We have the quaint authority of Barros as to the origin of the name of the country, Brazil. "This country had at first the name of Santa Croce, Holy Cross, on account of that which was raised there; but the demon, who loses by this standard of the cross the empire which he had over us, and which had been taken from him by the mediation of the merits of Jesus Christ, destroyed the cross, and caused the country to be called Brazil, the name of a red wood. This name has entered into the mouth of every one, and that of Holy Cross is lost, as if it was more important that a name should come from a wood used to dye clothes, rather than from that wood which gives virtue to all the sacraments—means of our salvation—because it was dyed with the blood of Jesus Christ spilled upon it."
Thus it is evident that the name Brazils was given to the country by the Portuguese, subsequently to Cabral's discovery, from the quantity of the red wood abounding there.
The first known "Brasilium," or "Brésil," would be the Indian variety (Cæsalpinia Sappan), introduced into Europe, most probably, by the Venetians or Genoese, and obtained by them from the Levant, brought there by caravans, or by the Persian and Arabian Gulfs.
"Campesche," or Campeachy wood, "Hæmatoxyllum Campechianum" (Linn.)
[ ] [ [59] ] "Cactus Opuntia." The belief that the cochineal was the seed of a plant, was prevalent for a very long period after the conquest of Mexico. In a drawing which Champlain gives of the plant, the "seeds" are shown exactly as the insects fix and feed on the leaves. The jealousy of the Spanish government, and the severe monopoly of this production, prevented the true nature and mode of propagation from being known, and gave rise to a variety of fables and conjectures.
[ ] [ [60] ] I am at a loss to find what tree it is that Champlain designates thus, unless it is "Canica"—Myrtus pimenta.
[ ] [ [61] ] The brown cacao (Linn.)
[ ] [ [62] ] The supporting and stimulating properties of chocolate were discovered very early, and were particularly valuable in a country where the animal food gave but little nourishment. Gage says, that "Three or four hours after a repast of three or four dishes of beef, kid, turkey, and other game, his and company's stomachs were overcome with weakness and ready to faint, so that they were obliged to support and fortify them with a glass of chocolate," etc. This "strangeness" was attributed to the little nourishment in the meats, although in appearance as fine as those of Europe, owing to the extreme dryness of the pasturage.
[ ] [ [63] ] Champlain has here evidently the description of the cacao tree and the "Metl," or Maguey (Aloes Pitta, Aloes disticha, Agave Americana), to which nearly all the latter part of his description applies, save the "leaf like that of an olive tree."
[ ] [ [64] ] "Psidium" (Linn.) "Sa qualité est de resserrer le ventre, estant mangé vert, dont aussi plusieurs s'en servent contre le flux de sang; mais estant mangé meur il a un effet tout contraire."—De Rochefort, Hist. des Antilles, etc., 1658.