104 THE COW TREE. 



of La Triiiclicra. ISText to the springs of Urijino, in Ja 

 pan, the waters of La Trinchera are the hottest in the 

 world. Humboldt and Bonpland breakfasted near them, 

 and found that eggs plunged into the water boiled in less 

 than four minutes. The heat became stifling as they ap- 

 proached the coast. A reddish vapour filled the horizon. 

 It was near sunset, and the breeze was not yet stirring. 

 The river of hot water, along the banks of which they 

 passed, became deeper. A crocodile, more than nine feet 

 long, lay dead on the strand. Humboldt wished to ex- 

 amine its teeth, and the inside of its mouth ; but having 

 been exposed to the sun for several weeks, it exhaled a 

 smell so fetid that he was obliged to relinquish his design 

 and remount his horse. 



Between Porto Cabello and the valleys of Aragua they 

 saw a remarkable tree. They had heard, several weeks 

 before, of a tree, the sap of which was a nourishing milk. 

 It was called * the cow-tree ' ; and they were assured 

 that the negroes, who drank plentifully of this vegetable 

 milk, considered it a wholesome aliment. All the milky 

 juices of plants being acrid, bitter, and more or less 

 poisonous, this account appeared to them very extraordi- 

 nary ; but they found by experience during their stay in 

 the neighbourhood, that the virtues of this tree had not 

 been exaggerated. It rose like the broad-leaved star- 

 apple. Its oblong and pointed leaves, rough and alter- 

 nate, were marked by lateral ribs, prominent at the 

 lower surface and parallel. Some of them were ten 

 inches long. They did not see the flower : the fruit was 

 somewhat fleshy, and contained one and sometimes two 

 nuts. When incisions were made in the trunk it yielded 

 an abundance of glutinous milk, tolerably thick, devoid 



