

m 





■'■ 



32 



4 



Book V. of this edition recounts what had been accomplished in 

 New France since his return in 1607, and at p. 660, discoursing 

 of the special favour shown by God to the enterprises of the 

 French, he says, " quand la necessite de vivre est venue, Dieu a 

 fait trouver des racines, qui sont aujourd'hui les delices de 

 plusieurs tables en France, les quelles ignoraminent quelques-uns 

 appellent a Paris, topiiuunbaux, les autres plus veritablement 

 Canada (car elles sont de la venues ici) et croy que ce sont les 

 Afiodilles dont ie parleray ci-apres an chapitre De la Jure.''' 



Thus in 1617, the year in which, as we shall see, the tubers 

 seem to have reached England for the first time, they were not 

 only well known at Paris, but had already acquired the silly name 

 of topinambaux or topinambours, by which they are known all 

 over France to this day. Although not contemporary evidence, 

 the following passage may be quoted from the "Histoire naturelle 

 et morale des lies Antilles de TAmerique," Rotterdam, 1658, 

 p. 100,* where the Patate, which some call Batate,t is compared 

 to the Topinambous or Artichaus d'Inde, which, " aux superbes 

 festins, qui se firent a Paris par les Princes, a quelques Ambassa- 

 deurs, en Tan mil six cens seize (1616), on a servi comme d'un 

 mets precieus et exquis." The very year of Colonna's descrip- 

 tion of the plant !+ 



To return to Lescarbot : in the chapter De la Terre, p. 931, he 

 again describes the Jerusalem artichoke in slightly different 

 words from those of the first edition, "II y a encore en cette 

 terre certaine sorte de Racines grosses comme naveaux, ou truffes, 

 tres excellentes a manger, ayant un gout retirat aux cardes, 

 voire plus agreable, lesquelles plantees multiplient comme par 

 depit, et en telle facon que c'est merveille. Je croy que ce 

 soient Afrodilles . . . !Nous avons apporte quelques unes de ces 

 racines en France, lesquelles out tellement multiplie, que 

 tous les jardins en sont maintenant garnis, et les mange-on 

 a la fagon que dit Pline, ou avec beurre et un peu de 

 vinaigre cuites en eau. Mais ie veux ma! a ceux qui les font 

 noiumer Topinambaux aux crieurs de Paris." 



So they were in everybody's garden at Paris whilst still a 

 rarity at Rome, and an absolute novelty in England. Surely the 

 plain sense of the words " nous avons .apporte " is that Lescarbot 

 and his party brought the roots with them on their return from 

 Port Royal in the autumn of 160T, which would give them time 

 to have become common ten years later, about the same interval 

 as elapsed between their first arrival in England in 1617 and 

 Parkinson's account of their abundance here in 1629. 



It is not surprising that Lescarbot should not have mentioned 

 brins-ino- them over in his earlier edition, for their introduction 



&" i n 



* This book is anonymous; the preface is signed P. L. D., and its author- 

 ship is referred to Louis de Poiney. Later editions are frequently quoted as 



if by C de Rochefort. 



Ipoma 



is meant. 



Jin John Davies of Kidwelly's translation of this work under the title 

 of •• History of the Caribby-Islands (1666) the names are given as 

 * Toirino/mbous " or u Jerusalem Artichokes." * 



