336 / 1060
Royal
Commentaries.
BooK
VIIL
Thofe Roots which the
Spaniards
call
Patatas,
and the
Jndiai.r
of
Peru
.A.pi~hn
are of
four
or five feveral colours, fome are red, others white, others yell
ow0
~
thers brown, and are of different tafies, the worft fort are
of
thofe which
are
brought into
Spain.
They have alfo a fort of Goards, called
Rrnnan
Goards, and
in
Peru,
Capallu,
they grow like Melons ; they eat
them
boiled, or baked, but ne–
ver
raw.
The fort
of Goards of which they make Bottels, or
Velfels, for
all
man–
ner of ufes, are
very
good,
and in
great plenty, which they
call
MAti
;
but
the
Goards which ate eatable were not known until!
the
time of the
Spaniard1.
There
is
another fort of Root
which
they dig out of the Earth, which the
Indians
call
Yn–
chic,
and the
Spaniards
Mani;
all the Names which
the
Spaniardsg).ve
to their
Fruits
and Pulfe of
Peru,
are
all
taken from the Language
ufed
in
the
Ifiand
of
Barlovento.
The
Ynchic
both in the kemel and tall:e
is
very like Ahno
nds :If
it be eaten crude,
it
offi
nds the head. ; if baked or parched, it
is
_pleafant
a.ndwholfome,
~nd
with
Honey makes admrrable Almond-Cake ; they alfo prefs
Oil out of
1t
for divers dif..
eafes. Befides thefe, there
is
another
fort
of Root which grows under ground
called by the
Indian.r
Chuchuchu,
for which, as yet, the
Spaniards
have coined
n~
proper
ame , becaufe they .have no
fort
of that Fruit in the lflands of
Barh–
vento,
''
hich are very hot Countries ; but this grows in
Callao,
which
is
a cold
Climate ; being eaten
raw,
it
is
delicious to- the palate, and a
great
fi:rengthener
of the fiomach, the Roots of it are much longer, and deeper
in
the ground thaa
the Anni-feeds:
It
cafis no leaf above ground, but onely a green Fiber, which
!hews the place where the
Ch11ch11chu
is
found; and when that greellnefs
withers,
ic
is
a fign that the Fruit is ripe; and the feafon
to
gather it:
This
Fruit, and
the
Ynchic,
are
efieem~d
delicacies,
fit
for
the palace of the rich and curious,
rather
chan for
the
diet of the common people, who make it their bufineiS to
gather
and
refent them
to
the
Rich,
and perfons
of
Power and Qgality.
CH AP.
XI.
•
Of Fruits and Fruit-Tr
~s
if
the largefl
fort.
T
Here is anmher fort of ruic, excellent and good, which the
Spaniarth
having
non me
for,
call it a Cucumber, becaufe it
is
fomething like it in its
iliape,
though not
in
the rafie, nor yet
in
the
quality
of
it,
being of good digeilion, and
fuch as they prefcri e to perfons fick of Calenrures, or high Fevers, and of another
nature
to
the Cucumbers of
Spain.
What name the
Jndi1t.n1
give them,
I
mull: con–
fe{S that I have quite forgot ; for which I blame my felf, and c;aonot imagine che
word they give it, unlefs it be
Cacham
;
but
I
hope
that
the diftance
I
am now
.from
my
own
Couno·ey, and my loqg abfence from thence will excufe
my
igno–
rance amongfi: my Countreymen,
for
whofe fake
I
have undertaken
this
work,.
ivithout ocher hopes
or
expeetation ofreward, than onely
co
plea{e and ferve them.
Thefe Cucumber
are
of three feveral forts and
f
12es ; the leaft, which are fach
as
are
in
rhe
form
of
a
Heart, and grow in little bullies, are the.bell. There
is
ano–
ther {( rt of
ruic:
called
Chili,
wruch
was
brought to
Couo
in
the year
I)
)7·
It
is
ery deliciou
t
the palate, and
holfome;
it
grows on branches which
run al–
mofi le el
\\'ith
the ground,
it
bears
a
kind of colour, or grane, like the
ArbHteHJ,
and
i
of the fame bignefs, onely
it
is not round, but rather long,
in
fafhion of a
Hearr.
There are many other forts of Fruits, which grow on high Trees,
fome
of
' hich re produced
in
hot Countries,
fuch as
are on the Sea-coafr, about the
.M·
tu,
others
in
more temperate Climates, fuch as are the warm
allies of
Pem;
but
becaufe the Fruits are common
in
many
places,
it
will
not be neceffiiry
co
particularize the feveral forts
of them,
but onely co report in what
manner
they
grow
And