98 



PRESERVATION OF THE POTATO. 



will not grain, nor potatoes grow, in the wet soil and cold atmosphere 

 of the plain. They therefore have to resort to means for preserving the 

 potato and its varieties, which are got from the valleys of the Andes. 

 These means are, generally, drying and freezing; and they make a 

 variety of preparations from the potato in this way. The macas are 

 simply exposed to the frost and sun for a number of days, and then put 

 away in a dry room. The inhabitants make a sort of soup or sirup of 

 them, the smell of which, Rivero says, " is a little disagreeable to people 

 unaccustomed to it," (it is really very offensive;) and it is the general 

 opinion that it is a stimulant to reproduction. 



" Caya " is made from the oca and the mashua, (a variety of the oca,) 

 by putting them in water till they rot, and then exposing them to the 

 sun and cold. This, when cooked, smells worse than the macas, and 

 no stomach but that of an Indian or a beast could possibly tolerate it. 



There are two kinds of " chunoP One (the black) is made from the 

 common potato by soaking it some days in water, then pressing it to 

 express all the moisture, and freezing it. The white (called moray) is 

 made from a large, bitter potato, which abounds in the departments of 

 Junin, Cuzco, and Puno. The potatoes are put in water, in a bag, at 

 the setting of the sun, and taken out before sunrise. This operation is 

 carried on for fifteen or twenty days. It is an especial condition of this 

 chuno's turning out well that it shall be put in water after sunset, and 

 taken out before sunrise ; for, if it is touched by the sun, it immediately 

 turns black. It is then pressed and exposed to the sun for a few days. 



" Ckockoca" is the common potato, first cooked and peeled, and then 

 frozen. This and the chuno are healthy and nutritive articles of diet. 



I quote these means of preserving the potato and its varieties from 

 Rivero, who thinks that these articles of food will, in time, become of 

 great importance, particularly in the supply of the army and navy, and 

 for long journeys or voyages ; and that if the European nations knew 

 of these productions, and the means of preserving them, they would 

 draw great advantages from the knowledge. 



The plain, about forty-five miles long, and from six to twelve broad, 

 is generally wet, and in some places marshy. The soil is gravelly, with 

 a light covering of mould, producing a short grass scarcely adequate for 

 the support of the flocks, which are indeed of small size, but sometimes 

 fat and good. A great number of large beautiful waterfowl, including 

 the scarlet flamingo and several varieties of snipe, frequent the banks of 

 the lake and marshy places. The people cut their supply of fuel from 

 the turf of the bogs, in the dry, and stack it up for use in the rainy 

 season. There is said to be much thunder and lightning here at the 



