The zamuû is ridiculous both in name and form; for the Spaniards call it
_palo borracho_, the drunken tree. It is lofty. It has a trunk
surrounded with largish thorns, and bears middle-sized flowers of a
beautiful red colour, but is of very singular appearance in other
respects. For the highest and lowest parts of the trunk are small, while
the middle swells out to a great width, like a barrel: on which account
its very soft wood is easily made into tubs, and barrels. The farther
this tree grows from rivers the wider it swells, so great is its dislike
to water. It bears a round fruit like certain large gourds, with a very
strong rind, which fruit, when ripe, bursts open and discovers woolly
flakes, like cotton, and softer than silk, but with so short a fibre
that it is very difficult to draw them out into a thread. The thorns of
this tree when bruised to powder, and boiled, tinge the water with a red
colour which is said to cure sore eyes.