520 The Andes and the Amazons. 



used as such. There are four or five kinds at Santa- 

 rem. 



Sweet - potatoes grow so luxuriantly at the American 

 colony in Santarem that they have become a pest. They 

 are inferior to those raised in the Middle United States. 



Sugae-cane and Soeghum have a luxuriant growth ev- 

 ery where on the Amazons ; but the cane seems better fit- 

 ted to make rum than sugar. At San Regis, on the Mara- 

 non, 18,000 gallons of cashaga are manufactured yearly. 

 Sugar is imported. 



GuAYUsA (an Ilex related to the Paraguayan Mate) 

 grows abundantly near the head of the Napo, and has been 

 transplanted to Santa Maria, on the Huallaga. The large, 

 shining leaves make a very refreshing and slightly exhila- 

 rating beverage. A false "Tea" {Lantana jpseudothea'?\ 

 or Cha de pedreste, grows at Saneudo, on the Maranon. 



Pepper (a Ca-psicum) grows wild on the Amazons, and 

 Red Peppers are cultivated at Santarem. 



Brazilian Nutmegs are furnished by Myi^istica otoba 

 ("ucu-uba"), a tall tree abounding on the Negro and Ja- 

 pura ; the red sap is an excellent vulnerary. 



Canela, "American Cinnamon," is obtained from the 

 forests around the head- waters of the Pastassa and Napo, 

 and at Cashaboya, on the Ucayali. It is said to contain 

 more essential oil than that of Ceylon, and it is used as a 

 condiment in the Quito valley. Cinnamodendron axil- 

 lare and Oreodwphne opifera, Brazilian trees, are also aro- 

 matic. 



PiCHUKEvi, or Sassafras-nuts, used for flavoring chocolate, 

 are the seeds of the laurel Nectandra jpuchury. 



Vanilla is not cultivated on the river, so far as we 

 know, except by an ATnerican at Napo ; but a small quan- 

 tity, collected wild, goes down to Para. It is quite abun- 

 dant on the Sacramento plain of the Ucayali. It is infe- 



