THE BANANA PLANT. 



189 



with the cotton, and in such situations yields 

 more plentifully than in the lands which border 

 upon the coast. Boiled maize is a common 

 breakfast for the slaves in the cotton districts ; 

 the dish resembles thick peas' soup, and is far 

 from being unpalatable if sugar or treacle is 

 added. The people call it angn de milho. 



The Banana Plant is too well known to 

 take up much space here. There are in Per- 

 nambuco three species of it , the banana curta 

 or short banana ; this is a small fruit, not ex- 

 ceeding two inches in length -, — the banana 

 comprida> or long banana, which is the plantain ; 

 — and lately the third species has been intro- 

 duced, and has obtained the strange name of 

 the banana de quatro vintems, or four vintems 

 banana, because the clusters of the fruit are 

 so large that each cluster may be sold for four 

 vintems, — rather more than 5d. I do not think 

 that as much utility is derived from the plant 

 as it is capable of affording ; it is not so gene- 

 rally used as a food by the negroes, as it ought 

 to be. The banana curta, with dry farinha, is 

 a common breakfast among people of colour. * 



* The long banana or plantain appears to be of much more 

 importance in Demarary and the adjoining colonies, for Mr. 

 Bolingbroke says, " This coast (between the Essequibo and 

 PomarOon rivers) possesses a considerable advantage over the 

 other sea-coasts, from its being able to rear any quantity of 

 plantains." — Voyage to the Demarary. &c. p. 115.; and at 



