102 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



imported from America ; while the mango, whose 

 fruit leaves room for much improvement, came 

 from India. Guavas are extensively used, either 

 uncooked, stewed, or possibly in the most favourite 

 form, made into a clear, transparent jelly. The 

 loquat bears abundantly, and as it is very readily 

 increased from seed, has become a very common 

 tree, though I do not consider the fruit to be as 

 good as those of the Italian loquats. The pittanga, 

 mentioned previously, being the fruit of a kind of 

 myrtle, Eugenia Braziliensis, and the avocado pear, 

 an insipid fruit, generally eaten with pepper and 

 salt, are both, to my mind, fruits which require an 

 acquired taste in order to appreciate them. Among 

 European fruits, the best is possibly the fig, of 

 which there are several varieties, the most popular 

 having a nearly black fruit. The trees, which grow 

 mostly near the seashore, assume curiously distorted 

 and stunted shapes, and spring from the clefts in the 

 rocks, often overhanging the sea. They are par- 

 ticularly noticeable on the road between Funchal 

 and the seaside village of Camara do Lobos. 

 Granadillos, the fruit of different varieties of 

 passion-flowers, some having purple fruit, others 

 orange, suggest an exaggerated gooseberry, as the 

 fruit when cut has much the same appearance, with 



