286 A VOYAGE TO Book V. 



labafhes of which fnufF- boxes are made; that is, the 

 lower part is round, and tapers away gradually to- 

 wards the ftalk ; from whence to its bafe, the length 

 is ufually between three and five inches. It is covered 

 with a very thin, glolTy, fmooth fhell, which, when the 

 fruit is thoroughly ripe, is detached from the pulp. 

 The colour, both during its growth and when ar- 

 rived at perfedion, is green, but turns fomething 

 paler as it ripens ; the pulp is folid, but yields to the 

 prefTure of the finger ; the colour white, tinged with 

 green, and the tafte fo infipid as to require fait to give 

 it an agreeable relifli. It is fibrous, but fome more 

 fo than others. The ftone of this fruit is two inches 

 long, one and a half in thicknefs, and terminates in 

 a point. The tafle is four. It may be opened with 

 a knife, and confifts of two lobes, between which may 

 be diftindly perceived the germ of the tree. Within 

 the fiiell is a very thin tegument, which feparates it 

 from the pulp, though fometimes the tegument ad- 

 heres to the pulp, and at other times to the fhelL 

 The tree is lofty and full of branches ; the leaf, both 

 in dimenfion and figure, fomething different from that 

 of the chirimoyo. 



In the province of Quito they give the name of 

 guabas to a fruit, which, in all the other parts of Peru^ 

 is called by its Indian fiame pacaes. It confills of a 

 pod like that of the algarobo, a little flat on both 

 fides. Its ufual length is about a foot, though there 

 are different fizes, fome larger and fome fmaller, aC^ 

 cording to the country where they grow. Its out- 

 ward colour is a dark green, and covered with a 

 down, which feels fmooth when flroaked downwards, 

 md rough when the hand is moved in the contrary 

 diredlion, as in velvet. The pod, opened longitu- 

 dinally, is found divided into feveral cells, each con- 

 taining a certain fpungy medulla, very light, and equal 

 to cotton in whitenefs. In this are inclofed fome black 

 feeds of a very difproportionate fize, the medulla, 



whofe 



