The fruits bacoba and bananà, which the Indians delight greatly in,
belong to the fig species. They are oval-shaped, and of a red colour.
The shrubs which produce them have neither seed, nor boughs, but are
adorned with long, wide, and beautifully green leaves, from the midst of
which the germen and the fruit emerge. The trunk or stalk of these
shrubs is slender and fragile. They die after bearing fruit once, but
are compensated for by suckers which grow from their roots. The fruit of
the bananà is rather long, and square in form, with a saffron-coloured
skin, a soft pulp, and not a very rich, but rather cold juice, which,
unless quite ripe, is injurious to the stomach. The bacoba is,
therefore, more wholesome than the bananà; both fruits, however, when
properly used, are remedies for various complaints. A liquor expressed
from them causes intoxication when taken in excess. Both trees, though
they grow in very sterile soils, bear fruit all the year round.