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This latter bears
a large eatable fruit, curious in having a hollow chamber between
the pulp and the kernel, beset with hard spines which produce
serious wounds if they enter the skin. The eatable part appeared
to me not much more palatable than a raw potato; but the
inhabitants of Santarem are very fond of it, and undertake the
most toilsome journeys on foot to gather a basketful. The tree
which yields the tonka bean (Dipteryx odorata), used in Europe
for scenting snuff, is also of frequent occurrence here. It grows
to an immense height, and the fruit, which, although a legume, is
of a rounded shape, and has but one seed, can be gathered only
when it falls to the ground. A considerable quantity (from 1000
to 3000 pounds) is exported annually from Santarem, the produce
of the whole region of the Tapajos. An endless diversity of trees
and shrubs, some beautiful in flower and foliage, others bearing
curious fruits, grow in this matted wilderness. It would be
tedious to enumerate many of them.


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