424 The Genus Araucaria. 



on one steni ; and as even a hearty eater among the Indians, 

 except he should be wholly deprived of every other kind of 

 sustenance, cannot consume more than 200 nuts in a day, it 

 is easily seen that eighteen Araucarias will maintain a single 

 person for a whole year. The kernel, which is the shape of an 

 almond, but double the size, is surrounded with a coriaceous 

 membrane that is easily removed. Though relishing when 

 prepared, it is not easily digestible, and containing but a small 

 quantity of oil, is apt to cause disorders in the stomach with 

 those who are not accustomed to this diet. When the scarcely 

 matured seeds are dried in the sun, a sugary substance exudes, 

 which appears to reside chiefly in the embryo. The Indians 

 eat them either fresh, boiled, or roasted, and the latter mode 

 of cooking* gives them a flavour something like a chesnut. 

 For winter's use they are dried, after being boiled, and the 

 women prepare a kind of flour and pastry from them. 



" The collecting these fruits would be attended with great 

 labour if it were always necessary to climb the gigantic trunks ; 

 but as soon as the kernels are ripe, towards the end of March, 

 the cones drop off of themselves, and shedding their contents 

 on the ground, scatter liberally a boon which nothing but the 

 little parrot and a species of cherry-finch divide with the 

 Indians. In the vast forests, of a day's journey in extent, 

 that are formed by these trees in the districts of Pebuenches 

 and Huilliches, the fruits lie in such plenty on the ground, 

 that but a very small part of them can be consumed. In 

 former times a great quantity came to Concepcion and Val- 

 divia by trading with the Indians, and thence they found their 

 way to Valparaiso and Lima; but now they are seldom seen 

 anywhere near the coast, or they are too old to be palatable. 

 The reason why all the seeds of Araucaria that hitherto were 

 sent to Europe did not vegetate, is because the collectors did 

 not procure them from the Indian country, but bought them in 

 the market at Valparaiso, where they are offered for sale boiled 

 and dried. My excursion to Quillay-Leuvu obtained for me 

 fresh seeds of the Araucaria, which reached Germany in Octo- 

 ber, 1820, being seven months after they were ripe, and being 

 sowed immediately, the period was just that of the Chilian 

 spring. Of some hundreds, about thirty came up ; but igno- 

 rance of the true climate, which led to the error of placing the 

 young plants in a hothouse, killed the greater part during the 

 first year. To my great satisfaction, however, about six indi- 

 vidual plants have been preserved in different places, and they 

 are to the best of my belief the only ones in Europe. The 

 wood of the Araucaria is red where it has been affected by 

 the forest fires, but otherwise it is white, and towards the 

 centre of the stem bright yellow. It yields to none in 



