Page:Bolivia (1893; Bureau of the American Republics).djvu/64

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BOLIVIA.

resources of the country, with respect to their zones of production, as can be adopted.

TORRID ZONE.

This region extends from the low tropical plains and valleys of eastern Bolivia to an altitude of approximately 6,500 feet above the sea. It abounds in every variety of tropical fruits, including granadillas, pepinos, paltas, pacaes, a fruit of the genus Inga, consisting of thick pods about six inches long filled with a sweet, refreshing, white pulp; chirimoyas, a species of anona, one of the most highly prized of the Bolivian fruits; pineapples, those of the province of Yungas being especially rich and fragrant; sugar cane, coffee, rice, a superior quality of white and yellow cotton, coca (erythroxylon coca), the dried leaves of which are a highly stimulating narcotic and are chewed by the Bolivian and Peruvian Indians, by travelers in the Upper Andes, and by the Bolivian soldiers, when in the field, just as betel is used by the inhabitants of the East Indies; cacao or chocolate tree, a species of theobroma, found also in the West Indies, which bears a pulpy fruit from the seeds of which chocolate is made. One of the peculiar productions of this zone is the guayacu tree from which is gathered a fruit containing a rich aromatic flour or powder neatly inclosed in a strong box-shaped cover or shell and esteemed more for its rich perfume than for food. It is known only by the name given it by the Aymara Indians, viz, háku-guayácca, háku in the Aymara tongue, meaning flour and guayácca, box; hence "flour box" or "box of flour." The guayacca is perhaps the tallest tree of Bolivia, growing to a height of about 125 feet, with dense foliage and wide-spreading branches, thus making it one of the most delightful shade trees known to the montaña. This region also abounds in forests of ebony, mahogany, rosewood, satin wood, cedar, wax, and cork trees, palms, rubber trees (caoutchouc), and other varieties of wood of great beauty and value rarely met with in other