368
VEGETABLE
MILK.
state, the igua, a tre e re se mbling the Caryocar nucife rum, which is cultivate d in Dutch and Fre nch Guiana, and which, with the almedron of Mariquita (Caryocar amygdalife rum), the juvia of the Esme ralda (Be rtholle tia e xce lsa), and the : Geoffrœa of the Amazon, yie lds the fine st almonds of all South A m e r i c a . N o c o m m e r c i a l advantage is here m a d e of the igua ; but I saw vessels arrive on t h e c o a s t of Te rra Firma, that came from De me rara lade n with the fruit of the Caryocar tome ntosum, which is the Pe ke a tube rculosa of A u b l e t . Th e es tre e s re ach a hundre d fe e t in height, and present, by the be auty of the ir corolla, and the multitude of their stame ns, a magnifice nt appe arance . I should we ary the re ade r by continuing the e nume ration of the ve ge table wonders which the se vast fore sts contain. Th e ir varie ty depends on the coe xiste nce of such a gre at numbe r of fami lies in a small space of ground, on the stimulating powe r of light and he at, and on the pe rfe ct e laboration of the juices that circulate in the se gigantic plants. W e passe d the night in a hut late ly abandone d by an Indian family, who had le ft be hind the m the ir fishing tackle, potte ry, ne ts made of the pe tiole s of palmtre e s; in short, all that compose s the house hold furniture of that careless racе of me n, little attache d to prope rty. A gre at store of mаni (a mixture of the re sin of the moronobœa and the Amyris caraña) was accumulate d round the house . This is use d by the Indians he re , as at Caye nne , to pitch their canoe s, and fix the bony spine s of the ray at the points of the ir arrows. W e found in the same place jars fille d with a ve ge table milk, which se rve s as a varnish, and is ce le brate d in the missions by the name of leche para pintar* (milk for painting). The y coat with this viscous juice those arti cles months a produce of nine tortas. In an excellent soil, around clumps of mauritia, there is every year from fifty feet square a produce of thirte e n or fourteen tortas. A torta weighs three quarters of a pound, and there tortas cost generally in the province of Caracas one silver rial, or one. eiglith of a piastre-. The se statements appear to me to be of some importance, when we wish to compare the nutritive matte r which man can obtain from the same extent of soil, by covering it, in different climates, with bread-trees, plantains, jatropha, maize , potatoe s, rice, and corn. The tardine ss of the harvest of jatropha has. I believe, a beneficial influence on the manners of the natives, by fixing them to the soil, and compelling them to sojourn long on the same spot.