Page:The naturalist on the River Amazons 1863 v2.djvu/232

 flavoured and coloured with Uikí is a favourite dish at Ega. The fruit, like most of the others here mentioned, ripens in January.

Many smaller fruits such as Wajurú (probably a species of Achras), the size of a gooseberry, which grows singly and contains a sweet gelatinous pulp enclosing two large, shining black seeds; Cashipári-arapaá, an oblong scarlet berry; two kinds of Bacurí, the Bacurí-siúma and the B. curúa, sour fruits of a bright lemon colour when ripe, and a great number of others, are of less importance as articles of food.

The celebrated "Peach palm," Pupunha of the Tupí nations (Guilielma speciosa), is a common tree at Ega. The name, I suppose, is in allusion to the colour of the fruit, and not to its flavour, for it is dry and mealy, and in taste may be compared to a mixture of chestnuts and cheese. Vultures devour it eagerly, and come in quarrelsome flocks to the trees when it is ripe. Dogs will also eat it: I