PDF - Wallace Online

250 TROPICAL NATURE nover shrubs and in thickets like endless serpents. They mustattain an immense age, and apparently have almost unlimitedpowers of growth,for some are said to have been foundwhich were six hundred or even one thousand feet long, andif so they are probably the longest of all vegetable growths.The mode in which such great lengths and tangled convolutionshave been attained has already been explained in thegeneral account of woody climbers. From the immensestrength of these canes and the facility with which they canbe split, they are universally used for cordage in the countrieswhere they grow in preference to any other climbers, andimmense quantities are annually exported to all parts of theworld.Uses of Palm-trees and their ProductsTo the natives of the equatorial zone the uses of palmsare both great and various. The fruits of several speciesmore especially the cocoa-nut of the East and the peachnut(Guilielma speciosa) of America furnish abundance ofwholesome food, and the whole interior of the trunk of thesago palm is converted into an edible starch our sago.Many other palm -fruits yield a thin pulp, too small inquantity to be directly eaten, but which, when rubbed offand mixed with a proper quantity of water, forms an exceedinglynutritious and agreeable article of food. The mostcelebrated of these is the assai of the Amazon, made from thefruit of Euterpe oleracea, and which, as a refreshing, nourishing,and slightly stimulating beverage for a tropical country,takes the place of our chocolate and coffee. A number ofthat are notother palms yield a similar product, and many eaten by man aregreedily devoured by a variety of animals,so that the amount of food produced by this tribe of plantsis much larger than is generally supposed.The sap which pours out of the cut flower-stalk of severalspecies of palm, when slightly fermented, forms palm-wine ortoddy, a very agreeable drink and;when mixed with variousbitter herbs or roots which check fermentation, a fair imitationof beer is produced. If the same fluid is at once boiledand evaporated it produces a quantity of excellent sugar.The Arenga saccharifera, or sugar-palm of the Malay countries,is perhaps the most productive of sugar. A single tree