and water, will sustain a warrior for twenty-four hours, without meat.
In further proof of the American origin of maize, it may be stated, that it is still found in an indigenous state from the Rocky Mountains, in North America, to the humid forests of Paraguay; where, instead of having each grain naked, as is always the case after long cultivation, they are completely covered with glumes or husks. Although there has been much written upon the Eastern origin of this grain, it did not grow in that part of India watered by the Indus, at the time of Alexander the Great’s expedition, as it is not mentioned by Nearchus, the commander of the fleet, among the productions of that country. It is not noticed by Arrian, Diodorus, or Columella; and even so late as the year 1471, Joan. Cuba, in his “Ortus Sanitatis,” a very curious treatise on plants, trees, animals, stones, &c., does not make the least mention of it. Neither has it ever been found in any ancient tumulus, sarcophagus, or pyramid; nor has it ever been represented in any ancient painting, sculpture, or work of art, except in America! But in this country, according to Garcilasso, the palace gardens of the Incas in Peru, were ornamented with images of gold and silver, of all manner of beasts, birds, trees, flowers, and fruit. Some of the trees appeared in blossom, some with their fruit partially or fully grown, and in others it appeared quite ripe, according to the several seasons of the year. They also imitated the maize, with all its grains, spikes, stalks, and leaves; and in one instance, in the “Garden of Gold and Silver,” there was an entire cornfield, of considerable size, represented with the corn in its exact and natural shape.
The introduction of maize into Europe, probably dates back to the time soon after Columbus discovered America; but little attention appears to have been paid there, either to its culture or use, until toward the close of the last century. An amusing, and in many respects, an instructive work, was published some years since, by William Cobbett, upon the merits of Indian
