143 



a dark brown veined with black and yellowv, 

 receives an excellent polish, and is used by 

 several kinds of artisans for the handles of their 

 tools. 



The quillai (quillaja saponaria, gen. nov.*) 

 derives its name from the Chilian word quillcan, 

 io wash. The trunk of this tree exceeds the 

 middle height^, and is covered with a thick bark 

 of a greyish ash colour ; it divides itself at the 

 top into two or three branches, which produce 

 leaves like those of the ever-green oak ; its 

 flowers are also furnished with stamina, but the 

 seed is enclosed in a quadrangular capsule. The 

 wood of the quillai is very hard, and does not 

 easily split, for which reason the country people 

 make use of it for stirrups. But what renders 

 this tree really valuable is the bark, which, when 

 pulverized and mixed with a certain quantity of 

 water, foams like soap, and is efficacious in 

 cleansing woollens and other kinds of cloth. A 

 verv considerable commerce is carried on with 

 this bark; the Peruvians particularly import 

 every year great quantities of it. 



The lithi (laurus caustica) a species of middle 

 sized laurel, is scattered over the whole country, 



* The quillai is a tree whose leaves resemble those of the 

 ever-green oak. The bark ferments in water like soap, and 

 is preferalle to it for the washinGf of woollen cloth, but is apt 

 *o jiv2 linen a yellowish hue. Frt^.iit'r'i Voyage, vol. i. 



