592 Macfadi/en's Flora of Jamaica. 



The fruit is called by tlie Spaniards 7?^o del inferno (Picas in- 

 fernalis), from the prickly hairs with which it is armed ; or, ac- 

 cording to some, because the seeds will "send any that take them 

 wilfully to the infernal regions, being much stronger than any 

 opium." The milky juice of the plants, on being exposed to the 

 air, changes to a bright yellow; and, on drying, assumes the ap- 

 pearance of gamboge; whence the name of gamboge thistle. 



'Nasturtium officinale, the common water-cress, is found, in 

 Jamaica, in every rivulet not subject to be dried up during 

 drought. This is another plant very extensively distributed ; 

 being found from the Cape of Good Hope to Norway, and from 

 Japan to Madeira, in the Old World; and throughout North and 

 South America, as well as in the West India islands, of the 

 New. 



Brdssica olerdcea, the common cabbage, is cultivated in Ja- 

 maica, and brought to as great perfection as in Britain. The 

 seed is generally procured from England or the United States. 

 The turnip is cultivated, but seldom comes to perfection, except 

 in the mountains, where it is grown to a large size, and with a 

 flavour not inferior to the turnips of Europe. 



Eriodendron anfractubsum, the West India cotton tree, is a 

 deciduous tree of rapid growth, readily propagated from stakes 

 or posts, planted in the ground. " A superb row of these trees 

 at 13elvedere pastures, St. Thomas in the East, was established 

 from posts fixed in the earth, in making a common rail fence. 

 Perhaps no tree in the world has a more lofty and imposing 

 appearance, whether overtopping its humbler companions in 

 some woody district, or rising in solitary grandeur in some 

 open plain. Even the untutored children of Africa are so 

 struck with the majesty of its appearance, that they designate it 

 the God tree, and account it sacrilege to injure it with the axe ; 

 so that, not unfrequently, not even the fear of punishment will 

 induce them to cut it down. Even in a state of decay, it is an 

 object of their superstitious fears : they regard it as consecrated 

 to evil spirits, whose favour they seek to conciliate by offerings 

 placed at its base. The large stems of this tree are hollowed 

 out to form canoes. The wood is soft, and subject to the attack 

 of insects ; but, if steeped in strong lime-water, it will last for 

 several years, even when made into boards or shingles, and in 

 situations exposed to the influence of the weather. The young 

 leaves are sometimes dressed by the negroes as a substitute for 

 okras. The wool has been employed in stuffing mattresses; and 

 is said to answer the purpose equally well as feathers, but to be 

 rather warm. The caterpillar of the macaca beetle, considered 

 by some, when gutted and fried, as a very great dehcacy, is to 

 be found in abundance in the decayed stems of this tree." 

 (p. 93.) 



