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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	call_v	herb_n	juice_n	906	5	10.1596	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

name Nicotianum from one Nicot a Physician who first us'd it in Europe and sent it from Portugal into France It was also called queen-Queen-herb hence that being brought from America it was presented to the Queen of Spain as a rare Plant and of extraordinary vertues The Spaniards give it further the title of holy-Holy-herb for the excellent effects they have experienc'd from it as Garcilasso in his Royal Commentary of the Tncas of Peru lib. 11. ch 25. affirms Lastly the French call it Petun though de Lery is much displeas'd at the name affirming that the Plant he saw in Brasil and which the Topinambous call Petun differs very much from our Tobacco The Caribbians in their natural Language call it Youly Heretofore there were known in the Islands but two kinds of Tobacco-Plants commonly called by the Inhabitants Green-Tobacco and Tongu'd-Tobacco from the figure of its leaf but since there have been brought from the Continent the seeds of Virinus and the Tobacco of the Amazons they are divided into four kinds The two former are of a great produce but the two others are more esteem'd by reason of their sweet scent All these kinds of Tobacco-Plants grow in the Islands to the height of a man and higher if their growth be not check'd by cutting off the tops of their stems They bear good store of leaves which are green long downy on the lower side and seem in the handling as if they were oiled Those which grow towards the stock of the Plant are larger and longer as deriving more nourishment from the moisture of the root At the tops they shoot forth little branches which bear a flower like a small Bell which is of a clear violet colour And when that flower is dry there comes into its place a little button wherein is contained the seed which is of a brownish colour and very small There are sometimes found under the leaves and branches of this Plant the nests of the little Birds called Colibris which we shall describe in its proper place INDICO THe material of which is made the Dying commodity called Indico is got from a Plant which grows not above two foot and a half above the ground It hath but a small leaf of a grass-green colour inclining to yellow when it is ripe The flower is reddish It grows from the seed which is sown by trenches in a streight line It hath a very bad scent quite contrary to that growing in Madagascar which bears small flowers of a purple colour mixt with white which smell well GINGER OF all the Spices of the Levant that have been planted in America only Ginger hath thriv'd and come to perfection 'T is the root of a Plant which grows not much above ground having green long leaves like those of Reeds and Sugar-canes The root spreads it self not in depth but in bredth and lies neer the surface like a hand encompass'd by many fingers whence the Inhabitants of the Islands call it a Paw This Plant may be propagated by the seed or as is most commonly done by certain small roots which grow like so many strings all about the old stem and the greater roots as there do about Skirretts It grows with ease in all the Islands especially at S. Christophers many Inhabitants of which Island have planted it and traded in it with advantage since Tobacco came to so low a rate POTATOE THe Potatoe is a root much like the Saligots growing in Gardens which are called Topinambous or Jerusalem Artichokes but of a much more excellent taste and more wholsome Those Topinambous or Artichokes which are now not only very common in most parts but cheap and slighted as being a tteatment for the poorer sort were heretofore accounted delicacies For in some extraordinary Entertainments made at Paris by the Princes to certain Embassadours in the Year M. DC XVI they were serv'd up among the most exquisite dishes But the Potatoe is infinitely beyond it It thrives best in a light ground somewhat moist and well ordered It shoots forth abundance of soft leaves of a very dark green in figure like those of Spinage They spring from certain fibres which creep along the ground and in a short time over-run the place where it is sown And if the ground be well order'd these fibres within a certain time frame divers roots by the means of certain whitish filaments which shoot forth below the knots and easily fasten into the earth It bears a flower near the same colour with the root and like a bell within which lies the seed But commonly to propagate this fruit they take only of these strings or fibres which lye scattered all over the ground as we said and thrust them into ground prepar'd for them and at the end of two or three months they will have produc'd their root which hath this further vertue that being cut into small pieces and thrust into the ground it produceth its root and leaf as effectually as if the seed lay in each of its least parts These roots are of several colours and in the same piece of ground there will be some white ones which are the most ordinary some of a violet colour some red as beetroots some yellow and some marbled They are all of an excellent taste For provided they be not full of water and grew in a ground moderately moist and dry that is participating of both they taste like Chest-nuts and are a better nourishment then the Cassava which dries up the body for they are not so dry Some as particularly the English use these roots instead of bread and Cassava and to that purpose bake them under the Embers or upon the coals For being so prepar'd they are of a better taste and are clear'd of that windy quality which is commonly observ'd to be in most roots But for the most part they are boyl'd or stew'd in a great iron pot into which there is a little water put to keep the bottom from burning then the pot-lid is set on as close as may be that they may stew by that smother'd heat This is the ordinary treatment of the Servants and Slaves of the Country who eat them out of the pot with a sauce made of Pyman and juice of Oranges If this root were not so common it would be more esteem'd The Spaniards think it a delicacy and dress it with butter sugar nu●meg and cinamon Others make a pottage of it and putting into it some fat pepper and ginger account it an excellent dish But most of the Inhabitants of the Islands trouble not themselves so much about the dressing of it There are some will gather the tender extremities of the aforesaid strings and having boil'd them eat them as a Sallet like the tops of Asparagus or Hops ANANAS THe Ananas or Pine-Apple is accounted the most delicious fruit not only of these Islands but of all America It is so delightful to the eye and of so sweet a scent that Nature may be said to

Manioc and good store of Pyman Sometimes they have a detestable kind of seasoning for their meats and that is the fat of the Arouagues their irreconcileable Enemies But this hath no place in their ordinary Repasts as being used only on solemn days of debauches and rejoicing As to their drink as they do in several parts of America the same grains of Mais which serve to make bread are used for the composition of a Drink which is accounted as good as Wine and as among us the Wheat which makes Bread will also make Beer so in these Islands of the Roots of Potatoes and Manioc which serve to make Bread there are made two several sorts of Drinks which are ordinary in the Country The former and most common which is made of Potatoes boiled with water is called Maby It is excellent good to refresh and quench thirst and it hath also an appetitive vertue which causes an evacuation of the sandiness and all the viscosities of the lower parts Whence it comes that those who make use of that Drink never complain of the Stone or Gravel The other Drink is called Ouïcon from a name coming neer the Caouin of the Brasilians and is made of the Cassava it self boiled in like manner with water It is strained through a coarse cloth which the Savages call Hibichet This Drink is more excellent than the Maby and differs not much from Beer either as to colour o● strength The Indians make it very pleasant but 〈…〉 withall that much drunk it into●●cates as 〈…〉 They make it of Cassava well and throughly bak●● on the plan●● then chew●d by the Women and put into Vessel● full of Water or after it hath been infus'd and boiled for 〈…〉 the space of two days by its own vertue with 〈…〉 fire as new Wine does the infusion is strain'd through the coarse or 〈…〉 and the juice which is gotten from it by that 〈…〉 being kept two daies more is ready for drinking 〈…〉 ●a●e this composition boil the better they put into the Vessel two or three Roots of Potatoes scraped very small It must indeed be acknowledged that this custom which the Savages observe in ●●●wing the Cassava before it be put into the Vessel is enough to turn the stomachs of some but it is most certain withall that the Drink made after that manner is incomparably better than that which is made otherwise The Ouicou is also made after another manner without the Roo●e of Potatoes which is this after the Cassava is taken off the Plank 〈…〉 laid somewhere about the house and covered with the leaves of Manioc and some heavy stones laid thereon to set it into a heat and this is done for the space of three or four days That done it is broken into several pieces which are spread on Banana-leaves and then they are lightly sp●inkled with water and so left When the Cassava hath remained so for the space of one night it becomes all red and then it is good to make Ouicou and will make its water boil with out the Roots of Potatoes Besides these two sorts of Drinks which are the most ordinary in the Caribbies there are also made in divers places several sorts of delicious Wines The Negroes who are slaves in these Islands make incisions in the prickly Palms out of which there distils a certain liquor like White-wine which they gather in several little Gourds fasten'd to the overtures of those trees whereof each will yield two pints every day and sometimes more The most ancient Authors assure us that among the East-Indians the Wine of Palms was very much in use as indeed it is at this day It is also used in some parts of Africk as at Monomotapa Moreover there is in the Caribbies another kind of Drink made of Bananas which is also in other parts and by some called Couscou But in regard this sort of Wine though very pleasant and strong causes great ventosities it is not much used To conclude there is made in these Islands an excellent kind of Wine of those precious Reeds out of which the Sugar is gotten And this is the most esteemed Drink of any made in the Caribbies It is called by some Cane-wine and there is a particular secret in the making of it There is more made at S. Christophers then any where else by reason of the abundance of Canes planted there The juice of these Canes is got out by a Mill made purposely for that use afterwards it is purified by fire in great Caldrons It may be kept a long time in its perfection and it hath a sweetness and withal a certain picquancy which might make it pass for Sack Of the same Canes there is also made a certain Aquavitae called Cane-Aquavitae which keeps better then the Wine of those same Reeds There is not any thing in the substance of these ordinary Repasts of our Caribbians which seem to savour of the Savage unless it be haply the Lizards But why may not they be as good Meat as the Frogs and Snails eaten in some parts of France And who knows not that in Spain they eat abundance of young Asses Nay compare the sustenance of our Caribbians with that of the Canadians who besides the skimmings of the Pot which we said they eat do commonly drink filthy and nasty grease and prefer the flesh of Bears before any other with that of the Inhabitants of the Island of Good-fortune one of the Canaries who eat abundance of Suet with that of the Tartars the Persians the Chineses the Huancas a Nation of Peru of the Negroes of Angola who commonly live on the flesh of Horses Cammels Mules Wolves Foxes Asses Dogs and drink the Blood of those Creatures with that of the East-Indians who think the Flesh of Bats and Mice as delicious as that of Partridges with that of the Brasilians who feed on Toads Rats and Worms or lastly with that of the Tapuyes and some other Barbarians who eat hair minc'd very small and mix'd with wild honey and season all their Meat with the ashes of the burnt Bodies of their deceas'd Relations and mix them with the meal they bake which causes horrour only to represent much more to do Let there be I say a comparison made between all these infamous Ragouts and those of the Caribbian Nation and it will be found that in their ordinary Commons there is nothing barbarous Yet are we not to dissemble what some of the French relate to wit That they have seen the Caribbians eating the Lice and Chegoes they had taken as it is reported of the Mexicans and Cumaneses but they do not make their Ordinary out of them and it is particular only to some among them besides that they do it not out of any delicacy they find in those Vermine but only to be revenged of them Moreover the horrour which the Caribbians conceiv'd heretofore at the eating of Swines-flesh Tortoises and Lamantin for the pleasant reasons before alledged was so great

corrective The boughs of this Tree being cut off and thrust into the ground do easily take root The Portuguez extract an oyl out of the kernels which is good enough for the uses of the Kitchin and may also be useful in Medicine CINAMON THe Tree which bears that kind of Cinamon which is so common in all the Islands may be ranked among those which are useful in Medicine since its Aromatick Bark is sought after by all those who are troubled with cold distempers and successfully used to disburthen the chest of the viscous and phlegmatick humors which oppress it The sweet scent and perpetual verdure of this delightful Tree have perswaded some that it was a kind of Laurel but it grows much higher its trunk is also bigger its branches larger and its leaves which are not altogether so long are much softer and of a more lively green The bark of it which is cover'd by an Ash-colour'd skin is thicker and of a whiter colour then the Cinamon which comes from the Levant It is also of a sharper and more biting taste but being dried in the shade it gives a pleasant taste to Meats The Islands Tabago Barbados and Sante Croix are accounted to be better furnish'd then any of the rest with several sorts of wood which experience hath found very useful in Medicine For they afford Sandal-wood Guaiacum and Sasafras all which are so well known that we need not in this place make any particular descriptions thereof COTTON-TREE THere are several other Trees very common in all these Islands whereof the Inhabitants may make very considerable advantages The Cotton-tree called by the Savages Manoulou-Akecha may be ranked among the chiefest as being the most profitable It grows up to the height of a Peach-tree the bark is of a brownish colour the leaves small divided into three parts It bears a flower about the bigness of a Rose under which there are three little green and sharp-pointed leaves by which it is encompassed This flower consists of five leaves which are of a bright yellow colour having towards the stem small lines of a purple colour and a yellow button or crown encompassed with little filaments of the same colour The flowers are succeeded by a fruit of an oval figure about the bigness of a small Nut with its shell when it is come to maturity it is all black on the out-side and opens in three several places at which appears the whitness of the Cotton lying within that rough covering there are in every of the fruit seven little beans which are the seed of the Tree There is another kind of Cotton-tree which creeps along the ground like an unsupported Vine this bears the best and most esteemed Cotton Of both there are made Cloths and several cheap Stuffs very useful in House-keeping SOAP-TREE THere are two sorts of Trees which the Islanders use instead of Soap one of them hath this quality in its fruit which grows in clusters round yellowish and about the bigness of a small Plumb which hath also a hard black stone within it that may be polish'd It is commonly called the Soapfruit the other hath the same vertue in its root which is white and soft both of them lather as well as any Soap but the former used too frequently burns the Linen These Trees are called the Soap-trees from the vertue they have to whiten Cloaths The ARCHED-INDIAN-FIG-TREE THe Arched-Indian-Fig-Tree is a Tree thrives best in fenny places and on the Sea-side Its leaf is green thick and of a good length the branches which bend down to the ground no sooner touch it but they take root and grow up into other Trees which afterwards produce others so that in time they spread over all the good ground they meet with which is by that means so hardly reducible to bear other things that it will yield no profit under these Trees the wild Boars and other beasts are securely lodg'd They are also in many places the lurking-holes of the Inhabitants of the Islands who having garrison'd themselves within these Trees defie all enemies There is further this great advantage made of them that there being no Oaks in these Islands their bark is good for Tanners GOURD-TREE NOr may we forget the Gourd-tree of which are made the greatest part of the Houshold-vessels used not only by the Indians but the Foreigners who are Inhabitants of these Islands 't is a Tree grows up to the height and bigness of a great Apple-tree its branches are commonly well-loaden with leaves which are long narrow and round at the extremity fasten'd by bushes to the branches and sometimes shooting out of the trunk itself It bears flowers and fruits most moneths of the year the flowers are of a greyish colour mixt with green and full of small black spots and sometimes violet they are succeeded by certain Apples whereof there can hardly be found two on the same Tree of equal bigness and the same figure and as a Potter shews the excellency of his Art by making on the same wheel and of the same mass of clay Vessels of different forms and capacity so Nature shews here a miraculous industry by loading the same Tree with fruits different in their form and bigness though the productions of the same substance These fruits have this common that they have all a hard woody bark of such a thickness and solidity that Bottles Basons Cups Dishes Platters and several other Vessels necessary to House-keeping may be made thereof they are full of a certain pulp which being ripe becomes of a Violet-colour though before it had been white amidst this substance there are certain small flat and hard grains which are the seeds of the Tree Those of the Inhabitants who are most addicted to Hunting in case of necessity quench their thirst with this fruit and they say it hath the taste of burnt-wine but is too astringent The Indians polish the bark and give it so delightful an enamel with Roucou Indico and several other pleasant colours that the most nice may eat and drink out of the vessels they make thereof Nay some are so curious as to think them worthy a place among the Rarities of their Closets MAHOT OF the Tree called Mahot there are two kinds Mahotfranc and Mahot-d'herbe the former is the more sought after as being the stronger it grows not very big in regard the branches creep along the ground the bark is very thick and easily taken from the Tree there are made of it long Laces or Points which are stronger then the Lines of Teil which are used in many places they are commonly used to make up Rolls of Tobacco and to fasten things about the House as for the latter Mahot it is used where the former is wanting but it easily rots and is not comparable to the other as to strength In a word there are in these Islands several other Trees not known in Europe whereof some only delight the eye such as are that which is

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

it grows sometimes to the height of a shrub it hath many little branches which are at all times loaden with an infinite number of long and narrow leaves which during the rains are enamell'd with small golden flowers like so many stars But what makes this Plant esteem'd one of the rarest and most admirable of any in the world is that as soon as one would fasten on it with his hand it draws back its leaves and wriggles them under its little branches as if they were wither'd and when the hand is remov'd and the party gone away some distance from it it spreads them abroad again Some call this Plant the Chaste Herb because it cannot endure to be touch'd without expressing its resentment of the injury Those who have pass'd by the Isthmus from Nombre de Dios to Panama relate that there are whole Woods of a Tree called the Sensitive-tree which being touch'd the branches and leaves start up making a great noise and close together into the figure of a Globe Some years since there was to be seen in the Kings Garden at Paris a Sensitive-shrub valued at a very great rate But some body having advis'd the putting of it in the bottom of a Well to keep it from the cold and the sharpness of Winter it there miserably perish'd to the great regret of the Curious Of several sorts of PEASE THese Islands are also fruitful in bearing all sorts of Pulse such as are several sorts of Pease and Beans The Savages call them by the general name of Manconti The Pease are in a manner of the same kinds as those growing in Europe those only excepted which are gather'd from a little shrub which is about the height of Broom and hath small green and narrow leaves it bears Pease in cods or husks which are fastened to its branches they are green and less then the ordinary ones of an excellent taste and so easily boil'd that they need but a walm or two they are called in the Islands The Pease of Angola probably because the seed was brought from that Country There is another kind known by the name of Pease which yet have the figure of Beans they are small enough and of this kind there are some white some black some red or brown all very excellent and are ripe in three moneths These in S. Christophers are called English Pease BEANS OF Beans and Fasels there grow in the Caribbies several kinds not to be seen in the Western parts of Europe The most common are white to which the first Inhabitants gave an undecent name by reason of their figure their fruit may be eaten six weaks after they are planted others are of several pretty colours as those which are called Roman-Beans or Lombardy-Beans But the most considerable for their rarity are those called the Seven-years Beans because the same stalk bears seven years one after another and spreads it self over Trees Rocks and whatever it can fasten on and what is to be yet further admir'd is that at all times during the said term of years it bears flowers green fruit and ripe fruit So that he who sees it may well admire Spring Summer Autumn in one bough conspire The same thing is affirmed of a certain Tree in Egypt called Pharaohs Fig-tree on which there may be seen at all times fruit fully ripe fruit ripening and fruit newly knit Orange-trees have the same advantage Plants useful in Physick OF Plants useful in Physick there are many kinds in these Islands whereof the vertues and temperament are not yet well known and some others which are also to be had from other places Such as are Scolopendria and a kind of Aloes and several sorts of Maiden-hair There are also some whereof trial hath been made and they have been endued with great vertues among which the most esteem'd are the Sweet-Rush the Balisier and the Dart-Herb SWEET-RUSH THe Sweet-Rush is like other Rushes which grow neer Ponds and Rivers but it hath a round root about the bigness of a Small-nut which casts a sweet scent like that of the Flower-de-luce and being dried in the shade and beaten to powder hath a miraculous vertue to help Women in Labour if they take but a small dose of it BALISIER THe Balisier grows bigger and higher according to the soil it meets with but it thrives best in moist places The leaves of it are so large that the Caribbians in case of necessity cover their little Huts therewith They are also apply'd to abate and mollifie the inflammations of wounds and to make baths for such as have had their Nerves crush'd or have contracted any other weakness The flower of it which grows like a Plume of Feathers consisting of several yellow or red cups are succeeded by certain buttons which are full of seeds as big as Pease and so smooth and hard that Beads are made of them DART-HERB THe Dart-Herb is a sad kind of Herb for in the day time the leaves lye close together and in the night they are spread abroad its leaves which are of a bright-green are about six or seven inches long and three broad the root of it pounded and applyed on the wound takes away the venom of poysoned Darts POT-HERBS MOst of the Pot-Herbs growing in several parts of Europe grow also in these Islands 'T is true there are some as Cabbages and Onions will not bear seed yet is there no want of them The Cabbages being ripe shoot forth many slips which transplanted produce others which come to be as fair and as large as if they grew from the seed And for Onions there are good store brought in the Ships which produce abundance of Chibols and those only are commonly used in Pottage and with Pease MELONS THere is also abundance of ordinary Melons the seed whereof is brought thither from these parts but by reason of the heat of the Country they grow more easily ripe the meat is firmer and of a better taste and they have a sweeter scent And what is a greater advantage they are to be had at any time in the year WATER-MELONS THere grows in these Countries another kind of Melons which are common in Italy but must needs be incomparably better in Egypt and the Levant There grow of them also in some parts of France but they are naught they are called Water-Melons because they are full of a sugar'd water intermingled with their meat which ordinarily is of a Vermilion colour and red as blood about the heart wherein are contained their seed which is also of the same colour and sometimes black their rind continues always green and without any scent so that it is rather by the stalk then the fruit that their ripeness is to be discover'd they are sometimes bigger then a mans head either round or oval they are eaten without Salt and though a man feed liberally on them yet do they not offend the stomack but in those hot Countries they are very cooling and cause appetite They

Cupping-glasses apply'd upon the scarified wound as also all hot and attractive Medicaments such as are Galbanum Ammoniacum the fomentation of wine boil'd with the root of Dragon-wort or the leaves of Mug-wort Garlick Onions Pigeons dung the blood of Land-Tortoises dry'd and reduc'd to powder and the like It is also not only requisite but very safe as soon as may be to bind up the member affected a little above the place where the party was stung and immediately to make an incision nay indeed to take away the piece or at least as soon as it is scarifi'd to apply thereto the outermost feather of a Chicken or Pigeons wing to take away the venom and that Chicken or Pigeon being dead to take another till there be no venom left to be drawn It were also to be wish'd that all the Inhabitants of the Caribbies were furnish'd with that excellent Antidote approved in so many places in France which is known under the famous name of Orvietan and sold at Paris at the New-bridge end in the street called Rue Dauphine at the sign of the Sun For that admirable secret among many other rare qualities hath the vertue to drive away the venom of all sorts of Serpents and to allay the force of the strongest poysons Such as have been stung by venemous Serpents are to use it thus Take of it about the bigness of a Bean dissolv'd in wine and after scarification made on the place stung and drawing blood by the Cupping-glass apply thereto a little Orvietan and let care be taken that the Patient be kept awake at least for twelve hours after This sovereign remedy loses nothing of its goodness though it be kept many years so it be put up in a place not too hot where it may be dry'd up and if it be it may be reduc'd to its consistence with Mel rosatum it may be also had in powder As to the diet to be observ'd during the use of this remedy the Patient must abstain from all meats that enflame the blood or cause melancholy He must also forbear purging and bleeding for fear of drawing the venom inward unless some of the nobler parts be in danger in which case he may purge abundantly and use baths and things good to open the pores and cause sweating If a person be reduc'd to such an extremity as that none of the forementioned Antidotes can be procured let him make use of this which is very common and easily got Let him who hath been bitten or stung by any venemous creature immediately eat the rind of a raw Citron for it hath the vertue to secure the heart from the venom if it may be done the place hurt must be bound as hard as can be endured a little above the biting or stinging then it must be scarifi'd and let there be often apply'd thereto a mans fasting spittle and if the beast which hath done the mischief can be had cut off the head of it and pound it till it be reduc'd to a kind of Unguent which must be apply'd hot to the wound This is the ordinary remedy used by the natural Inhabitants of Brasil to free themselves from the violent poyson of that dangerous and monstrous Serpent which in their Language they call Boicinininga and the Spaniards Cascavel The last Letters we receiv'd from Martinico assure us that some considerable families lately come from Brasil with their Negroes to live in that Island acquainted the inhabitants with several Herbs and Roots growing in the Caribbies as well as Brasil which are excellent to allay the venom of all kinds of Serpents and poyson'd Arrows The forementioned remedies may also be used against the venom of the Becune and all the other dangerous fishes They may also be successfully employ'd to prevent the pernicious effects of the juice of Manyoc the Manchenillo-tree and the stinging of Waspes Scorpions and all other venemous Insects SEA-FOAM THose who go a fishing or to wash themselves in the Sea do sometimes meet with a certain foam which the wind blows to and fro like a little bladder of a purple colour of a different figure and beautiful to the eye but what part soever of the body it shall stick to it immediately causes in it a very grievous pain extreamly sharp and burning The readiest remedy that can be apyly'd to alleviate that stinging pain is to anoint the place affected with the oyl of the Acajou-nut mixt with a little good Aqua-vitae for one heat takes away the other RATS MIce and Rats were creatures heretofore unknown to the Caribbians but now since the coming in of so many Ships to those Islands and the casting away of divers of them in the very Roads where they afterwards rot they have got to land and are so multiply'd that in some places they do abundance of mischief among the Potatoes Pease Beans and particularly that kind of Wheat which is called Turkey-wheat Nay did not the Snakes destroy them and search for them in their holes under ground in the clefts of rocks nay even in the coverings of houses which consist of Palm-leaves or Sugar-canes it would no doubt be a very hard matter to secure Provisions from them Now indeed there are Cats in these Islands which give them no quarter nay Dogs are taught to hunt them and it is no small diversion to see how subtle they are to find them out and expert in the hunting and killing of them Nor is this inconvenience particular to the Caribbies nay it is much worse in Peru for Garcilasso in his Royal Commentary affirms that these pestilent creatures being extreamly numerous in those parts commit very great spoils ransacking the places through which they pass making the Fields desolate and gnawing the Fruits even to the stalks and roots of the Trees The Inhabitants of the Islands have an invention which they call Balan to keep the Rats from eating their Cassava and other Provisions This Balan is a kind of round hurdle or haply square consisting of several stakes on which they place the Cassava after it hath been dried in the Sun It is fasten'd at the top of the Hut hanging down by a Witth or Cord and that the Rats may not come down along the Cord and so get to the Balan they put the Cord through a smooth gourd which hangs loose in the midst of it so that the Rats being come to that place being not able to fasten their feet in it and fearing the motion of the Gourd are afraid to venture any further Were it not for this secret the Inhabitants would find it a hard task to keep their provisions Thus hath the wise Author of Nature been pleas'd by an admirable equipollence of perfections and imperfections that those Countries which have some advantages above others should also be subject to those inconveniences that are not to be found elsewhere Thus hath the Divine Providence whose business it is liberally to supply the exigencies of his Creatures plac'd the preservative

he were dead and erects a Tomb at which having made her Lamentations she is at liberty to marry again as if she were effectually a Widow yet he among the Caribbians who should embrace Christianity would expose himself to thousands of reproaches and affronts if he continu'd his aboad among them When they see the Assemblies and Service of the Christians they are wont to say is is pretty and divertive but it is not the fashion of their Country not expressing in their presence either hatred or aversion to the Ceremonies as did the poor Savages who liv'd in the Island of Hispaniola and the neighbouring Islands who would not be present at the Service of the Spaniards much less embrace their Religion because as they said they could not be perswaded that persons so wicked and so cruel whose unmerciful barbarism they had so much experienc'd could have any good belief Some Priests and Religious men who had been heretofore in that Country having been over-forward in the baptizing of some before they had instructed them in that Mystery have been the cause that that Sacrament is not in such reputation among the Caribbians as otherwise it might have been And whereas their Godfathers and Godmothers gave them new Cloathes and made them some other little Presents on the day of their Baptism and treated them very sumptuously within eight days after they had received that Sacrament they desired to receive it again that they might have other Presents and good cheer Not many years since some of those Gentlemen took into their charge a young Caribbian their Catechumen born in Dominico whose name was Ya Marabouy a Son of that Captain whom the French call the Baron and the Indians Orachora Caramiana out of a design to shew him one of the greatest and most magnificent Cities in the World which was Paris they brought him over-Sea and after they had shewn him all the Rarities of that great City he was baptiz'd there with great solemnity in the presence of many Persons of Honour and named Lewis Having sojourn'd a while in those Parts he was sent back into his own Country loaden indeed with Presents but as much a Christian as when he came out of it because he had not been fully instructed in the Mysteries of Christian Religion As soon as he had set foot in his own Island he laugh'd at all he had seen as if it had been but a May-game and saying the Christians were an extravagant sort of people he return'd into the Company of the other Savages put off his Cloathes and painted his Body over with Roucou as he had done before To shew the inconstancy and lightness of the Caribbians in the Christian Religion when they have once embrac'd it there is a Story how that while M. Auber was Governour of Gardeloupe he was often visited by a Savage of Dominico who had liv'd a long time at Sevil in Spain where he had been baptiz'd but being return'd into his Island though he made as many Signs of the Cross as one would desire and wore a great pair of Beads about his Neck yet he liv'd like a Savage went naked among his own people and retain'd nothing of what he had seen and been taught at Sevil save that he put on an old Spanish Habit the more to ingratiate himself when he came to visit the Governour They have a very ancient Tradition among them which shews that their Ancestors had some knowledg of a Superior Power which took a care of their Persons and whose favourable assistance they were sensible of but this Light their brutish Children have suffer'd to be extinguish'd and through their ignorance never reflected on it They say then That their Ancestors were poor Savages living like Beasts in the midst of the Woods without Houses or places where they might retreat living on the Herbs and Fruits which the Earth produc'd of it self without manuring whilst they were in this miserable condition an old man among them extreamly weary of that brutish kind of life wept most bitterly and orewhelm'd with despair deplor'd his wretched condition whereupon a Man all in white appear'd to him descending from Heaven and coming neer he comforted the disconsolate old man telling him That he was come to assist him and his Countrymen and to shew them the way to lead a more pleasant life for the future That if any one of them had sooner made his complaints to Heaven they had been sooner relieved That on the Sea-shore there was abundance of sharp Stones wherewith they might ●●ll down Trees to make Houses for themselves And That the Palm and Plantine Trees bore Leaves fit to cover the Roofs of them and to secure them against the injuries of the Weather That to assure them of the particular care he had of them and the great affection he bore their species beyond those of other Creatures he had brought them an excellent Root wherewith they might make Bread and that no Beast should dare to touch it when it was once planted and that he would have them thence-forward make that their ordinary sustenance The Caribbians add further That thereupon the charitable unknown person broke a stick he had in his hand into three or four pieces and that giving to the old man he commanded him to put them into the ground assuring him that when he should come a while after to dig there he should find a great Root and that any part of what grew above-ground should have the virtue of producing the same Plant he afterwards taught him how it was to be used telling him the Root was to be scraped with a rough and spotted Stone which was to be had at the Sea-side that the juice issuing by means of that scraping was to be laid aside as a most dangerous poison and then with the help of fire a kind of savory Bread might be made of it on which they might live pleasantly enough The old man did what had been enjoin'd him and at the end of nine Moons as they say being extreamly desirous to know the success of the Revelation he went to see the pieces he had planted in the ground and he found that each of them had produced many fair and great roots which he disposed of as he had been commanded Those of Dominico who tell this story say further that if the old man had visited the pieces at the end of three days instead of nine months he would have found the roots grown to the same bigness and that they had been produc'd in that time But in regard he went not to look what became of them till after the expiration of so long a time the Manioc continues to this present all that time in the ground before it be fit to make Cassava of This is all we could get from the Caribbian Tradition and we conceiv'd it might well be set here at length since it is the only one that is related among this ignorant people who trouble

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