288 A VOYAGE TO Book V. 



them is, that they are a favourite food with the in- 

 habitants of thefe countries, who eat them inftead of 

 bread, nor is there a made difh or ragout in which 

 they are not an ingredient. The Creoles prefer them 

 to any kind of meat, or even fowl. A particular difh 

 is made of them, and ferved up at the beft tables, 

 called locro ; and is always the laft, that water may 

 be drunk after it, which they look upon as otherwife 

 unwholefome. This root is the chief food of the lower 

 clafs j and they find it fo nutritive and ftrengthening, 

 that they are not defirous of more folid food. 



The oca is a root about two or three inches in 

 length, and about half an inch, or fomething more, 

 in thicknefs, though not every where equal, having a 

 kind of knots where they twift and wreathe themfelves. 

 This root is covered with a very thin and tranfparent 

 fl<:in, whofe colour is in fome yellow, in fome red, and 

 others orange. It is eaten either boiled or roafted, 

 and has nearly the fame tafte as a chefnut ; with this 

 difference, however, common to all the fruits of 

 America, that the fweetnefs predominates. It is 

 both pickled and preferved, the latter being what 

 the Americans are very fond of. This root is alfo 

 an ingredient in many made difhes. The plant is 

 fmall, like the camote, yucas, and others already de- 

 fcribed. 



With regard to the corn of this country, there is 

 no neceffity for enumerating the fpecies, they being 

 the fame with thofe known in Spain. The maize and 

 barley are ufed by the poor people, and particularly 

 by the Indians, in making bread. They have feveral 

 methods of preparing the maize; one is by perching, 

 which they call camea. They alfo make from this 

 grain a drink called chica, ufed by the Indians in the 

 times of the Yncas, and flill very common. The 

 method of making it is this : they fteep the maize in^ 

 water till it begins to fprout, when they fpread it in 

 the fun, where it is thoroughly dried; after which^ 

 5 . they 



