42 THE WONDERS OF VEGETATION. 



The fruit of this tree ripens during eight consecu- 

 tive months in the year. The islanders live upon it 

 as we do upon our manufactured bread it is their 

 main food, and nature as we see furnishes it to them 

 without their being put to the trouble of cultivating 

 the ground, of sowing, reaping, threshing, grinding 

 or baking. To have their " fresh bread " they choose 

 the time when the pulp is farinaceous, which they 

 can teU by the green color of the rind. The neces- 

 sary preparation " for the table " is accomplished by 

 cutting them in thick slices and cooking them upon 

 a charcoal fire ; when ready, each " loaf" weighs about 

 a pound. They are sometimes also placed upon a 

 heated oven, as we do with pastry, and left there 

 until the rind begins to blacken. Then the burnt 

 part is scraped clean, as your toast, and the interior is 

 white, ready to be eaten, tender as the crumbs of 

 French rolls, but little differing in taste from wheaten 

 bread, except only a slight flavor suggestive of the in- 

 side of an artichoke. As the natives want bread 

 throughout the whole year, they take advantage of 

 the time when the fruits are abundant and prepare 

 from the pulp of the surplus fruit a paste which, after 

 being fermented, can be kept a long time without 

 turning sour. During the four months when the 

 trees do not yield, the natives live upon this prepara- 

 tion. 



The expedition to which we referred was that 

 made by Captain Bligh, sent in search of the bread- 

 tree of Otaheiti for the purpose of introducing it 



