The quabỹra mir̂i, that is, the smaller quabỹra, differs totally from
the former, and, in my opinion, exceeds all the other Paraguayrian
fruits, both in sweetness, and salubrity. It is a little apple,
resembling a medlar in size, and form, and covered with a hardish skin,
which is green at first, and when ripe becomes a dark red. The pulp,
which is full of tender seeds, pleases the palate with an agreeable
taste, between sweet and sourish, and exhales a fragrant, balsamic
odour, with which the bark and leaves are likewise scented. It is a
remarkable circumstance that this fruit, though naturally hot, is never
prejudicial, however freely it be eaten. The quabỹra mir̂i grows on
shrubs like the junipers of Austria; they are supported by a slender
stalk, but have a number of knotty, thick roots, spreading far and wide
in the earth. They grow no where but in sandy soils, destitute of good
grass. The quabỹra mir̂i is to be seen in every part of the plains of
Taruma, of the lands near the little city Curuquati, and of the
territories of St. Paulo, bordering on Brazil. But in those tracts of
land where this fruit abounds, you find the pastures particularly poor,
either from the grass being choked by the sand, or because these shrubs
suck up the best juices of the earth. Certainly in the rest of Paraguay,
where richer turf is found, I never beheld any thing the least like a
quabỹra mir̂i. I should not be silent on the other use of this plant; in
its little branches the ants make a wax whiter than milk, and fragrant
as the most delightful balsam; it consists of very small, white grains,
scattered up and down the shrub, which are laboriously collected by
women, melted at the fire, and made into candles, for the use of the
churches, where, when lighted, they exhale a very sweet odour. It is
much to be lamented that this wax, though excellent in other respects,
wants hardness; for the candles made of it melt quickly, and are
consumed in a short time. To render them more durable, I have often
mixed common bees' wax with the wax of ants.