303 



habitants of that climate. Dr. Wright says, 

 the island of Jamaica would scarcely be habi- 

 table without this fruit, as no species of provi- 

 sion could supply it's place: even flour, or 

 wheaten bread itself, would be less agreeable, 

 and less able to support the laborious negro, 

 so as to enable him to do his business, or to 

 keep up his health. 



The fruit of the plantain-tree is about a 

 foot long, and two or three inches in dia- 

 meter ; it forms a principal part of the food 

 of the negros, who either roast or boil it, 

 when it becomes a palatable and strengthen- 

 ing diet : it is often boiled in their mess of 

 salt beef, pork, or fish, &c.; many Europeans, 

 when accustomed to it, prefer it to bread. 

 When ripe, it is lusciously sweet, and makes 

 good tarts. The Spaniards dry and preserve 

 it as a sweetmeat, and it is thought to be the 

 most wholesome of all confectionary. It is 

 one of the very best foods to fatten domestic 

 animals and fowls, giving a firmness and ex- 

 quisite flavour to their flesh. 



The plantain is cultivated in Egypt, and 

 most other hot countries, where it grows to 

 perfection in about ten months from it's first 

 planting, to the ripening of it's fruit. This 

 tree is only perennial by it's roots, and dies 

 clown to the ground when it has fruited, after 



