[272] I have often in the course of this volume spoken of the jangadas.—Transl.
[273] The seeds have a strong aromatic smell, and the taste is very pleasant.—Transl.
[274] In the neighbourhood of Goiana I saw a large piece of land completely covered with the common maracuja; the owner of the ground complained to me of the trouble which he should have in getting rid of the plant when he should wish to cultivate the land.—Transl.
[275] Excepting in times of famine, the food which may be thus obtained causes too much destruction to allow of its becoming general, and even if it should for a time afford subsistence to the people, this cannot last long, for the trees will soon be destroyed. The quantity of food which each tree yields is too small, the growth of the trees too slow, and the space which each plant occupies too considerable ever to render the cabbage of the palms a permanent staple food of any country.
Dr. Arruda has not spoken of the dendezeiro or dende tree, which, next to the coco tree, is the palm which is of the most service to the Pernambucans. An oil of good quality is made from the nut, and is sold in Recife as a culinary ingredient, being more generally used than the coco oil. The fruit resembles much that of the coco naia, according to Arruda’s description of the latter.
Labat, who has a propensity to call in question the opinions of others, in speaking of the tree which he calls palmier franc ou dattier, says, “On prétend que cet arbre est mâle et femelle, &c. Je suis fâché de ne pouvoir pas souscrire au sentiment des naturalistes, mais j’en suis empêché par une expérience que j’ai trés-sûre, opposée directement à leur sentiment, qui dément absolument ce que je viens de rapporter sur leur bonne foi; car nous avions un dattier à côté de notre couvent du Moüillage à la Martinique, qui rapportoit du fruit quoiqu’il fut tout seul. Qu’il fut mâle ou femelle, je n’en sçai rien, mais ce que je sçai trés certainement, c’est que dans le terrain où est le Fort Saint Pierre et le Moûillage et a plus de deux lieuës à la ronde il n’y avoit et n’y avoit jamais eu de dattier, &c.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 276.
[276] The goiaba is to be found in all situations in Pernambuco; there is scarcely a cercado (field) of any sugar plantation which has not several of these trees scattered about upon it. The goiaba is never cut down, for the people are fond of it, and the cattle likewise feed upon it. The araça is another species of the same plant; the shrub and the fruit of this are smaller than the goiaba, and the inside of the fruit is of a pale yellow colour, instead of a deep red.—Transl.
[277] Labat speaks of a species of canelle bâtarde, and he adds, “On se sert beaucoup en Italie d’une canelle semblable à celle que je viens de décrire; les Portugais l’apportent du Bresil dans des paniers de roseaux refendus et à jour; on l’appelle canelle geroflée (canella garofanata). On la met en poudre avec un peu de gérofle, de veritable canelle, de poivre et de graines tout-à faite resemblables à celles de nos bois d’Inde des Isles, et on en fait un debit assez considérable.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iii. p. 92.
[278] In the Philosophical Transactions for 1811 is given, “An Account of a Vegetable Wax from Brazil,” by William Thomas Brande, Esq. F. R. S. The work from which I extract part of the account is Nicholson’s Journal, Vol. xxxi. p. 14.
“The vegetable wax described in this paper was given to the president by Lord Grenville, with a wish on the part of his Lordship, that its properties should be investigated, in the hope that it might prove a useful substitute for bees’ wax, and constitute in due time a new article of commerce between Brazil and this country. It was transmitted to Lord Grenville from Rio de Janeiro by the Conde das Galveas(1), as a new article lately brought to that city(2), from the northernmost parts of the Brazilian dominions, the capitanias of Rio Grande and Seará, between the latitude of three and seven degrees north; it is said to be the production of a tree of slow growth, called by the natives carnâùba, which also produces a gum used as food for men, and another substance employed for fattening poultry.”