YBARRA ] LETTER OF DR. DIEGO ALVAREZ CHANCA 455 
“There are aloes too, though not of the same kind as those we 
are acquainted with in Spain, but nevertheless a species of aloes 
that we doctors use. 
“A sort of cinnamon has likewise been found, but, to speak 
truthfully, it is not of such a fine quality as the one we have in 
Spain; or perhaps this is so because it is not now the proper season 
to gather it, or the soil in which it was found growing in this 
vicinity is not well adapted. 
“We have also seen here some yellow mirabolans. At this season 
they are lying under the trees, and as the ground is very damp 
they are all rotten, and have a very bitter taste, due, in my opinion, 
to their state of decomposition ; but the flavor of those parts which 
in spite of that have remained sound, is the same as that of the 
genuine mirabolan. 
“There is, besides, a very good kind of mastic. 
“None of the natives of all these islands we have visited possess 
any iron. They have, however, many implements, also hatchets and 
axes, all made of stone, which are so handsome and well finished 
that it is a wonder how they can contrive to make them without 
employing iron. 
“Their principal food consists of a sort of bread made of the 
root of a herb, half way between a tree and grass, and the age, 
which I have already described as being like the turnip, and a very 
good food it certainly is. They use, to season it, a vegetable called 
agi, which they also employ to give a sharp taste to the fish and 
such birds as they can catch, of the infinite variety there are in 
this island, dishes of which they prepare in different ways. 
“They have, besides, a kind of grain, in appearance like hazel- 
nuts, very good to eat. 
“They eat all the snakes, lizards, spiders, and worms that they 
find upon the ground, so that, according to my judgment, their 
beastiality is greater than that of any other beast on the face of the 
earth. 
“The admiral had at one time determined to leave the search for 
the mines until he had dispatched the ships that were to return to 
Spain, on account of the great sickness which had prevailed among 
our men,? but afterwards he resolved to send two detachments 
The ‘explorers in great number were suffering from malaria fevers, about 
one-third of them, as Dr. Chanca said. That disease was in those days 
very little known, and much less its prevention and treatment. The miracu- 
lous pulvis febrifugus orbis americani, also called by the names “The 
jesuits’ powders” and “The countess’s powders” (los polvos de la condesa, 
alluding thereby to the Spanish countess of Chinchon, who was the wife 
