Our viands

Oranges grow and thrive wonderfully in South Africa, where they are supposed to have been introduced by the Portuguese, but the early Portuguese navigators speak of them as growing on the eastern coast ; and it is a singular fact that the Chartered Company of British South Africa found miles of wild orange trees growing in Manicaland, with many other fruits not supposed to be indigenous. The orange found would seem, from the description given of it, to be quite an unknown species, and one which may prove of great value. One of the pioneers writes : — ' Riding along we came to groves of wild orange trees, laden with ripe fruit of a yellow colour; the fruit is encased in a hardish shell ; inside it has the appearance of an over-ripe sweet melon ; the flavour is a combination of sweet melon, pine-apple, and orange, and is very nice eating.' Oranges have been divided into eight species, known as sweet oranges, bitter oranges, bergamots, limes, pampelucos, sweet limes, lemons, and citrons, and of each of these there GRAPES, FIGS, AND ORANGES 191 are numerous varieties. The variety known as the blood orange, which comes from Malta, is said to derive its colour from being grafted on the pomegranate. The lemon is a more delicate tree than the orange, and requires more warmth ; it will not flourish in the south of France, except at Mentone, which has given rise to an interesting legend. They say when Eve was driven out of Paradise she managed to carry away with her two or three of her favourite fruits, and among them the lemon : with these she wandered over the earth till she came to Mentone, where, finding the climate and the soil so much resembled the lost Eden, she planted the lemon, which has grown and flourished ever since. What the cook would now do without lemons we can hardly surmise : they seem an indispensable adjunct to so many savoury dishes, and are become so plentiful that it is no uncommon thing to hear them hawked about the streets of London at three or four a penny. The lime, on the contrary, is very seldom seen, although lime-juice cordial has long been used as a beverage, and the little island of Montserrat has become famous for the production of this useful fruit, the juice of which seems indispensable, where vegetables cannot be obtained, and the lack of which has so often caused the decimation by scurvy of the crews of vessels engaged in Arctic exploration. The citron is chiefly known to us by the preserved peel, which forms such a delicious condiment for cakes, Christmas puddings, and mince pies. The Shaddock, so called in honour of the ship captain who introduced it into the West Indies from China, is now little valued, although in China, its native habitat, it is 192 OUR VIANDS known as the ' sweet ball.' We occasionally see it in the market, as well as its near relative the pomelo, but the bitterness of the rind prevents its becoming a popular fruit. On the contrary, the little Mandarin orange, called narije at the Cape, the rind of which is so highly perfumed, has of late years been very freely imported — chiefly from Malta and Spain, from which latter country we also receive the bitter Seville, so valuable for many purposes, and especially for making that favourite adj unct to the breakfast table — orange marmalade — of which many tons must be consumed annually.