Every hut is surrounded with enormous trees of persea,* (* Laurus persea (alligator pear).)

The chief object of these incursions is the collection of sarsaparilla and the aromatic seeds of the puchery-laurel (Laurus pichurim).

* (* Is this the Laurus cinnamomoides of Mutis?

Indeed one man, named Father Laurus, speaks of this as an observed fact, and gravely gives directions how it is to be accomplished.

Was this T. B. Laurus Joannes Baptista Laurus or Giovanni Battista Lauro (1581-1621), the poet and writer?