ROSCBNIA DE CRATO. 



307 



Crato belongs, partly, to my friend Don Antonio Cordoza. A few 

 years ago, his father established a trading station here, where the In- 

 dians come in from the wild woods with sarsaparilla, Brazil nuts, choco- 

 late, pitch, and guarana, prepared from the seed of a fruit found in the 

 woods, represented to be somewhat like the wild cherry. The Indians 

 mash the seed between stones, and make a paste by adding water ; after 

 being dried in the sun, it is rolled in one pound weights, and is sold at 

 the station at fifty cents per pound. Don Antonio sold guarana in 

 Trinidad at four dollars. The Spaniards are exceedingly fond of it ; the 

 price has been as high as eight dollars a pound, in the mountains of Bo- 

 livia. Guarana resembles prepared chocolate ; a small quantity grated 

 in a tumbler of water with sugar, makes not only a very refreshing, but 

 a strengthening drink. The Indians use it when hunting or marching, 

 thinking it enables them to undergo a great amount of fatigue. The 

 trader pays the Indian in rum, hatchets, knives, fish-hooks, beads, <fec. 

 We find four or five houses, inhabited by squatters, surrounded by a 

 beautiful pampa country ; here and there clusters of forest trees. On 

 the plains the pasture proves excellent for the few cattle and horses that 

 have been brought up the river. Quantities of chickens flourish about 

 the house, with dogs and fat hogs. 



The families are of Portuguese descent. A hamac was slung for me 

 in a house with a parlor on one side and a small sugar-mill on the other. 

 While the olive colored women sat sewing, the man was employed put- 

 ting sugar-cane between the vertical wooden cylinders, as our men 

 turned the beam by hand to get some sugar juice to refresh themselves. 

 The people were extremely kind and attentive. Mrs. Santa Ana, the 

 wife of the man to whom we brought letters, doctored us with chicken 

 tea, declaring " people died with the fever in this country who would 

 not eat." 



The soil is well adapted to the growth of the sugar-cane. We are told 

 the country far west is a prairie for a long distance, covered with fine 

 pasture. The Indians are called " Muras ;" they are fond of trading, 

 and less warlike than some others, of whom little is known. They seem 

 to be pleased with the difference between rum and sarsaparilla. 



We remained here all night to give the men a rest, and try to get 

 one night's sleep ourselves, but there was no rest with a high fever. The 

 river water cooled in an earthen monkey was refreshing. 



Our boat was well washed out, and the baggage restowed ; a large 

 hog killed for the men, and our chicken basket filled with fowls. We 

 were requested to take charge of the mail, a handful of letters, and em- 

 barked with many thanks to our friends on the frontier. 



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