BANANA — MANIOC. 323 



It is calculated that the same extent of ground in CHAP.XXV. 

 Mexico on which the hanana is raised is capable of Economy oj 

 maintaining fifty individuals, whereas in Europe, under space, 

 wheat it would not furnisli subsistence for two ; and 

 nothing strikes a traveller more than the diminutive 

 appearance of the spots under culture round a hut 

 which contains a numerous family. 



The region where it is cultivated produces also the jatropha. 

 valuable plant Jatropha, of which the root, as is well 

 known, affords the flour of manioc, usually converted 

 into bread, and furnishes what the Spanish colonists call 

 pan de tierrn caliente. This vegetable is only success- 

 fully grown within the tropics, and in the mountainous 

 region of Mexico is never seen above the elevation of 

 2625 feet. Two kinds are raised, the sweet and the 

 bitter. The root of the former may be eaten without 

 danger, while that of the latter is a very active poison. 

 Both may be made into bread ; but the bitter is pre- Bread. 

 ferred for this purpose, tlie poisonous juice being 

 carefully separated from the fecula, called cassava, 

 before making the dough. Raynal asserted that the 

 manioc was transported from Africa to America to serve 

 for the maintenance of the negroes ; but our author 

 shows that it was cultivated there long before the arrival 

 of Europeans on that side of the Atlantic. The bread 

 made of it is very nutritive ; but, being extremely 

 brittle, it does not answer for distant carriage. The 

 fecula, however, grated, dried, and smoked, is used on 

 journeys. The root loses its poisonous qualities on 

 being boiled, and in this state the decoction is used as a ' 

 sauce, although serious accidents sometimes happen 

 when it has not been long enough exposed to heat. 

 The husbandry of it, we may observe, requires more 

 care than that of the banana. In this respect it resem- 

 bles the potato ; and the roots are ripe in seven or eight 

 months after the slips have been planted. 



The same region produces maize, the cultivation of jialzci 

 which is more extensive than that of the banana and 

 manioc. Advancing towards the central plains, we meet 



