The wood of this tree when old and black is exceedingly hard, turning the edge of any ordinary axe. When descending the River Uaupes in April 1852, I had a number of parrots whose objections to any restraint upon their liberty caused me much trouble. Their first cage was of wicker, and in a couple of hours they had all set themselves at liberty. Then tough green wood was tried, but the same time only was required to gnaw that through. Thick bars of deal were bitten through in a single night, so I then tried the hard wood of the Pashiúba. This checked them for a short time, but in less than a week by continual gnawing they had chipped these away and again escaped. I now began to despair; no iron for bars was to be procured and my resources were exhausted, when one of my Indians recommended me to try Pupúnha, assuring me that if their beaks were of iron they could not bite that. A tree was accordingly cut down and bars made from it, and I had the satisfaction of seeing that their most persevering efforts now made little impression. The very sharp needle-like spines of this tree are used by some tribes to puncture the skin, in order to produce the tattooed marks with which they decorate various parts of their bodies. Soot produced from burning pitch rubbed into the wounds is said to make the indelible bluish stain which these markings present. This palm appears to be indigenous to the countries near the Andes. On the Amazon and Rio Negro it is never found wild. It is mentioned by Humboldt as having a smooth polished stem, which is a mistake. Very fine specimens of this tree are growing in the great Palm House at Kew. Plate III. fig. 4. represents a fruit of the natural size. Genus ACROCOMIA, _Martius_. Female flowers in the inner, male flowers in the outer part of the same spadix. Spathe complete, woody. Male flowers with six stamens and a rudimentary pistil. Female flowers with a short style and three stigmas, and a ring of abortive stamens. The stems of these Palms are tall, strong, and more or less prickly. The leaves are large, pinnate, much drooping, and forming a dense spherical head of foliage. The leaflets are linear, and with the petioles are very prickly. The spadix is simply branched, and the fruit is round or oval, of an olive-green colour, and has a firm fleshy outer covering, which is often eaten. Eight species of this genus are known, inhabiting various parts of South America, but more particularly Brazil. One or perhaps two species are found at Pará, but none on the Upper Amazon, where the alluvial soil and dense forests are unsuited to their growth. [Illustration: Pl. XXXVII. W. Fitch lith. Ford & West Imp. ACROCOMIA LASIOSPATHA. Ht. 40 Ft. ] PLATE XXXVII. ACROCOMIA LASIOSPATHA, _Martius_. Mucujá, _Lingoa Geral_.