306 FOREIGN BIRDS. 



With the Pine- Apple/ rich in a nectarine taste, 

 The clefts of the rocks in abundance are grac'd. 

 There, too, Ricinus* broad-leav'd, whose reniform 



seed 

 Secretes in its cells panaceas indeed ; 

 There the Capsicum 3 rich in pods pungent and red; 

 And there the Banana 4 uplifts too her head. 



Thus the Lord of the Mountain (') waspleas'd to 



invite 

 His vassals to meet on this day of delight. 



( J ) Order, Accipitres, (Linn.) Condor, Vulture, the 

 King, the Aura, the Crested, the Aquiline. 

 The genus Vultur, (Linn.) or Vulture, to which the 

 Condor or Condur, the Vultur gryphus, belongs, and to which 



1 Bromelia Ananas. 



2 Ricinus Communis, or Palmu Christi. An annual plant, grow- 

 ing plentifully in the West Indies ; it is of very quick growth, 

 and sometimes attains the height of sixteen feet. From its seed is 

 obtained the well known and safe purgative called Castor Oil. 



3 The Capsicum Annuum 9 buccatum, and other species of Bird 

 Pepper, are well known pungent stimulants, from some of which 

 is obtained the Cayenne Pepper. 



4 The Musa sapientum, or Banana Tree, is supposed to he 

 a native of Guinea, whence it was carried to the West Indies, 

 where it now flourishes most abundantly. The stalks of this 

 plant are peculiarly porous j the root alone is perennial, the 

 rest dying down to the ground every year; the leaves are two 

 yards long and a foot broad. The fruit is in the form of a cu- 

 cumber, four or five inches long. The weight of a bunch of 

 hananas usually exceeds twelve pounds ; when ripe it is eaten 

 by all ranks of people eitlier raw or fried. 



