138 



(schinus mollis) which is usually found in the 

 marshes, and another called huigan (schinus 

 huigan). The last grows naturally in any soilj 

 and its leaves are very small. The inhabitants 

 prepare from the berries of these trees a kind 

 of red wine of an agreeable flavour but very 

 heating.* 



The Peruvian taper, called in Chili quisco, is 

 of two kinds, the common (cactus Peruvianus) 

 and that of Coquimbo (cactus Coquimbanus) 

 the thorns of which are eight inches long, and 

 are used by the women for knitting-needles. 



The Jloripoiidio ( datura aborea) is a tree much 

 esteemed for its beaufy and the fragrance of its 

 Sowers, which dijB'use an ambery odo\ir to a 

 great distance. f The trunk grows to the height 

 of twelve feet, but rarely exceeds six inches in 

 diameter, and is pithy within. The branches 



* The Indians prepare a beverage from the molle as pleasant 

 and as strong as wine, il' not more so, and make use of the 

 solution of the gum as a purgative medicine. The sap, pro- 

 cured by making an incision in tlie bark, is said to be a cure 

 fur fihns, and a liquor obtained from the pith of the young 

 shoots, excellent for clearing and strengthening the eyes. 

 The fishermen of Concon and Valparaiso boil the bark, v^hich 

 produces a dye of the colour of burnt cotTee, with which they 

 Slain their nets. Frazier's Voyage, vol. i. 



t We have no tree in Europe that equals in beauty the 

 floripondio. When in blossom it far exceeds in fragrance any 

 tf our trees, and one of them is sufficient to perfume a whole 

 ^^irdeu. Feuille, vol. ii, 



