328 MANIOC MAIZE. 



Mexico on which the banana is raised is capable 

 of maintaining fifty individuals, whereas in Europe 

 under wheat it would not furnish subsistence for two ; 

 and nothing strikes a traveller more than the diminu- 

 tive appearance of the spots under culture round a 

 hut which contains a numerous family. 



The region where it is cultivated produces also the 

 valuable plant (Jatropha) of which the root, as is 

 well known, affords the flour of manioc, usually con- 

 verted into bread, and furnishes what the Spanish 

 colonists call pan de tierra caliente. This vegetable 

 is only successfully grown within the tropics, and 

 in the mountainous region of Mexico is never seen 

 above the elevation of 2625 feet. Two kinds are 

 raised, the sweet and the bitter. The root of the 

 former may be eaten without danger, while that of 

 the latter is a very active poison. Both may be made 

 into bread ; but the bitter is preferred for this pur- 

 pose, the poisonous juice being carefully separated 

 from the fecula, called cassava, before making the 

 dough. Raynal asserted that the manioc was trans- 

 ported from Africa to America to serve for the main- 

 tenance of the negroes ; but our author shows that 

 it was cultivated there long before the arrival of 

 Europeans on that side of the Atlantic. The bread 

 made of it is very nutritive ; but, being extremely 

 brittle, it does not answer for distant carriage. The 

 fecula, however, grated, dried, and smoked, is used 

 on journeys. The root loses its poisonous qualities 

 on being boiled, and in this state the decoction is 

 used as a sauce, although serious accidents some- 

 times happen when it has not been long enough ex- 

 posed to heat. The husbandry of it, we may observe, 

 requires more care than that of the banana. In this 

 respect it resembles the potato ; and the roots are 

 ripe in seven or eight months after the slips have 

 been planted. 



The same region produces maize, the cultivation 

 of which is more extensive than that of the banana 



