74 A VOYAGE TO Book L 



The other fruits of this country are equally valua- 

 ble in their feveral kinds; and fome of them alfo dif- 

 tinguifhed for their fragrancy, as the guayaba, which 

 is, befides, both pedoral and aftringent. 



The; mod common of all are, the platanos, the name 

 of which, if not its figure and tafte, is known in all 

 parts of Europe Thefe are of three kinds. The 

 firft is the banana, which is fo large as to want but 

 little of a foot in length. Thefe are greatly ufed, be- 

 ing not only eaten as bread, but alfo an ingredient in 

 many made difhes. Both the ftone and kernel are very 

 hard ; but the latter has no noxious quality. The 

 fecond kind are the dominicos, which are neither fo 

 long nor fo large as the bananas, but of a better tafte j 

 they are ufed as the former. 



The third kind are the guineos, lefs than either of 

 the former, but far more palatable, though not reckoned 

 fo wholfome by the natives, on account of their fup» 

 .pofed heat. They feldom exceed four inches in 

 length, and their rind, when ripe, is yellower, fmoother 

 and brighter, than that of the two other kinds. 

 The cuftom of the country is to drink water after eat- 

 ing them •, but the European failors, a fet of people 

 who will not be confined in their diet, but drink brandy 

 with every thing they eat, make no difference between 

 this fruit and any other; and to this intemperance may, 

 in fome meafure, be attributed the many difeafes with 

 which they are attacked in the country, and not a few 

 fudden deaths ; which are, indeed, apt to raife, in the 

 furvivors, concern for their companions for the pre- 



The plantane and banana are, I believe, litde known in Eu- 

 rope by name. The lirft two forts the Author defcribes, are bet- 

 ter known i>y the names of the long and fhort plantane, and the 

 laft by the name of banana, than by thofe he has given them. They 

 have neither ftone nor kernel, but a very frrsall feed, as fmall as that 

 ©f thyme, which lies in the fruit in rows like that of a cucumber, 

 to which the banana bears the greateft refemblance of any thing 

 ijfi England ; only it is fmooth, and not fo large. A. 



