TRAVELS IN THE CALI F OR NIAS. 
147 
^ross the mouth of the Gulf, enters a harbor near the island of 
Mazatlan on the seventeenth of the same month. An account 
of his condition being sent to the Viceroy, he determines to go 
in person to San Sebastian, a village about eight leagues from 
the harbor, for more immediate aid. He starts on the nine¬ 
teenth with five of his soldiers. But being utterly ignorant of 
the country, they take the wrong path, and wander two days in 
the wood without food or water. At length they fall into a 
broad beaten road, and while resting themselves by the way- 
side, a drove of mules, laden with provisions, comes along. 
These are going from Castile to Culiacan. The General 
learns from the muleteers that an old friend of his has become 
the Alcalde of the latter place, and immediately accepts their 
offer to convey himself and soldiers thither. 
At this town they are furnished with every comfort for 
themselves and those on board the ship. The poor seamen 
and Padres ! They are now reduced to the most lamentable 
condition! Helpless, covered with ulcers, and unable to speak 
or eat! Among other things that are sent them, is a kind of 
fruit which is considered a specific for this disease. It bears 
among the natives the cognomen, Xocohuiltzes . It resembles 
an apple. The leaves of the plant are exactly like those of 
the pineapple. The fruit grows in clusters. The rind or 
shell is yellow, and contains a pulp full of seeds. Its flavor 
is slightly tart. Its medical properties are such that it 
cleanses the mouth reduces the gums, fastens the teeth, heals 
the ulcers, purifies the blood, &c. Its virtues were acci¬ 
dentally discovered by an officer who was attending the burial 
of a victim to this frightful disease, from his own ship. He 
was himself somewhat infected, and passing under a tree, 
plucked and ate some of the fruit. In a few minutes he 
voided from the mouth a large quantity of purulent matter, 
mingled with blood. The soreness was at the same time much 
relieved, and the gums contracted upon the teeth so that they no 
longer rattled in his mouth. The poor seamen and soldiers 
have suffered most deplorably from this malady. By the use 
