CHAPTER VI 



IN PRAISE OF THE PAPAW 



Properties varied and approaching the magical have 

 been ascribed to one of the commonest plants of North 

 Queensland ; and yet how trivial and prosaic are the 

 honours bestowed upon it. That which makes women 

 beautiful for ever ; which renews the strength of man ; which 

 is a sweet and excellent food, and which provides medicine 

 for various ills, cannot be said to lack many of the attributes 

 of the elixir of life, and is surely entitled to a special paean 

 in a land languishing for population. 



Distinctive and significant as the virtues possessed by 

 the papaw are, yet because of its universality and because 

 it yields its fruits with little labour, it gets but scant courtesy. 

 It is tolerated merely ; but if we had it not, if it were as far 

 as that vast shore washed by the farthest sea, men would 

 adventure for such merchandise — and adventure at the 

 bidding of women. How few there are who recognise in 

 the everyday papaw one of the most estimable gifts of 

 kindly Nature ? 



Some who dwell in temperate climes claim for the 



apple and the onion superlative qualities. In the papaw 



the excellences of both are blended and combined. The 



onion may induce to slumber, but the sleep it produces is 



it not a trifle too balmy? The moral life and high 



standard of statesmanship of an American Senator are 



cited as examples of the refining influences of apples. 



For every day for thirty years he has, to the exclusion of 



all other food, lunched on that fruit. Possibly the papaw 



may be decadent in respect to morals and politics. The 



grape, lemon, orange, pomelo, and the strawberry, each in 



the estimation of special enthusiasts, is proclaimed the 



panacea for many of the ills of life. One writer cites cases 



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