;326 A VOYAGE TO Book VI. 



sively produce fresh leaves, the largest being nearest to 

 the stem, which is fullot" knots, as are alsothcbranches, 

 and from these the leaves have their origin. The 

 iisurd height of this plant is about three yards, which 

 it seldom exceeds. The season when the nopal divS- 

 plays all its bciiuty and vigour is, like that of other 

 plants, from the spring to the autumn, which at 

 Oaxacn, and other parts ofNor'h America, is at the 

 same time a^ in Spain, íes bu^som is small, of a 

 bright red, and in the shnpc of a bud, from the centre 

 of which proceeds the tuna, a name given to its 

 fruit ; and as this increases, the blossom fades, till at 

 length it falls. When the tuna, or fig, is ripe, the 

 outward skin becomes whitej but the pulp is so fully 

 impregnated with a deep red, ihat it tinges of a blood 

 colour the urine of those who eat it ; a circumstance 

 of no small uneasiness to those who are unacquainted 

 with this particular. Few fruits, however, aie either 

 more wholcsofiie or pleasant. 



The ground where the nopal is intended to be 

 planted must be carefully cleansed from all kinds of 

 weeds, as they drain the soil of those juices wdiich 

 the nopal requires. Also after the cochineal is takeq 

 from the plant, which is never done till the insects 

 are arrived at perfection, all the superfluous leaves 

 are plucked oír, tl;at they may be succeeded by others 

 the following year. For it must be ob::erved, that 

 the thineai which are bred on young plants thrive 

 much better, and are of a finer quality, than those 

 produced on such as have slood some years. 



The cochineal was formerly imagined to be a fruit 

 or seed of some particular piar;t ; an error which pro- 

 bably arose from an ignorance of the manner in 

 which it is propagated; but, at present, every one is 

 convinced of its being an insect, agreeably to its 

 name, signifying a wood-louse, which^encrally breeds 

 in damp places, especially in gardens. These insects, 

 hy rolling themselves up, form a little ball, some- 

 thing," 



