ant, even without sugar, which is a costly luxury in the Andean Val- 
ley. Large quantities come down to Guayaquil where they are rather 
expensive, as the mule transport over the Cordilleras is long and tends 
towards ruining the delicate fruit. Of late the pulp, strained from the 
seeds and added to water, is used for ice-making. The flavour is ex- 
cellent and was quite new to me. Hence, I went into the market, and 
went into the question what fruit it was. I was told by the English 
people, that it was a guava (there are many varieties here), but that 
could not be. 
Ruiz, who encountered Solanum quitoense in Pert in 
1777, wrote of it (under the synonym S. angulosum) 
“©... Narangitas de Quito, por haber sido transplan- 
tado de esta Provincia, y tener sus frutos la figura y color 
de una Naranja pequefia; las mugeres estiman estos frutos 
por su olorcillo y por el gusto particular que da 4 la beb- 
ida del Mate, en la que acostumbran echar algunas gotas 
de su xugo; tambien los ponen entre las mixturas de 
flores para que hermosée y contribuya con su olor 4 hacer 
mas grata la mixtura’’ (Ruiz, H.: ‘‘Relacién historica 
del viage a los Reynos del Perti y Chile’’ Jaramillo- 
Aranjo ed. (1952) 80). 
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