NATURAL HISTORY 



539 



valley, which extends from near 

 Quicksand river for seventy miles 

 westward, and is a principal arti- 

 cle of trade between the inhabi- 

 tants of that valley and those of 

 the sea coast. 



The shrub rises to the height 

 of four or five feet ; the stem 

 simple and much branched. The 

 bark is of a reddish dark brown ; 

 the main stem somewhat rough, 

 while that of the bough is smooth ; 

 the leaf is about one tenth of an 

 inch long, obtuse at the apex, 

 and acute and angidar at the in- 

 sertion of the pedicle. The leaf 

 is three fourths of an indi in 

 length, and three eighths in 

 width, smooth, and of a paler 

 green than evergreens generally 

 are. The fruit is a small deep 

 purple berry, and of a pleasant 

 flavour J the natives eat the berry 

 vrhen ripe, but seldom collect 

 such quantities as to dry for win- 

 ter use. 



FRUITS. 



The native fruits and berries in 

 use among the Indians, are what 

 they call the shallua ; the solme ; 

 the cranberry ; a berry like the 

 black haw ; the scarlet berry of 

 the plant called sacacommis ; a 

 purple berry, like the huckle- 

 berry. 



1 . The shallun is an evergreen 

 plant, abounding in this neigh- 

 bourhood, and its leaves are the 

 favourite food of the elk. It is a 

 thick growth, cylindrically rising 

 to the height of three, and some- 

 times five feet, and varying from 

 the size of a goose quill, to that 

 of a man's thumb. The stem is 

 simple, branching, reclining, and 

 partially fluxuose, with a bark 

 which, on the elder part, is of a 



reddish brown colour, while the 

 younger branches are red where 

 exposed to the sun, and green 

 elsewhere. The leaf .is three 

 fourths of an inch in length, and 

 two and a half in breadth ; of an 

 oval form ; tlie upper disk of a 

 glossy deep green, the under of a 

 pale green ; the fruit is a deep 

 purple berry, about the size of u 

 comnion black cherry, oval and 

 rather bluntly pointed ; the peri- 

 carp is divided into five acute an- 

 gular points, and envelops a soft 

 pulp, containing a great numbci' 

 of small brown seeds. 



2. The solme is a small, pale, 

 red berry, the production of a 

 plant, resembling in size and 

 shape that which produces the 

 fruit, called in the United States, 

 Solomon's sealberry. The beiry 

 is attached to the stem in the 

 same manner. It is of a globular 

 form ; containing a soft pulp, 

 which envelops four seeds about 

 the size of the seed of the common 

 small grape. It grows amongst 

 the woodland moss, and is, to all 

 appearance, an annual plant. 



3. The cranberry is of the Ioav 

 and viny kind, and grows in the 

 marshes or bogs of this neigh- 

 bourhood : it is precisely the sam.e 

 as the cranberry of the United 

 States. 



4. The fruit, v.hich, thr)ugh 

 rather larger, resembles in shH[)e 

 the black haw, is a light bi-oun 

 berry, the fruit of a tree about 

 the size, shape, and appearance 

 in every respect, of that of the 

 United States, called the wild 

 crab-a})plc. The leaf is also pre- 

 cisely the same ; as also the bark 

 in texture and colour. The ber- 

 ries grow in clumps at the end of 

 the small branches; each berry 



supported 



