The Forests of British Guiana. 181 
root of the itoori-wallaba is used by the Indians as 
a cure for toothache. 
Bartaballi (Achras mammosa, Bonpl, Lucuma 
Bonplandii H.B.K.) grows on clay and sandy soils, 
and is found plentifully up the Essequibo and Demer- 
ara Rivers. The average height of this tree is about go 
feet, and it can be had to square to 20 inches free of 
sap. The wood is close-grained, light and of a pale 
brown colour, and is useful for making tables and 
other articles of furniture, and for partition boards, 
doors, &c, for houses. This tree produces a milky 
juice somewhat similar to that of the bullet-tree, but 
of a sticky nature; its fruit is one of the best produced 
by any of our forest-trees, and is eagerly sought for 
by the Indians during its season, (about the month of 
April) when, with characteristic recklessness, the trees 
are cut down in large numbers for their fruit. 
TAUARONERO or Bastard Bullet-tree, (Humirium 
floribundum, Mart.) is fairly plentiful throughout the 
colony, and grows on sandy soil near, but not in, 
swamps. The average height is about 90 feet, and it 
can be squared to 20 inches. The timber is useful for 
framing houses, wheel-spokes, and many other purposes, 
and where small sized timber is required is superior to 
greenheart. The tree produces an edible fruit about the 
size of a grape. At the expiration of a week or ten days 
after cutting away the bark from the stem of these trees, 
a black substance, probably a minute fungus, emitting 
an agreeable perfume, appears upon them ; this is scrap- 
ed off and used by the Indians for scenting their hair oil. 
BULLET-TREE or Burueh, (Mimusops balata) grows 
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