General Remarks--The Baobab--Used as a Vegetable Cistern-- Arborescent Euphorbias--The Dracæna of Orotava--The Sycamore-- The Banyan--The sacred Bo-Tree of Anarajapoora--The Teak Tree-- The Saul--The Sandal Tree--The Satinwood Tree--The Ceiba-- The Mahogany Tree--The Mora--Bamboos--The Guadua--Beauty and multifarious Uses of these colossal Grasses--Firing the Jungle--The Aloes--The Agave americana--The Bromelias--The Cactuses--The Mimosas--Bush-ropes--Climbing Trees--Emblems of Ingratitude--Marriage of the Fig Tree and the Palm--Epiphytes-- Water Plants--Singularly-shaped Trees--The Barrigudo--The Bottle Tree--Trees with Buttresses and fantastical Roots-- The Mangroves--Their Importance in Furthering the Growth of Land-Animal Life among the Mangroves--‘Jumping Johnny’-- Insalubrity of the Mangrove Swamps--The Lum--Trees with formidable Spines 120 CHAPTER XIII. PALMS AND FERNS. The Cocoa-nut Tree--Its hundred Uses--Cocoa-nut Oil--Coir-- Porcupine Wood--Enemies of the Cocoa Palm--The Sago Palm-- The Saguer--The Gumatty--The Areca Palm--The Palmyra Palm-- The Talipot--The Cocoa de Mer--Ratans--A Ratan bridge in Ceylon--The Date Tree--The Oil Palms of Africa--The Oil Trade at Bonny--Its vast and growing Importance--American Palms-- The Carnauba--The Ceroxylon andicola--The Cabbage Palm--The Gulielma speciosa--The Piaçava--Difficulties of the Botanist in ascertaining the various species of Palms--Their wide geographical range--Different Physiognomy of the Palms according to their height--The Position and Form of their Fronds--Their Fruits--Their Trunk--The Yriartea ventricosa--Arborescent Ferns 146 CHAPTER XIV. THE CHIEF ESCULENT PLANTS OF THE TORRID ZONE. Rice--Various Aspect of the Rice-fields at different Seasons--The Rice-Bird--Maize--First imported from America by Columbus--Its enormous Productiveness--Its wide zone of Cultivation--Millet, Dhourra--The Bread-Fruit Tree--The Bananas--Their ancient Cultivation--Avaca or Manilla Hemp--Humboldt’s Remarks on the Banana--The Traveller’s Tree of Madagascar--The Cassava Root-- Tapioca--Yams--Batatas--Arrowroot--Taro--Tropical Fruit Trees--The Chirimoya--The Litchi--The Mangosteen--The Mango 163 CHAPTER XV. SUGAR, COFFEE, CACAO, COCA. Progress of the Sugar Cane throughout the Tropical Zone--The Tahitian Sugar Cane--The enemies of the Sugar Cane--The Sugar-Harvest--The Coffee Tree--Its cultivation and enemies-- The Cacao Tree and the Vanilla--The Coca Plant--Wonderful strengthening Effects of Coca, and fatal consequences of its Abuse 174 CHAPTER XVI.