390 



VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



THE PAPAW Carica 



papaya. 



Though the papavv-tree is now found in the East 

 as well as in the West, it is generally understood to 

 be a native of America, and to have been carried to 

 the East about the time of the first intercourse be- 

 tween the two continents. The papaw rises with a 

 hollow stem to the height of about twenty feet, after 

 which it has a head composed, not of branches, but 

 of leaves and very long foot-stalks. The male and 

 female flowers are on different trees : the female 

 flowers are bell-shaped, large, generally yellow, and 

 followed by a fleshy fruit, about the size of a small 

 melon. The tree, and even the fruit, are full of an 

 acrid milky juice ; but the fruit is eaten with sugar 

 and pepper, like melon ; and when the half-grown 

 fruit is properly pickled, it is but little inferior to the 

 pickled mango of the East Indies. There are many 



