en though they be deep ones, as that of _aparicio_. From this tree
they obtain wine which is the common beverage of that country; strong
vinegar, which is good for the table; and milk like that of almonds,
to serve with rice, and which curdles like real milk. When it is soft
the fruit is like green hazel-nuts in taste, and better; and there is
a serum for many ills and infirmities, which is called whey, as it
looks much like that of milk. It is there called _tuba_. They make
honey from this tree; also oakum with which to calk ships, which
lasts in the water, when that from here would rot. Likewise they
make rigging, which they call _cayro_; and they make an excellent
match for arquebuses, which, without any other attention, is never
extinguished. The shoots resemble wild artichokes while they are
tender. There is a plant with leaves after the shape and fashion of
the ivy, which is a certain species of pepper which they call buyo,
the use of which is common throughout the whole archipelago; and
it is so excellent a specific against ulcerated teeth that I do not
remember ever having heard it said that any native suffered from them,
nor do they need to have them pulled. It is a good stimulant for the
stomach, and leaves a pleasant odor in the mouth.

There is a bird which they call _tabon_, a little larger than a
partridge; and it buries its eggs, which are as large as goose eggs,
to the number of eighty or a hundred, half an estado deep in the sand
of the bays of the sea. They are all yolk, without any white, which is
an indication of their great heat. Accordingly, the mother does not sit
upon them, and they hatch, and the birds scratch their way out from the
sand. When the bird has come out it is as large as a quail, and goes
about picking up its food as other birds do after they are grown. I
have seen this with my own eyes, and there must be other eyewitnesses
of it in this court. So marvelous is the character of these birds. I
pass over many other peculiarities for fear of tiring your Majesty.

There are many good and savory wild fruits there. The ordinary food
in those islands is rice, as it is over all Asia and the neighboring
islands; and I dare assert that more people are supported in the
world by rice than by wheat. There is a great deal of sugar, which is
usually worth four reals the arroba, or less; and the Chinese bring
so much rock sugar, which they call _cande_, that it is ordinarily
worth eight reals an arr