the South-Sea. 1 17 



During the eight Months we ftay'd at Valparaiso, thirty Gr ^j 

 Ships fail'd from thence laden with Corn, the Burden oi Chea ^ 

 each of which may be reduc'd to 6000 Hanegas, or 3000 

 Mules Burden, which is enough to feed 5oooo Men a Year. 

 Notwithftanding that great Exportation, it is very cheap 

 there, the Hanega weighing 150 Pounds, being fold from 

 18 to 22 Royals, which is about 9 or ten Livres French , 

 a very inconfiderable Price for that Country, where the 

 fmalleft Coin is a Silver Piece of four Sols and a Half French, 

 which may be compared to two Liards, or an Half-Penny, 

 withrefpeft to the Divifion and Value. But as it does not 

 rain there for eight or nine Months in the Year, the Land 

 cannot in many Places be till'd, where there are no Brooks. 



However, the Hills are cover'd with Herbs 3 among Plants, 

 which there are many Aromatick, and Medicinal. Among 

 the latter, the moft famous with the Inhabitants of the 

 Country is the Cachinlagua, a Sort of fmall Centaury, 

 which feem'd to me more bitter than the French, and con- 

 fequently more full of Salt, reckon'd an excellent Febri- 

 fuge. The Viravida, a Sort of Sempervive, the Infufion 

 whereof was ufed with great Succefs by a French Surgeon 

 for curing of a Tertian Ague. There is alfo a Sort of 

 Senna, exa&ly like that which is brought us from Seyde, or 

 Sidon in the Levant-, for want of which, the Apothecaries 

 at Santiago make ufe of this, which the Indians call Unoper- 

 quen > it is fomewhat fmalier than the Mayten, a Tree of 

 that Country. 



The Ahahaquilla, in the Indian Culen, is a Shrub which Meet B*0, 

 has the Scent of our Sweet Bafil, and contains a Balm of 

 great Ufe for Sores, whereof we faw a wonder ul Effedt at vhtt XV* 

 Trequin, on an Indian, whofe Neck was deeply ulcerated. 

 I alfo had Experience of it on myfeif. The Flower of it 



is 



\ ; ^ — — 



Plate XV. Page 117, explained in Englifii. 

 The QuinchimaU plant , a Sort of Dwarj Qprefs, n ith /harp green Leaves* 

 The Plant Culen, being the Shrub calkd uytifus Arboreus, or tht large, 

 Cyiifbiij mth Flows like Ears 0/ Corn, of a pah Blue. 



