Some people eat them with salt and black pepper, others with lime-juice and syrup, and some without either; but the generality of the French eat them with fish or flesh, with which they are very relishing. The seed of the alligator pear, which is nearly one-third part of the fruit, and shakes within it when ripe, has the appearance of the inside part of a horse-chesnut, and has a very firm colour; for which reason it is commonly used to mark linen with. This is done, by covering the seed with the cloth, and pricking out the letters with a pin; the juice filling up the punctures, stains the form of the letters so durably, that they are not to be washed out, only decaying with the cloth.
The mountain pear is found growing only on barren heights, or on the sides of steep precipices; it grows on a tall, fluted-like stalk, that has the appearance of a well-wrought, fluted, slender pillar, full of strong, sharp prickles. The fruit is of the size of a pippin, its skin is of a beautiful crimson colour; when this pear is cut open, it presents an innumerable quantity of fine black seeds, which are covered with a juicy pulp of the same colour as the skin, its taste is much like that of a strawberry; by which name the fruit is sometimes called.
Pine apples grow in Dominica to a great size, and are in general very juicy, but they are not so good as in most other islands, owing to the too great moisture of the ground, which makes them grow too luxuriant and watry. Pine apples sliced, covered with brown sugar, and left some time to drain out their juice, make an excellent drink, after being strained, and set by for a time in bottles.
The rose apple is chiefly esteemed for its fine scent, which resembles that of the flower after which it is called. It is, however, eat by many, but is reckoned unwholesome; being put up with linen, it gives it an agreeable scent, equal to that of lavender.
The star apple, so called from the blossoms of the tree which bears it, resembling a star, is a fine fruit, of the size and shape of a large plumb, of a purple colour; and its juice is of an agreeably sweet taste, and of a gluey nature.
The sugar apple is a singular fruit, about the size of a middling-sized English apple, but in appearance differs from any fruit of that name, as it does also in quality. The rind of it is crossed in divisions, the shape of diamonds in a card, which are considerably raised above the furrows between each, and stand in regular rows. The outside is of a pale green colour, the inside has a great number of hard, black seeds, which are nearly as big as peas, and are covered with a moist, gritty pulp, which has the taste of sugar; and it is reckoned very wholesome.
The custard apple is of much the same nature with the former, only the skin of it is smooth, of a rust colour, and the inside pulp less gritty, resembling in taste a custard, after which it is called.
The mamma apple is a large fruit, of the size in general of a middling-sized musk melon, but some are much smaller. The rind of it is thick, strong, and has the appearance of leather; the inside has three large nuts, or kernels, which are covered with a thick substance, of the colour of a carrot, very juicy, and in taste much resembling that of a peach. It is a delicious fruit when ripe, but is reckoned to be unwholesome, from its indigestive quality, yet they make tarts of it. The timber of the tree which bears the mamma apple is a very beautiful wood, durable, and is used for furniture.