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·.

BooK

VIII.

Royal

Commentaries.

And

firft

as to that Fruit which the

Spttniard.J

call

GuayavM,

and the

Indians Sa–

vintu;

we fay, that they are of a round fa!hion

like

~he

common_Apple, and

wich

a skin or paring like them

:

In

the meat, or pulp of

it,

are many little rGund feeds,.

lefs than Grape-fiones ; fome of which are yellow without, and red within , and

are of two kinds ; fome are

fo

fower, that they cannot be eaten, others are

[

weec,

and very pleafant

to

the palate ; fome are green without, and white within, and

are much better than the red ; though in foJDe Countries on the Sea-coaft they e–

fteem the red much better than the white. The

Spaniards

make a Conferve of

them, as alfo of other Fruits, which hath been praffifed fince my departure out

of

Peru.

At

Seville

I

faw

fome Fruit of the

Savintu,

which a Paffenger, a friend

of mine, brought from

Nombre de

DioJ

;

and becaufe

it

was a

ruic of my own

Councrey,

he

invited me to the eating of

it.

. .

·Another Fruit the

Indians

call

Pacay,

and the

Spaniard.J Guav11.s,

which grow

in

green Pods, of about a quarter of a Yard long, and two fingers broad ; within

the pod, or fhell, there

is

a kind ofhairy fubfiance, like cotton; and fo much re–

f

embles

it,

that fome New-comers out of

Spain

have quarrelled with the

Indians

for giving them Cotton to eat ; but when they rafted them, they found chem

{

weet and pleafaat; being dried

in

the Sun, they will keep a long time

:

within

the

Pod they have

a .

black Seed,

like frnall Beans, but

thofe are not

co be

eaten.

The Fruit

which

the

Spaniards

call Pears, becaufe they refemble chem

in

the

greennefs of their co1our and iliape, the

Indians

call

Pa/ta,

becaufe they

firfi

grew

in

a

Province of that name. Tliey are two or three

times

bigger than the

la!geft

ftze of Pears

in

Spain;

they have a fine skin, or rine, which covers them, under

which

is

the pulp, or meat, ofabout

a

finger thick, within which there

is

a

!hell, or

fione ; they are of the fame form as the common Pears with us ; there hath been

no experiment, whether they be Medicinal, or not; oaely

'tis

certain, they are

~leafa~t

to the tafie, and wholfome for the fick; and being eaten with Sugar,

they are

a

rare confeet.

They have alfo another fort

of wild Fruit, which

the

Indians

call

&cma,

and

the

Spaniards Lumia;

it

is

in

no

manner pleafant to the tafie, though

it

be rather

f

weer, than fharp or bitter ; howfoever,

it

is

a grofs kind of feeaing, the

Fmin

being about the bignefs of a common Orange ;

in

the meat of it,

it

contains a

kernel

or

feed

of

a

Chefinut-colour, which is

fo

bitter, that

it

cannot be eateno

Moreover the

Indians

had a fort of Plums which they called

Vf{un,

which are red

· and

f

weet;

and being

eaten, they turn

the

Urine into a colour like

bloud.

'

Tt

CH AP.

321