245 



Having" the skin of both hands filled with acari, 

 I had not patience to wait the end of an opera- 

 tion, which had already lasted till late at night. 

 The next day an Indian of Javita cured us radi- 

 cally, and with surprising promptitude. He 

 brought us the branch of a shrub, called uzao, 

 with small leaves like those of cassia, very cori- 

 aceous and glossy. He made a cold infusion of 

 the bark of this shrub, which had a bluish co- 

 lour, and the taste of liquorice (glycyrrhiza). 

 When beaten, it yields a great deal of froth. 

 The irritation of the ar adores ceased by u sing- 

 simple lotions of this uzao water. We could 

 not find this shrub in flower, or bearing fruit ; 

 it appears to belong to the family of the legu- 

 minous plants, the chemical properties of which 

 are singularly varied. We dreaded so much 

 the sufferings to which we had been exposed, 

 that we constantly kept some branches of the 

 uzao in our boat, till we reached San Carlos. 

 This shrub grows in abundance on the banks of 

 the Pimichin. Why has no remedy been dis- 

 covered for the irritation produced by the sting 

 of the zancudoes (culex), as well as for that oc- 

 casioned by the aradores or microscopic acari ? 



In 1755, before the expedition to the boun- 

 daries, better known by the name of the expe- 

 dition of Solano, the whole country between the 

 missions of Javita and San Balthasar was re- 

 garded as dependant on Brazil The Portu 



