OBSERVATIONS UPON THE ORANGE TREE. 167 



the humming-bird ; a beautiful little creature, which, when stript 

 of its plumage, is not bigger than a bee ; and, like the bee, it 

 delights in hovering over the sweetest flowers, and sipping their 

 juice, without doing them the least injury by its visit. Mr. Lambert, 

 in his Travels in Canada, says, " that they may be seen there in 

 great numbers, and that their plumage is as beautiful as that of the 

 peacock." It is frequently called the bee-bird: — 



" There, lovely bee-bird ! may'st thou rove 

 Through spicy vale, and citron grove, 

 And woo and win thy fluttering love 



With plume so bright ; 

 There rapid fly, more heard than seen, 

 Mid orange-boughs of polished green, 

 With glowing fruit, and flowers between 



Of purest -white." 



Captain Stedman, speaking of Paramaribo, says that its streets, 

 which are perfectly straight, are lined with Orange, shaddock, 

 tamarind, and lemon trees, which appear in everlasting bloom, while 

 at the same time their branches are weighed down with the richest 

 clusters of odoriferous fruit. He was in the habit of purchasing forty 

 Oranges for sixpence : yet plentiful as they were, the Orange is not 

 a native of the country, but was originally imported there from Spain 

 and Portugal. These trees are extremely beautiful, and adorned 

 with their fragrant blossoms throughout the year. " As for the fine 

 fragrance that is diffused through all this colony," says the Captain, 

 " by the continued groves of Orange-blossoms, and odoriferous fruits 

 that it produces, it can be more easily conceived than described." 

 In Surinam, the parlour floors are always scoured with sour oranges 

 cut through the middle, which gives the house an agreeable fragrance : 

 the negro girls, taking one half in each hand, keep singing aloud 

 while they rub the boards. 



Speaking of the negro, Captain Stedman says — " his teeth are 

 constantly kept as white as ivory ; for this purpose he uses nothing 

 but a sprig of Orange-tree, bitten at one end until the fibres resemble 

 a small brush ; and no negro, male or female, is to be seen without 

 this little instrument, which has, besides, the virtue of sweetening 

 the; breath." 



