uried underground. There
were no stems, and never had been any--except those that were seen
rising a yard or so above the surface. Neither was there any longer a
mystery about the "negro's head;" for the rounded fruit, with its
wrinkled coriaceous pericarp--suggesting a resemblance to the little
curly knots of wool on the head of an African--was evidently the object
to which the tigrero had applied the ambiguous appellation.

What our hunters saw was neither more nor less than a grove of _Tagua_
trees--better known as the "vegetable ivory."

This singular tree was for a long time regarded as a plant of the
_Oycas_ family; and by some botanists it has been classed among the
_Pandanaceae_, or screw-pines. Growing, as its leaves do, almost out of
the earth, or with only a short trunk, it bears a very marked
resemblance to the cycads; but for all this, it is a true palm. Its not
having a tall trunk is no reason why it should not be a palm, since many
other species of _palmaceae_ are equally destitute of a visible stem.
It is now, however, acknowledged by the most expert botanists, that the
"Tagua"--or "Cabeza del Negro," as the Peruvians style it--is a palm;
and it has been honoured as the representative of a genus
(_Phytelephas_), of which there are but two species known--the great
fruited and little fruited (_macrocarpa_ and _microcarpa_). Both are
natives of the hot valleys of the Andes, and differ very little from
each other; but it is the species with the larger fruit that is
distinguished by the figurative title of "negro's head."

The Peruvian Indians use the pinnate fronds of both species for
thatching their huts; but it is the nuts of the larger one that have
given its great celebrity to the tree. These are of an oblong
triangular shape; and a great number of them are enclosed in the
pericarp, already described. When young, they are filled with a watery
liquid that has no particular taste; though regarded by the Indians as a
most refreshing beverage. A little older, this crystal-like fluid turns
of a milky colour and consistence; and still later it becomes a white
paste. When fully ripe, it congeals to the whiteness and hardness of
ivory itself; and, if kept out of water, is even more beautiful in
texture than, the tusks of the elephant. It has been employed by the
Indians from time immemorial in the construction of buttons, heads for
their pipes, and many other purposes. Of late years it has found its