some coral island that has recently risen out of the deep. Here they germinate, become rapidly productive, and furnish not merely solid sustenance to men or animals that may visit the island; but also afford drink long before any fresh water makes its appearance.

From the cocoa-nut, let us pass on to the consideration of other eatable fruits, and glance first at the bread-fruit, plantain, banana, and others, which contribute so bountifully to the sustenance of man in intra-tropical countries and islands, where

"The bounteous housewife, Nature, on each bush
Lays her full mess before you."

We might, indeed, be disposed to envy the inhabitants of these favoured regions, who, with the exercise of but little industry, are so liberally supplied with life's requirements, and whose existence seems a continued round of festivity and enjoyment, were it not for the reflection, that we who live under sterner skies, and less genial natural conditions, owe to these our present highly civilized state. In every part of the earth, where Nature supplies man's wants without exertion on his part, where, at every period of the year, she furnishes his table with a succession of choicest luxuries, where famine is unknown, and no necessity exists to stimulate exertion, there indolence, apathy, and sensuality, are engendered, and man remains longest plunged in, and is with most difficulty roused from, a state of barbarism. These considerations will moderate our envy of those, of whose country it has been said that,—

"The soil untill'd

Pour'd forth spontaneous and abundant harvests,
The forests cast their fruits, in husk or rind,
Yielding sweet kernels or delicious pulp,
Smooth oil, cool milk, and unfermented wine,
In rich and exquisite variety;

On these the indolent inhabitants
Fed without care or forethought."

The bread-fruit tree flourishes in the Polynesian Islands. It frequently attains a height of 50 or 60 feet; its leaves are broad, with sinuous margin, something like those of the fig-tree, and its fruit is oval, of a light green colour, and having a diameter of about 6 inches. The fruit hangs either alone, or in clusters of two or three, at the extremity of the branches. "There are sometimes," states Mr. Williams, "several hundreds of these upon one tree, and their light colour, contrasted with the dark glossy leaves among which they hang, together with the stately outline and spiring shape of the tree, render it an object which, for its beauty, is not surpassed in the whole vegetable world. The value of this wonderful tree, however, exceeds its beauty. It is everything to the natives, their house, their food, and their clothing. The trunk furnishes one of the best kinds of timber they possess. It is the colour of mahogany, exceedingly durable, and is used by the natives in building their canoes and houses, and in the manufacture of the few articles of furniture they formerly possessed. From the bark of the branches they fabricate their clothing; and, when the tree is punctured, there exudes from it a quantity of mucilaginous fluid, resembling thick cream, which hardens by exposure to the sun, and, when boiled, answers

all the purposes of English pitch. The fruit is, to the South Sea Islander, the staff of life. It bears two crops every season. Besides this, there are several varieties, which ripen at different periods, so that the natives have a supply of

this palatable and nutritious food during the greater part of the year. The leaves are excellent fodder for the cattle, and they are so excessively fond of it, that it is necessary to protect the young trees by high and strong fences."

The pulp of the fruit of this tree is white, and of a farinaceous character, somewhat resembling, when roasted, the meal of a potato, though more spongy than this, and of a slightly astringent flavour. In the Sandwich Islands, it is eaten when green, and is cooked by throwing it on the fire. In other islands, a quantity of the fruit is thrown into a heated pit, and subjected to a slow kind of baking: sometimes it is beaten up into paste, piled in heaps, and left, till it has undergone fermentation, when it goes by the name of mahi. Thus prepared, it is sour and indigestible, and eaten only in periods of comparative scarcity.

Two species of the botanical genus Musa, the plantain and the banana, play an important part in furnishing food to man in intra-tropical regions. The fruit of both bear a close resemblance, and the South Sea Islanders term them indifferently maia. The fruit is tolerably familiar in its form and flavour to Englishmen, but from the specimens imported we cannot form a very correct notion of what it is when in perfection in its native country. The tree attains to a height of from 15 to 20 feet, and consists of a tapering stem surmounted by a crown of long, broadish, undivided leaves, from the centre of which rises the flower-spike. The banana in its stem, leaves and fruit is on a broader and shorter scale than the plantain. The fruit of the banana and plantain is likely to become serviceable to the natives. of the temperate zones, as a most nutritious meal is now prepared therefrom, which may prove available in periods of scarcity.

These plants exist in the tropical districts of