BANANA. 377 
Europe, and what the numerous varieties of rice 
are to the natives of India and China. Forster 
and other naturalists have maintained, that it did 
not exist in America previous to the arrival of the 
Spaniards, but that it was imported from the Ca- 
nary Islands in the beginning of the 16th century ; 
and in support of this opinion may be adduced the 
silence of Columbus, Alonzo Negro, Pinzon, Ves- 
pucci, and Cortes, with respect to it. This circum- 
stance, however, only proves the inattention of these 
travellers to the productions of the soil; and it is pro- 
bable that the Musa presented several species indi- 
genous to different parts of both continents. The space 
favourable to the cultivation of this valuable plant in 
Mexico is more than 50,000 square leagues, and has 
nearly a million and a half of inhabitants. In the 
warm and humid valleys of Vera Cruz, at the foot of 
the cordillera of Orizaba, the fruit occasionally ex- 
ceeds 11-8 inches in circumference, with a length of 
seven or eight. A bunch sometimes contains from 
160 to 180, and weighs from 66 to 88 tb. avoirdupois. 
Humboldt doubts whether there is any other plant 
on the globe which, in so small a space of ground, 
can produce so great a mass of nutriment. Eight 
or nine months after the sucker has been inserted 
in the earth the banana begins to form its clusters, 
and the fruit may be gathered in less than a year. 
When the stalk is cut, there is always found among 
the numerous shoots which have put forth roots 
one that bears three months later. A plantation 
is perpetuated without any other care than that of 
cutting the stems on which the fruit has ripened, 
and giving the earth a slight dressing. A spot of 
1076 feet may contain at least from thirty to forty 
