278 BANANA TREE. 
as well as form, that the description of one is ne- 
cessarily followed by that of the other. The French 
distinguish the two species by the different shape 
of the fruit ; one they call the banana with long 
fruit, the other the banana with round. The first, 
or plantain, properly so called, rises with a soft 
stalk fifteen or twenty feet high, the lower part of 
which is frequently as large as a man’s thigh. A 
bunch of large leaves bursts from the top of the stem, 
and spreads over it on every side. These leaves are 
seven or eight feet long, and two or three broad : 
they are said to be rolled up in a kind of sheath 
before they make their appearance, and that in this 
state their growth is so amazingly quick, that they 
may be seen to rise towards the top of the stem with 
the naked eye. While they are pushing up in this 
manner, if a fine line is drawn across, level with the 
top of the leaf, in an hour’s time the leaf will be 
near an inch above it. When the plant is arrived at 
its full size, a spike of flowers will be seen to push 
up from its centre, which is often near four feet in 
length, and bends downwards on one side. The 
fruit, or plantains, which proceed from these, are 
about a foot long, and an inch and a half or two 
inches in diameter : they consist of a green, or, 
when ripe, of a yellowish skin, containing a soft 
pulpy substance of a luscious flavour. The plan- 
tain spikes, when well loaded with fruit, are often 
so large as to weigh forty pounds each, and the 
food they yield the natives is so nutritious, that 
Dr. Wright says, without this fruit, the island of 
