WILD PLANTS USED AS FOOD. 189 



not in this country used as an esculent. We learn 

 from travellers, however, that some nations apply 

 it to this purpose. In the shallows of the Don 

 this plant flourishes luxuriantly. ' We found the 

 inhabitants Of Axay,' says Dr Clarke, ' and after- 

 wards those of Tcherkask, devouring the typha 

 palustris raw, with as much avidity as if this article 

 of diet had been connected with some religious ob- 

 servances. The stalks appeared in all the streets, 

 and in every house, bound into little fascines about 

 three feet in length, as our gardeners bind aspa- 

 ragus ; these bundles were hawked about or sold 

 in the shops. The season for eating this vege- 

 table had just commenced. The Cossacks, peeling 

 off the outer cuticle, select, near the root- of the 

 plant, a tender white part of the stem, which, for 

 about the length of eighteen inches, affords a crisp, 

 cooling, and very pleasant article of food. We 

 ate of it heartily, and became as Ibnd of it as were 

 the Cossacks, with whom, young or old, rich or 

 poor, it is a most favourite repast. The taste is 

 somewhat insipid, but in hot climates this cool and 

 pleasant vegetable would be highly esteemed. The 

 Cossack officers, however, who had been in other 

 countries, said that it is only fit for food when it 

 grows in the marshes of the Don.'* This plant 

 is found native in all parts of the world, in ponds, 

 ditches, and marshy places, and by the sides of 

 brooks and rivers. It flourishes alike in the northern 

 regions of Sweden and under the fervid sun of the 

 West Indies ; it is likewise an inhabitant of New 

 Zealand. 



The WILD-LETTUCE is indigenous to England, 

 and grows abundantly in many parts : yet it is doubt- 

 ful whether it ever furnished food to the ancient 

 Britons. The Romans were well acquainted with the 



* Travels in Russia, vol. i, p. 349. 



