Jan. 1835. 



WILD POTATOES. 



347 



from Caylen, " el fin del Cristiandad/^ who had most adven- 

 turously crossed the open space of sea which separates 

 Chonos from Chiloe, in their miserable boat-canoe^ for the 

 purpose of fishing. These islands will^ in all probability^ in 

 a short time become peopled, like those adjoining the coast 

 of Chiloe. 



Humboldt,* in his Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, 

 has given a most interesting discussion on the history of the 

 common potato. He believes that the plant described by 

 Molina,t under the name of maglia, is the original stock of 

 this useful vegetable, and that it grows in Chile in its native 

 soil. He supposes that thence it was transported by the 

 Indian population to Peru, Quito, New Granada, and the 

 whole Cordillera, from 40° south to 5° north. He observes 

 that it is a remarkable circumstance, and in accordance with 

 all records respecting the course of the stream of American 

 population, that previously to the Spanish conquest, it was 

 unknown in Mexico. Among the Chonos Islands, a wild 

 potato grows in abundance, which in general habit is even 

 more closely similar to the cultivated kind than is the maglia 

 of Molina. 



These potatoes grow near the sea-beach, in thick beds, 

 on a sandy, shelly soil, wherever the trees are not too close 

 together. In the middle of January they were in flower, 

 but the tubers were small, and few in number ; especially in 

 those plants which grew in the shade, and had the most 

 luxuriant foliage. Nevertheless, I found one which was of 

 an oval form, with one diameter two inches in length. 

 The raw bulbs had precisely the smell of the common 

 potato of England, but when cooked they shrunk, and 

 became watery and insipid. They had not a bitter taste, as, 

 according to Molina^ is the case with the Chilian kind ; and 

 they could be eaten with safety. Some plants measured 



* Humboldt's New Spain, book iv., chap. ix. 

 f Molina's Chile, Spanish edition, vol. i., p. 136. 



