An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)

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

The aguaỹ, an immense tree, produces fruit like plums, which on account of the acidity of their juice, are oftener, and more safely eaten, after being boiled in water. There is another tree which resembles this in name, but is totally different in form and other respects.

THE ANGUAỸ, or YBIR̂APAYÈ

The anguaỹ, a tree of uncommon height, and thickness, affords wood fit for carpenters work, hard, red, and remarkably fragrant. By way of fruit, it bears hard seeds, like almonds, which are also used in medicine. The stones of this fruit are triangular-shaped, of a violet colour, and so bright that the Indian women make necklaces of them. The rosin which distils from the anguaỹ is exceedingly fragrant, and of sovereign virtue. The famous Peruvian and Brazilian balsam is made of this rosin mixed with the oil of the cupaỹ tree, and others; it is also used in churches instead of frankincense, which it greatly exceeds in sweetness. The bark of the tree, being impregnated with rosin, is used for the same purpose. The tree is named anguaỹ, because mortars are generally made of it by the Guaranies, in whose language it is also called ybir̂apayè, the conjuror's tree; for the savage jugglers, whenever they expected to be visited, and consulted by their countrymen, used to perfume their huts, by burning this rosin, that they might seem to breathe of something divine.

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.