454 
ON  MYROXYLON  TOLTJIFERUM,  ETC. 
March  or  April.  When  the  balsam  is  flowing  well,  I  was  told 
that  "one  moon"  sufficed  to  fill  the  cups. 
Respecting  the  time  of  the  flowering  of  the  tree,  individuals 
differed  as  widely  as  they  did  about  the  best  time  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  balsam.  I  think  I  was  told  that  it  flowered  in 
every  month  of  the  year,  each  person  asked  giving  a  different 
month ;  and  several  asserted  that  it  did  not  flower  at  all. 
I  could  not  get;  any  one  to  recognize  the  name  «  Bahamo  de 
coneolito."  I  tried  individuals  with  it  at  Cartagena,  Barran- 
quilla,  Mompox,  Las  Mercedes,  Plato,  and  the  Montana,  but 
none  of  them  knew  what  I  meant.  The  balsam  is  certainly 
not  known  by  that  name  at  any  of  these  places,  but  is  always 
called  Bahamo  de  Tolu.* 
I  remained  a  couple  of  days  in  the  Montana,  and  returned 
to  Plato.  We  travelled  part  of  the  way  with  a  man  going  down 
to  the  port  with  a  quantity  of  balsam  :  he  had  three  donkeys 
loaded  with  it,  each  carrying  four  arrobas,  or  100  lbs.  weight. 
The  quantities  of  the  drug  I  saw  on  its  way  for  exportation  at 
Las  Mercedes,  Plato,  and  on  the  road  from  the  Montana,  must 
have  amounted  to  at  least  1,500  lbs.,  which  proves  that  the 
tree  must  be  very  plentifully  scattered  through  the  forest. 
I  returned  to  Mompox  in  a  canoe,  and  arrived  there  on  the 
29th  ult.  On  the  4th  of  the  present  month  I  left  Mompox  by 
the  steamer  up  the  river,  and  landed  here  on  the  7th.  This 
place  is  called  Barranca  Varmeija,  and  is  situated  on  the  river 
side,  about  two  leagues  further  up  than  the  place  where  the 
village  of  Bojorques  formerly  stood,  for  it  is  not  now  in  ex- 
istence, the  river  having  carried  all  the  houses  away.  This 
being  the  nearest  point  to  Bojorques  I  could  land  at,  I  came 
here  hoping  to  find  Smilax  officinalis  H.  B.  K.,  but  after  several 
days'  unsuccessful  searching  for  it,  I  am  afraid  I  must  conclude 
it  is  not  here ;  but  I  will  go  to  Bojorques  in  another  day  or 
two,  and  perhaps  I  may  find  it  there. 
The  Rhatany,  I  was  told  at  Barranquilla,  came  from  the 
neighborhood  of  Bucaramanga,  and  as  I  intend  to  go  up  the 
*  "  The  balsam  is  not  distinguished  in  this  region  [Carthagena]  by  the 
name  of  Tolu,  but  is  known  by  the  name  of  Balsamo  de  coneolito, — coneo- 
lito being  the  native  name  of  the  small  calabash  used  for  collecting  it." 
— Letter  from  the  late  Sutton  Hayes  to  D.  Hanbury,  April  23d,  1862. 
