210 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



590. There is also the tree known as palo santo, lignum vitae, or 

 guaiacum, and other trees closely similar to it, from which they make 

 cups which are greatly esteemed ; water poured into them turns blue, 

 and is a great help in urinary troubles and other illnesses. There is 

 another tree in this Province of Chiapas and in Guatemala which 

 is called the dragon tree. They are as tall as almond trees ; the leaves 

 are white and the trees themselves of the same color ; if one sticks 

 a knife into it anywhere, it weeps blood, as natural as if it were 

 human ; from its wood they make toothpicks and they utilize the dry 

 wood for many other purposes. They have ebony trees, red ebony, 

 tolu balsam trees, and many others which are highly prized, and a tree 

 which has a flower like an orange blossom in every respect ; it is good 

 for the stomach, and so they usually put it into their chocolate. 



591. They have groves of tall, thick pine trees, cedars, cypresses, 

 oaks, walnuts of our Spanish variety and indigenous ; the woods are 

 full of a tree which produces small thick-shelled nuts, and of wild 

 grapevines. The entire year they have pinks and carnations, roses, 

 gilliflowers, violets, white lilies, and all our Spanish flowers — not 

 only in these regions but in the great majority of the Indies. There 

 is another tree which produces large flowers like rosebays ; they call 

 it suchil ; the flowers are of many different hues, white, red, and 

 other colors ; they are sweet-smelling, with a strong perfume, and 

 the Indians use them in their festivities, to decorate altars and the 

 arches they construct. Cabbages once planted never run out ; they 

 grow a trunk like a tree, and reach a great size ; they keep producing 

 shoots which can be detached. And all the other vegetables and garden 

 truck of Spanish varieties, yield abundantly. 



592. There are curious springs a league and a half from the royal 

 city of Chiapa ; in Cazagualpa there is an excellent spring of delicious 

 water which gushes out and then falls off, every 6 hours, and it 

 is over 6o leagues from the sea. There is another spring in Tafixa 

 which will flow for 3 years although they are dry and no rain has 

 fallen ; and then for the next 3 although they are very wet and much 

 rain has fallen, it stops flowing and runs dry. There is another 5 

 leagues from the city which in summer has plenty of water and in 

 winter goes dry. Half a league from the Indian village of Cinacatlan 

 there is a small spring which is good for cauterizing and for the 

 treatment of other troubles, but which is fatal if one drinks of it. 

 The Rio Blanco covers with a layer of stone whatever drops into it, 

 after a while, and the branches of the trees which dip into it, turn 

 into stone ; its water is good to drink and does no harm. 



