ULLOA's voyage to south AMERICA. 



341 



them natural. The remedy agalnfl them, in the fir ft ftage, is a kind of earth called 

 Maquimaqui, found in the neighbourhood of Carthagena, and, on the account of this 

 virtue, exported to other parts. 



Another very fmgular diftemper, though not fo common, is the cobrilla, or little 

 fnake, being, as the moft fkilful think, a tumour caufed by certain malignant humours, 

 fettled longitudinally between the membrane of the Ikin, and daily increafmg in length, 

 till the fwelling quite furrounds the part affected, which is ufually the arm, thigh, and 

 leg ; though fometimes it has been known to fpread itfelf all over thefe parts. The 

 external indications of it are, a round inflamed tumour, of the thicknefs of a quarter 

 of an inch, attended with a flight pain, but not vehement, and a numbnefs of the part, 

 which often terminates in a mortification. The natives are very flcilful in removing it 

 by the following procefs : — They firft examine where (according to their phrafe) the 

 head is, to which they apply a fmall fuppurative plafter, and gently foment the whole 

 tumour with oil. The next day the flcin under the plafter is found divided, and through 

 the orifice appears a kind of white fibre, about the lize of a coarfe fewing thread ; 

 and this, according to them, is the cobrilla*s head, which they carefully faften to a 

 thread of filk, and wind the other end of it about a card, rolled up like a cylinder. 

 After this they repeat the fomentation with oil, and the following day continue to wind 

 about the cylindric card the part of this fmall fibre which appears in fight. Thus they 

 proceed till the whole is extrafted, and the patient entirely cured. During this opera- 

 tion, their chief care is not to break the cobrilla ; becaufe, they fay, it would then caufe 

 a humour to fpread through the body, and produce a great quantity of fuch little fnakes, 

 as thej will have them to be, when the cure would become extremely difficult. It is a 

 current notion among them, that when it has, for want of care in the beginning, com- 

 pleted the circle, and, according to them, joined its head with its tail, the difeafe gene- 

 rally proves fatal. But this is very feldom the cafe j the pain warning the patient im- 

 mediately to apply a remedy, which Ihould be accompanied with emollients for dif- 

 perfing the humour. 

 • Thefe people firmly believe it to be a real cobrilla or fmall fnake, and accordingly 

 have called it by that name. At its firft appearance, a fmall flow motion may indeed 

 ^ be perceived ; but this is foon over, and poffibly proceeds from the compreflion or 

 extenfion of the nervous fibres which compofe it, without its having any animal life. 

 I do not, however, pretend to determine abfolutely on this point. 



Befides thefe, another diftemper common in this country is the fpafm, or convulfion, 

 which always proves mortal, and feldom comes alone. And of this 1 fhall fpeak when 

 I defcribe other parts of America, where it is equally dangerous, and more common. 



CHAP. VI. — Defer iption of the Country, and of the Trees and Vegetables in the 



Neighbourhood of Carthagena. 



THE country about Carthagena is fo luxuriant, that it is impoffible to view, without 

 admiration, the rich and perpetual verdure of the woods and plants it naturally pro- 

 duces. But thefe are advantages of which the natives make little ufe ; their innate floth 

 and indolence not allowing them to cultivate the gifts of nature, which feem to have 

 been dealt out with a la vim hand. The interwoven branches of the trees form a fhelter 

 impenetrable both to heat and light. 



The trees here are large and lofty, their variety admirable, and entirely different from 

 thofe of Europe. The principal of thefe for dimenfions are, the caobo or acajou, the 



cedar 



