140 PHYSIOGNOMY OF PLANTS. 



of palms. " In palmetis, Pihiguao consitis, singoli trunci 

 quotannis fere 400 fructus ferunt pomiformes, tritumque est 

 verbum inter Fratres S. Francisci, ad ripas Orinoci et 

 Gauinise degentes, mire pinguescere Indorum corpora, quo- 

 ties uberem Palmoe fructum fundant." (Humboldt, de Dis- 

 trib. geogr. Plant, p. 240.) 



( l6 ) p. 22. " Since the earliest infancy of human 

 civilisation" 



In all tropical countries we find the cultivation of the 

 Banana or Plantain established from the earliest times with 

 which tradition or history make us acquainted. It is cer- 

 tain that in the course of the last few centuries African 

 slaves have brought new varieties to America, but it is 

 equally certain that Plantains were cultivated in the new 

 world before its discovery by Columbus. The Guaikeri 

 Indians at Oumana assured us that on the Coast of Paria, 

 near the Golfo Triste, when the fruits were allowed to remain 

 on the tree till ripe, the plantain sometimes produced seeds 

 which would germinate ; and in this manner plantains are 

 occasionally found growing wild in the recesses of the forest, 

 from ripe seeds conveyed thither by birds. Perfectly formed 

 seeds have also sometimes been found in plantain fruits at 

 Bordones, near Cumana. (Compare my Essai sur la Geo- 

 graphic des Plantes, p. 29; and my Eelat. hist. T. i. pp. 

 104 and 587, T. ii. pp. 355 and 367.) 



I have already remarked elsewhere (Kosmos, Bd. ii. 

 S. 191 ; English edition, p. 156), that Onesicritus and 

 the other companions of Alexander, while they make no 



