The maqui is another tree, bearing a fruit like a guind, or wild cherry, from which a pleasant fermented beverage is made, called theca. The people are fond of the fruit, and parties go into the woods to gather it. A friend told me, that in one of these excursions, when a boy, he had wandered into a wood to gather maqui, and seeing a woman in a tree with her face of a purple colour, he supposed that she had been rubbing it with the fruit for the sake of frightening him; however, determined to shew his courage, he ascended the tree, when, to his great surprise and terror, he found that it was an idiot belonging to the village, who had hanged herself with her handkerchief tied to one of the uppermost branches! The peumo produces a fruit which is much liked, though I never could eat it on account of its strong oily and rather rancid smell. The tree is tall, and its fruit has the appearance of green olives; to prepare it for eating it is dipped in warm water, but not boiled, because that operation renders it bitter. The pulp is whitish and buttery, and I have no doubt that as large a quantity of oil might be obtained from it as from the olive. Great quantities of murtillas, myrtle berries, are found in this province, and are very delicate. Pernetty, who saw some in the Falkland Isles, or Malvinas, says, "the fruit is of a beautiful appearance and very pleasant taste; by being put into brandy with a little sugar, it forms a delicious liquor, which has in a slight degree the smell of ambergris and of musk, by no means disagreeable even to persons who dislike those perfumes." From these berries the natives also make an agreeable fermented liquor, chicha de murtilla. The arrayan, a myrtle, grows to the height of seventy feet. The fruit, which is about the size of a large pea, is eaten, and has a pleasant taste. A delicate liquor is made from it, and the wood is very valuable.
The principal trees found in the province of Conception are the canelo, or boghi, which grows to the height of fifty feet, and produces good timber. It has two barks; the inner one is whitish, but when dried assumes the colour of cinnamon, and somewhat resembles that spice in taste. The Araucanians entertain so much veneration for this tree, that a branch of it is always presented as a token of peace, and when a treaty is concluded it is tied to the top of the Toqui's axe, and the President's baton. The luma grows from forty to fifty feet high; its wood is tough, and is used for small spars and oars, but it is too heavy for masts. Large cargoes are sent to Lima for coach making and rafters. On rich soils the espino attains the size of an oak. Its wood is very solid and of a dark brown, veined with black and yellow, and is capable of receiving an excellent polish. It is used for cart wheels, being very ponderous and durable, and makes excellent fuel, and the hardest and best charcoal. The flowers of the espino are flosculous, of a deep yellow colour, and so very fragrant that they are called aromas. A species cultivated in the gardens bears a larger flower, which having a long and slender footstalk, is often inserted by the ladies in the flower of the jessamine and placed in their hair. The joint scent of the two is delightful. The pehuen, or pino de la tierra, grows in the southern parts of this province, but it arrives at greater perfection in Araucania. It is from seventy to eighty feet high, and eight in circumference. At the height of thirty feet it has generally four opposite horizontal branches, which gradually decrease in extent until they terminate in a point at the top, presenting the form of a quadrangular pyramid. The cone, or fruit, resembles that of the pine, and the seeds are considered a great delicacy. These piñones, as they are called, are sometimes boiled, and afterwards, by grinding them on a stone, converted into a kind of paste, from which very delicate pastry is made. The pino is cultivated in different parts of this province on account of its valuable wood and the piñones; it may be said, indeed, to be the only tree, except those which yield wine, to which the natives pay any attention. The resin exuding from it is called incienso, and is used by the Chileans as incense.
The banks of the Bio-bio are thickly covered with both red and white cedar trees, some of which are seventy feet high, and twenty in circumference. They are split into slender planks, for slight work, but their exportation from this province is not great, because the deals can be purchased at a much lower price in Chiloe, where, I have been informed by persons of veracity, there are cedars which yield from eight to nine hundred boards, twenty feet long, twelve inches broad and one thick. It is said that water keeps better at sea in casks made of the red cedar, than in those of any other wood. The floripondio grows to the height of six feet, and has a profusion of delightfully fragrant pendant flowers, which are white, bell-shaped, and from eight to ten inches long, and three in diameter at the mouth. Their odour partakes of that of the lily, and one tree, when in bloom, is sufficient to perfume a whole garden. The floripondio arrives at greater perfection on the coasts of Peru, where it is seen in the hedgerows. A species of cactus, quisco, is very common in some parts of this province; it bears thorns from eight to nine inches long, of which the females make knitting needles.
There are a great variety of shrubs in the forests of Conception, and some of them are very aromatic. Those which are particularly useful for dyeing are the diu, thila and uthin, of which the bark and leaves dye black. The juice of the berries of the tara, and of the mayu are used for writing ink, as well as for dyeing. The leaves of the culen, another shrub, have a taste somewhat similar to tea, for which they are often substituted. They are considered a vermifuge and a tonic. Frazier says, that the culen produces a balsam, very efficacious in healing wounds; but I never witnessed this quality. Senna grows luxuriantly near the Maule, and is equally as good as that of the Levant; an infusion of its leaves is often given, and I believe successfully, as a diuretic, particularly in calculous complaints. A shrub called here the palqui, and in Peru the holy herb, yerba santa, is thought to be an antidote to inflammatory diseases; for this purpose the green leaves are soaked in water, then rubbed between the hands, and again soaked, until the water be quite green, in which state a copious draught is taken; and for external inflammation it is applied as a wash. There are several wild plants which yield bright and permanent colours for dyeing. Red is obtained from the relbun, a species of madder; Contra yerba, a kind of agrimony, furnishes yellow, as does another plant called poquel; a violet is procured from the culli and the rosoli; and the panqui yields a permanent black. This peculiar plant grows in moist swampy places; its height is from five to six feet, and the principal stem is sometimes six inches in diameter; the leaves are roundish, rough and thick, and at full growth are three feet in diameter. When the plant is in perfection, the natives cut it down, and split the stem, which contains a large portion of tanin. The black for dyeing is obtained from the expressed juice of the root.
I scarcely ever met with any person in this province who did not assure me that gold mines were to be found in numberless places; I certainly never saw any worked, but the universal assurance of the inhabitants, and what has been written by Molina, Frazier, and other persons of veracity, leave me no room to doubt their existence.