Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



tropical aspect than perhaps any other plant in 

 general cultivation. It was introduced at an 

 early period. Thomas Nichols, a resident 

 at the Canaries about 1560, wrote a short 

 account of Madeira, in which he says, " The 

 banana is in singular esteem and even venera- 

 tion, being reckon'd for its deliciousness, the 

 forbidden fruit. To confirm this surmise, they 

 allege the size of its leaves. It is considered 

 almost a crime to cut this fruit with a knife, 

 because after dissection it gives a faint simili- 

 tude of a crucifix ; and this, they say, is to 

 wound Christ's sacred image." I believe this 

 idea still prevails among the lower orders. For 

 local consumption the small fruited " silver 

 banana," which grows on a tall tree, is more 

 highly esteemed than the banana of commerce, 

 which is a better traveller. 



Once upon a time, in the far-off Victorian 

 days, it was the pleasant habit of young ladies 

 to collect fronds of ferns, or other botanical 

 specimens, but before all things ferns, and to 

 press them between sheets of paper, sub- 

 sequently connected, when the collection 

 approached completion, with graceful ribbons. 

 Croquet and its more strenuous successors were 



17S 



