340 / 1060
Royal Commen_tarier.
fire under
it;
they ufed a kind
of
a Screen for their Necks
to
defend them from
the fire ; taking care that neither the \ ater fhou d
f
cald, nor the fire burn
their
heads ; and thofe
airs which
c~uld
not e
p~t
into
the
P~n
of
h?iling
water,
they
di
ped after with the water
w
h1ch had
by
mfufion received virtue, and a deep
tincrure from the
Her
s.
In
this
tormenting
pofrure of holding their heads bacl{
that theit Hair might fink in the water,
they
would continue fometim
for
th~
fpace of
t\
o hours, thou
h I
cannot p!'ecifely
fay
the time, becau[e that
being
a
Roy then ( as I faid)
l
was not
fo
cu. ious as
to
obferve the ftritt: minutes ; how–
foever,
I cann t but wond r at
t
e pai
they did take'. and
th~
tormen
they
fu–
fi:ained for a non-fenGcal pi
o folly : But then agam methinks I could excufe
them,
V\
hen I confider
t
e pai
' vhich the
Spanifh
a ies undergo, and t e
rime
they
f
pend
in
trimming nd
ng
their
it ;
for
hey
f
moak
it
with
ul·
phur., and
\Yet
it \
ith
Aq•.
7 .,
u
to
make
ir
fhine
and
tl
en
they fpread
it
in
the
hot Sun, of
the Dog-days,
making
other kinds
of
Elixiviums to
a!h
it
in,
which
are
of
fuch
a
nature
as I
know not , which is rnofi pernicious
to
the health either
of that which the
Indian
\¥omen ufe, or that
v
hich is fo common with the
La–
dies in
Spain.
The
Indian
Women have alfo other Vvacers in which
they
bathe
and dye their Hair, whereby
th~y
become blacker, and with a more {hining lufue
than the
eathers ofRavens, that afrer moulting are new grown. This and
much
more can
V·l
omen contrive and endure,·that
they
may feem beautifull.
•
c ·n
AP. .. XIV.
Of the Platane, the Pine-Apple, and other Fruits.
(
.
B
UT
to
return again to our difr.ourfe about thofe Fruits which are produced
in the
Antu
of
Peru,
which are the mo!l: hot and rnoifi parts of all thofe
Province , we !hall onely touch upon thofe which are the mofr remarkable, and
in
the
firfl:
place fpeak of that Tree and Fruit which the
Spaniard;
called
the
Plat11·
nm~
which in
ics
height and leaf refembles much
the PalnJ,
being very broad
and
green. Thefe Trees gro"' wild, and of rhemfelves, and thrive befl: in a moill,
rainy
CHrnate, Cuch a the
Antu
;
the bow ofwhich are
fo
large; that
Acofta
faith,
that on
one
branch
onely
there are thofe who have counted
300
Platane-Nuts;
they grow in a
fhell,
which hath neither rine nor bark over it,
but
fomething like
a husk, that is
eafily
pilled off; it is ofabout a quarter of a Yard long, and
about
three fingers in thicknefS.
Bltt.f Ya/era
alfo writing of this Tree, faith, That when the bunches of their
Fruit come to full gro
th, that they
rhen
cut them off, left rhe
..eight of them
lhould tear them off from the body or trunk ; ,. hich being of a foft, fpungy kind
of
fubflance, is neither fit for timber nor
fire.
Thefe bunches of Fmit they lay up
in Jars to ripen, firo
iog
them
over \ ith a certain Herb> whi h ferves co hall:en '
and force them
co
grow
ripe
and mellow : the M at of them· is tender,
1\
eet
and
leafant; and being laid in the Sun, are like a conferve, or · confe
:
they
boil
them in their Broth, and ferve them for auce in their roafied or boiled Meats
7
and
in
eyery \ ay
they are
g~
od,
having
a
{i
eetnefs like Honey, or Sugar, and
make ¥;vera.l
~onfi
rve of theµt : The bunches which hang long upon the Trees
are mofl: delicious and delightfull: the Trees are about two ards high fome
more,
nd fame le . There is another fort of Platans which are lefs, which
they
caJI
Dominico1,
to dillinguifh them from others; becaufe
the
fhell,
when it
is
young
and tender,
i
white ; and when the
Fruit
is ripe, and
in
its feafon,
it
is
white
t
ith
la k
f
pot ; but this fort
is
not half
fo
big as the other, bnt yet: · much better,
and here.fore ·s not
fo
common, nor in chat pl
ency,
a the other ·
~
hey