46 BLUEFIELDS. 



the latter down towards the sea in their return. 

 Many of the Helix shells were so pearly in the in- 

 terior, and so bright and fresh on the exterior, as to 

 show that they could not have long lain exposed to 

 the weather, since tenanted by the original proprie- 

 tor. This suggests the inquiry, whether in any case 

 the Ccenohita destroys the Snail to obtain his shell 

 for a dwelling. 



THE CALABASH AND ORCHIDS. 



Just behind the pasture, among the fruit-trees, 

 now all choked up with bushes and young wood, are 

 many Calabash trees [Crescentia ciijete), a tree com- 

 monly found around the homesteads and negro vil- 

 lages, and cherished for the sake of the large gourd- 

 like fruit, the woody shell of which, divested of its 

 pulp, makes admirable domestic vessels. The tree has 

 a strange appearance, easily recognised when once it 

 has been seen, from the peculiarity of the foliage, 

 which does not form masses, but fringes the long 

 branches; and as these are slender and straight, 

 shooting out in all directions, and continually cross- 

 ing each other, but never tortuous, the effect is much 

 more curious than beautiful. The large oval gourds 

 hang from the branches in all stages of maturity, 

 together with the blossoms, which are large, and 

 shaped like our Canterbury bell, but of a greenish 

 hue, with dull purple lines. They are sessile, that is, 

 without footstalks, and to add to their singular ap- 

 pearance, they sit as it were on the naked bark of 

 the branches, and frequently on the bare trunk itself, 

 without any leaves or bracts surrounding them. 



