THE BREAD-FRUIT. 4ia 



On the 17th of September, he anchored at St. 

 Helena, collected there a number of trees, and among 

 others the akee ; and, leaving twenty-three bread- 

 fruits, and some other valuable plants, he sailed, and 

 reached St. Vincent on the •23d of January, 1793— 

 where he left, with Dr. Anderson, the superintendent 

 of the Botanical Garden, three hundred and thirty 

 three bread-fruit trees, and two hundred and eleven 

 fruit trees of other kinds, receiving at the same time 

 nearly five hundred tropical plants for the Botanical 

 Garden at Kew. From St. Vincent, Captain Bligh 

 sailed for Jamaica, where he left three hundred and 

 forty-seven bread-fruits, and two hundred and seventy- 

 six others, which were a selection of all the finest 

 fruits of the east. Some of the plants were also left 

 on the island of Grand Cayman; and the ships finally 

 came to the Downs on the 2d of August, 1793. 



But, after all the peril, hardship, and expense thus 

 incurred the bread-fruit tree has not, hitherto at least, 

 answered the expectatioi\s that were entertained. The 

 banana is more easily and cheaply cultivated, comes into 

 bearing much sooner after being planted, beasmore 

 abundantly, and is better relished by the negroes. 

 The mode of propagating the bread-fruit is not, in- 

 deed, difficult ; for the planter has only to lay bare one 

 of the roots, and mound it with a spade, and in a short 

 space a shoot comes up, which is soon fit for removal. 



Europeans are much fonder of the bread-fruit than 

 negroes. They consider it as a sort of dainty, and 

 use it either as bread or in puddings. When roasted 

 in the oven, the taste of it resembles that of a pota- 

 toe, but it is not so mealy as a good one. 



The Otaheite Hog Plum — Spoiidias cylherea. 



The tree which bears this fruit is large and grace- 

 ful, rising to the height of fifty feet, spreading and 

 shadowy. The fruit is oval, of considerable size, a 



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