FRUITS. 



231 



The Parnplemouse or Shaddock, the Purnnialo of 

 Bombay (Citrus Decuniana), has been planted 

 upon the Island, but the people declare that it 

 will not ripen : the same is said of the citron, 

 and the Zanzibarians ignore the Persian art of 

 preserving it. 



Bananas at Zanzibar are of two varieties, red 

 and yellow: they are not remarkable for deli- 

 cacy of taste. In the highlands of the interior, 

 as Usumbara and Karagvvah, the 6 musa ' may be 

 called the staff of life. The plantain, in India 

 termed 6 horse-plantain,' is a coarse kind, some- 

 times a foot long, and full of hard black seeds : 

 Europeans fry it in butter, and the people hold 

 it to be a fine e strong ' fruit. The musa bears 

 during all the year in Zanzibar, but it is not 

 common in May and June. 



The pine-apple of the New World grows 

 almost wild in every hedgerow and bush : culti- 

 vation and planting near running water would 

 greatly improve it. At present the crown is 

 stuck in the earth, and is left to its fate wher- 

 ever the place may be. Strangers are advised to 

 remove the thick outer rind, including all the 

 c eyes,' which, adhering to the coats of the 

 stomach, have caused inflammation, dysentery, 

 and death. The ananas ripens in the cold 



