Popular Adventure Tales

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER XLI.

  A BATCH OF CURIOUS TREES.

  Of course the escape from danger so imminent, after the first momentswere over, produced a sort of reaction in the feelings of all and theywere now rather joyous than otherwise. But with all there was a mixtureof regret when they thought of the fate of little "titi." It had beentheir only pet, and had grown to be such a favourite that its loss wasnow mourned by every one, and its absence caused them to feel as thoughone of the company had been left behind. Several times during that daypoor "titi" was the subject of conversation; indeed, they could hardlytalk about anything else. Little Leona was quite inconsolable; for thepretty creature had loved Leona, and used to perch on her shoulder bythe hour, and draw her silken ringlets through its tiny hand, and placeits dainty little nose against the rich velvet of her cheek, and playoff all sorts of antics with her ears. Many an hour did "titi" andLeona spend together. No wonder that the creature was missed.

  During the whole of that day they travelled through a country coveredwith dense forest. The river was a full half-mile wide, but sometimesthere were islands, and then the current became narrowed on each side,so that in passing, the balza almost touched the trees on one side orthe other. They saw many kinds of trees growing together, and rarely alarge tract covered with any one species of timber, for this, as alreadyremarked, is a peculiarity of the Amazon forest.

  Many new and curious trees were noticed, of which Don Pablo gave shortbotanical descriptions to the others, partly to instruct them, andpartly to while away the hours. Guapo, at the rudder, listened to theselearned lectures, and sometimes added some information of his own aboutthe properties of the trees, and the uses to which they were put by theIndians. This is what is termed the popular part of the science ofbotany, and, perhaps, it is more important than the mere classificationof genera and species, which is usually all the information that you getfrom the learned and systematic botanists.

  Among the trees passed to-day was one called the "volador." This is alarge forest tree, with lobed leaves, of a heart-shape. But it is theseeds which are curious, and which give to the tree the odd name of"volador," or "flier." These seeds have each a pair of membranaceous andstriated wings, which, when the seeds fall, are turned to meet the airat an angle of 45 deg.; and thus a rotatory motion is produced, and thefalling seeds turn round and round like little fly-wheels. It isaltogether a curious sight when a large volador is shaken in calmweather, to see the hundreds of seeds whirling and wheeling towards theground, which they take a considerable time in reaching. The volador isnot confined to South America, I have seen it in Mexico, and other partsof North America.

  Another singular tree noticed was a tree of the barberry family knownamong the Spanish-Americans as _barba de tigre_, or "tiger's beard."This name it derives from the fact of its trunk--which is very large andhigh--being thickly set all over with sharp, branching thorns, that arefancied to resemble the whiskers of the jaguar, or South American"tiger."

  A third remarkable tree (or bush) observed was the _Bixa orellana_,which yields the well-known _arnatto_ dye. This bush is ten or twelvefeet in height, and its seeds grow in a burr-like pericarp. These seedsare covered with a reddish pulp, which produces the dye. The mode ofmaking it is simple. The Indian women throw the seeds into a vessel ofhot water, and stir them violently for about an hour, until they havetaken off the pulp. The water is then poured off, and the deposit,separated from the seeds, is mixed with oil of turtle-eggs, or crocodilefat, and kneaded into cakes of three or four ounces weight.

  It is then "anoto," sometimes written "arnatto," sometimes "arnotto,"sometimes "onoto," and sometimes "anato." The first is the properspelling. In Brazil it is called "urucu," whence the French name"rocou;" and the Peruvians have still another designation for it,"achote." Of course each tribe of Indians calls it by a separate name.The botanic name, _Bixa_, is the ancient name by which it was known tothe Indians of Hayti, for it is found in most parts of tropical Americagrowing wild, although it is also cultivated. It is an article in greatdemand among all the Indians of South America, who use it for paintingtheir bodies, and dyeing the cotton cloth of which they make theirgarments.

  But these people are very skilful in drawing pigments from plants andtrees of many kinds; in fact, their practical chemistry, so far as itrelates to dyes and poisons, is quite surprising, and from time to timeGuapo pointed out trees that were used by them, for such purposes.

  One was a climbing plant, whose tendrils reached to the tops of thehighest trees. It had beautiful violet-coloured flowers, an inch long,and Don Pablo saw that it was a species of _bignonia_. Guapo called it"chica." When in fruit it carries a pod two feet in length, full ofwinged seeds. But Guapo said it was not from the seeds that the dye wasobtained, but from the leaves, which turn red when macerated in water.The colouring matter comes out of the leaves in the form of a lightpowder, and is then shaped into cakes, which sell among the Indians forthe value of a dollar each. This colour has a tinge of lake in it, andis prized even more highly than the anoto. Indeed, red dyes among allsavage nations seem to hold a higher value than those of any othercolour.

  Another dye-tree was the "huitoc." This one is a slender tree, abouttwenty feet high, with broad leaves shooting out from the stem, and nutsgrowing at their bases, after the manner of the bread-fruit. These nutsresemble black walnuts, and are of a russet colour outside; but the pulpinside, which produces the huitoc, is of a dark blue, or purple tint.

  The "wild indigo tree," was also seen growing in the woods, with a leafnarrow at the base, and broad at the extremity. With these and manyother dyes the Indians of the Montana paint their bodies in fantasticmodes. So much are they addicted to these customs, that, among theIndians who labour at the missions, some have been known to work nearlya month to procure paint enough to give their body a single coat, andthe missionaries have made a merchandise of this gigantic folly. But thepaint is not always to be looked upon in the light of a mere folly, orvanity. Sometimes it is used to keep off the "zancudos," or mosquitoes,so numerous and annoying in these regions.

  Another singular tree was observed, which Guapo called the "marima," or"shirt-tree." The use of this he explained. The tree stands fifty orsixty feet high, with a diameter of from two to three. When they findthem of this size, the Indians cut them down, and then separate thetrunk into pieces of about three feet long. From these pieces they stripthe bark, but without making any longitudinal incision, so that thepiece of bark when taken off is a hollow cylinder. It is thin andfibrous, of a red colour, and looks like a piece of coarsely-wovensack-cloth. With this the shirt is made, simply by cutting two holes inthe sides to admit the arms, and the body being passed into it, it isworn in time of rain. Hence the saying of the old missionaries, that inthe "forests of America garments were found ready-made on the trees."

  Many other trees were noticed valuable for their fruits, or leaves, orbark, or roots, or their wood. There was the well-known "seringa," orIndia-rubber tree; the great courbaril, the "dragon's-blood" tree, notthat celebrated tree of the East but one of a different genus from whosewhite bark flows a red blood-like juice.

  They saw, also, a species of cinnamon-tree though not the cinnamon ofcommerce; the large tree that bears the Brazilian nut-meg (the Puxiri);and that one, also, a large forest tree, that bears the nuts known as"Tonka beans," and which are used in the flavouring of snuff.

  But of all the trees which our travellers saw on that day, none madesuch a impression upon them as the "juvia," or Brazil-nut tree. Thistree is not one with a thick trunk; in fact, the largest ones are notthree feet in diameter, but it rises to a height of 120 feet. Its trunkis branchless for more than half that height, and the branches thenspread out and droop, like the fronds of the palm. They are naked neartheir bases, but loaded towards the top with tufts of silvery greenleaves, each two feet in length. The tree does not blossom until itsfifteenth year, and then it bears violet-coloured flowers; althoughthere is another species, the "sapucaya," which has yellow ones. Bu
t itis neither the trunk, nor the branches, nor the leaves, nor yet theflowers of this tree, that render it such an object of curiosity. It isthe great woody and spherical pericarps that contain the nuts or fruitsthat are wonderful. These are often as large as the head of a child, andas hard as the shell of the cocoa-nut! Inside is found a largenumber--twenty or more--of those triangular-shaped nuts which you maybuy at any Italian warehouse under the name of "Brazil-nuts."