ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 323 



negro slaves in Portugal, who ate it both raw and cooked,'* 

 and that it was "called by the Portuguese, following the 

 Moors, 'Inhame,' — by the Andalusians, ' Alcolcaz,'" etc. 

 (Rarior Stirpiuni Hist., p. 299.) In a note to his transla- 

 tion of " Garcia ab Horto " (1574, p. 217), he says that " the 

 plant called ' Inhame ' by the Portuguese has very broad 

 leaves, and grows near the water, or in water, — not spon- 

 taneously, but when once planted it propagates itself from the 

 roots," etc. 



Some of the companions of Columbus had seen the " In- 

 hame " (or " Name ") in Africa, and were ready to transfer 

 its name to the first cultivated roots they saw in America. A 

 few days after the discovery of Cuba (Nov. 4, 1492), Colum- 

 bus saw fertile fields " full of ' Mames ' [" these are ' Ajes ' or 

 ' batatas,' " notes Las Casas], which are like carrots (' Zana- 

 horias '), and other plants, including Kidney beans and Beans 

 (faxones y fabas) much unlike ours." (Navarre te, Colec, 

 i. 200.) These " mames " are mentioned again Nov. G (id., 

 203) — in both places, probably by an error of the copyist, 

 for " niames " ; for, the next month, some natives of His- 

 paniola brought " bread of ' niames,' which are roots that 

 grow as large as rapes (' rabanos '), which they plant and 

 cultivate in all their fields, and on which they live ; and they 

 make bread of them, boil them, and roast them ; and they 

 have the taste of chestnuts, and no one eating them would be- 

 lieve they were not chestnuts " (id., 238). A few days later, 

 the Spaniards learned the names of these roots — or of others 

 with which they were at first confounded. The Admiral sent 

 a present to a friendly cacique. The ofiicer who carried it 

 reported, on his return, that " all this island ( St. Domingo) 

 and Tortuga are cultivated like the country about Cordova. 

 The lands are planted with ' Ajes ' — which are little shoots 

 (ramillos) that are planted, and at the bottom of each grow 

 roots like ' zanahorias ' which they use for bread," and these 

 roots " are very savory, and taste like chestnuts." They have 

 them here larger and better than he had seen in any place ; 

 for, he said, he had " [seen] such also in Guinea " (id., p. 

 242). Again, the natives "brought bread made of 'niames,' 



