&§M £&§& '§$$& 





182 



THE COCO-TREE. 



it is sold. The smell is however entirely re- 

 moved after the farinha has been for some 

 minutes upon the oven. * 



THE COCO-TREE. 



The sandy soils of the coast in which this 

 plant seems to delight would, if they were not 

 cultivated with it, remain almost useless ; but 

 from the produce which the coco-tree yields 

 they are rendered very valuable. The lands 

 which are occupied by this plant alone yield 

 a settled income to the owners of them without 

 much labour ; whilst the cultivation of any 

 other requires considerable toil ; however the 

 long period, of from five to seven years, which 



* Du Tcrtre mentions the same practice, — of steeping the 

 mandioc, and says that the savages were in the habit " De 

 la seeker au soleil et Vecorce s'ostant d'elle-mesme, Us pillenl 

 le manyoc dans un mortier, pour le reduire en farine, quils 

 mangent sans autre cuisson." — Histoire des Antilles, &c. 

 torn. ii. p. 114. 



Labat says, that the maroon negroes used to prepare it in 

 the two following ways : " C'est de la couper par morceaux, 

 et de le mettre tremper dans I'eau courante des rivieres ou des 

 ravines pendant sepi ou kuii heures. Le movement de i'cau 

 ouvrc les pores de la racine et entraine ce trop de substance. 

 La seconde maniere est de le mettre cuire tout entier sous la 

 braise. L 'action dufeu met ses parties en mouvement et on le 

 mange comme on fait des chataignes ore des patates sans aucunc 

 crai?ite." — Nouveau Voyage, &c. torn. i. p. 4-10. 



I think the said negroes must have been accustomed by 

 degrees to eating the mandioc in this manner. I should no' 

 be willing to recommend either of these ways of cooking it. 



