

68 



PINHAM. 



the only use to which the plant is put, is, that a? 

 the leaves have an aromatic smell, they are used 

 in curing fish, to which they impart a slight por- 

 tion of their odour ; they are placed upon the 

 girau or boucan, and the fish is laid upon them : 

 fish is likewise packed in the leaves of the 

 aroeira, w T hen about to be sent to a distance. * 

 The tree only grows in situations near to the 

 sea. Good fences might be made of it, for the 

 stakes take root ; I used some of the trees for 

 this purpose. The molungo and the pinham 

 have likewise this last property ; and as the 

 former is supplied with strong sharp thorns, this 

 advantage renders it preferable to the aroeira. 

 The molungo grows spontaneously in moist situ- 

 ations, but the stakes take root even if the 

 soil is dry, unless no rain falls for some time 

 after it has been planted. Great numbers of 

 the molungo grew near to my house, just below 

 a spring of water which oozed from the side of 

 the hill. The cow-itch was also found here 

 in abundance ; it is called by the peasants 

 machonan. 



The pinham requires less rain and grows 

 quicker than the molungo, but it is without 

 thorns, and the plant is not nearly so large. 

 The seed of the pinham is used as an emetic by 

 the peasants, and is violent in its operation, a 



* Piso says, that its small clustering red fruit has the pro- 

 perty of curing meat, owing to its acidity and astringency. 



