648 
THE KUMBANZO. 
Chap. XXXI. 
foot or fifteen indies in length, and contain a groove on their 
inner sides. The thick soft bark of the root is the part used by 
the natives, the Portuguese use that of the tree itself. I imme¬ 
diately began to use a decoction of the bark of the root, and my 
men found it so efficacious, that they collected small quantities of 
it for themselves, and kept it in httle bags for future nse. Some 
of them said that they knew it in their oivn country, but I never 
happened to observe it. The decoction is given after the first 
paroxysm of the complaint is over. The Portuguese beheve it to 
have the same effects as the quinine, and it may prove a substi¬ 
tute for that invaluable medicine. 
There are numbers of other medicines in use among the na¬ 
tives, but I have always been obliged to regret want of time to 
ascertain which were useful, and wliich of no value. We find a 
medicine in use by a tribe in one part of the country, and the 
