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extremely sweet, easy of digestion, and diuretic. The 
moisture in them is so great, that they serve both 
to satisfy hunger and thirst: they grow under low 
hedges. 
The Vahala grows underground, as large as a good 
sized pumpkin ; they are eaten both dressed and raw, 
and are plentiful in many of the provinces. 
The Hompouc and Fandre roots are well tasted.— 
The ompilampes and ompizees, a sort of philosophers 
who live retired in the woods, where they neither 
plant, sow, nor interfere in the concerns of domestic 
life, live on these and the last-mentioned roots. 
The Sonzes (Ai'um Esculentum) are cabbages with 
very large round leaves ; these have the same taste as 
our cabbages, and the roots that of the artichoke 
bottoms. 
Houmins, or Yoamitsa, are small roots like turnip- 
radishes, about the size of the thumb ; one plant of 
these produces a hundred in a year. 
There are three sorts of Nenufar, with white, yel¬ 
low, and violet flowers : these are small, and eaten 
like chesnuts, either boiled or roasted. 
The Rangu Zaa is a plant bearing a white flower, 
and its fruit is a species of onions. 
Leeks, purslane, lettuces, carrots, cabbage, four 
sorts of turnips, anise, and mustard, grow here in 
abundance. Hemp also is plentiful; and nine spe¬ 
cies of tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum) are found in 
every part of the island. The natives chew the leaves 
of hemp as well as tobacco, and it has a narcotic effect, 
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