24 



THE ORCHILLA WEED. 



Some of the farms and plantations were in 

 very fine and luxuriant condition, and this was 

 an enjoyment to us after the arid country 'we had 

 before seen, destitute almost of vegetation, and 

 covered with loose stones. Of the feathered 

 tribe, although not very numerous, a few were 

 shot by one of the party, among which were two 

 specimens of Halcyon senegalends, and a fine 

 hawk ; quails and Guinea fowls (Numida me- 

 leagris, Linn.) were abundant, and several 

 of the former were also shot ; the crow and 

 several species of Fringillce were likewise seen. 

 In the afternoon we returned to the town. 

 The population consists for the most part of 

 mulattos and negroes : fruit, including plan- 

 tains, bananas, oranges, and pine-apples, was 

 abundant, but not yet fully in season. 



Among the very few decent houses in this 

 paltry town, was one, the residence of a Don 



part of the tree. Its pulp is slightly acid and agreeable, and 

 frequently eaten ; while the juice is expressed from it, mixed 

 with sugar, and constitutes a drink which is valued as a 

 specific in putrid and pestilential fevers." — Hooker s Bot. 

 Mag. 2792. 



" The dried pulp is mixed with water, and administered 

 in Egypt in dysentery. It is chiefly composed of a gum, 

 like gum Senegal, a sugary matter, starch, and an acid, which 

 appears to be malic." — Delile Cent. 12. Quoted in Lindleys 

 Int. to the Nat. Syst. of Botany. 



