164 



line flavour ; they are now cultivated at La Vic- 

 toria., at Nueva Valencia, and every where in 

 the valleys of Aragua. The papaw-tree (papaya 

 de la laguna) abounds also in the island of Cura, 

 and at Cabo-blanco ; it's trunk shoots higher 

 than that of the common papaw {carica papaya), 

 but it's fruit is only half as large, perfectly 

 spherical, without projecting ribs, and four or 

 five inches in diameter. When cut open, it is 

 found quite filled with seeds, and without those 

 hollow places, which occur constantly in the 

 common papaw. The taste of this fruit, of 

 which I have often eaten is extremely sweet*. 

 I know not whether it be a variety of the carica 

 inicrocarpa, described by Jacquin. 



The environs of the lake are unhealthful only 

 in times of great drought, when the waters in 

 their retreat leave a muddy sediment exposed to 

 the ardour of the Sun. The banks, shaded by 

 tufts of coccoloba barbadensis, and decorated 

 with fine lilaceous plants^, remind us, by the 

 appearance of the aquatic vegetation, of the 

 marshy shores of our lakes in Europe. We find 

 there, pondweed (potamogeton), chara, and 

 cat's-tails three feet high, which it is diffi- 

 cult not to confound with the typha angustifolia 



* They attribute to them a bimling quality, and the peo- 

 ple call them tapaculo. 



f Pancratium undulatum, amaryllis nervosa. See our 

 Nov. Gen., vol. i,_ p. 278, 



