SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—When I read the delightful " Travels," I try some- times to find a key or meaning to their riddles. I have often wondered whether, in his description of the long apple found in Egypt, Mandeville did not refer to the banana. The latter is certainly " sweet and of good savour." When it ripens, it does not last many days. Mandeville, or rather the writer, lived before the days of quick sea passages, and when the mysteries of packing tropical fruits were unknown. For he says : " They will rot within eight days, and for that cause men may not carry off the apples to far countries." The most curious part of his description is that if " ye cut them in never so many gobbets or parts, overthwart or end long, evermore ye shall find the Figure of the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesu." Now, if you cut a banana across, though not from end to end, you will find the resem- blance to the Crucifix, especially at a certain stage of ripeness. When I was at Madeira, I was told that the natives will never cut a banana with a knife on account of the resemblance.—I
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