VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. 367. 
produces a somniferous effect. Hernandez, in his * Historia Plantarum,’ 
lib. ii. cap. 142 (edition of Madrid, 1790) gives a fair account of the 
tree and its virtues, which, as that work is rather scarce, I will tran- 
scribe. He says—* Arbor magna est atque incondita, folis Mali 
medicze, raris ac ternis, stipitibus albis neevis distinctis, floribus pallen- 
tibus et modicis, fructu vero Cotonei forma et magnitudine, vocato a 
nosotris Hispanis, * Zapote blanco,' eduli, saporis grati, sed non admo- 
dum salubris nutrimenti, et ossis nucleo lethali ac deleterio. Cortex 
arboris siccus est, ac paululum dulcis non sine quadam amaritudine : 
folia tusa et opposita nutrieum papillis infantulorum medentur diar- 
rhois: ossa usta et in farinam redacta opitulantur ulceribus putridis 
vitiata carne prorsus exesa atque absumta, purgato uleere, carne gene- 
rata, ac cicatrice mira quadam celeritate inducta; poma ingesta somnum 
conciliant, a quo invenere nomen (Cochitzapote). Nascitur in calidis 
frigidisque regionibus." 
My original plan was to visit Chihuahua. The principal reason which 
induced me to alter the route was the season. I had seen the de- 
structive effect the winter produced upon the vegetation of the high- 
lands, and was therefore obliged to abstain as much as possible from 
proceeding farther northward. Another reason was the great risk 
every one incurs who now ventures to Chihuahua. The tide of civiliza- 
tion pressing hard from north and east is driving all the Indians into 
the corner formed by the states of Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango. 
The Mexicans, too weak to oppose, are fast retreating, and thus it is 
that during the last few years the above-named states have been depo- 
pulated and ruined. The savages spare none: everybody, who falls 
mto their hands, dies a cruel death. So great is the terror they in- 
spire, and so daring their courage, that eighty Indians have ventured 
into the streets of Durango—a place of 22,000 inhabitants — 
killing and robbing in every direction. "There was a party of Irish 
and Germans going to Chihuahua who made a great effort to induce 
me to join them. The reason already mentioned determined me 
to refuse the offer, and well may I congratulate myself on that 
account. A few days after their departure, intelligence arrived that 
the whole party had been murdered, only one servant escaping. The 
deed had been accompanied by such frightful cruelties that a general 
consternation spread through the city. The Mexican government is 
well aware of the danger. They have formed several Guerilla parties; 
