A Voyage to the South Sea - For The Purpose Of Conveying The Bread-Fruit Tree To The West Indies, - Including An Account Of The Mutiny On Board The Ship by William Bligh
page 20 of 276 (07%)
page 20 of 276 (07%)
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The Breadfruit is so well known and described that to attempt a new account of it would be unnecessary and useless. However as it may contribute to the convenience of the reader I have given the following extracts respecting it with the plate annexed. EXTRACT FROM THE ACCOUNT OF DAMPIER'S VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD PERFORMED IN 1688. The breadfruit (as we call it) grows on a large tree, as big and high as our largest apple-trees: It hath a spreading head, full of branches and dark leaves. The fruit grows on the boughs like apples; it is as big as a penny-loaf when wheat is at five shillings the bushel; it is of a round shape, and hath a thick tough rind. When the fruit is ripe it is yellow and soft, and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The natives of Guam use it for bread. They gather it, when full-grown, while it is green and hard; then they bake it in an oven, which scorches the rind and makes it black; but they scrape off the outside black crust, and there remains a tender thin crust; and the inside is soft, tender, and white like the crumb of a penny-loaf. There is NEITHER SEED NOR STONE in the inside, but all is of a pure substance, like bread. It must be eaten new; for, if it is kept above twenty-four hours, it grows harsh and choaky; but it is very pleasant before it is too stale. This fruit lasts in season EIGHT MONTHS in the year, during which the natives eat NO OTHER SORT OF FOOD OF BREAD KIND. I did never see of this fruit anywhere but here. The natives told us that there is plenty of this fruit growing on the rest of the Ladrone islands; and I DID NEVER HEAR OF IT ANYWHERE ELSE. Volume 1 page 296. ... |
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