A HOUSE OF PALMS.
The first species of palms that attracted the observation of Don Pablo
and his party, was that known as the "patawa" palm. It belongs to the
genus _Oenocarpus_. There are several species of this genus in South
America, but none more beautiful than the "patawa." It is a palm with a
straight smooth stem, and pinnate leaves--the stem being sixty feet in
height, and about a foot in diameter. The stem becomes smooth only in
old trees. In the young ones, and even in those that stand in a thick
shady forest, it presents a very shaggy appearance, and is completely
hidden by the bases of the old leaves that have decayed and fallen off.
From the margins of these bases grow spinous processes of nearly three
feet in length, which point upward. These are used by the Indians to
make the arrows of their "blow-guns," of which more hereafter.
From the fruits of this palm a most delicious drink is manufactured with
very little trouble. The fruit itself is about the size of a plum, but
of an oval shape and deep violet colour. It grows in large clusters just
under the leaves. To make the drink, the fruits are thrown into a vessel
of hot water, where they remain for a few minutes until the pulp becomes
soft. The hot water is next poured off, and cold water is substituted.
In this the fruits are crushed and rubbed with the hands until all the
pulp is washed from the stones. The liquid is then strained so as to
separate the stones and other substances, when it is ready for use, and
a most luxurious beverage it is,--in its taste bearing some resemblance
to filberts and cream.
A palm called the "assái" has a small sloe-like fruit which produces a
similar beverage--thick and creamy, and of a fine plum colour. In all
the Portuguese settlements the "assái" is a favourite drink, and is
taken along with cassava bread, as we use milk or coffee.
It was not on account of its fruit, however, that Don Pablo rejoiced at
beholding the "patawa" palms. Perhaps Leon thought more about the rich
clusters of oval plums, but his father looked only to the straight
smooth stems which were designed for corner-posts, beams, and the
heavier woodwork of the house.
In a few minutes Guapo was busy with his axe, and one after another fell
the princely trunks of the "patawa" until enough were cut down for their
purpose.
Don Pablo next looked out for some palm of a more slender trunk for the
rafters and joists.
This was soon found in the "catinga," which is a species of the "assái
palm, the one of which we have just spoken as producing the assái wine."
The catinga was the very thing for the rafters. It is tall, nearly forty
feet high, but quite slender. It is one of the smooth palms, with
pinnate leaves, not unlike those of the "patawa." There is a peculiarity
about its top,--that is, there is a column or sheath of several feet in
length, out of which the leaves spring, and, at the lower end of this
column, and not immediately at the root of the leaves, the fruit
clusters grow. This sheathing column is of a red colour, which gives the
tree a strange look.
Another peculiarity of the catinga is that its roots grow out of the
ground, and form a little cone from the top of which rises the stem. The
fruits of this sort are smaller than the true assái, but a drink is also
made from them which some people consider more delicious than that
either of the assái or patawa. The rafters then were got from the
catinga.
Now for the thatch, that was the next consideration.
"Master!" cried Guapo, pointing off into the woods. "Yonder's
'bussu,'--very thing for thatch!"
Guapo indicated a very singular-looking tree, with a thick, clumsy,
crooked, and deeply ringed stem. It was not a bit like either of the
palm-trees they had already cut down. Its trunk was not over ten or a
dozen feet high, but then, such leaves! They were not pinnated like
those already described, but what is termed "entire," that is, all in
one piece, and thirty feet in length by full five in width! Fancy two or
three dozen of these gigantic leaves standing up almost erect from the
top of the thick trunk, and you may form some idea of the "bussu" palm.
There are many palm-trees whose leaves are used for thatching houses,
but of all others for that purpose the bussu is the best.
These great fronds have a mid-rib, and from this, on both sides, run
veins in a diagonal direction to the edge. When they are used for thatch
the leaf is split up the mid-rib, and then each half is laid upon the
rafters, not straight, but in such a way that the veins of the leaf will
lie in a vertical direction, and thus serve as gutters to guide the
rain-water down the roof. A very few leaves will thatch a house, and a
covering of this kind, when properly laid on, will last for ten or
twelve years. So much are the bussu-leaves prized for thatch, that the
Indians, in parts where this palm does not grow, often make a canoe
voyage of a week to procure them!
The spathe which contains the flowers is also put to many uses. It is of
a long spindle shape, of fibrous, cloth-like texture, and brown colour.
The Indians use it as cloth. It makes an excellent bag, in which the
native carries his paints or other articles; and a large one, stretched
out, makes a very comfortable cap. Indeed, Guapo used the first spathe
he laid his hands upon for this very purpose.
There remained now to be found some palm-tree that would split easily,
and make laths for the roof, as well as planks for the door, shelves,
and benches. They soon discovered the very palm for these purposes. It
was one of the genus _Iriartea_, and known as the "pashiuba" palm. It
was a tree that differed from all the others in its aspect. It was a
noble-looking tree, rising, with a smooth stem, to the height of seventy
feet. At its top, there was a sheathing column swollen larger than the
stem, and not unlike the sheathing column of the catinga already
mentioned, except that that of the pashiuba was of a deep green colour.
Its leaves, however, differed materially from those of the catinga. It
is true, that, like them, they were pinnate, but the leaflets, instead
of being slender and tapering, were of a triangular shape, notched along
the edges, and not growing very regularly out from the mid-rib.
Their general arrangement, as well as the form, therefore, gave the tree
a different, and, perhaps, more beautiful aspect. But the most singular
characteristic of the pashiuba was its roots. I have said that the roots
of the catinga rose above the surface of the soil. So did they, but only
to a limited height, forming a little cone. Now the roots of the
pashiuba stood up to the height of ten or a dozen feet! Each root was
nearly straight in itself, but there were a number of them, and they
sloped upwards so as to make a sort of pyramid, out of the apex of which
grew the stem. There were wide spaces between the roots--so wide that
you could easily pass through, and a full-grown man might stand upright
with his head under the very base of the stem. Fancy a man standing
under the trunk of a tree that rose seventy feet above his head!
There were young trees of the same species growing around, and these
were miniature models of the older ones. Sometimes these lesser ones are
supported on three roots, like the tripod of a surveyor's compass, and
this gives them a somewhat ludicrous appearance. There are many species
of this sort of palms, which are classed under the genus _Iriartea_. In
most of them the fruit, which is small oval and red or yellow, is bitter
and uneatable; but their wood is prized for many purposes. The wood of
the species which Don Pablo had found is hard on the outside, but soft
within, and splits readier into laths and planks than any other kind of
palm.
Guapo attacked the roots with his axe, and enough trunks were soon
felled to make laths, doors, and all sorts of benches.
The different kinds were now collected on the edge of the stream, and
were tied together by a rope-like, creeping plant, called a "Sipo," so
that they formed a rude raft. The leaves of the "bussu," with great
clusters of the fruits of the catinga and patawa, were laid upon the
raft; and then, Guapo, mounting himself on top of all, pushed out with
his long pole, and ferried the whole across. The others walked round by
the bridge, and were just in time to assist Guapo in mooring his
somewhat unwieldy craft.
Next day the framework of the house was put up, and on the day after the
walls. These were made of bamboo-canes, plenty of which grew near the
bottom of the valley. They grew wild, for the slopes of the Andes are
the favourite soil of these gigantic grasses. They were set on end, side
by side, and then tied to each other and to the beams of palm-trees. On
the third day the "bussu" leaves were laid on, and the house was
finished.