the 
forests of Quiiidiii, When they search Ibague^ 
and prepare for the journey^ they pluck in the 
neighbouring mountains several hundred leaves 
of the vijao^ a plant of the family of the bananas, 
wiiicli forms a genus approaching the thalia, 
and which must not be confounded with the 
heliconia bihai. These leaves, which are 
membranous and silliy, like those of the musa, 
are of an oval form, fifty-four centimetres 
(twenty inches) long, and thirty-seven centi- 
metres (fourteen inches) in breadth« Their lower 
surface is a silvery white, and covered with a 
farinaceous substance, which falls olf in scales. 
This peculiar varnish enables them to resist the 
rain during a long time. In gathering these 
leaves, an incision is made in the middle rib, 
which is the continuation of the foot-stalk ; and 
this serves as a hook to suspend them, when the 
movable roof is formed. On taking it down, 
they are spread out and earefiiily rolled up in a 
cylindrical bundle. It requires about a hundred 
weight of leaves (50 kilogrammes) to cover a 
hut large enough to hold six or eight persons. 
When the travellers reach a spot in the midst of 
the forests, where the ground is dry, and where 
they propose to pass the night, the cargueroes lop 
a few bi’anches from the trees, with which they 
make a tent. In a few minutes this slight tim» 
her work is divided into squares by the stalks of 
