TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 39 



Admiral Collingwood took a stock of them salted 

 among their provisions. In the sequel of this nar- 

 rative, we shall have occasion, to speak of the im- 

 portance of these fleshy plants (which derive 

 almost their whole nourishment from the air) to 

 the inhabitants of some of the arid districts of 

 Brazil, and show how necessity and experience 

 direct the most remote nations, to make the same use 

 of the productions of nature. Here, as in Calabria, 

 a very durable and silky thread is made of the 

 fibres of the American aloe. Instead of hay they 

 use theSula (Hedj/sarumcoronarium), which is sown 

 in fields, and is generally brought to market fresh, 

 in bundles, for sale. This fodder would be pre- 

 ferable to our sain-fbin, but seems not able to bear 

 the German winter. A remarkable production of 

 Malta is the Fungus melitensis *, a leafless fleshy 

 plant, which grows parasitically at the roots of the 

 trees on the sea-shore, and was formerly celebrated 

 as a favourite remedy for the phthisis. The peo- 

 ple regard the peculiar form of this plant as an 

 evidence of its wonderful virtues, which, however, 

 are not confirmed. Nay, the government itself 

 formerly set a high value on this singular plant, 

 and had it cultivated at Casal Bingli, not far from 

 Boschetto, by two persons, each of whom received 

 an annual salary of fifty scudi. We saw in the 

 fields maize, oats, barley, buck wheat, and beans. 

 The wheat is said to produce, in the worst soil, 



• See Note 2. page 50. 

 D 4 



