the aji; and it is still more remarkable that
the use of the latter, which in a manner may be called a superfluity,
has no injurious effect on the digestive organs. If two pods of aji,
steeped in warm vinegar, are laid as a sinapism on the skin, in the
space of a quarter of an hour the part becomes red, and the pain
intolerable; within an hour the scarf-skin will be removed. Yet I have
frequently eaten twelve or fifteen of these pods without experiencing
the least injurious effect. However, before I accustomed myself to this
luxury, it used to affect me with slight symptoms of gastritis. On the
eastern declivity of the Cordilleras I found no capsicum at a greater
height than 4800 feet above the level of the sea.

Lucern (_Medicago sativa_), called by the natives _alfa_ or _alfalfa_,
is reared in great abundance throughout the whole of Peru, as fodder for
cattle. It does not bear great humidity, nor severe heat or cold; yet
its elevation boundary is about 11,100 feet above the level of the sea.
On the coast it flourishes very luxuriantly during the misty season; but
during the months of February and March it is almost entirely dried up.
The maisillo (_Paspalum purpureum_, R.) then supplies its place as
fodder for cattle. In the mountainous districts it is also most abundant
during the humid season; but, as soon as the first frost sets in, it
decays, takes a rusty-brown color, and remains in a bad state until the
beginning of the rainy season. On an average, the _alfalfa_ may be cut
four times in the year; but in highlying districts only three times;
and in humid soils on the coast, particularly in the neighborhood of
rivers, five times. Once in every four or five years the clover-fields
are broken up by the plough, and then sown with maize or barley. In the
sixth year clover is again raised.

The olive-tree is cultivated chiefly in the southern provinces of the
coast. In flavor, its fruit approximates to the Spanish olive. That
the oil is not so fine is probably owing to the bad presses which are
used, and the rude manner in which the operation is performed. The
olives (_Aceytunas_) are preserved in a peculiar manner. They are
allowed to ripen on the tree, when they are gathered, slightly
pressed, dried, and put up in small earthen vessels. By this process
they become shrivelled and quite black. When served up at table pieces
of tomato and aji are laid on them: the latter is an excellent
accompaniment to the oily fruit