Labat does not believe in the virtue of the herbe de couleuvres in this case.
[176] Du Tertre speaks of the savages making use in their dishes of l’eau de manyoc.—Histoire des Antilles, &c. tom. ii. p. 389.
“Nos sauvages qui en mettent (the juice of the mandioc) dans toutes leurs sauces n’en sont jamais incommodez parce qu’ils ne s’en servent jamais que quand il a boüilli.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. i, p. 400.
Likewise in the “Voyage a la Guiane,” p. 101, “Le suc de manioc cet instrument de mort devient, travaillé par les creoles de Cayenne, une sauce appétissante et salutaire.”
“The juice is boiled with meat and seasoned, and makes excellent soup, which is termed casserepo, and used in pepper-pot and sauces.”—Voyage to the Demerary, &c. by H. Bolingbroke, p. 149.
Dr. Pinckard mentions having tasted in the colony of Demerary of the juice of the cassada prepared as sauce.—Notes on the West-Indies, vol. ii. p. 257.
During the famine of 1793, the people of Pernambuco made use of the juice as food; but in times of plenty it is regarded as being unfit for any purpose. It is by evaporation that it loses its poisonous qualities.
[177] Du Tertre speaks of a species of harmless mandioc, which is called Kamanioc, and he adds, that it is assez rare.—Histoire des Antilles, &c. tom. ii. p. 114.
Labat likewise speaks of the Camanioc, “comme qui diroit le chef des maniocs. En effet son bois, ses feüilles et ses racines sont plus grandes et plus grosses que les autres maniocs. Mais comme il est beaucoup plus long tems à crôitre et à mûrir, et que ses racines rendent beaucoup moins de farine parce qu’elles sont plus legéres et plus spongieuses que les autres, on le neglige et peu de gens en plantent.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. i. p. 411.
It is not only the root of the macaxeira which is smaller, but the plant is, I think, altogether smaller than the other species.