Selected quad for the lemma: end_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
end_n	grow_v	leaf_n	stalk_n	1,521	5	11.6191	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A57484	The history of the Caribby-islands, viz, Barbados, St Christophers, St Vincents, Martinico, Dominico, Barbouthos, Monserrat, Mevis, Antego, &c in all XXVIII in two books : the first containing the natural, the second, the moral history of those islands : illustrated with several pieces of sculpture representing the most considerable rarities therein described : with a Caribbian vocabulary / rendred into English by John Davies ...; Histoire naturelle et morale des iles Antilles de l'Amerique. English	Rochefort, César de, b. 1605.; Davies, John, 1625-1693.; Breton, Raymond, 1609-1679.	1666 (1666)	Wing R1740; ESTC R16877	340,702	386

top of every Plant those only excepted which are reserv'd for seed After all this ordering the Plant is to continue some weeks in the ground ere it comes to maturity during which there is a little cessation of labour and attendance about it But if the laborious Planter be exempted from the great pains he had bestow'd about it he shall not want work for there must be a place prepar'd where it is to be dispos'd as soon as it is ripe Care must be taken that the Grange or Store-house where it ought to be dry'd to a certain mediocrity be well cover'd and close of all sides that it be furnish'd with good store of poles fit for it to be laid upon that provision be made of a certain thin bark taken from a tree called Mahot to fasten every Plant to the poles and that the place design'd for the making of it up into rolls or pricks should have all things requisite for that work While all these preparations are made if the Tobacco-leaves lose ever so little of their first verdure and withal begin to bow down more then ordinary towards the ground and if the scent of them grows stronger it is a sign that the Plant is come to maturity And then taking a very fair day after the dew is fallen off it is to be cut about an inch above ground and left upon the place till the evening turning it once or twice that the Su● may take away somewhat of its moisture In the evening it is carry'd by armfuls into the house It is fasten'd by the lower end of the stalk to the poles so that the leaves hang downwards It is also requisite that they should not be laid too close one to the other lest they be corrupted or be not dry enough for want of air This first cutting down of the Tobacco being over they often visit the Plants which are hung up a drying while the rest which had been left growing comes to ripeness and when they find the leaves fit to be made up into rolls that is when they are neither too dry for in that case they would not be able to endure the wheel nor yet too moist for then they would corrupt in a short time they are taken off the poles they are laid in heaps at the end of the Grange and every stalk is stript of its leaves after this manner In the first place they lay aside all the longest and all the broadest leaves and they take away the great stalk which runs through the midst of them the lesser leaves are also laid by themselves to be dispos'd within the roll and the greater serve for coverings and shrowds for them These leaves thus dispos'd are ranked on planks or tables close by him who is to make them up into rolls which he makes bigger or smaller as may be seen by those brought over into these parts There is a certain art in making up the rolls and those who can do it with expedition and dexterity are highly esteem'd and get much more then those who are employ'd about ordering the ground They must have their hands and arms extremely supple and nimble to make the wheel turn with such speed and still to observe the same proportion that so the roll may be equally big in all parts There is a particular artifice in the business of Tobacco to dispose and lay it after the winding so as that it may be the more easily put up on the sticks which are all to be of a certain bigness and length to avoid deceit When the Tobacco is thus made up it is convey'd to the Store-house and cover'd with Bananas or some other leaves that it may not be prejudic'd by taking wind and be of a good fair colour That which cuts somewhat unctuously is blackish and shining and hath a pleasant and strong scent and burns easily in the Pipe is accounted the best We told you that the Tobacco-plant was cut almost even with the ground and not pluck'd up by the roots and it is purposely so cut that it may shoot forth new stalks And indeed it produces a second Plant but such as is neither so strong nor so fair as the former nor is the Tobacco made thereof so much esteem'd nor will keep so well It is call'd by some Shoot-Tobacco or Sucker-Tobacco or Tobacco of the second cutting or growth Nay some will have three shoots from the same stalk and that humour hath brought the Tobacco which comes from some Islands into dis-esteem Now since we have express'd our selves so much at large concerning the manufacture of Tobacco we shall not think it improper to insert in this place what is practis'd by some curious persons whereby it is made more excellent then that which commonly goes under the name of Virinus-Tobacco keeps well and hath a scent which fortifies the brain After they have set aside the Plants of the first cutting and while they are drying on the poles they gather together all the cast leaves the small shoots as also the filaments which are taken out of the midst of the leaves which have been already cleer'd and after they have pounded them in a mortar all is put into a bag which is put into a press to force out the juice which is afterwards boil'd over a soft fire till it be reduc'd to the consistency of a Syrup That done there is put into that decoction a little Copal which is an aromatick gum the virtue whereof is to fortifie the brain This gum distills from a tree of the same name which is common in the Continent of America and in the Islands about the gulf of Hondures After this drug is put into the composition aforesaid it must be well stirr'd that its sweet scent and other qualities may be communicated and diffus'd through the whole decoction Then it must be taken off the fire and when it is cold it is set in a vessel neer the person who makes up the roll of Tobacco and as often as he takes a handful of the leaves to feed the roll he must wet his hand in that liquor and wipe it with the leaves This secret hath an admirable effect to make the Tobacco keep well and derives to it a virtue which extremely heightens its price The Tobacco thus order'd is to be made up into a roll at least as big as a mans thumb and be afterwards divided into little rolls not weighing above ten pound at the most and then sent in little vessels or close baskets made for that purpose to keep it the better Some Inhabitants of the Islands having made tryal of this secret have put off theirs for right Virinus-Tobacco and sold it at the same rate Those who imagine that Tobacco grows without any trouble and that rolls of it are as they say found growing on Trees in America and that there is no more to be done but to shake them down or haply are perswaded that it requires no great trouble to

had its production and growth INDIAN-WOOD THE Indian-wood is also a precious Tree and of good scent Of this there is such abundance in the Island of S. Croix and several others that there are in them whole Forests of it It is not inferior to the Rose-wood but grows bigger and higher when it meets with good ground The roots of it spread themselves very deep into the ground and the trunk is very strait The bark is smooth thin and even all over of a bright silver-grey colour and in some places inclining to yellow which is a distinction between this Tree and all others It flourishes once a year in the season of the Rains and then it renews some part of its leaves The wood of it is very solid and weighty whence it comes that it may be polish'd and some Savages make their Clubs of it Having taken off a Vermilion-pith which is under the bark there appears the heart of the tree which is extream hard and of a Violet colour for which it is much esteemed by the curious The good scent of this tree consists particularly in its leaves they are of the same figure with those of the Guava-tree and when they are handled they perfume the hands with a sweeter scent then that of the Laurel they derive to Meat and Sauces so delicate a gusto as might be attributed rather to a composition of several Spices then to a simple leaf It is used also in the Baths prescrib'd by Physicians to fortifie bruised Nerves and dry up the swelling which remains in their Legs who have been in malignant Fevers Besides the Acajou before spoken of there are in these Islands several sorts of trees whereof the wood is red solid weighty and not subject to worms and putrefaction They are excellent for both Carpenter and Joyner IRON-WOOD BUt above all there is a particular account made of the Iron-wood so called because in solidity weight and hardness it exceeds all those we have yet described This tree which may be ranked among the highest and best proportioned of any in these Islands is well furnish'd with branches and those with little leaves with sharp points and divided neer the stalk It flourishes twice a year to wit in March and September The flowers of it which are of a Violet colour are succeeded by a small fruit about the bigness of a Cherry which as it ripens grows black and is much sought after by the Birds The bark of the trunk is of a brownish colour The wood is of a very bright red being newly fell'd but lying abroad in the air it loses much of its liveliness and lustre The heart of the Tree is of a very dark red like that of Brasil and of such hardness that the wedges must be very sharp and well try'd before to bring it to the ground But the wood of it being fair to the eye solid easie to be polish'd and more incorruptible then either Cedar or Cypress it abundantly requites by all these excellent qualities the pains is taken about it before there can be any use made thereof There is also another Tree known by the same name but it is not comparable to the former It bears only small leaves and when it flourisheth it is loaden with abundance of Posies as it were rising up above the branches like so many Plumes of Feathers which give it an extraordinary ornament It is of a great height and the inner-bark is yellowish or white according to the places where it grows All the wood of this Tree the heart only excepted which is very small very hard and inclining to black is subject to worms whence it comes that it is not commonly used but for want of other There are in the Caribbies many Trees fit for Dying The most esteemed and best known are the Brasil-wood the Yellow-wood the Green-Ebony and the Roucou BRASIL-WOOD THe Brasil-wood is so called because the first brought into Europe came from the Province of Brasil where it grows more abundantly then in any other part of America Of this kind of Tree there are not many in the Caribbies and what there is is only in those Islands which are most furnished with dry rocks The trunk of it is not strait as that of other Trees but crooked uneven and full of knots like the White-Thorn When it is loaden with flowers there comes from it a sweet scent which fortifies the Brain The wood of it is much sought after by Turners but the principal use of it is for Dying YELLOW-WOOD THe Island of S. Croix is the most famous of all the Islands for its abundance in rare and precious Trees There is one very much esteem'd for its usefulness in Dying It grows up to a great height and the wood is perfectly yellow When the English had the Island they sent much of it to their own Country It is called the Yellow-wood from its colour GREEN-EBONY THe Green-Ebony is commonly used in some excellent pieces of Joyners-work because it easily takes the colour and lustre of the true Ebony But the best use of it is for Dying for it colours a fair Grass-green The Tree is very bushy by reason its root shoots forth a great number of Suckers which hinder it from growing so high and big as it might if the sap were directed only to the trunk The leaves are smooth and of a bright-green colour Within the outer-bark there is about two inches of white inner-bark and the rest of the wood to the heart is of so dark a green that it inclines to black but when it is polish'd there appear certain yellow veins which make it look as if it were marbled ROUCOU THe Roucou is the same Tree which the Brasilians call Urucu It grows no higher then a small Orange-tree Its leaves which are pointed at one end have the figure of a heart It bears flowers in colour white mixt with Carnation they consist of five leaves in form like a Star and about the bigness of a Rose They grow in little bushes at the extremities of the branches These flowers are succeeded by little huskes in which are enclosed several seeds about the bigness of a small Pea which being come to ripeness are of the most bright and lively Vermilion colour that can be imagined This rich Dying-Commodity which is enclos'd in the said husk is so soft and viscous that it sticks to ones fingers as soon as it is touch'd To get this precious liquor they shake in an earthen vessel the seeds unto which it is fastened then there is poured thereto warm water in which they are wash'd till such time as they have lost their Vermilion colour and then when this water hath rested a while they dry in the shade the dregs or thick Lye which is at the bottom of the vessel and then it is made up into Lozenges or little Balls which are very much esteem'd by Painters and Dyers when they are pure and without mixture as those are whereof we

is cut in thin slices Hence the Spaniards are so superstitious as to think it a kind of mortal sin to use a knife about it and are scandaliz'd to see any thing employ'd about it but the teeth But there is this to be said particularly of the Banana-tree 1 That its fruit is in length about twelve or thirteen inches a little bending towards the extremity much about the bigness of a mans arm whereas that of the Fig-tree is but half as big and about six inches in length 2 The Banana-tree hath not in its posie or cluster above 25 or 30 Bananas at the most which do not lye over-close one to another but the Fig-tree hath many times 120 Figs which lye so close together that they can hardly be gotten asunder 3 The meat of the Bananas is firm and solid and may be dress'd either by roasting it under the embers or boiling it in a Pot with meat or preserv'd and dry'd in an Oven or in the Sun and afterwards easily kept But the ●ig being of a soft substance hath not the same conveniences To get in these fruits the trees which it seems bear but once are cut at the very foot and the great cluster is supported by a ●ork that it may not be bruised in the falling But they are seldom cut till some of the fruits of each cluster be turn'd a little yellowish for that is a sign of their maturity and then being carried into the house those which were green ripen by degrees and so they have every day new fruit The cluster is commonly as much as a man can well carry nay sometimes it is laid on a Leaver and carried upon their shoulders between two as that bunch of Grapes which the Spies of the Israelites brought out of the Land of Canaan Some have thought this fruit so excellent and delicate that they have imagined it to be the same which God forbad our first Parents to eat of in Paradise accordingly they have named it Adams Fig-tree or the Fruit-tree of Paradise the leaf of these Reeds being of the largeness we have before described may indeed be allow'd very fit to cover the nakedness of our first Parents and as to the figure of the Crucifix which may be seen within the fruit when it is cut we leave it to find work for their profound speculations who busie their thoughts in searching out the secrets of Nature There are some who affirm that the figure of a Cross is also marked in the seed of the Herb commonly called Rue The small Gentiana or Cruciata hath the leaves dispos'd in the form of a Cross upon its stalk and it is to be acknowledg'd that Nature as it were sporting her self hath been pleas'd to make several such representations in Plants and Flowers Hence it comes that some have the resemblance of Hair others of Eyes others of Ears others of a Nose a Heart a Tongue a Hand and some other parts of the Body There are in like manner divers famous Plants which seem to represent several other things as Eagles Bees Serpents Cats-clawes Cocks-combs Bears-ears Harts-horns Darts and the like whence many times those Plants derive their names from the said resemblance But of these it is besides our design to give any account CORAL-WOOD THere is also in several of the Islands a little shrub which bears a seed as red as any Coral it grows in bunches at the extremity of its branches which derive an extraordinary lustre from it But these little seeds have a small black spot at one end which disfigures them and abates much of their esteem with some others on the contrary affirm that that diversity of colours makes them more delightful to the Eye This may be called the Coral-tree The seeds are used for Bracelets JASMIN and CANDLE-WOOD THe shrubs called by some Jasmin and Candle-wood may be numbred among those that are considerable in these Islands The former bears a small white flower which perfumes all about it with its sweet scent and thence it had the name The other casts forth so pleasant and sweet a scent when its wood is burnt dry and does so easily take fire and gives so clear a flame by reason of a certain Aromatick Gum lying within it that it is with reason sought after by the Inhabitants for their firing and to serve them for a Candle or Torch in the night time CHAP. X. Of the Plants Herbs and Roots growing in the Caribbies HAving in the former Chapters represented the Trees and Shrubs wherewith these Islands are richly furnished we come now to the Description of several rare Plants Herbs and Roots whereby they are also abundantly supply'd PYMAN THe Plant called by the French and others Pyman or American Pepper is the same which the natural Inhabitants of the Country call Axi or Carive it grows close like a little Briar without any prickles the stem of it is covered with an Ash-colour'd rind and bears several little boughs loaden with an infinite multitude of leaves which are pretty long full of jags and of a grass-green colour Of these there are three kinds differing only in the figure of the husk or cod or the fruit they bear One bears only a little red button somewhat long like a Clove within which there are very small seeds much hotter then the Spices brought from the Levant and in a manner caustick which easily communicates that picquant quality to all things wherein it is us'd The second kind hath a much larger and longer Cod which when ripe is of a perfect Vermilion colour and being us'd in Sauces it makes them yellow as Saffron would do The third hath yet a larger Cod then the precedent which is thick enough red as any Coral and not smooth in all parts The seed which is not so biting nor so spicy as those of the other two kinds lies in the midst of it Being ripe it is one of the most delightful fruits that may be The seed hath been brought over into France and other parts and hath come to perfection but the fruit is not so big as that of America This cod and the seed within it is us'd instead of pepper because it communicates a certain picquancy to things like that spice But the operations of them differ much for after it hath bitten the tongue and by its acrimony inflam'd the palat instead of fortifying and warming the stomach it weakens it and causes coldness in it or rather according to the opinions of some Physicians it over-heats it and by its caustick vertue weakens it causing coldness in it only by accident inasmuch as it disperses the radical moisture which is the seat of heat Whence it is observ'd in the Islands that those who ordinarily use it in their meat are subject to pains in the chest and apt to contract a yellow colour TOBACCO THe Plant called Tobacco from the Island Tabago where as some affirm it was first discover'd by the Spaniards had also the

have been extreamly prodigal of what was most rare and precious in her Treasury to this Plant. It grows on a stalk about a foot high encompassed by about 15 or 16 leaves as long as those of some kinds of Thistles broad as the Palm of a mans hand and in figure like those of Aloes they are pointed at the extremity as those of Corn-Gladen somewhat hollow in the midst and having on both sides little prickles which are very sharp The fruit which grows between these leaves strait up from the stalk is sometimes about the bigness of a Melon its figure is much like that of a Pine-Apple its rind which is full of little compartiments like the scales of fish of a pale-green colour border'd with Carnation upon a yellow ground hath on the out-side several small flowers which according to the different Aspects of the Sun seem to be of so many different colours as may be seen in the Rain-bow as the fruit ripens most of these flowers fall But that which gives it a far greater lustre and acquir'd it the supremacy among Fruit is that it is crown'd with a great Posie consisting of flowers and several leaves solid and jagged about which are of a bright red colour and extreamly add to the delightfulness of it The Meat or Pulp which is contained within the rind is a little fibrous but put into the mouth is turn'd all to juice it hath so transcendent a taste and so particular to it self that those who have endeavour'd to make a full description of it not able to confine themselves to one comparison have borrow'd what they thought most delicate in the Peach the Strawberry the Muscadine-grape and the Pippin and having said all they could been forc'd to acknowledg that it hath a certain particular taste which cannot easily be express'd The vertue or shoot by which this fruit may be perpetuated lyes not in its root nor yet in a small red seed which is many times found in its Pulp but in that Garland wherewith it is cover'd for as soon as it is put into the ground it takes root shoots forth leaves and at the years end produces new fruit It happens sometimes that these fruits are charg'd with three posies or crowns all which have the vertue of propagating their species but every stalk bears fruit but once a year There are three or four kinds of them which the Inhabitants distinguish by the colour figure or scent to wit the White-Ananas the Pointed and that called the Pippin or Renette This last is more esteem'd then the other two inasmuch as being ripe it hath as to the taste all the rare qualities before described it hath also a sweeter scent then the others and does not set the teeth so much on edge The natural Indians of the Country and the French who live in the Islands make of this fruit an excellent drink not much unlike Malmsey when it hath been kept a certain time there is also made of it a liquid Conserve which is one of the noblest and most delicate of any brought out of the Indies they also cut the rind into two pieces and it is preserv'd dry with some of the thinnest leaves and then the pieces are neatly joyn'd together again and they ice it over with Sugar by which means the figure of the fruit and leaves is perfectly preserv'd and there may be seen in those happy Countries notwithstanding the heats of the Torrid Zone a pleasant representation of the sad productions of Winter In Physick the Vertues of it are these The juice does admirably recreate and exhilarate the Spirits and comfort the Heart it also fortifies the Stomack cureth Queasiness and causeth Appetite it gives present ease to such as are troubled with the Stone or stoppage of Urine nay it destroys the force of Poyson If the fruit be not procurable the root will do the same effects The water extracted from it by distilling hath a quicker and more effectual operation but in regard it is too corrosive and offends the mouth palat and uretory vessels it must be very moderately used and with the advice of an able Physician who knows how to correct that Acrimony SUGAR-CANES THe Reed which by its delicious juice supplies that substance whereof Sugar is made hath leaves like those of other Reeds which grow in Marshes and neer Ponds but only they are a little longer and sharper for if they be not taken with a certain care and sleight they will cut a mans hands like a Rasour It is call'd the Sugar-Cane and grows up in height between five and six foot and two inches about it is divided by several knots which are commonly four or five inches distant one from another and the greater the distance is between the knots the more Sugar are the Canes apt to yield The leaves of it are long green and grow very thick in the midst whereof rises the Cane which also at the top is loaden with several pointed leaves and one kind of knot of them which contains the seed it is as full as it can be of a white and juicy pith out of which is drawn that liquor that makes the Sugar It thrives extreamly in a fat soil so it be light and somewhat moist it is planted in trenches made at equal distances one from another either with a Hoe or a Plow about half a foot deep Having there laid the Canes being ripe they cover them with earth and a little while after out of every knot shoots forth a root and out of that a stem which produces a new Cane As soon as it appears above ground it must be carefully weeded all about that the weeds choak it not but as soon as it hath cover'd the ground it secures it self and keeps its footing as well as any Copse-wood might do and it may last fifty years without being renew'd so the main root be sound and not injured by the worm for if there be any jealousie of that the remedy is to take up the whole Plant as soon as may be and to order it all anew Though the Canes be ripe at the end of nine or ten moneths yet will they not be any way prejudic'd if continu'd in the ground two years nay sometimes three after which they decay But the best and surest way is to cut them every year as neer the ground as may be and below the last knot or joynt Those who cross the Fields when these Canes are come to maturity may refresh themselves with the juice of them which is an excellent beverage and hath the same taste with the Sugar But if it be taken immoderately it may occasion fluxes and looseness especially to such as are newly come into the Country for those who by a long abode there are in a manner naturaliz'd are not so subject to that inconvenience There grow also in some of these Islands those neat and precious Canes which are us'd in walking naturally marbled and enamell'd with several

What was further remarkable is that this fish had upon the head a kind of crown rising above the skin about two inches and made oval-wise the extremities whereof ended in a point Above three hundred persons of that Island did eat of the meat of it and that plentifully and thought it extremely delicate It was interlarded with a white fat and being boiled it came up in fleaks like fresh Cod but it had a much more excellent taste Those who had seen this rare fish alive and had with great Levers broken the back of it affirmed that he had made prodigious attempts to thrust them with his horn which he turned with an inexpressible dexterity and nimbleness and that if he had had as much water under him as would have born him up he would have been too hard for them all When the entrails were taken out it was found that he liv'd by prey for there were within him the scales of several kinds of fish What could be preserv'd of this miraculous Animal especially the head and the precious horn fasten'd in it hung up neer two years at the Guard-house of the Island till Monsieur Le Vasseur the Governour of it presented one Monsieur des Trancarts a Gentleman of Xaintonge who had given him a visit with the Horn. Not long after coming over in the same Ship with the Gentleman who had that precious rarity put up in a long Chest our Ship was cast away neer the Island of Fayala one of the Assores and all the Goods were lost but nothing so much regretted as the loss of that Chest There is in the Northern Seas another kind of Unicorns which are many times by the Ice carried to the Coast of Iseland They are of so prodigious a length and bulk that most Authors who have written of them rank them among Whales They are not cover'd with scales as the formentioned describ'd by us was but with a hard black skin like the Lamantin They have but two fins on both sides and a large plume upon the back which being narrower in the midst then at either end makes as it were a double crest rising up for the more convenient dividing of the waters they have three vent-holes a little below their necks at which they cast up the superfluous water they had swallow'd as the Whales do their heads are sharp and on the left side of the upper jaw there comes out a horn white all over as the tooth of a young Elephant which horn is sometimes fifteen or sixteen foot in length It is wreath'd in some places and streaked all over with small lines of a pearl-colour which are not only on the superficies of it but run through the substance The horn is hollow to the third part and all over as solid as the hardest bone Some will have this prominency to be rather a tooth then a horn because it rises not out of the forehead as that we have spoken of nor yet from the upper part of the head as those of Bulls and Rams but out of the upper jaw in which it is set as the teeth are in their proper places Those who are of this opinion say further that it is not to be wondred these fishes should have but one such tooth when the substance out of which others should be produced is quite exhausted in the making of that one which is of such a prodigious length and bigness as might suffice to make a hundred But whether this strange defensive wherewith these monstrous fish are armed be called Tooth or Horn certain it is that they use it in their engagements with the Whales and to break the Ice of the Northern Seas wherewith they are oftentimes encompassed Whence it came that some times there have been seen of them such as by reason of the violent service they have been in in disingaging themselves out of those icy mountains have not only had their horns blunted at the point but also shattered and broken off The figures of both this kind and that cast ashore in the Tortoise Island may be seen among the Sculps While we were ordering the foregoing story for the satisfaction of the Publick a Ship of Flushing commanded by Nicholas Tunes wherein M. Lampsen one of the Deputies of that Province in the Assembly of the States-General and other considerable Merchants of the same Town were concern'd coming in from Davis-streight brought thence among other rarities several excellent pieces of the Unicorns of the Northern Seas of that kind we spoke of before and in regard the Relation sent us of that Voyage may very much clear up the matter we treat of we conceive the Reader will take it kindly to be entertain'd with it assuring himself he hath it with the same sincerity as it was communicated to us The Captain of whom we have this Relation leaving Zealand at the end of the Spring 1656. with a design to discover some new Commerce in the Northern parts arrived at the end of June following in Davis-streight whence having entred into a River which begins at the sixty fourth degree and ten minutes of the Line Northward he sailed to the seventy second under which the Country we intend to describe lyes As soon as the Inhabitants of the Country who were then a fishing perceived the Ship they came towards it with their little Boats which are so made as that they carry but one person The first who attempted it occasion'd the joyning of so many others to them that in a short time there was a squadron of seventy of those little vessels which parted not from the foreign Ship till it had cast Anchor in the best Haven where by their acclamations and all the signs of friendship and good will that could be expected from a Nation so far unacquainted with civility they express'd the extraordinary joy they conceived at its happy arrival These little vessels are so admirable whether we consider their materials or the strange industry in the making of them or the incomparable dexterity whereby they are conducted that they may well be allow'd a place among the descriptions which this delightful digression shall furnish us with They consist of little thin pieces of wood whereof most are cleft like Hoops These pieces of wood are fasten'd one to another with strong cords made of the guts of fishes which keep them together in a figure fit for the uses to which they are design'd They are cover'd on the out-side with the skins of Sea-Dogs which are so neatly sewn together and so artificially done over with Rozin about the seams that the water cannot make the least entrance into them These little Boats are commonly about fifteen or sixteen foot in length and they may be in the midst where they are biggest about five foot circumference from that place they grow smaller and smaller so that the ends or extremities of them are very sharp and plated as it were with a white bone or a piece of the

the uniformity and connexion of the matter Yet have we a word further to add in answer to a question which the curiosity of some person might haply take occasion to start which is How long it may be since the Caribbians came out of Florida into these Islands We must acknowledge there can no certain account be given of it inasmuch as these Nations have commonly no other Annals than their own memories But in regard those people ordinarily live two hundred years it is not to be thought strange that the occurrences happening among them should be transmitted to posterity to three or four Generations And to confirm this we may aver that there are many men and women among them who can give an exact account of the first arrival of the Spaniards in America as if it had happened but yesterday So that the remembrance of the departure of the Caribbians out of Florida and the wars they have had there being yet fresh among the Apalachites those who have heard them discourse conjecture that it may be about five hundred years since those things came to pass But if it be further question'd why they did not endeavour to make their way back again into Florida to be reveng'd of the Apalachites and those of their own Nation who had forc'd them thence especially after they had multiply'd and recruited themselves so powerfully in the Islands it may be answered That the difficulty of Navigation which is very easie from the Caribbies to Florida but very dangerous from Florida to the Caribbies the winds being commonly contrary chill'd the earnestness they might have to make any such attempt In the next place it is to be noted that the air of the Islands being warmer and the soil as good and in all appearance more suitable to their constitution than that of Florida they apprehended that those who had forc'd them thence had contrary to their intentions procur'd them a greater happiness than they could have desir'd and thinking to make them miserable had made them fortunate in their exile CHAP. VIII By way of Digression giving an account of the Apalachites the Nature of their Country their Manners and their ancient and modern Religion SInce we have had occasion to speak so much concerning the Apalachites and that above one half of the ancient Caribbians after the expulsion of those among them who would not adore the Sun have to this present made up one people and one Common-wealth with those Apalachites it will be consonant to our design especially since the subject thereof is rare and little known if we give some account of the nature of their Country and the most remarkable things that are in it as also of the manners of the Inhabitants the Religion they have had heretofore and that which they profess at this day as we have the particulars thereof from the English who have traded among them and have not long since laid the foundations of a Colony in the midst of the noblest and best known of their Provinces The Territories of the Apalachites consist of six Provinces whereof three are comprehended within that noble and spacious Vale which is encompass'd by the Mountains of the Apalates at the foot whereof these people inhabit The most considerable of those Provinces and which lies towards the East wherein the King keeps his Court is called Bemarin That which is in the midst and as it were in the centre of the three is called Amani or Amana And the third of those which are within that Vale is known by the name of Matica True it is that this last which begins in the Vale reaches a great way into the Mountains nay goes yet much beyond even to the South-side of the great Lake which they call Theomi The other Provinces are Schama and Meraco which are in the Apalatean Mountains and Achalaques which is partly in the Mountains and partly in the Plain and comprehends all the Marshes and Fenny places confining on the great Lake Theomi on the North-side The Country under the King of the Apalachites being thus divided into six Provinces there are in it some Mountains of a vast extent and prodigious height which are for the most part inhabited by a people living only upon what they get by hunting there being great store of wild beasts in those Wildernesses Besides which there are also certain Vales which are peopled by a Nation that is less barbarous such as addicts it self to the cultivation of the earth and is sustain'd by the fruits it produces And lastly there are abundance of Marshes and Fenny places and a great Lake whereof the Inhabitants are very numerous maintaining themselves by fishing and what the little good ground they have furnishes them withall The three Provinces which are within the Vale which as we said in the precedent Chapter is sixty leagues in length and about ten more in bredth lie as it were in a Champion Country save only that in some places there are certain risings and eminences on which the Towns and Villages are commonly built many little Rivers which descend from the Mountains and abound in Fish cross it up and down in several places That part of it which is not reduc'd to culture is well furnish'd with fair trees of an excessive height For instance there are Cedars Cypress Pines Oaks Panamas which the French call Saxafras and an infinite variety of others which have no proper names among us As concerning the Fruit-trees of this Country besides Chestnut and Walnut-Trees which grow naturally there the English who have planted themselves in those parts as we shall relate more at large towards the end of this Chapter have planted Orange-trees sweet and sharp Citrons Lemons several sorts of Apples and Pears and divers Stones as of Plumbs Cherries and Apricocks which have thriv'd and multiplied so that in some places of this Country there are more European fruits then in any other part of America There is also good store of those lesser sort of Trees which bear leaves or flowers of sweet scent such as Laurel Jessemine Roses Rosemary and all those others that are so ornamental in the Garden Nor is there any want of Pinks Carnations Tulips Violets Lillies and all the other Flowers which adorn Knots and Borders Pot-herbs also and all sorts of Pulse and Roots thrive very well there Citruls Cucumbers and Melons are common all Summer long and as well tasted as those which grow in any part of the Caribbies Strawberries and Raspberries grow in the Woods without any culture They have also Small-nuts Gooseberries and an infinite variety of other small Fruits which in their degree contribute to the delight and refreshment of the Inhabitants The Wheat Barly Rie and Oats which some sow'd there at several Seasons and in different Soils hath grown only to the blade but in requital there grows every where such abundance of small Millet Lentils Chick-pease Fetches and Mais or Turkish Wheat which are sown and harvested