VALPARAISO. 135 
than those we had left on the great road; but having reached a beau- 
tiful little stream, that leaps from stone to stone, now forming minia- 
ture cascades, and now little lakes among the short thick grass, the 
shrubs became of higher growth ; and as we brushed through them, 
the fragrance that exhaled from their leaves brought Milton’s bowers 
of Paradise to my mind — 
« The roof 
Of thickest covert, was inwoven shade ; 
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew 
Of firm and fragrant leaf: on either side 
each odorous bushy shrub 
Fenced up the verdant wall.” 
The varieties of laurel and myrtle are most conspicuous ; and there 
are abundance of other trees and shrubs, most of whose leaves emit, 
on being crushed, a spicy flavour. One of the largest and most 
beautiful is the canela, or false cinnamon, which is used in medicine 
by both Indians and Spaniards, and whose properties are very similar 
to those of the real cinnamon of the East. * It is moreover an inter- 
esting tree, as connected with the history and superstitions of the 
natives. Under it the PaganChilenos performed their sacrifices to 
their deities, and invoked Pillam, the supreme judge; and I believe 
that some tribes of the Araucanians still revere it. It is certain that 
the branches of this tree, dipped in the blood of sacrifices, are used 
to sprinkle and consecrate places of council; and that such branches 
are considered as tokens of peace, and delivered accordingly to am- 
bassadors on the forming of any treaty. t It was here as the oak 
was to the ancient Druids ; and its beauty, its fragrance, and its wide- 
spreading shade, give to it in amenity what it wants of the grandeur 
of the king of forests. 
After riding some time, partly up the bed of the rivulet, partly 
along its soft green margin and through its fragrant groves, we came 
* For a descriptive catalogue of some of the most remarkable trees of Chile, I refer to 
the Appendix. I know it is botanically deficient; but having been drawn up by order of 
government for a particular purpose, I believe it to be authentic as far as it goes. 
+ e.g. That with the Spaniards in 1643. 
