SANTIAGO. 



melons, and onions cannot bo produced anywhere. Asparagus, celery, beets, and other roots 

 n-i| uirin^ tlu! soil to !>< prepared to stSmo depth, and maize, are only indifferent in quality. In 

 the case of the last, the inequality of day and night temperatures has, most probably, much 

 influence. Asparagus, which they begin to cut as early as August (corresponding with our 

 February), is not cultivated at all, but grows wild in all the vineyards. Sweet potatoes, for 

 whirh thi'iv is gn -;it partiality, are brought from Peru by the steamers, and are retailed at very 

 high ju-iivs. All efforts to grow them in this province have heretofore proved unsuccessful. 

 From the sea, too, several marine vegetables are brought; and one of them, a species of kelp, 

 is largely consumed by the poorer classes. It is dried before being brought to market, and, 

 when \\cll disguised with condiments, finds plenty among those of better condition who pronounce 

 it muy rico (very delicious). 



The strawberry is the earliest fruit that ripens. There are three varieties, the first of which 

 of a light scarlet color makes its appearance about the beginning of November. This variety 

 is not unfrequently an inch and a half in diameter, and may be found wild throughout the south- 

 ern provinces. Next in maturing is a bluish-white kind that is occasionally tinged with red, 

 its dark crimson seeds forming a marked contrast to the usual color. This is called the 

 " Aconcagua," of which province it is a native, and where it attains even a greater size than 

 the preceding. The third is an elongated scarlet berry much smaller in size, indigenous in 

 Valdivia and Concepcion. Neither of them has the fragrance or sweetness of the wild Vir- 

 ginia fruit, though they preserve enough of both, in combination with their enviable dimen- 

 sions, to carry away the palm from the native North American berry. Raspberries are never 

 seen for sale. A few are cultivated in private gardens, from which they are sent as presents to 

 friends. on gala days. Currants and gooseberries are not more abundant. Figs succeed straw- 

 berries. Of these there are two crops in the year: the " JBreva" of spring, which is large, 

 sweet, and luscious ; and the " Higo," six months later, a small and comparatively dry fruit. 

 Cherries, plums, apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears, quinces, apples, pomegranates, and grapes, 

 succeed each other rapidly. All thrive well and yield remarkably, wanting only in juice and 

 flavor ; which in part, no doubt, arises from want of proper attention. But the fruits consumed in 

 the greatest numbers and quantities are melons, of which, during the season, there are not less 

 than fifty large cart-loads brought into the city daily. Both watermelons and muskmelons are 

 of fine quality, and the latter attains a great size. Cherimoyas grown in the valley of Quillota, 

 the gardens of the valleys south of Coquimbo, and in a few warm exposures about Santiago, are 

 not unfrequent ; but they will not bear comparison with the Peruvian fruit either in size or 

 lusciousness. Oranges, lemons, and citrons, may be found in every garden. All the trees near 

 Melipilla, producing a very fine variety of oranges, were destroyed by an insect a few years ago, 

 and the only tolerable ones are now brought from Quillota. Of the indigenous fruits, the 

 Lucuma (L. ovata), Maqui (Aristotelia m.), Coigui (Ddichos funarius of Molina), Peumo 

 (P. alba rubro), Pinon (P. araucaria), Chupon (Bromelia sphacdata), Coco (Jubce spectabilis or 

 Molina), and Avellano (Corylus a.), are the only ones experimentally known. The Copigue 

 (Lapageria rosed) is said to produce a fruit of a sweet and very pleasant taste ; and there are 

 doubtless many others useful or agreeable to the natives. 



Molina states that there are five species of Lucuma, and many varieties. Three are known to 

 me, including a small uncultivated species, found near Valparaiso. The other two are edible, 

 and considerable attention is given to the care of them in the valley of Coquimbo and Quillota, 

 where the trees often attain a height of forty or fifty feet. Its fruit is oval, from two to three 

 inches in diameter, with a dark-green skin, and dry, sweet, and insipid pulp. It begins to ripen 

 in June. There is a difference in the sizes and colors of the two edible species, though both have 

 the same general form and flavor. The "maqui" is a small, black-skinned, oval berry, not 

 larger than a grain of coffee, with a sweet and not unpleasant taste. There is also a white, 

 but much scarcer, variety. Decoctions of fresh maqui leaves are used as gargles, in cases of sore 

 throat, cleansing ulcers, &c. ; and cataplasms on the loins are considered beneficial in allaying 

 24 



