In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil, and western Africa.[68] North Americans began consuming bananas on a small scale at very high prices shortly after the Civil War, though it was only in the 1880s that the food became more widespread.[69] As late as the Victorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although they were available.[68] Jules Verne introduces bananas to his readers with detailed descriptions in...