VOYAGE TO THE RIO NEGRO i8i 
times as much. The usual form of the sticks was 
long oval or subcylindrical ; but in Martius's time 
(1820) guarana was " in panes ellipticos vel globosos 
formatum " ; and Mr. Hislop had seen it made up 
into figures of birds, alligators, and other animals. 
The intense bitterness of the fresh seed is dissi- 
pated by roasting to a much greater extent than 
it is in coffee, and a slight aroma is acquired. 
The essential ingredient of guarana, as we learn 
from the investigations of Von Martius and his 
brother Theodore, is a principle which they have 
called guaranine, almost identical in its elements 
with theine and caffeine, and possessing nearly 
the same properties. Guarana is prepared for 
drinking by merely grating a small portion — say a 
tablespoonful — into cold water, and adding an 
equal quantity of sugar. It has a slight but 
peculiar and rather pleasant taste, and its properties 
are much the same as those of tea and coffee, being 
slightly astringent, and highly stimulating to the 
nervous system. It has had the reputation of a 
powerful remedy against diarrhoea, but I never 
found it so, although I have tried it largely, both 
on myself and other people. The general notion, 
however, is that guarana is a preventive of every 
kind of sickness, and especially of epidemics, rather 
than an antidote against any ; and Martius says of 
it ''pro panacea peregrinantium habetur." Its im- 
moderate use relaxes the stomach and causes 
sleeplessness — precisely the same effects as result 
from the abuse of tea and coffee. 
On the 15th of November we got our dried fish 
on board and bade farewell to the Barreiras, to my 
