o their cyder. The yellow-flowering gourd,
called _penca_, has two kinds or varieties, the common and mamillary,
owing to the fruit of the latter having a large nipple-shaped process at
the end. Its pulp is sweet, and resembles in taste a kind of potato
named _camote._

The _quelghen,_ or Chili strawberry has rough and succulent leaves, and
its fruit is sometimes as large as a hens egg. This fruit is generally
red and white; but in the provinces of Puchacay and Huilquilemeu, where
they attain the greatest perfection, the fruit is yellow. "The Chili
strawberry is _dioecial_, and has degenerated much in Europe by the want
of male plants, and the females producing hybrid fruit by impregnation
from the ordinary strawberries growing in the neighbourhood; in
consequence of which circumstance the cultivation of this kind has been
abandoned in Europe."

The _madi,_ a new genus of plants peculiar to Chili, has two species,
one wild and the other cultivated. From the seeds of the latter an
excellent oil is procured, either by expression, or by boiling in water,
of an agreeable mild taste, and as clear as the best olive oil. This
plant, hitherto unknown in Europe, would be a most valuable acquisition
to those countries in which the olive cannot be raised.

Many species of the capsicum, or guinea pepper, are cultivated in Chili,
under the name of _thapi_, and are used as seasonings in the food of the
natives.

The _illmu,_ or Bermudiana bulbosa, produces bulbous roots, which are
excellent food either boiled or roasted, and are very pleasant in soups.
The _liuto_ produces a bulbous root, which yields a very white, light,
and nutritious flour, which is much used as food for the sick.

To these enumerated provisions from the vegetable kingdom, may be added
the _cuy_ or little rabbit, _Lepus minimus,_ and the Chilihueque, or
Araucanian camel; the flesh of which last affords an excellent food, and
its wool furnishes clothing for the natives. If tradition may be
credited, they had also the hog and the domestic fowl before the Spanish
invasion. Besides these, the country produced the _guanaco,_ and the
_pudu,_ a species of wild goat, and a great variety of birds. With these
productions, which required only a moderate degree of industry, they
subsisted with a sufficient abundance considering their situation and
numbers; insomuch that, when Almagro invaded Chili, his army found
abundance of provisions to recruit after the famine they h