There Are Abundance Of Wild
Grapes In The Woods, But Having A Woody And Bitterish Taste.
The nuts of
the palmito are eaten roasted.
They use but little pepper and grains,
the one in surgery and the other in cooking. There is a singular fruit,
growing six or eight together in a bunch, each as long and thick as
one's finger, the skin being of a brownish yellow colour, and somewhat
downy, and within the rind is a pulp of a pleasant taste; but I know not
if it be wholesome.
[Footnote 209: Probably the Manchencel - E.]
[Illustration: map]
I observed in the woods certain trees like beeches, bearing fruit
resembling beans, of which I noticed three kinds. One of these was a
great tall tree, bearing cods like those of beans, in each of which was
four or five squarish beans, resembling tamarind seeds, having hard
shells, within which is a yellow kernel, which is a virulent poison,
employed by the negroes to envenom their arrows. This they call Ogon.
The second is smaller, having a crooked pod with a thick rind, six or
seven inches long, and half that breadth, containing each five large
beans an inch long. The third, called quenda, has short leaves like
the former, and much bigger fruit, growing on a strong thick woody
stalk, indented on the sides, nine inches long and five broad, within
which are five long beans, which are also said to be dangerous. I
likewise saw trees resembling willows, bearing fruit like pease-cods.
There is a fruit called Gola, which grows in the interior. This fruit,
which is inclosed in a shell, is hard, reddish, bitter, and about the
size of a walnut, with many angles and corners. The negroes are much
given to chew this fruit along with the bark of a certain tree. After
one person has chewed it a while, he gives it to his neighbour, and so
from one to another, chewing it long before they cast it away; but
swallowing none of its substance. They attribute great virtues to this
for the teeth and gums; and indeed the negroes have usually excellent
teeth. This fruit passes also among them for money.[210] Higher within
the land they cultivate cotton, which they call innumma, and of which
they spin very good yarn with spindles, and afterwards very ingeniously
weave into cloths, three quarters of a yard broad, to make their girdles
or clouts formerly mentioned; and when sewed together it is made into
jackets and breeches for their great men. By means of a wood called
cambe, they dye their purses and mats of a red colour.
[Footnote 210: In a side-note; Purchas calls this the fruit of the
carob tree. - E.]
The tree on which the plantains grow is of considerable height, its
body being about the thickness of a man's thigh. It seems to be an
annual plant, and, in my opinion, ought rather to be reckoned among
reeds than trees; for the stem is not of a woody substance, but is
compacted of many leaves wrapped close upon each other, adorned with
leaves from the very ground instead of boughs, which are mostly two
yards long and a yard broad, having a very large rib in the middle.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 217 of 424
Words from 112887 to 113434
of 221842
