Incidents of a whaling voyage : to which are added observations on the scenery manners and customs, and missionary stations of the Sandwich and Society Islands : accompanied by numerous lithographic plates . of disap-pointed hopes. But the noblest product of the ve2:etable kingdom,which springing up spontaneously, affords the mostwholesome and palatable nutriment to the natives of thetropical islands, is the majestic bread-fruit tree. Thebread-fruit tree is large and umbrageous, with a roughbark of a light color; and the trunk is sometimes two orthree feet in diameter, rising to the height of
Incidents of a whaling voyage : to which are added observations on the scenery manners and customs, and missionary stations of the Sandwich and Society Islands : accompanied by numerous lithographic plates . of disap-pointed hopes. But the noblest product of the ve2:etable kingdom,which springing up spontaneously, affords the mostwholesome and palatable nutriment to the natives of thetropical islands, is the majestic bread-fruit tree. Thebread-fruit tree is large and umbrageous, with a roughbark of a light color; and the trunk is sometimes two orthree feet in diameter, rising to the height of twelve ortwenty feet without a branch. The outhne of the treeis remarkably beautiful; the leaves are broad and in-dented, somewhat like those of the fig tree, frequentlytwelve or eighteen inches long, and rather thick, of adark green color, with a surface glossy as that of therichest evergreen. The fruit is generally circular oroval, and is on an average, six inches in diameter; it iscovered with small square, or lozenge-shaped divisions,having each a small elevation in the centre, and is atfirst of a slight pea green color; subsequently, it changesto brown, and when fully ripe, assumes a rich yellow. J^ A. OinvUe^ BREAD FRUJT. Socie^i^ JslancCs 2^1 f/l. of£rulic, BREAD-FRUIT. 309 tinge. It is attached to the small branches of the treeby a short thick stalk, and hangs either singly, or inclusters, of two or three together. The pulp is soft, andin the centre, there is a hard kind of core, extending fromthe stalk to the crown, around which a few imperfectseeds are formed. There is nothing very pleasing inthe blossom; but a stately tree clothed with dark shiningleaves, and loaded with many hundreds of large lightgreen or yellowish colored fruit, is one of the mostsplendid and beautiful objects to be met with, among therich and diversified scenery of a Tahitian bread-fruit tree reminds one of the noble oaks wehave in the United States, with their deep green canopyof
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, booksubjectwhaling, bookyear1841
