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During my stay at Barro I was presented with some singularly 

 fine fruit, equal in flavour to fresh almonds, and capable of being 

 preserved by drying only, so as to become a valuable article of com- 

 merce. Having never before heard of this fruit, I am induced to 

 give a brief account of it. The exterior substance is about the size 

 of ia full-grown cocoa-nut with the rind on, say; nine or ten inches 

 long and five or six in the thickest part. It grows suspended from 

 the branch by a very slender but strong stem. This shell is full of 

 kernels, to the number of from thirty to fifty, of the shape of al- 

 monds, but twice or thrice the size, disposed in ranges or layers and 

 separated from each other by a white pithy substance. As these 

 kernels ripen, the top of the shell, which appears like a lid, is gra- 

 duall}"^ forced open, and when they are at full maturity, the larger 

 part, which contains them, separates and falls to the ground. The 

 trees, : at the season of shedding their fruits, are frequented by 

 wild hogs, herds of monkies, flocks of parrots, and other birds, 

 which never quit them while any of these delicious nuts remain. I 

 Avas credibly informed that some trees have been known to produce 

 above a ton weight in a season. One of the nuts I preserved and 

 brought with me, which I sent to that enlightened philosopher and 

 eminent naturalist Sir Joseph Banks. 



We now took leave of the good people at the fazenda, and re- 

 turned to Villa Rica by the way we came. I had, with great diflS- 

 culty, procured a quantity of butter, made after the new process, as 

 a present for Mr. Lucas, the Judge, Avhich arrived perfectly fresh 

 and sweet. On passing Lavras Velhas, as we returned, we were 

 shewn some excellent cinchona, very like that of Peru, and said to 

 possess similar properties in a high degree. From the specimen we 

 saw, there was every reason to believe, that, if fairly introduced into 

 practice, it might be administered in many cases with as much 

 success as Peruvian bark ; and, as great quantities of it might be 

 procured here, the experiment is certainly worth attending to by 



