ry article, and the other almost so--and which could not possibly
be procured in such a place. These two things were _salt_ and _milk_.
Now there was neither a salt-mine, nor a lake, nor a drop of salt water,
nor yet either cow, goat, or ass, within scores of miles of the place,
and still they had both salt and milk!

The milk they procured from a tree which grew in the woods close by, and
a tree so singular and celebrated, that you have no doubt heard of it
before now. It was the _palo de vaca_, or "cow-tree," called sometimes
by an equally appropriate name _arbol del leche_, or "milk-tree." It is
one of the noblest trees of the forest, rising, with its tall straight
stem, to a great height, and adorned with large oblong pointed leaves,
some of which are nearly a foot in length. It carries fruit which is
eatable, about the size of a peach, and containing one or two stones;
and the wood itself is valuable, being hard, fine-grained, and durable.

But it is the sap which gives celebrity to the tree. This is neither
more nor less than milk of a thick creamy kind, and most agreeable in
flavour. Indeed, there are many persons who prefer it to the milk of
cows, and it has been proved to be equally nutritious, the people
fattening upon it in districts where it grows. It is collected, as the
sugar-water is from the maple, simply by making a notch or incision in
the bark, and placing a vessel underneath, into which the sap runs
abundantly. It runs most freely at the hour of sunrise; and this is also
true as regards the sap of the sugar-tree, and many other trees of that
kind.

Sometimes it is drunk pure as it flows from the tree; but there are some
people who, not relishing it in its thick gummy state, dilute it with
water, and strain it before using it. It is excellent for tea or coffee,
quite equal to the best cream, and of a richer colour. When left to
stand in an open vessel, a thick coagulum forms on the top, which the
natives term cheese, and which they eat in a similar manner, and with
equal relish. Another virtue of this extraordinary tree is that the
cream, without any preparation, makes a glue for all purposes as good as
that used by cabinet-makers, and, indeed, Don Pablo and Guapo had
already availed themselves of it in this way.

So much for the _palo de vaca_.

It still remains for me to tell you where the _salt_ came from; and
although the milk-tree was ever so welcome, yet the salt was a thing of
still greate