84 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



fruit, and is generally eaten with salt or sugar, and thus has an 

 excellent flavor and is A^ery nutritious. 



229. The sapote looks like a mammee tree, and the fruit is of 

 like size ; the rind is dark-colored and rough, but the pulp is very 

 red and flesh-colored, and has an agreeable taste like preserves. It 

 has a kernel larger and longer than a chestnut, which it resembles in 

 color and smoothness ; the seed inside is an excellent laxative. Its 

 leaves are like those of a pippin. They raise them generally in hot 

 regions ; they grow wild also in the woods. 



230. The pineapple resembles a bunchy thistle ; it is cultivated like 

 an artichoke. The fruit is like a large pine cone ; they peel ofif the 

 rind with a knife and cut it up into slices ; its color is like that of a 

 peach, its flavor superior and juicier, sweet with a bittersweet tang. 

 This fruit grows only in the hot regions. 



231. The custard-apple grows on a medium-sized tree like an 

 almond ; the fruit resembles a pine cone, of the color of an artichoke, 

 and tender when ripe ; the flesh inside looks and tastes like blanc- 

 mange, with many smooth black seeds in it, pretty much like carob 

 beans. The white sapote looks like the custard-apple, but it is a 

 superior fruit in taste and general esteem. 



232. The guava tree resembles a pomegranate ; its timber is heavy 

 and tough, its leaf is like a plum leaf, but somewhat larger and 

 coarser ; the fruit is like a pear ; there are many varieties. When ripe, 

 it turns yellow ; there are white ones also ; the flesh is red in some, 

 yellow in others, with lots of seeds. It grows abundantly in all the 

 Indies, both cultivated and wild in the woods ; those which are called 

 matos are an excellent and delicate fruit. To recent arrivals from 

 Spain, at their first taste of them, they seem to possess a bedbug odor. 



Chapter XXIII 



Continuing the Description of P'ruit, and Other Matters. 



233. The chiquisapote (sapodilla) is a tree like a laurel, with leaves 

 like those of the pippin ; the fruit is the size of a pippin, with a thin 

 white and gray skin ; its flesh is the color of peach preserves ; it is 

 an excellent and delicate fruit, with some seeds a bit larger than carob 

 beans. In New Spain they reckon it among their best fruits. 



234. The pitahaya grows on a medium-sized tree, with leaves of 

 the type of mint leaves ; the fruit is like a small sharp-pointed pine 

 cone ; it is of a pleasant bittersweet taste, and has seeds like the 

 custard-apple. 



II 



I 



