FRUITS OF THE EARTH 321 



having been selected, and so marked that intrusion 

 on its hmits is unhkely, the trees are cut down and 

 left during a winter season to dry where they have 

 fallen. Towards September the area is revisited, 

 and the timber encumbering it in all directions, 

 together with the grass and undergrowth, set on 

 fire and consumed, the fertilising ashes being 

 allowed to remain and mingle with the soil at the 

 time of the first hoeing. With the early showers 

 of the spring, the millet and maize are planted ; 

 two or three seeds being sown close together, so 

 that, on springing up, one may be a support to the 

 other. As the season advances and the rains be- 

 come regular and copious, pumpkins, gourds, and 

 cucumbers are put in, together with two or three 

 kinds of beans and peas, rice, sweet potatoes, and 

 manioc. The millet is not ready for reaping until 

 the following winter— about May ; but the pump- 

 kins and beans come to maturity much more 

 rapidly, as does also the maize, which in some few 

 favoured spots gives two (if not three) harvests a 

 year. Of fruits there are but few, if one except 

 the inevitable banana, of which there are said to be 

 over thirty varieties, from the small, sweet " Lady's 

 Finger," to the almost inedible plantain. Only 

 near the older Portuguese settlements are oranges 

 and lemons found, so that the remaining fruits 

 half-heartedly cultivated include only pine-apples 

 and paw-paws {Carica papaya). Sugar cane 

 may be found here and there in small quantities, 

 but it is only grown to chew, and not for the 

 manufacture of the juice into sugar. In times of 

 famine, which are now, fortunately, few and far 



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