86 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 102 



241. The papaya (papaw) is a smooth, spongy tree, which is utilized 

 in the Indies like the cork oak in Spain, and for rafts also ; the leaves 

 all sprout out from the shoot, and the fruit round about it under 

 them. It bears the whole year, for the fruit does not ripen evenly ; 

 it reaches the size of good muskmelons ; when ripe, it is yellow out- 

 side, with red flesh, and it tastes like a good melon ; inside, it has 

 quantities of seeds of the size of black peppercorns, which taste like 

 cress ; they are good for digestive and other disorders. 



242. In the Esequibo Valley, where the Aruaca tribe lives, there 

 are certain trees of such remarkable size as to be unbelievable to 

 those who have not seen the products of that country. The trunk 

 is bulkier than six wine pipes, and reaches a height greater than that 

 of a tall tower. It bears a large fruit in a husk bigger than a man's 

 head, round and dark-colored ; when ripe and fully seasoned, the 

 husk opens and the fruit falls out ; each is bigger than one's fist, 

 and of the same color and shape as an almond, except that it is gigan- 

 tic in comparison ; the shell is somewhat rougher ; the almond inside 

 is larger than a big grafted chestnut, better-flavored and sweeter than 

 ours. This tree is to be found 4 leagues from the sea. 



243. There is also a tree with striped wood out of which they make 

 their sword clubs ; it is so tough that it can only be worked by saw- 

 ing, and with great difficulty ; there is no ax that can dent it. It is 

 the most curious wood in the world ; its heartwood is crystalline in 

 texture ; no jasper can vie with it, and it never rots. 



244. On the island of Trinidad and in the other tropical forest 

 regions there are certain birds which the Indians call conotos, of the 

 size of doves, very handsome, with black and yellow plumage, a long 

 yellow bill, and an agreeable song. Heaven provided them with a 

 natural instinct such that, to keep monkeys and snakes from eating 

 their eggs and young, they pick out the tallest and most isolated trees, 

 and build their communities of nests in large numbers on the branches 

 which are thinnest, and farthest from the trunk and the big branches, 

 so that the monkeys and snakes cannot reach them without slipping 

 off and getting killed. They build nests | of a vara long, or more, 

 and so interwoven with twigs and mud that they do not get wet 

 even when it rains ; they have only a hole on the side, through which 

 the birds get in, so that it is hard for enemies to enter without risking 

 their lives, the nests being so high up ; and in this way they raise and 

 protect their young from such vermin. 



