196 
LETTEES FEOM ALABAMA. 
oblong, and not nnfrequently pear-shaped. The 
rind is smooth, dark green, nsnally marked more 
or less distinctly with longitudinal stripes of a 
lighter hue. The flesh is very spongy, generally 
white, but often tinged with a delicate pink or 
crimson : the central part, in which the numerous 
seeds are lodged, has often struck me as bearing a 
strong resemblance to snow saturated with water, 
and when put into the mouth, melts deliciously 
away like snow into the sugary juice, of which the 
delicate cells are full : and though perhaps not quite 
so cold as melting snow, it may be considered as 
the best realization of the French princess’s bril- 
liant idea, of ^4ce with the chill taken off,” espe- 
cially when drawn from the obscure retreat” of 
the underground cellar, to which they are usually 
consigned, for at least a night, to cool after being 
gathered. A cart-load is brought home from the 
field, nearly every evening, to supply the demand 
of the family for the next day; for during this 
torrid weather, very little business but the eating 
of water-melons is transacted. If a guest call, the 
first offering of friendship is a glass of cold water 
as soon as seated ; then there is an immediate 
shout for water-melons, and each taking his own, 
several are destroyed before the knife is laid down. 
The ladies cut the hard part, near the rind, into 
stars, and other pretty shapes, which they candy 
as a conserve for winter. 
With these are interspersed occasional plants of 
the little Smell Lemon [Cucurbita ovifera?). The 
fruit is about the size of a small orange, perfectly 
round ; its appearance is beautiful, the hue being 
bright glossy red, with stripes of yellow running 
round, like the meridian lines on a globe. The 
