There Are Several Sorts,
Distinguished By Their Shape, Taste, And Colour, Some Being Red And
Others Yellow In The Pulp.
The prickly-pear grows on a shrub about
five feet high, and is common in many parts of the West Indies, thriving
best on sandy grounds near the sea.
Each branch has two or three round
fleshy leaves, about the breadth of the hand, somewhat like those of the
house-leek, edged all round with spines or sharp prickles an inch long.
At the outer extremity of each leaf the fruit is produced, about the
size of a large plum, small towards the leaf and thicker at the other
end, where it opens like a medlar. The fruit, which is also covered by
small prickles, is green at first, but becomes red as it ripens, having
a red pulp of the consistence of a thick syrup, with small black seeds,
pleasant and cooling to the taste. I have often observed, on eating
twenty or more of these at a time, that the urine becomes as red as
blood, but without producing any evil consequence.
We found nothing of value in Realejo, except 500 sacks of flour, with
some pitch, tar, and cordage. We also received here the 150 oxen
promised by the gentleman who was released at Leon; which, together with
sugar, and other cattle we procured in the country, were very welcome
and useful to us. We remained in Realejo from the 17th to the 24th of
August, when we re-embarked.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 415 of 825
Words from 112502 to 112754
of 224764
