Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/308

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seeds of which sown again will bring forth similar fruit, but of much larger size.” Such is the account given of the chapuli, which certainly looks apocryphal. We inquired of the cura if the story had any foundation; his reply was, “I have cut the seed from the body of the animal, placed them in water, viewed them through a powerful microscope, when they had every appearance of seed. I have sown them in a flower pot, and they have produced a tree about a foot high, having a pointed leaf; and at the bottom of the stem a white powder, but neither flower nor fruit could I obtain.” Such is the history of this wonderful insect; the animal is only found in the months of October and November, consequently we had no further opportunity of verifying the story. The cura assured us the animal could not have swallowed the seeds, as they formed a constituent part of the intestines.

The following morning we set out for Escuintla; the road although rugged, is tolerably level, and the neighbouring woods are said to abound with vainilla (the epidendrum of Linnæus.) and the cinchona officinalis, the bark of which is known by the name of jesuits powder, or peruvian bark. About two leagues from San Christoval we heard a considerable noise, as if produced by the falling of water, and turning through the woods to the left we suddenly came upon the river Michatoyat