apple-blossom. The fruit is round, about the size of a peach, the
skin being rough and dark like a russet apple or a potato, but when
fully ripe it is delicious, and melts away in the mouth like a
custard.

The pineapple, that king of fruits, though in itself presenting such a
fine appearance, is the plainest of all in its humble manner of
growth. It is found wild in Cuba, and there are several varieties
cultivated, none quite equal, it seemed to us, to those found in
Singapore and other equatorial islands. Its style of growth is the
same in either hemisphere. It grows singly upon its low stem, reaching
to a height of eighteen or twenty inches above the ground. A single
fruit-stem pushes up from the earth, blossoms, and in about eighteen
months from the planting it matures a single apple, weighing three or
four pounds and upwards; and what a royal fruit it is! A field well
covered with the yellow, ripening apples is a very beautiful sight.
Though the plant produces but one apple at a time, it will continue to
yield an annual crop for three or four years, if cultivated. It is
raised from slips, planted much as our farmers set out young cabbages
or lettuce.

The custard-apple grows wild, but is also cultivated and thereby much
improved. Its color externally is green, and it has a tough skin, is
of a subacid flavor, and as full of little flat black seeds as a shad
is of bones. It is much used in Cuba for flavoring purposes, and is
soft and juicy, each specimen weighing from a pound to a pound and a
half. The star-apple is so called because when cut through
transversely its centre presents the figure of a star. Even when quite
ripe the interior is green in color. Its flavor is exquisite, like
strawberries and cream, and it is eaten with a spoon, the outside
skin forming as it were a shell or cup.

The guava tree is small and resembles our young cherry trees. The
fruit is about the size of the lime, which it much resembles. It is
made little use of in its natural condition, but is in universal
demand as a preserve; the jelly made from it is famous all over the
world. When it is freshly cut, one will scent a whole room for hours
with its distinctive flavor.

The pomegranate, a general favorite in the torrid zone, flourishes in
Cuba, but is seen in much greater perfection in Africa. It is doubtful
if it is indigenous here, though it is now found in such abundance,
and as much depended upon for a food supply as apples ar