Of a tree called molle, and of other herbs and roots in this kingdom of Peru.

WHEN I wrote concerning the city of Guayaquil I treated of the sarsaparilla, an herb the value of which is well known to all who have visited those parts. In this place I propose to treat of the trees called molles, and of their uses. In the valleys and great forests of Peru there are many trees of different kinds, and with different uses, very few of which are like those of Spain. Some of them, such as the aguacates, guayavos, caymitos, and guavas bear fruits such as I have already mentioned in various parts of this work; others are covered with thorns, and others are very large, with great hollows in their trunks, where the bees make their honey with marvellous great order and concert. In most of the inhabited parts of this land, large and small trees are to be seen, which they call molles. These trees have very small leaves, with a smell like that of fennel. Their bark is possessed of such virtue that, if a man has great pain and swelling in his legs, it is removed, and the swelling is reduced, by merely soaking this bark, and washing the place several times. The small branches are very useful for cleaning the teeth. They also make a very good drink from the very small berries which this tree bears, as well as vinegar, by merely steeping the quantity required in vases of water, and putting them on the fire. After they have stood some time, the residue of the liquor is converted into wine, vinegar, or treacle, according to the manner of treating it. The Indians hold these trees in great estimation.[518]

There are also herbs of great virtue in these parts, and I will mention some which I saw myself. In the province of Quinbaya, where the city of Cali stands, they raise certain roots among the trees, which are so efficacious for purging, that it is merely necessary to take a little more than a braza in length, of the thickness of a finger, place it in a small jar of water, and drink the greater part of the water during the night, to cause the required effect, as well as rhubarb. There are also beans which have the same effect, but some praise them, while others say they do harm. In the buildings of Vilcas one of my slave girls was very ill with certain tumours, and I saw that the Indians carried yellow flowers, which they reduced to powder by applying a light to them. By anointing her once or twice with this powder she was cured.

In the province of Andahuaylas there is another herb so good for cleaning the teeth, that by rubbing them with it for an hour or two, the teeth become as white as snow. There are many other herbs in these parts, which are useful for curing men, and others which do harm, and form the poisons of which men die.[519]