An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)Dobrizhoffer, Martin
History
An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)
Dobrizhoffer, Martin
Abipon Indians; Jesuits -- Missions; Paraguay -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
Many fruits which European trees produce are unknown to Paraguay: in all
my travels through that country I never, or very rarely, saw any apples,
pears, plums, cherries, filberts, chesnuts, &c. These trees seem not to
suit the climate and soil of Paraguay; for they are either entirely
barren, or produce such ridiculous fruit as rather deserve the
appellation of abortions of nature, than delicacies of the palate. The
want of the fruits above-mentioned is amply compensated by an incredible
abundance of very large peaches, quinces, pomegranates, citrons, both
sweet and sour, and oranges which Europe might envy. In the neighbouring
kingdoms of Chili, where, on account of the vicinity of the mountains,
the air is much sharper, almost all European fruits, and many other
native ones, succeed amazingly, and are dried and carried into other
countries with great profit. But though Paraguay is destitute of various
European fruits, she boasts of many native ones, unknown in Europe even
by name. I shall cursorily describe trees and shrubs as they enter my
head, without regard to order.
THE MISTOL.
The mistol, a very large tree, affords hard and heavy wood, of a red
colour, fit for making pestles of mortars and spears; it also produces a
red fruit, about the size of a chesnut, resembling in appearance the
tree which the Spaniards call _azofaifa_, and druggists _jujubes_, and
which was formerly brought from Africa to Spain and Italy. The skin is
tender, the kernel rather large and hard, and the pulp fit for food; a
sweet drink, and even a kind of bread, being made of it, which is much
liked by the Indians, but to my taste extremely insipid. The jujub is
used by European physicians for allaying pains in the breast, cough,
hoarseness and pleurisy: whether the Paraguayrian mistol possess the
same virtues or no, I cannot tell.
THE CHAÑAR.
The tree chañar has a yellowish and very hard wood: the fruit supplies
both meat and drink, and is dried and preserved by some.
THE YACANÈ.
The fruit of the yacanè tree is of a yellow colour, about as large as a
middle-sized citron, and in taste like a rotten pear.
THE QUABỸRA GUAZÙ, AND
THE QUABIYÙ.
The quabỹra guazù, which somewhat resembles a plum, and the quabiyù,
which is more like a cherry, are used both as meat and drink. The
quabỹra is very abundant, and much liked by the Indians; but was always
nauseous to my taste, for it smells like a bug. Both the trees which
produce these fruits afford very good wood for turning.
THE QUABỸRA MIR̂I.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account