Kitabı oku: «An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)», sayfa 19

THE ỸBA POROYTỸ

The ỹba poroytỹ is a small pome, resembling a cherry, with a pleasant, but rather acid flavour. Of the tree balsam is made.

THE TARUMAỸ

The fruit of the tarumaỹ somewhat resembles an olive, though extremely dissimilar in taste. From the abundance of these trees, the territory, wherein we placed the town of St. Joachim, was called Taruma by the Spaniards, and Indians; none of whom are very fond of this fruit.

THE GUAYÁBA

The tree guayába produces kinds of pears of an oval shape, and full of grains. The surface of them, when they are ripe, is yellow, the pulp red. They are both pleasant and wholesome when boiled with sugar. Dressed unripe they are very efficacious in strengthening the bowels, and possess an astringent quality. This tree flourishes even in soils that are not very rich.

THE VINÀL

The vinàl, a tolerably large tree, is clothed with leaves like those of the olive, but broader. It bears sweet pods, of which a beverage is prepared. The tree is covered with very sharp and strong thorns, a span in length, and so virulent, that whoever is pricked by them finds it a matter both of pain and danger. But the same tree also affords a medicine; for the juice expressed from its leaves, after they have been pounded, is said to cure complaints in the eyes, especially when they are afflicted with noxious humours.

THE YBIR̂A YEPIRÔ

Of the ybir̂a yepirô a balsam is prepared, but for what purpose intended I do not know.

THE CAAỸCỸ

The caaỹcỹ, which some say is a species of mastic, yields a transparent, sweet-scented rosin.

THE AGUARIBAỸ

Of the shrub aguaribaỹ, which is likewise thought to be a species of mastic, a balsam of much service in cleansing and healing wounds is made. Taken inwardly it greatly conduces to stop flowing of the blood, and allay coughs.

THE MOLLE

The molle, a tree of no obscure name, furnishes solid wood for building, but liable to be moth-eaten. It is adorned with leaves, like those of a laurel, which, when bruised, serve for dressing goats'-skins, and for medicinal purposes. The trunk distils a quantity of very fragrant gum, which is burnt instead of frankincense. It bears fruit of a black colour, the rind of which, when unripe, is of a pale blue. This fruit is boiled in water, and, being sweeter than the alfaroba, makes a sharp and sweet syrup, which, mixed with water, affords a pleasant, but powerful drink. This liquor imparts a sort of ferocity to the eyes of persons intoxicated with it, which continues two days. Physicians use both the boughs and the rosin of this tree for various medicinal purposes.

THE BACOBA and BANANÀ

The fruits bacoba and bananà, which the Indians delight greatly in, belong to the fig species. They are oval-shaped, and of a red colour. The shrubs which produce them have neither seed, nor boughs, but are adorned with long, wide, and beautifully green leaves, from the midst of which the germen and the fruit emerge. The trunk or stalk of these shrubs is slender and fragile. They die after bearing fruit once, but are compensated for by suckers which grow from their roots. The fruit of the bananà is rather long, and square in form, with a saffron-coloured skin, a soft pulp, and not a very rich, but rather cold juice, which, unless quite ripe, is injurious to the stomach. The bacoba is, therefore, more wholesome than the bananà; both fruits, however, when properly used, are remedies for various complaints. A liquor expressed from them causes intoxication when taken in excess. Both trees, though they grow in very sterile soils, bear fruit all the year round.

THE ANANÀS, OR PIÑA DEL PARAGUAY

The anana is called by the native Spaniards piña del Paraguay, from a sort of resemblance to the nuts of the pine, and from its being very abundant in the north of Paraguay. I observed that those of Paraguay were larger than those of Europe, but not so sweet. The juice of the former is as pleasant as that of strawberries to the taste; but, unless perfectly ripe, sharp and caustic; on which account this fruit, when cut into stocks, according to its length, must first be macerated in rich wine. The liquor of it, when expressed by the aid of fire, removes languor from the mind, and nausea from the stomach, relieves dysury, and nephritic pains, and restores the natural heat to the aged. Some preserve ananàs in sugar. Each plant yearly produces one fruit, and becoming exhausted, gradually dies away; whilst, in its place, a little plant, taken from the crown of the ripe fruit, is placed in the ground, and next year bears fruit. This also is the case when it grows wild without cultivation; for the new germ falls from the top of the plant, and takes root.

THE MANDIOC

The mandioc is the root of the little plant mandiò, which is about the height of a middle-sized man. It is supported by a very straight, slender trunk, the thickness of a man's thumb, knotty like a reed, with bark resembling that of a hazle, and pith, spungy, like the elder's, and full of milk. At the top it is crowned with branches and little boughs, with elegant, long, narrow leaves, of a beautiful green colour. The flowers are yellow. The want of fruit is compensated by the roots, which are sometimes three feet long, fragile, thicker than a man's arm, and covered with a dusky skin like the bark of a hazle. Their very white pith is full of a milky, glutinous, and poisonous liquid. As in the cinnamon shrub the bark is alone made use of; so in the mandiò, the root is the only serviceable part. The Americans are acquainted with more than twenty species of this tree, differing in form and virtues. The mandiò bears seed not unlike that of the piñon del Paraguay; but it is quite useless in propagating the plant, for which purpose the trunk or stalk of the shrub is cut into stocks, about a span long, three of which are always stuck into heaps of mould, so that they project about the length of a span from the surface of the earth. In a short time they take root, put out leaves, and grow up. Neither do they require to be watered, for this plant detests moisture and shade, and loves dry soils, and sunny situations. It must be planted in the summer, in ground that has been well dried. Six months after it has been laid in the earth, you will find roots fit for eating; but in reality it is a year before they are fully mature, and attain to their ordinary size; at the end of which time, although they be not dug up, they will remain a long while under ground uninjured, but if taken out of the earth, grow rotten in the space of three days. The roots, therefore, should be carefully cleansed without delay, the little skin being first stripped off them; they should then be cut into small pieces, and laid upon the floor to dry for two days. After being pounded in a mortar, they are reduced to flour, and made into bread baked in various shapes, which, though wholesome, is relished by none but persons unacquainted with the taste of wheat. These American loaves are round, flat, and rather hard, like the bark of the cork tree. They look like those cakes made of flour and honey in Germany, but are devoid of all taste. In other places they squeeze a juice from the roots of the mandiò, which, when left in a vessel for two hours, deposits a white settlement at the bottom. This, when dried, is made into flour, and that into small cakes, balls, and other things. The same juice is boiled on the fire, and makes a kind of paste, which is not only used as victuals, but likewise for starch to stiffen clothes with, and sometimes for glue to fasten paper together. There is another kind of mandiò, the roots of which, after being softened by lying for some days in water, are roasted on the ashes, and eaten without prejudice. It would take up a long time to relate all the different methods by which the mandioc is converted into meat, drink, and medicine, mixed with butter, barley, and sugar. Happy are the Americans who can deceive and appease their stomachs by so many artifices! For my part, though I have often, in travelling, been exceedingly hungry, I could never prevail upon myself to satisfy the cravings of appetite with the mandioc, in whatever way it were dressed. If the Americans like it, that is sufficient: haud equidem invideo, miror magis. I confess, however, that the root of the mandioc properly cleaned, and eaten plain with boiled beef, was by no means disagreeable to me. I never doubted either that these roots, when prepared in other ways, though insipid to Europeans, create good blood and juices; for, to omit other arguments, the American mothers, whenever they find their milk fail, after recruiting themselves with boiled mandioc, find their breasts filled, which a little while ago were quite exhausted. The Portugueze in Brazil perform arduous journeys of many months, on foot, through immense wilds, furnished generally with no other provision than the flour of the mandioc. The Portugueze sailors also, when they are detained many months in the Brazilian ports, and when they sail back to their native land, feed principally upon the mandioc, and most part of the natives do the same; for as the continual rain prevents the cultivation of wheat, the higher ranks only eat wheaten bread, the flour being conveyed at a great expense from Lisbon. The North Americans also greatly esteem, and carefully cultivate the mandioc. The Brazilian and Paraguayrian Indians account this plant one of the greatest blessings of Providence, as being frequently the only support of life; for although locusts, ants, or a long drought, should entirely destroy maize, pot-herbs, pulse, melons, and fruits; the mandioc alone, surviving under ground, would supply the place of all these things; for when the boughs, and leaves of this tree are, by some means, destroyed, the roots flourish, increase, and remain uninjured. Drought, which destroys other plants, is favourable and salutary to this. But now the resemblance of the name admonishes me to pass from the esculent mandiò, to the woolly mandiyù.

THE MANDIYÙ, COTTON

As the mandiò is very serviceable in feeding the Americans, the mandiyù does much towards clothing them. It is produced by shrubs scarce larger than a hazel of our country, with wood and bark like the elder, and clothed with plenty of soft, woolly leaves. Between three small leaves, with which the unripe nuts are surrounded, grow flowers larger than roses, composed of five broad yellow petals, streaked with red: yellow stamens grow in the bottom of the flowers. The blossoms at length become fruit of a green colour, oval-shaped, or rather conical, and when full grown larger than a plum. When ripe it turns black, and separates into three parts, thrusting out white cotton, full of black seeds, resembling pistachio nuts in size and shape. Under the black skin of these seeds is concealed a yellowish white pith, of a sweet taste, very oily, and of much use in allaying cough and difficulty of respiration. The oil expressed from them is said to be efficacious in cases of stone and in cutaneous disorders. Cotton itself, when burnt, will stop the flowing of blood. As the cotton gradually ripens and bursts from its prison, it is not gathered all at once, but collected day by day. In the Guarany towns this is the business of the girls, who walk about the field, and pluck the fruit with a gentle hand, that the shrubs may not be injured. The cotton daily collected is spread on hides in the court-yard of the house, and laid out in the sun to dry. If this be properly attended to, it may either be safely kept for years in a leathern bag, or spun into thread as soon as you like. To extract those seeds from the cotton the women make use of a wooden machine, consisting of a couple of cylinders, the thickness of two fingers, into which they insert the cotton, and, twisting it about with their hands, cause the seeds to fall out of themselves; because, as they are thicker than the space between the cylinders, they are squeezed out by them.

Some parts of Paraguay produce yellow cotton, but this is very uncommon; for in every other place throughout the country the cotton is as white as snow, and grows on shrubs which are reared from seed sown in little plots of ground, and yield fruit many years. If any plant withers, or grows old, fresh seed is sown, and another succeeds which bears fruit the first year. Cotton loves a sunny elevated situation, exposed to the winds on every side, and full of stones. However favourable the soil may naturally be to the production of cotton, it always requires exquisite culture. It must be ploughed, and weeded over and over again, to clear it of thistles, tares, and grass. The furrows and ditches, into each of which three or four fresh cotton seeds are placed, must be dug in a right line, and at such a distance from one another that the oxen and ploughmen may have room to pass through the intermediate spaces. The same field, indeed, must be fresh ploughed every year, and, at the approach of spring, the plants, which have been stripped of their leaves in the winter, are cut like vines, and quickly covered with new foliage. The poorer sort amongst the Spaniards of Paraguay wear cotton shirts; the richer, linen ones. They prefer paying an inordinate price for linen webs brought from Europe to the trouble of cultivating flax.

RICE

During the first years that I spent in Paraguay, rice was so scarce that, as it was brought from other countries, it hardly ever appeared at our table. It was never sown, and none would go of their own accord to gather or carry away rice, which grows at a great distance on the northern shores of the Paraguay; justly fearing the Payaguas, who infested those places. Instructed, at length, by the Portugueze Brazilians, we began to sow rice, and the crop was more than could be consumed. But as it is very difficult to take the grains of rice out of the ear, the Indians preferred eating maize, which is pounded in mortars with little trouble. Let no one entertain a notion that the sowing and cultivation of rice require any particular artifices; for it is sown and reaped exactly in the same manner as European wheat, with this difference only, that the seeds must be committed to the earth at the commencement of spring, and in a moist situation. Many have affirmed positively that rice will only grow in marshy places; but we found that which was sown in woods, or rather in ground that had formerly been wooded, to yield a more abundant harvest than what was sown in a marshy situation. For a place that has been previously occupied by trees, retains, for a long time, its native humidity, and the ashes of the trees that have been cut down and burnt on the spot, incredibly fertilize the soil. In places of this kind the Guaranies used to sow tobacco, maize, and most other things except cotton, with great success. But, good heavens! how have I lost myself in this labyrinth of trees, shrubs, and plants! I shall hardly be able to find my way out of the wood; yet it is best to tarry there awhile till, after having described the medicinal trees, I have enumerated all the rest which are useful in building, or on other accounts worthy of note.

THE TAYỸ, OR URUNDEỸ QUEBRACHO

The tayỹ, or tajibo, and the urundeỹ quebracho, either of a red, or pale colour, excel in hardness and size; both trees are called by the Spaniards quebracho, or quebrahacho, because, unless dexterously cut by a skilful woodman, or carpenter, they break the axe at the first blow, being as hard as iron; for hacha means an axe, and quebrar to break. The quebracho colorado, when covered with its bark, is red. As soon as it is cut down and worked upon, the rosin in which it abounds is melted by the hot air, and flowing to the exterior parts of the wood, gives it a red hue, and causes it to shine like porphyry. The Guaranies burn pieces of the tree tayỹ, receive the smoke or soot arising from them into a clean dish, and by pouring hot water upon it, convert it into ink, which, mixed with gum and sugar, is by no means to be despised.

THE LAPACHO

The lapacho is remarkable for the hardness and heaviness of its wood, and is particularly useful in making the mills for squeezing the sugar cane, olives, and other things, and also for wheels of waggons.

THE VIRARÒ

The virarò affords white, not very hard, but extremely durable materials.

THE ESPINILLO

The espinillo has very strong wood, but its indocility renders it fitter for the fire than for carpenter's work.

THE NETERGE

Of the pith of the neterge very strong spears or pikes are made. This tree is remarkable for the width and height of its trunk. Its leaves, which are like oblong thorns, point towards the ground. For fruit, it bears pods or bags, which are about a span long, and have a balsamic odour. The pith of this tree equals iron in hardness, and is of a violet colour, which however changes to black, after the spears made of this wood have been rubbed some time by the hand.

THE ỸBARÔ

The large tree ỹbarô bears black, shining berries, about the size of filberts, which are pierced in the middle, and made into rosaries.

THE ÇEVIL

The çevil produces bark for dressing hides, together with certain pods, which the savage Indians used formerly to burn, inhaling the smoke into their mouth, nose, and whole body, which rendered them drunk, mad, and for some time furious.

THE SEIBO

The seibo, a middle-sized tree, adorned with violet-coloured leaves, consists of crooked boughs, and a spungy wood, as soft as that of the cork tree, so that, when fresh, it may be cut with a knife like an apple; but after it is dry, axes are not sufficient to hew it. A bough of this tree fixed in the ground takes root, and grows immediately. Whenever the tiger feels his claws burn, he is said to rub them against the bark of this tree to relieve the pain.

PALO DE LECHE

This tree is called palo de leche, the milky tree, by the Spaniards, because its wood is white as milk, and so soft that it may be cut with a common knife, and is used for small carpenters work.

THE ỸÇAPỸ

The ỹçapỹ, a large tall tree, is covered with leaves like those of the citron, but smaller, and of a paler green. It is a remarkable circumstance, that when the air is mild, and always in the night, its leaves drop a quantity of water, which moistens the space round about the tree and renders it muddy. The wood of the tree is very soft and flexible, but not moist, on which account it is well calculated for making stirrups. John Verkens of Leipzig, in his account of a journey taken by the Dutch to the East Indies, relates, that in the island of Ferro, one of the Canaries, they found a very large tree which dropped water day and night, every part of the year, and that the inhabitants hung up large pitchers to receive it for their own use, and that of their cattle; fresh water, he says, being incredibly scarce there. If this be true, I suspect that it must be the same tree as that which the Guaranies call ỹçapỹ in Paraguay. They say that this water possesses a medicinal virtue, but of what kind I do not know.

THE TREE OF ANTS

This is called arbol de hormigas, the tree of ants. It consists of a weak spungy wood. The whole tree is full of holes like a sieve, and being covered with ants, should be avoided by all passers by; for if you do but touch the tree, a host of ants rush out of their lurking-holes, and will cover both you and the tree itself.

THE UMBÙ

So wide are the boughs and trunk of this tree, that the sun never sees its foot. It affords plenty of shade to fifty persons seated beneath it, and completely defends them against the rain. The linden trees of Europe are mere dwarfs compared with an aged umbù.

THE WILLOW

The willow, though it covers the islands of the Parana, and the banks of certain rivers, is not to be seen elsewhere throughout a vast extent of country. The wood and leaves of willows, used both medicinally and for other purposes, were often vainly sought by us.

THE AMBAỸ

The ambaỹ, a kind of wild fig, grows pretty high in the course of a few months. The body of the tree is slender, and perforated like an elder; the bark such as is peculiar to figs; and the wood white like that of a birch, but so soft that it may be cut with a knife. It has few boughs, but is adorned with very large leaves, for the lively verdure of which it is greatly commended, as well as for the salubrity of its bark, juice, and leaf, which, applied in various ways, stop running of the reins, too copious discharges, and looseness of the bowels.