ON THE MYROSPERMTJM OF SONSONATE. 
141 
San Salvador, near the town of Sonsonate, called " the Balsam 
Coast ;" and although a very hot climate, it is a hilly country, but 
a very rich soil. It is only populated by pure Indians, who pos- 
sess the secret of extracting the said balsamo de Peru, which they 
bring for sale to Sonsonate, put in gourds or bladders. In this 
way they used to ship it formerly, but the Indians bring it often 
mixed with rags and water ; and now the merchants in Sonsonate 
let it stand some time in barrels and clean it, and then pack it in 
jars, in which package it is generally shipped now. Any other 
sort of oily matter does not mix with the balsam, and the dirty 
water gets soon to the bottom, after which it is strained ; although 
it appears very thick it passes through a very thin sieve. Gene- 
rally a little pure water is put into the jars ; they say it prevents 
fermentation. From all the accounts that I could learn from the 
people in Sonsonate, and from the very Indians who sold the bal- 
sam, and which I believe to be true, it appears, that in certain 
seasons, they make incisions in the bark of the tree, burn the out- 
side slightly, and then bind woollen or cotten rags round it, in 
which the balsam is caught up ; the rags are afterwards boiled in 
large jars with water, and the rags fall to the ground. There is 
no other place on the whole Pacific side where this balsam is 
made, but on this Balsam Coast. All the balsamo negro which 
comes to the European markets, by way of Lima, Guayaquil, 
Valparaiso and Belize, Honduras, or Sto. Tomas de Guatemala, 
is the produce of our balsam coast. The whole production of it 
does not amount to more than 20,000 lbs. or 30,000 lbs. per year, 
the average may be 25,000 lbs. The merchants in Lima and Val- 
paraiso buy it with much pleasure, and pay good prices to the 
Sonsonate merchants. 
" The Canonigo Dhiguero, when he was proprietor of Ispangua- 
sate, planted the balsam tree there, and I found about fifty fine 
large trees. The tree itself is a very fine, tall, and handsome one, 
with a straight, round, and high stem ; the bark smooth, ashy-co- 
lored, and not very thick. The branches extend at the top, and 
the leaf is of a dark glossy green, rather a little curled. On a 
tree which was near the Campana, I tried, the experiment to get 
the balsam out, but did not succeed ; and one of the mozos told 
me that it was not the right time. The tree grows as high as 
any of your oak-trees, and as thick. In April, 1846, I purchased 
