Chapter X: Part 10

Innumerable snails are seen in their shells in the woods, plains, and the borders of lakes, but are eaten by no human being in Paraguay. Empty snail-shells, burnt to ashes in the fire, are used by the Guaranies for whitening walls, when stones for making lime are not to be found. From the white shells of certain snails, the Vilelas make little round beads, perforated in the middle, which they sell to the other Indians. The Abipones hang round their necks great heavy strings of these beads, and both men and women think the more they are loaded the finer they are. On the shores of the river Uruguay, there is an odd kind of snail, larger than a man's fist, which the Indians roast in its shell, and devour with avidity. I do not recollect any thing worth mentioning, in regard to shells and shell-fish, if there are any wretched ones to be found here.

WAYS OF FISHING.

After treating of fish, a few observations should be made concerning the various methods of fishing. In the city of Buenos-Ayres the Spanish fishers enter the river Plata on horseback, near the shore, as far as it is shallow. Two of them lay hold of each end of a rope, on which a net is either spread, or closed again, filled with fish; in a few hours they carry to shore numbers of noble fishes, which are immediately put to sale. The Payaguas and Vilelas subsist chiefly upon fish. For fishing they use a very small net, two ends of which they fasten before them, as you would an apron, at the same time holding the two others with their hands. Thus accoutred they jump from the shore into the water, and if they spy any fish at the bottom, swim after it, catch it in the net, which they place under its body, and carry it to shore. The Indian who has remained beneath the water such a length of time that you believe him inevitably drowned, you will, with astonishment, behold emerging at a great distance, laden with booty. These men are more properly divers, than fishers. If the transparency of the water, as in the river Salado, renders the fish visible, the Paraguayrians pierce them with an arrow, a spear, or an iron prong. The wood Indians catch fishes more usually by craft and artifice than by arms. Sometimes by throwing in sticks, and boughs of trees artfully entwined together, they dam up a river in such a way that, though the fish can enter this enclosure, they are unable to get out again. In other places they throw the plant yçipotingi, which creeps up trees, or the leaves or fresh roots of the caraquata, well pounded, into the water, which intoxicates the fishes to such a degree that they may be caught with the hand as they float on the surface. They often lash the water with the leaves of a certain tree which grows in great abundance near the river Atingỹ, the juice of which is said to be fatal to fishes. The Indians sometimes catch fishes with hooks made of wood or reeds. The common, and indeed the only instrument for fishing that I used, was an iron hook baited with a piece of fresh beef.

LITTLE FLYING-FISH.

Flying-fish are about the size of a large herring; their body is oblong and smaller at the tail; their head large and flat; their eyes round and big, with immense pupils, and surrounded by a yellow circle, and another larger blackish one: their mouth is middle-sized, destitute of teeth, but armed with jaws slightly denticulated. The tail is wide and forked; the wings very large, and composed of a membrane thinner than paper, of a whitish grey colour. They are furnished with six small fins, a bony shell, pointed at the end, and scales of various colours and forms, but shining like those of a herring. They fly out of the water to avoid the dorados, which try to catch them; but in a few moments, as soon, in fact, as their wings are dried by the air, fall back into the sea, and being again moistened are enabled to renew their flight. In various seas they are of various forms and sizes. The Portugueze sailors do not refuse to eat their flesh.

THE SHARK.

But as men of this description have generally too large appetites, and capacious stomachs to be satisfied with "such small deer," they prefer larger fish, especially sharks, numbers of which they caught, during their voyage, with an iron hook many pounds weight. Sharks generally follow ships, and swallow whatever is thrown out of them, whether it be dead bodies or any other filthy trash. They are of such vast size and weight, that twelve stout sailors are scarce sufficient to drag one with a rope from the sea into the ship. Nor should you be surprized at this, for a shark is about nine feet long, and three or more wide. Its horrid jaws, which contain a triple row of serrated triangular teeth, are prepared to tear any thing. It has a fierce, and ever watchful look. It is covered with very rough skin of various colours. Whenever a shark was taken and gutted by the sailors, its stomach presented a ridiculous spectacle; it looked like a broker's shop full of all sorts of trumpery. In it we found worn out garments, old drawers, hats, whole fowls, and whatever had been thrown by the sailors into the sea. When I found this, I always suspended stones, or cannon balls, to human bodies before I committed them to the waves, that they might sink to the bottom, lest floating on the surface, they should be torn to pieces by sharks. The flesh of this fish, though very white, was tasted by none but hungry sailors; though the females are despised by them even. One, which I had seen them take with immense labour, they threw back into the sea, on discovering its sex. I cannot tell why they make this distinction. The Abipones roast and eat female locusts, but loathe and reject the males, for reasons known to themselves alone.

DOLPHINS.

During nine months spent in sailing on the Mediterranean and the Ocean, I have frequently seen many others of the scaly tribe, with forms terrible to the sight; but except middle-sized fishes and sharks, I never saw any of the family of Neptune caught by the sailors. When the sea was smooth, and the air tranquil, we frequently observed dolphins tossing themselves merrily about, and appearing as it were to dance; a spectacle by no means pleasing to us, who had so often found this leaping of dolphins the forerunner, and annunciation of an impending whirlwind and tempest.

WHALES.

Immense whales were a very terrible, and by no means uncommon sight to us on the ocean, though they never approached the ship. On the desert shores of Brazil we thought we perceived a pirate ship. Fearing some mischance we called for the captain, who from the top of the mast by the help of a telescope discovered it to be an enormous whale. This immense animal, as it tossed itself about on the waves, presented the appearance of a ship. A projecting fin, which is said to be sometimes fifty feet high, had been taken for a mast. From the horrid pipe, or fistula of his head, as from a great fire-engine, he spouted up a vast quantity of water, which, when dispersed by the wind, and shone upon by the rays of the sun, looked white like the sails of a ship. In returning to Europe we observed the water leaping up and breaking itself in an unusual manner, not far from the ship. Imagining that rocks or shoals must be at hand, the captain ordered the prow of the ship to be turned in another direction. But an intolerable stench relieved our minds by discovering the putrid carcass of a very large whale, against which the waters had been dashed. Whales perish in the same way as ships, and die by degrees from being knocked against quicksands and shoals. We sometimes, however, see the carcasses of whales cast on to the shore by the tide. I have spoken elsewhere of melotas, enormous fish, innumerable shoals of which we met during some weeks in the month of November. From the water let us now proceed to the woods and plains of Paraguay, which abound in so many curious plants and trees.

PLANTS.

The Jesuit priest Thomas Falconer, an Englishman well versed in medicine and botany, frequently and openly declared that Paraguay had been enriched by the bounty of nature with so many wholesome plants, roots, gums, woods and fruits, that whoever was skilled in the knowledge of those things would have no occasion for European druggists to cure any disease. Out of many which Paraguay affords either for medicinal or other purposes, I will describe a few in the order in which they enter my mind. I doubt not that botanists have written on this subject more clearly and methodically; whether more faithfully also, I dare not determine with regard to all.

CHINA CHINÆ, OR PERUVIAN BARK.

This tree is peculiarly worthy of note on account of its bark, which is called china chinæ, Peruvian bark, or the remedy for fever. It is of middling height, and not very large, and bears an almost orbicular fruit, somewhat raised in the middle, and by no means fit to be eaten, but which contains two yellowish nuts indented all over like the rind of an almond. It is filled with a balsamic odour of a dusky colour, and a very sweet scent, but extremely bitter. With this balsam the Indians allay pains in the eyes, head and stomach, if they arise from cold. The bark is naturally white, but when torn from the tree gradually assumes a dark yellow on the surface, a little varied with pale spots: but within, it is of a red colour, not like blood, but like cinnamon, being tinged with a yellowish cast. The taste is bitter, but the smell aromatic and pleasant, though somewhat rancid. Some call the Peruvian bark Jesuits' powder, because the Jesuit missionaries in Peru were the first who made known its singular efficacy in expelling fevers. The celebrated physician Woytz tells us that this medicine was first brought to Europe, in the year 1650, by Cardinal de Lugo, a Spanish Jesuit.

ZARZA PARRILLA.

Zarza parrilla is the root of a green, creeping plant, armed at intervals with very small thorns. It has leaves almost a span long, from the beginning of which proceed two tendrils, with which it entwines itself with other plants. The flowers grow in clusters, and give place to berries, which are first green, then red, and when quite ripe, black, and wrinkled like dry cherries, which they resemble in size and form. This plant is called by the Spaniards zarza parrilla, on account of its thorns, for _zarza_ in Spanish means a thorny plant; _parrilla_, in the same language, signifies a gridiron; as therefore the leaves of this plant bear some sort of resemblance to a gridiron, three pretty large veins running lengthways, crossed by a number of smaller ones, it has received the name _parrilla_ or gridiron; but botanists call it _smilax aspera Peruviana_, or _sarmentum Indicum_. The zarza parrilla is very common on the banks of the Uruguay, and the Rio Negro, the waters of which are celebrated for their salubrity; it is also found near the Rio Tercero, in the territories of Sta. Fè, and other parts of America. The most famous is that which comes from the bay of Honduras. The roots of the zarza parrilla, which possess a medicinal virtue, are scarce thicker than a goose's quill, wrinkled on the surface, and of a dusky colour, but white within; all of them grow from the same joint or knot of the plant. They have no particular taste or smell. They consist of rosin, and gum which is the softer part of them. The various uses of these roots are too well known to physicians to need an explanation from me.

RHUBARB.

Rhubarb is the root of a plant of the dock kind. From out the sheath of the leaves rises a little bunch of flowers divided into many branches, on which hang four blossoms, surrounded with leaves, and bearing a triangular seed. The roots are long, and rather spungy, tolerably heavy, yellowish on the outside, but within of the colour of a nutmeg, variegated like marble, and of a sharp bitter taste. When eaten they create nausea, and have an aromatic flavour. In divers parts of Paraguay, especially in the mountains called La Cordillera, near the city of Asumpcion, as well as at the banks of the rivers Ỹpane miri, and Tapiraguaỹ, there grows a kind of rhubarb, similar to that of Alexandria in colour, taste, smell, and virtue, but with this difference, that the leaves of the Alexandrine rhubarb are pointed at the bottom, and broader at the end; whereas the leaves of the Paraguayrian are wide at the beginning, and terminate in a point, like the leaves of lilies. I understand that the East Indian rhubarb, as well as that of Persia, Muscovy, and Tartary, is preferred by physicians to that of America.

THE ROOT JALAP.

Paraguay abounds in the root jalap, the plant of which is called by botanists _Mirabilis Peruviana_. These roots are long, thick, and resinous. Without they are of a dusky brown, but within of a pure white, without any decay. They not only cure bile, and rheum, but expel other noxious humours from the body. The rosin of jalap is prepared from them.

MECHOACHÀN.

Mechoachàn is a large light root, entirely white at the beginning, but of a dusky colour above. Some call it _bryonia Indica_, but though it resembles the bryonia, its plant is a _convolvulus_, and bears heart-shaped leaves, and small berries. The mechoachàn is well calculated for gently purging infants; for the powder to which the root is reduced has no taste, and looks like flour.

SASSAFRÀS.

The tree sassafràs, which is very common throughout the whole of America, may be commended for its beauty, as well as its salubrity. The trunk is perfectly straight and plain, to the length of about thirty feet, when the top unfolds into branches, and leaves. Not only the wood of this tree, but also the bark and root smell very strong of fennel, which keeps off decay and rottenness. Like santalum it is of a dusky yellow colour, and has a sharp aromatic taste, and a pleasant smell. Druggists should examine carefully that the wood of the red fir, boiled in fennel, may not be palmed upon them by foreign traders for the real wood. There is also another kind of sassafràs, which has leaves like those of a laurel, and bears an odoriferous and blackish fruit. The bark is of a darkish red colour. This other species is said to possess the same virtue as the former, in provoking perspiration, and urine, in healing maladies arising from cold, syphilis, obstructions in the bowels, disorders in the womb, &c. The apeterebî, a tree common in the North of Paraguay, is also thought by some to be a species of sassafràs.

HOLY WOOD.

The tree called holy wood is very broad, but not very lofty. It has little and almost round leaves, two of which proceed from single stalks, and are indented at the top. It bears yellow flowers, which grow either single or two together, at the extremity or in the middle of the boughs. The wood is exceedingly hard, and will last almost for ever, even under water. The pith is of a lead colour. The rosin which exudes from this tree is bitter, aromatic, and said to possess equal medicinal properties with the wood: it, as well as the gum, is reduced to a powder which the Paraguayrians drink in cold water, as a cure for dysentery. For what disorders, and in what manner this salutary wood is to be used, it is not my province to explain. This tree does not grow in the South of Paraguay, but in the North, where the Abipones and Mocobios dwell; it is also found in some parts of upper Tucuman.

THE GUAYACÀN.

It is a great mistake to suppose that holy wood, and guayacàn are the same; for though the wood of both possess the same power of healing almost any disease, yet the two trees differ as much in form as in name: for the guayacàn is loftier than the other, and almost resembles a nut-tree. It abounds in boughs, and bears small hard leaves. The flowers are yellow and produce fruit full of seeds. The blacker the pith of the tree is the more it abounds in rosin. The bark of this tree is hard, resinous, and composed of several little skins, spotted with grey on the outside, but within of a pale red: it has a bitter taste, but not an unpleasant smell, and is thought to be more efficacious in medicine than the wood itself.

THE ZUYÑANDỸ.

The zuyñandỹ, a large, lofty tree, consists of a soft wood, a thick bark turgid with copious moisture, and red flowers which seem to be composed of one large expanded leaf, as soft as silk. The bark, when stripped of the rough outer skin, and properly ground, is of much efficacy in healing wounds inflicted by the teeth or claws of a tiger.

THE ZAMUÛ.

The zamuû is ridiculous both in name and form; for the Spaniards call it _palo borracho_, the drunken tree. It is lofty. It has a trunk surrounded with largish thorns, and bears middle-sized flowers of a beautiful red colour, but is of very singular appearance in other respects. For the highest and lowest parts of the trunk are small, while the middle swells out to a great width, like a barrel: on which account its very soft wood is easily made into tubs, and barrels. The farther this tree grows from rivers the wider it swells, so great is its dislike to water. It bears a round fruit like certain large gourds, with a very strong rind, which fruit, when ripe, bursts open and discovers woolly flakes, like cotton, and softer than silk, but with so short a fibre that it is very difficult to draw them out into a thread. The thorns of this tree when bruised to powder, and boiled, tinge the water with a red colour which is said to cure sore eyes.

THE MANGAỸ.

The mangaỹ is about the size of a cherry-tree, and bears white flowers, which exhale a very delightful odour. It produces fruit of a golden colour, and equal in size to a large plum, which, when ripe, are agreeable to the taste, but hurtful to the stomach. Both the tree and the fruit overflow with a kind of milky, and resinous juice, called mangaỹci, in the Guarany tongue, which streams out plentifully, when you cut the bark, and is caught by the hand, or by a board. The air curdles it, and gives it the appearance of a little skin. In this state, it is rolled up into balls, which are so remarkably elastic, that when thrown lightly upon the ground they leap up very high in the air. This liquor, mangaỹci, is said to be very useful in cases of dysentery. It is much to be lamented that so very few take the trouble to collect this rosin, which would be useful in Europe in various ways.

DRAGON'S-BLOOD.

The tree caà verà, which produces the dragon's-blood, is middle-sized both as to height and bulk. Some botanists call these trees _palmæ pruniferæ foliis jaccæ_, but in my opinion they have no affinity whatever with palms. When a deep incision is made into their trunks, a kind of juice flows from them, resembling blood in colour and consistence, and which, when boiled on the fire, condenses into a liver-coloured rosin. Physicians complain that foreign traders sell them goat's-blood, bolo, or red Brazil wood, mixed with gum arabic, for dragon's-blood.

THE CUPAỸ.

The Paraguayrian trees, though they offer their fruits spontaneously to the natives, do not yield the oil, with which they are impregnated, without being cut. Amongst these is the cupaỹ, a large, tall tree, remarkable for its leaves, which are half a foot long, with red nerves and veins. Besides the wood, which is of a dark red colour, hard, and fit for carpenter's work, it affords a fruit which is dusky on the surface, but has a kernel resembling a walnut in size and form, and which is reckoned eatable by the Indians, and a dainty by the apes. But this tree owes its celebrity and value to the excellent oil with which it teems. To extract this most useful juice both arms, and arts are requisite. The trunk of the tree, which should neither be very old, nor too young, is cut to the pith with a knife. Soon after the incision is made, you will hear a slight crackling, caused by the oil flowing from the top and from the boughs: for the warm air, insinuating itself more freely into the pores of the wounded tree, seems to rarefy and liquidate the oil, which is naturally resinous and thick. To effect this sooner and with more certainty apply dry burning boughs to the opposite side of the tree into which the incision has been made; by their heat, the oil is more dispersed amongst the fibres of the tree, and more liquefied, which causes it to flow freely into the vessel placed beneath the trunk. Within a few hours you will find a jug full of oil. If you wish to fill many jugs cut many of these trees, which are most abundant in the northern woods of Paraguay; there are none, or very few, elsewhere. This operation must be performed in spring, in the month of September, when the moon is at full; if you undertake it in the absence of the moon, in winter, or summer, you will lose your labour. This oil, in colour, could not be distinguished from water; it has a bitter taste, exhales an odour neither sweet nor the contrary, and is useful both to painters and physicians. I will now make you acquainted with its virtues, which I learnt from others, but never tried myself. When warmed and applied to a wound, it is said to stop the flowing of the blood, and to heal the wounded person very speedily. It will cure the bites of serpents, and remove scars. Placed by way of plaster on the breast, it eases languor in the stomach; when applied to the belly, it assuages colic, and pains arising from cold. Two or three drops, swallowed with a boiled egg, will remove dysentery, and other hurtful fluxions, restore the tone to the bowels, and impart strength. Sometimes it is used as an injection with sugar from plaintain water, or oil of roses. From the oil of the cupaỹ the Brazilians make the balsam cupaỹba, of such high repute in Europe, especially the inhabitants of the province of Maranham, which abounds in those trees. But other rosins, chiefly that from the tree ybir̂apayè, of which we shall speak hereafter, are mixed with this balsam, as the singular fragrance of the smell discovers. American as well as European painters derive much benefit from the oil of the cupaỹ, for when mixed with garlick, it brightens pictures better than any varnish, and will never be obscured by time, if mixed with the colours instead of linseed oil. In wooden images, particularly, nothing is better for painting the face, hands, and every thing of flesh, of a natural colour. I can scarce persuade myself that the oil of the cupaỹ is brought quite pure from America to our shops; and that merchants do not adulterate it to increase the weight. There are three trees in Paraguay, all materially different, but much alike in name; I mean the _cupaỹ_, _the curupaỹ_, and the _curupicaỹ_. The curupaỹ affords bark like that of the çevil, which the Indians use to dress ox-hides with. To give them a red colour they mix the bark of the curupaỹ with that of another tree, (the caatigua, which the Abipones call achitè). The curupicaỹ, a tree not larger nor harder than the elder, has a spungy kind of wood, unfit for any purpose, that I know of, which at the slightest touch, sheds a milky juice commonly thought to be poisonous.

PIÑON DEL PARAGUAY,
OR THE CATHARTIC NUT.

This is a shrub resembling the fig tree of our country, in its leaves, its form, and the softness of its wood. The trunk and leaves, when pressed with the hand distil a milky juice abounding in serum. It bears fruit like dark walnuts, beneath the hard black rind of which lie three white kernels, covered with a white membrane and divided into as many separate compartments; in sweetness, and in shape they resemble almonds. These kernels, _piñones del Paraguay_, or piny nuts of Paraguay, are called by physicians, cathartic nuts, _ricini Americani_, or purging beans; for two or three kernels, which many say ought to be first stripped of their white skin, then bruised in wine, and roasted a little on the fire, to mitigate their purging qualities, when eaten, will cause vomiting, purge the bowels, and expel noxious humours. Whether these nuts are sold in the druggists' shops in Europe, and whether physicians prescribe the use of them, I do not know. This is certain, that they must be taken cautiously, and with regard to the strength of the sick person. A branch of this tree, when cut and committed to the earth, soon takes root, and grows up very quickly.

THE VAYNILLA.

The vaynilla, a sweet name to those who love chocolate, is a creeping plant which grows in moist places, and entwines itself with certain palm trees, which serve it for a prop. It bears large leaves about a hand long, and small white flowers. Like pulse, for fruit it bears little hulls, or sheaths, a quarter of an ell long, triangular, and when ripe dark on the surface, and of a bright colour; they have a most delicious odour, and are full of very small seeds, like figs. Of these seeds the Indian women make rosaries to adorn their necks with: the savages formerly knew no other use of the vaynilla, which however birds and apes eagerly devour. The little bag or sheath, in which the fruit is inclosed, occasioned the Spaniards to give it the name of vaynilla. The description of this plant, which became extremely profitable to the Americans after the discovery of the use of chocolate, I owe to Father Joseph Sanchez, who had travelled over the land of the Chiquitos, where that fruit grows, as well as in Peru and elsewhere. For this plant grows in no other part of Paraguay that I am acquainted with, which must be attributed to the inhabitants, not to the climate, as it doubtless would grow in the northern parts of Paraguay, were it cultivated there.

THE CACAÒ.

With the vaynilla we must speak of the cacaò, which is produced by a tree resembling an orange tree in its leaves, but larger, and having a kind of crown on the top. It bears a fruit like large melons, containing oily kernels, as big as almonds, and separated from one another by a white and very sweet skin, as by a kind of fence. The Peruvian Indians, throwing away the kernels which they did not then know how to use in preparing chocolate, were accustomed to chew and suck the little skin only, which is sweeter than honey. These trees in their native woods grow to a great size, and cover the melons which they bear so entirely with their immense leaves, that you cannot see them without standing close by. They never grow so large when planted in any other soil. In Peru, amongst the Mojos Indians, in Mexico, and other countries of America, the woods abound in this most profitable fruit: both the tree and the kernel, however, vary in different countries.

THE TAMARIND.

Tamarinds, which are very well known in European druggists' shops, are a species of plum, with a dark rind, rather acid, of an agreeable taste, and full of a number of beautiful kernels. Taken inwardly, after being steeped for some time in cold water, they conduce much to allay the most burning thirst, and gently to purge the bowels. They grow upon trees which resemble palms, and have boughs and leaves long enough to cover a number of men, and with their dark shade protect them from the heat of the sun. Tamarinds, which botanists call _dactyli acidi_, grow in the territories of the Chiquitos, and elsewhere, but are unknown to the other parts of Paraguay.

THE ROSIN ỸÇICA.

This Paraguayrian rosin is found at the roots of trees under ground, where it flows very copiously from them in the heat of the sun. The Guaranies use it not only for medicinal purposes, but also to tar ships with, when pitch is not to be had.

THE TREE ABATI TIMBABỸ.

The huge tree abati timbabỹ, in the heat of the sun, sheds a quantity of gum of a golden colour, and clear as the purest crystal, of which the lower orders of Spaniards and the wood Indians make crosses, ear-rings, and beads to hang round the neck, by the following method: they apply hollow moulds, made in the same form, of wood or reeds, to the trunk of the tree, and the gum flowing down into them is hardened by the air, and quickly assumes the shape of crosses, ear-rings, or beads, with admirable exactness; you would swear they were made of crystal. Although as fragile as glass, they can be melted by no moisture. Were European artisans in possession of this gum, they would make knots, buckles, and little images beautifully with it. Might it not possibly contain medicinal properties? No one has hitherto made trial of its virtues.

THE CEDAR.

The more northerly woods of Tucuman and Paraguay boast of innumerable lofty cedars, which, having exceedingly tall, straight, and large trunks, afford excellent materials for ships, and all sorts of building, as they never feel decay, and last for ever, even under water. No tree which Paraguay produces makes longer or wider beams, which, as they are laboriously hewn, not by a water-machine, but by human hands with a saw, and conveyed in waggons from Tucuman full three hundred leagues, sell very high in the city of Buenos-Ayres, where no woods are to be seen, and whither they are brought from the distant forests of Asumpcion, after a two months' navigation on the river. In Tucuman, indeed, a German lay-brother of our order constructed a machine, by which the saw was moved to the cedars by water underneath the wheel, with a great saving of time and labour; but it was soon after removed and destroyed by the natives, who hate all innovation. Sometimes out of one cedar a very large boat is made, to pull which thirty rowers are hardly sufficient. I do not deny that the tree timboỹ is made into shorter and slenderer planks and boats in Paraguay; but cedars hold the first place, as they excel in the width, height, and straightness of their trunk, in the docility of the materials, and their durability under water. There are two kinds of cedars in Paraguay; the wood of the one is beautifully red, that of the other rather palish; both, however, have a very sweet smell, and in the heat of the sun shed great quantities of gum, which is sometimes white, sometimes red, but always transparent. We used it in the same manner as gum Arabic, to glue things together, and also for polishing; might it not be fit for various medicinal purposes? Water boiled with bits of cedar wood and drunk, is a remedy for extravasation in those that have been bruised by a violent blow, by a sudden fall from a horse or a tree; though in such cases, to accelerate the cure, an infusion of quinoa, a kind of pulse with a very small grain, should also be drunk. Others make plasters of the quinoa, after it has been pounded in a mortar, and boiled in water, and when applied to the wounded or bruised part, they dissipate noxious humours so soon as to exceed the expectation both of the physician and the patient. This pulse is also a very wholesome food.

THE AMERICAN PINE, CURIỸ.

The curiỹ resembles the European pine in its leaves and in its height, but exceeds it in the hardness of its wood, which is pale, with red veins. The knots and swellings particularly which grow on the Paraguayrian pine are almost as hard as a stone. Of these large knots the Guaranies turn rosaries and images of the saints very neatly. When placed by the fire, the red rosin lurking in the veins of the wood is melted, so that they seem as if varnished with a beautiful red colour, and shine surprizingly.

THE ALFAROBA.

We are now come to a tree on many accounts worthy of particular note; the fruit of which is called by the Spaniards _alfaroba_. The American alfaroba differs in size, form, and colour from that which is commonly put to sale in Germany, and is called by the Spaniards _alfaroba de la Berberia_; for from Barbary it was brought by the Moors to Spain and Portugal, where, at this day, it grows in such abundance in the woods, without culture, that in those countries, during the winter season, it is given to oxen and mules for their daily fodder. The sheath of the Spanish alfaroba is rather wide, full of seeds, or large pebbles, and of a dusky colour, although its pulp is sweet and whitish. The sheaths or hulls of the Paraguayrian alfaroba, which are almost a span long, and the breadth of a man's thumb, are covered with a soft yellow skin; moreover the seed is smaller and softer, and they have a pleasanter taste. Of the many kinds of alfaroba which Paraguay produces, the most remarkable are those two which are distinguished by the names of the white and the black. It is chewed white and dry, as it falls from the tree, and when pounded in a mortar, is either eaten, or drunk mixed with water, and fermented, by the Abipones and other savages. It is the employment of the women to gather it in the woods, carry it home on a horse, pound it in a mortar, and pour it, mixed with cold water, on a hide, which serves both for tub and drinking vessel, where, without addition of any thing else, in about twelve hours, it effervesces so much with its own natural heat, as to become at last, a sharp, sweet, and wholesome beverage. Immoderate use of it disorders both the head and feet, and still more the tongue; yet, when taken in moderation, it is a means of strengthening the constitution, and inducing uncommon longevity. Moreover horses, mules, and oxen are never fatter, or more robust than after feeding on the alfaroba, woods of which abound particularly in Chaco, and the territories of St. Iago, though not even the shadow of such a tree is to be seen in any other part of the immense tracts of Paraguay. The Guaranies, who, being distributed into thirty-two colonies, inhabit a vast extent of country, are destitute of this most wholesome fruit; neither did we ever think fit to plant the alfaroba, which grows so quickly, lest the Abipones, like the other Indians, should turn it to a bad use, and that it should cause drinking-parties and intoxication. Moreover the seeds of the alfaroba, if carelessly scattered in any soil, will certainly, and quickly grow up into trees. The white alfaroba affords not only meat, drink, and medicine, but also excellent materials for building waggons, houses and ships: for its violet-coloured wood is docile, and extremely firm, even under water. The leaves of this tree are small; and from its little pale flowers grow seeds, inclosed in a pod. They ripen in the month of November, and last in the woods till March, or are gradually collected and preserved at home by provident persons.

The other species of alfaroba, which the Spaniards call the black, resembles the former in all respects, except that it is smaller and sweeter. Its dusky bark is covered with red spots. The pods, though agreeable to the palate from being extremely sweet, create a roughness in the tongue, if eaten raw too freely, and a difficulty in speaking. I write this on my own experience; for once in a long journey, happening to pluck some of that fruit as I rode along, I was suddenly deprived of the power of speech. Some hours' silence was both the disease and the remedy; the Spaniards who accompanied me being greatly amused at my taciturnity. This kind of alfaroba is more commonly used for food than for drink. Its hulls, when pounded in a mortar, are reduced to a flour, which, after being strained through a sieve, is thrown into a round wooden box, pressed with both hands, and, as it is naturally resinous, forms into bread of itself, and becomes as hard as a stone; for as it abounds in thick rosin, its own dust glues it together. These loaves, which are called _patay_, and are chiefly made in the colonies of St. Iago, and sent to other cities, are taken, not only as food, but as medicine, especially by Europeans labouring under stone or strangury. No one ever doubted that both the black and the white alfaroba, as they have a diuretic property, are of much use, whether taken in a solid or liquid state, to persons in a consumption, or labouring under diseases of the bladder. Some say that spirits of much efficacy in diseases of the kidneys, and in hectic fevers, might, by chemic art, be extracted from both the alfarobas. We must not pass by a third species of alfaroba, which appears little different from the acacia. It has very hard, dark, red wood, is clothed with the same sort of leaves as the other alfarobas, and bears small yellow flowers, growing in clusters, and exhaling an aromatic smell. The rind of the pods is thick and black. The seeds, inclosed in the pods, are like pulse, but harder. The pods, with their pulp, are resinous, of a sharp, bitter taste, and fit neither to be eaten nor drunk. The fruit is used by the people of Cordoba, and St. Iago, to dye wood, and cotton of a black colour, with the addition of alum, and copperas. This tree exudes rosin like gum Arabic. To it you may add a fourth species of alfaroba, a small tree, the pods of which are of a dark red colour, and taste neither sweet nor bitter. Of this the natives make a potion which is remarkably sudorific, and which, according to Thomas Falconer, will cure many persons who, in Europe, could not be restored to health without the aid of salivation.

VARIOUS KINDS OF PALMS.

Palms alone would afford subject for a bulky volume, if the names, forms, properties, and uses of all the different species were to be described. Palms supply the Americans with meat, drink, medicine, arms, lodging, and clothing. Out of the numbers that I have seen in Paraguay, I will describe a few.

THE CARANDAỸ.

The tall palm, carandaỹ, expands its leaves like an open fan, and bears sweet dates, which are not disliked by Europeans even. The bark of the trunk, which is very hard, when cut with an axe, and deprived of the pith, which consists of sharp thorns, is used to roof the houses in some cities, and even to build cottages with. If the palms be cut when the moon is in the wane, their bark will bear age. This also is certain, that the carandaỹ palms create the richest and most wholesome pasture for cattle; for the rain-water, flowing to the ground from their leaves, contracts a kind of saltness, which generates saliva, and is the best and most agreeable seasoning of the grass for beasts.

THE PINDÒ.

The pindò is a very lofty and common palm, with a rough, white bark. By way of wood it has a pulp as porous as a fungus, very light, and composed of threads extremely liable to catch fire. It produces dates which, after being pounded in a mortar, are either drunk with water, or eaten. The dates, falling from the trees, fill the woods, and, by their hardness, severely hurt the naked feet of the Indians. But though these palms are, in some respects, very annoying to travellers, yet in others they are equally convenient to them: for the Guaranies, when they pass the nights in the woods, are furnished by them, on an impending storm, with a protection against the rain. Some hew down any palms of this sort that they can find, and with the soft spungy materials afforded by their trunks, quickly build a little hut, and cover it well with boughs and leaves of palms, bent partly one way, partly another: should the rain fall with the utmost violence, not a drop will penetrate this hasty fabric. Of the leaves of the pindò palms, cords, panniers, and baskets are sometimes woven, as of osiers in other places. These palms, not only by their great height, but also by the length of their boughs, which they gracefully extend, afford a pleasing spectacle to the eye, and a great ornament to gardens.

THE YATAỸ.

The yataỹ, a smaller palm, besides dates, yields a very tender germ, leafy at the top, as soft as butter, and of a yellowish white, which is eaten raw, as it is plucked from the tree, and is very pleasant to the taste. Crowds of parrots daily fly to feed upon the nuts of this palm.

THE YATAỸ GUAZÙ.

The yataỹ guazù, which has very large bright green leaves, and a rugged trunk, and is at least five ells high, produces oval shaped nuts, which the Spaniards call _coccos_. The pulp is very small in quantity, but, if boiled, eatable. In each nut there are three large kernels, as agreeable to the taste as almonds, but more oily.

THE MBOCAYAỸ.

The mbocayaỹ, a tree very abundant on hills, has its trunk and leaves armed with long and strong thorns. It bears bunches of smooth dates, as sweet as almonds, which are eaten either raw or roasted. Oil, almost like that of olives, may be expressed from these nuts. This palm puts out threads stronger than hemp, of which the savage nations make cords for bows, and lines for fishing with. In the territory of Cordoba you see palms, the leaves of which make such strong and commodious besoms, that they are brought to the more distant cities. The Spaniards of St. Iago, who go to the woods to seek wax and honey, cut certain palms to the pith. At the end of some weeks they return to the place, and in those palms they had wounded find very large fat worms, which they fry, and eat with much satisfaction.

FRUIT-BEARING TREES.

Many fruits which European trees produce are unknown to Paraguay: in all my travels through that country I never, or very rarely, saw any apples, pears, plums, cherries, filberts, chesnuts, &c. These trees seem not to suit the climate and soil of Paraguay; for they are either entirely barren, or produce such ridiculous fruit as rather deserve the appellation of abortions of nature, than delicacies of the palate. The want of the fruits above-mentioned is amply compensated by an incredible abundance of very large peaches, quinces, pomegranates, citrons, both sweet and sour, and oranges which Europe might envy. In the neighbouring kingdoms of Chili, where, on account of the vicinity of the mountains, the air is much sharper, almost all European fruits, and many other native ones, succeed amazingly, and are dried and carried into other countries with great profit. But though Paraguay is destitute of various European fruits, she boasts of many native ones, unknown in Europe even by name. I shall cursorily describe trees and shrubs as they enter my head, without regard to order.

THE MISTOL.

The mistol, a very large tree, affords hard and heavy wood, of a red colour, fit for making pestles of mortars and spears; it also produces a red fruit, about the size of a chesnut, resembling in appearance the tree which the Spaniards call _azofaifa_, and druggists _jujubes_, and which was formerly brought from Africa to Spain and Italy. The skin is tender, the kernel rather large and hard, and the pulp fit for food; a sweet drink, and even a kind of bread, being made of it, which is much liked by the Indians, but to my taste extremely insipid. The jujub is used by European physicians for allaying pains in the breast, cough, hoarseness and pleurisy: whether the Paraguayrian mistol possess the same virtues or no, I cannot tell.

THE CHAÑAR.

The tree chañar has a yellowish and very hard wood: the fruit supplies both meat and drink, and is dried and preserved by some.

THE YACANÈ.

The fruit of the yacanè tree is of a yellow colour, about as large as a middle-sized citron, and in taste like a rotten pear.

THE QUABỸRA GUAZÙ, AND
THE QUABIYÙ.

The quabỹra guazù, which somewhat resembles a plum, and the quabiyù, which is more like a cherry, are used both as meat and drink. The quabỹra is very abundant, and much liked by the Indians; but was always nauseous to my taste, for it smells like a bug. Both the trees which produce these fruits afford very good wood for turning.

THE QUABỸRA MIR̂I.

The quabỹra mir̂i, that is, the smaller quabỹra, differs totally from the former, and, in my opinion, exceeds all the other Paraguayrian fruits, both in sweetness, and salubrity. It is a little apple, resembling a medlar in size, and form, and covered with a hardish skin, which is green at first, and when ripe becomes a dark red. The pulp, which is full of tender seeds, pleases the palate with an agreeable taste, between sweet and sourish, and exhales a fragrant, balsamic odour, with which the bark and leaves are likewise scented. It is a remarkable circumstance that this fruit, though naturally hot, is never prejudicial, however freely it be eaten. The quabỹra mir̂i grows on shrubs like the junipers of Austria; they are supported by a slender stalk, but have a number of knotty, thick roots, spreading far and wide in the earth. They grow no where but in sandy soils, destitute of good grass. The quabỹra mir̂i is to be seen in every part of the plains of Taruma, of the lands near the little city Curuquati, and of the territories of St. Paulo, bordering on Brazil. But in those tracts of land where this fruit abounds, you find the pastures particularly poor, either from the grass being choked by the sand, or because these shrubs suck up the best juices of the earth. Certainly in the rest of Paraguay, where richer turf is found, I never beheld any thing the least like a quabỹra mir̂i. I should not be silent on the other use of this plant; in its little branches the ants make a wax whiter than milk, and fragrant as the most delightful balsam; it consists of very small, white grains, scattered up and down the shrub, which are laboriously collected by women, melted at the fire, and made into candles, for the use of the churches, where, when lighted, they exhale a very sweet odour. It is much to be lamented that this wax, though excellent in other respects, wants hardness; for the candles made of it melt quickly, and are consumed in a short time. To render them more durable, I have often mixed common bees' wax with the wax of ants.

LA GRANADILLA, OR THE PASSION FLOWER.

The first claim to our notice after these belongs to a most wholesome fruit, which the Spaniards call la granadilla. It grows in great abundance in the plain, at all seasons of the year, on a shrub which clings, like ivy, to hedges and bushes. There are many species of it, differing only in form and colour. They all bear a middle-sized apple, of a golden colour spotted with red, in taste between sweet and acid, with an agreeable odour, and full of round, black seeds. Whether eaten raw, or boiled with sugar, like citrons, and drunk mixed with cold water, it is extremely salubrious. Its sweet juice conduces much to strengthen the bowels, and without danger to cool the limbs, after they have been heated by the sun. If you attentively examine the beautiful flower of this plant, you will find the scourge, the crown, the nails, the cross, the pillar, the dice, the gall, and all the other instruments belonging to the passion of our Lord, plainly figured there.

On this account it universally goes by the name of the passion flower, and was thought worthy to be brought from America to Rome, in the time of Paul V.

THE GUEMBÈ.

The fruit guembè is the more remarkable for its being so little known, even by many who have grown old in Paraguay; for the northern woods only of that country are its native soil. It is about a span long, almost cylindrical in shape, being thicker than a man's fist in the middle, but smaller at both extremities, and resembles a pigeon stripped of its feathers, sometimes weighing as much as two pounds. It is entirely covered with a soft yellowish skin, marked with little knobs, and a dark spot in the middle. Its liquid pulp has a very sweet taste, but is full of tender thorns, perceivable by the palate only, not by the eye, on which account it must not be slowly chewed, but quickly swallowed: for if any one were leisurely to bruise the pulp with his teeth, his tongue would be made to smart for a long time by the latent thorns, and would be rendered less ready in speaking. The stalk, which occupies the middle, has something of wood in it, and must be thrown away. You cannot imagine how agreeable and wholesome this fruit is, and how it refreshes a man fatigued with long walking and bathed in perspiration. This ponderous fruit grows on a flexible shrub resembling a rope, which entwines itself round high trees. How great must be the strength of the _guembepi_, as the Guaranies call it, you may infer from this, that the stoutest Indians, when they cut a high tree for the sake of getting honey, sit for a long time with safety upon this shrub, which is entwined about the boughs and trunk. From the above-mentioned guembepi the Spaniards and Portugueze sometimes weave cables stronger than hempen ones.

THE TATAYỸ, A MULBERRY TREE.

The tatayỹ, a tall, large tree, bears mulberries, resembling those of our country in taste, and form, but larger, and of a yellow colour. The saffron-coloured wood of this tree is very hard, but docile, and of it the Indians make beautiful boxes, pipes, trumpets, and other things, as Europeans do of box. Pieces of the same wood, boiled with alum, are used for dying wool, and cotton, of a yellow colour.

MAMMONES.

Mammones, fruit about the size of a quince, sometimes larger, and when ripe of a greenish yellow, grow upon the trunk of the tree, and hanging by short stems, have the appearance of teats, whence they are named. Their pulp resembles that of melons, in its taste and yellow colour, and is sometimes eaten raw, or boiled with meat. The tree is of middling height and thickness, and resembles a walnut, in its dusky bark, and a fig-tree, in its large, angular leaves. Its weak wood swells with a milky, insipid liquor, which is an additional reason for the name of _mammones_ being given it. This tree bears flowers, and fruit, at all seasons of the year, but is so much exhausted by this exceeding fertility that it scarce ever lasts above four years. When fresh planted it bears fruit the first year. There are two species of this tree, whereof the one is called the male, the other the female. In some respects they differ, but it is not true that one would be barren without the other. Mammones, though abundant in Brazil, and other parts of America, are very rare in Paraguay, and scarce ever seen there except in gardens.

THE ALABAS.

A shrub, or more properly, a low thorny thistle, delighting in a sandy soil, produces the alabas, round apples, about the size of a hen's egg, concealing beneath a thick, pliant bark, defended by sharp, but very slender thorns, a liquid pulp, which is sometimes redder than blood, sometimes whiter than milk; abounds in soft black seeds; delights the palate with its delicious flavour; and greatly refreshes the body, when heated by the sun. Assuredly this fruit, were it found in Europe, would be ranked amongst the delicacies of the desert. It grows very common in some parts of Paraguay, but is rarely seen in others.

THE AGUAỸ.