Palms of British Guiana. 275 
somewhat acid taste ; so much we may readily admit, with- 
out consenting with Humboldt who, having declared the 
fruit of the Mauritia to be of taste like an apple and the 
fruit of the ( parapie' [Bactris minor, Jacq : = Guilielma 
speciosa, Mart) to be as that of the peach, surpassed 
these too enthusiastic and eccentric utterances by liken- 
ing the fruit of the kokerite {M aximiliana) to that of the 
sunny sweet apricot. 
The leaves are largely used for thatch, in places where 
neither the troolie palm {Manicarid) nor the dealbanna 
(Geononia) are to be had for that purpose. The young, 
as yet unexpanded leaves are selected for this purpose, 
and are shaken, till the leaflets fall apart, after which 
the whole leaf is ready for use as thatch. 
The large and woody spathes are often used by the 
Indians as vessels for holding liquids or cassava meal ; 
and in these spathes liquids are sometimes even boiled. 
Children, too, use them, as boats, in which they paddle 
about on, or even cross the rivers. 
From the midribs of the leaves are formed the darts to 
be expelled from the blow-pipes ; and from the same 
material are sometimes even fashioned small arrows used 
for shooting the fry of fish. 
Genus XX. ATTALEA. 
[" Character of Cocos" (see under genus Maximiliana), "but nut 
3 f 2-5)-celled, 3 (5)-porous at the base : putamen rugose." Griesback.~] 
\_A. funifera, Mart: 
Occurs, according to SCHOMBURGK, in the Canakoo 
mountains, flowering in November.] 
MM 
