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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

Islands marked in the Map by that name There are numbred in all twelve or thirteen of them They reach Eastward from St. John de Porto-Rico at the altitude of 18 degrees North of the Line Between these Islands there are very good Anchoring places for several Fleets The Spaniards visit them often in order to Fishing which is there plentiful There are also in them an infinite number of rare both Land and Sea-fowl They afford so little good ground that after a tryal made thereof in several places it was concluded that they deserved not Inhabitants S te CROIX THe last of all the Caribbies of the Lee-ward Islands is the Island of Sante Croix or the Holy Cross It lyes at 18 degrees and some minutes The Caribbians who were forc'd thence by the Spaniards call it Ayay It was much esteem'd among them because it was the first Island that Nation possess'd themselves of when they came from the North to seek a convenient habitation to lay the foundations of their Colonies as shall be represented particularly in the Second Book of this History The Soil of this Island returns with good interest whatever is sown in it there are in it fair and spacious Plains of a black earth and easie to be manured there are also several fair and precious kinds of Trees good for Dying and Joyners work The Air is good but the Waters not so wholsom if drunk immediately after they are drawn To take away the ill quality they have they are put to rest a certain time in earthen vessels which makes them good and thence it is conceiv'd that the bad quality proceeds from their mud as is observed in those of the Nile This Island is now possess'd by the French who have rais'd it to a great height after its several changes of former Masters The French General supplies it with Inhabitants at his own charge It may be nine or ten Leagues in length and neer as much in breadth where it is broadest The Mountains are neither so high nor shuffled so neer together but that people may get up to the tops of them and that there is good ground enough besides to find work for many thousands of men CHAP. VI. Of Trees growing in these Islands whose Fruit may be eaten OF the Trees growing in these Islands some bear good Fruits which contribute to the nourishment of the Inhabitants others are fit for Building Joyners work or Dying There are some also very successfully used in Medicine and some which only delight the Smelling by their sweet scent and the Sight by their ever verdant Boughs and Leaves Of those which bear Fruits fit for Food and may be seen in Europe there are only here orange-Orange-trees Pomegranate-trees Citron-trees and Lemon-trees the bulk and goodness whereof far exceeds those of the same kinds growing elsewhere ORANGE OF Oranges there are two kinds yet of the same figure and distinguishable only by the taste some are sweet others sharp both extreamly delicate The sharp are a great convenience to house-keeping for they are used instead of Verjuyce and Vinegar but the sweet excell in goodness Some indeed call the China-Orange the Queen of Oranges and real Musk-balls under the colour and figure of Oranges But however some may celebrate the delightful sweetness of the China-Oranges there are others prefer the excellent taste and picquancy of our American-Oranges POMEGRANATE THe Pomegranate-trees grow also excellently well in all these Islands and bear Fruits fair to the Eye and pleasant to the Taste In many places these Trees serve for Palisadoes about Courts borders of Gardens and the Avenues of Houses CITRONS OF Citrons there are three kinds different as to bigness and which consequently are not all called Citrons The first kind which is the fairest and largest is called Lime it is only good to be preserv'd having very little juyce but preserv'd it is excellent The second kind is the Lemon about the bigness of the Citron brought from Spain but its juyce is little in comparison of its bulk The little Citron which makes the third kind is the best and most esteem'd it hath a very thin skin or pellicle and is full of a very sharp juyce which gives an excellent taste to Meats and a picquancy to several Sawces it is a particular Fruit of America Some curious persons have in their Gardens a kind of very sweet Citrons both as to their peel and juyce which as to bigness and taste come not behind those which grow in Portugal All other Trees growing in the Caribbies have their Leaves Flowers Fruit and Bark of a Figure Taste and Colour different from those of our Countries GOYAVIER TO begin with the Fruit-Trees there is some account made of the Goyavier which comes neer the figure of the Laurel save that the Leaves are softer of a brighter green and more cottened on the lower-side The Bark of this Tree is very thin and smooth It shoots forth at the roots several suckers which if not taken away will in time make a thick wood about it as far as there is any good ground Its branches which are thick and well furnish'd with leaves are loaden twice a year with little white Flowers which are follow'd by several green Apples which become yellow and of a good smell when they are ripe This Fruit hath on the top a little posie like a Crown and the meat within is either white or red full of little kernels like those of a Pomegranate whence the Dutch call it the sweet Pomegranate It is about the bigness of a Pearmain and ripens in one night Being eaten green it is astringent whence it is used by many against Bloody-Fluxes but being ripe it hath a quite contrary effect PAPAYER THe Papayer is a Tree which grows without boughs about 15 or 20 foot high big proportionably to its height hollow and spongious within whence it is used to convey Springs and Rivulets to diverse places There are two kinds of it one commonly found in all the Islands The leaves of it are divided into three points much like the leaf of the Fig-tree They are fastened to long tails as big as a mans thumbs and hollow within They shoot out of the top of the Tree and bending downwards they cover several round fruits about the bigness of the great Quince-pear which grow round the boal to which they are fastened The other kind is particular to the Island of Sante Croix It is fairer and hath more leaves then the former but what causes it to be more esteem'd is its Fruit which is about the bigness of a Melon and of the figure of a womans breast whence the Portughese call it Mamao There is this particularly remarkable in these Trees that they bring forth new fruits every moneth in the year The flower of both kind is of good scent and comes neer that of Jessemine The Fruit of the latter is accounted among the choicest entertainments of the Islands in as much as being come 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-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

A great number of precious Furs of divers kinds of four-footed Beasts particular to that Country and not known yet by any name among us 4. Several Packs of Whale-bone of extraordinary length 5. Some compleat suits of Cloths of the Inhabitants of the Country whereof some were of the skins of Beasts others of those of Birds of the fashion before represented 6. Many of their Shirts made of Fishes Bladders very neatly sew'd as also Caps Gloves and Buskins Quivers Arrows Bows and other Arms used by them as also some of their Tents Bags Baskets and other little pieces of Houshold-stuff 7. A great number of those small Vessels made to carry only one man A great Boat or Shallop forty five foot in length which might conveniently carry fifty persons 8. But the most rare and precious Commodity was a very considerable quantity of the Teeth or Horns of the fishes called Sea-Unicorns which are thought to be the largest the fairest and the most exactly proportion'd of any that have yet been seen Some of them were sent to Paris and other parts of Europe where they were well receiv'd Nor is it unlikely but that they will be much more highly esteemed when the admirable vertues they have in Physick are known For though their beauty and rarity may procure them the best places in the Closets of the Curious yet will they be more kindly received there when some others have found true what many famous Physicians and Apothecaries of Denmark and Germany who have made trial thereof upon several occasions unanimously affirm of them to wit that they expell poyson and have all the properties commonly attributed to the Land-Unicorn's Horn. Ch 19. Musical shell 125 Burgau p 120 Sea-Trumpet p 122 Venus shell p 121. Lambis p 121. Casque p 121. Ch 19. Sea egge p 126 Sea egge opened p 126 Sea-starre CHAP. XIX Of certain Shell-Fish rare Shells and other remarkable productions of the Sea found on the Coasts of the Caribbies TO dive into the deep Secrets of the Waters to take a view of all the excellent Creatures sporting themselves therein and observe the vertues and occult qualities wherewith they are endow'd is a work might be expected from that Wisdom which was communicated to Solomon who treated of Trees from the Cedar in Libanon to the Hyssop growing on the Wall For the watery Element is furnished with such a miraculous plenty that it abundantly produces not only Fishes of several kinds fit for the sustenance of man and those of extraordinary bulk and monstrous figures as hath been shewn in the precedent Chapters but also such a multitude of precious Shells and other Rarities that we may well acknowledg that the Divine Wisdom hath display'd all these rich beauties of its inexhaustible Treasures to shew its Omnipotency in the midst of the Waves and gently to win us into an admiration of his Goodness and adorable Providence which humbles it self to descend into the Abysses of the Sea to people them with some excellent Creatures not to be seen elsewhere and an infinite number of others bearing the Characters and Idaeas of the most considerable Bodies that either adorn the Heavens flye in the Air or embellish the Earth Hence it comes that there are found in the Waters Stars Cornets Trumpets Purcelains Trees Apples Chest-nuts and all the delightful curiosities which are so highly esteemed among men But to begin with the Shell-fish there are in the Seas about and in the Rivers of the Caribbies several kinds of them The more particularly esteemed are the Homars the Sea-Spiders and the Crabs HOMARS THe Homars are a kind of Crevices of the same figure as those of our Rivers but they are so big that there needs but one to make a good large dish Their meat is white and of a good taste but a little hard of digestion The Inhabitants of the Islands take them in the night time upon the sands or in the Shallows neer the low-water-mark and with the assistance of a Torch or Moon-light they catch them with a little iron fork SEA-SPIDER THe Sea-Spider is by some conceiv'd to be a kind of Crab It is cover'd with two very hard scales whereof the uppermost is somewhat ● rough and the lowermost is more smooth and jagged with sharp points It hath many legs or claws and a strong tail sometimes about a foot in length They are much sought after by some of the Savages to be employ'd about their Arrows When this fish is dried in the Sun the scale or shell of it becomes glistering and in a manner transparent though naturally it be of an Ash-colour CRABS THe ordinary Crabs of the Caribbies are of the same figure as those taken in these parts There is a great difference among them as to bigness but the rarest are those which live by prey They are very common in most of the Islands but above all in those called the Virgins They lurk under the stumps and stocks of the Trees growing on the Sea-side and as it were imitating a kind of Frogs called the Fishing-Frogs they discover from their lurking-holes the Oysters and Muscles which they prey upon and the sleight they use in the taking of them is worth our notice Having found by experience that their Mordants or Claws are not strong enough to break the shells wherein those delicate fishes are contain'd and having observed that several times of the day they open their shells to take the air they diligently watch the time and having furnish'd themselves with a little round pebble they hold it ready in one of their claws and coming to the Oyster or Muscle let it fall so cunningly into the half-open'd shell that not being able to close again the fish becomes the prey of these subtle Crabs As to the Shells found in these Islands in the Creeks and Nooks into which they are cast by the Sea there are abunof them and of several kinds The most sought after and most considerable are these BURGAU THe Burgau which is of the figure of a Snail being uncas'd out of the outermost coat presents to the eye a silver shell intermixt with spots of a bright black a lively green and so perfect and shining a grey that no Enameller could come neer it with all the assistances of his art As soon as the fish which had been lodg'd within this precious little Mansion hath been disseiz'd thereof there is immediately seen a magnificent entry beset with pearls ' and afterwards several rich appartements so clear so neat and enamell'd all over with so bright a silver-colour that there cannot in matter of shell any thing be imagin'd more beautiful CASK THe Cask or Head-piece is of a different bigness proportionably to the heads of so many fishes as had worn it and it is so named from its figure It is lin'd within and at the edges which are thick flat and jagged of a Satin carnation colour extreamly bright and shining and on the out-side it is fashion'd like a

was upon the Mountain entertain'd them with loud cries of rejoycing as accounting them to have put a period to the Ceremony and looking on them as the Children and Messengers of the Sun they immediately got into the Woods As soon as these Birds were gone the people march'd down in order from the Mountain and passing neer the Temple the Priests who were still in their Office caus'd them to enter into it and after they had washed their hands and their faces in the Fountain they order'd them to go out at the same entrance which was divided by a small partition purposely made there to prevent confusion and disorder Then at their coming out they took another way which led them into the Road that conducted to the Mountain and was the same by which they had ascended and so every one made towards his own home The poor whereof the Priests had a Catalogue staid till all the rest were gone and receiv'd from their hands the Garments and all the other Presents which the rich had made to the Sun to be distributed among them which done all left the Mountain and there was an end of the Ceremony But now since the greatest and most considerable part of the people who are Inhabitants of the Provinces of Bemarin and Matica and particularly the King and City of Melilot have embraced the Christian Religion this Mountain and its Temple are not much frequented unless it be out of curiosity Nor does the King permit his Subjects of the other Provinces who have not receiv'd Baptism to go up thither to perform their Sacrifices and all their ancient Superstitions They believ'd the immortality of the Soul but they had so disguis'd this Truth with Fables that it was in a manner smother'd thereby They embalm'd the bodies of their deceased Relations with several sorts of Gums and Aromatical Drugs which had the virtue of preserving them from corruption and after they had kept them sometimes above a year in their houses they buried them in their Gardens or in the neighbouring Forests with great lamentations and ceremonies They shew to this day at the foot of the pleasant Mountain of Olaimi the Sepulchres of several of their Kings which are cut in the Rock there is planted before every one of them a fair Cedar for the better observation of the place and more exact continuance of their memories To make a greater expression of their mourning and to shew how much they bewail'd the death of their Friends and Kinred they cut off some part of their hair But when any King died they shav'd the whole head and suffer'd not their hair to grow again till they had bewail'd him for the space of fifteen months The Knowledge which the Apalachites have of God they have attain'd to by several degrees For to go to the bottom of the business it is about an Age since that the first Seeds of Christian Religion were sown in that part of Florida by a French Colony consisting of several Persons of Quality which was brought thither and establish'd there by one Captain Ribauld in the time of Charles the Ninth King of France The first thing he did was to build a Fort which he named Carolina in honour of His Christian Majesty He impos'd also on the Capes Ports and Rivers of that Country the names they are at the present known by so that along the Coast a man finds a place called the Port Royal the French Cape the Rivers of Seine Loyre Charante Garonne Daufins May Somme and several other places which have absolute French names and consequently are a manifest argument that the said Nation have heretofore had some command there But what is more worthy observation and conduces more to our purpose is that at this first Expedition for Florida there went along with the Adventurers two Learned and Religious Persons who immediately upon their arrival in the Country made it their business by all sorts of good offices to insinuate themselves into the affections of the Inhabitants and to learn their Language that so they might give them some knowledge of God and the sacred mysteries of his Gospel The Memorials which Captain Ribauld left behind him as to that particular shew how that the King Saturiova who govern'd the Quarter where the French had establish'd themselves and who had for Vassals to him several little Kings and Princes who were his Neighbours receiv'd those Preachers very kindly and recommended it to all his Subjects that they should have a singular esteem for them so that the affection those poor people bore them and the fidelity and zeal the others express'd for the advancement of their Conversion rais'd even then very great hopes that the work of the Lord would prosper in their hands and that that little portion of his Vineyard being carefully dress'd would in time bring forth many good and precious fruits to the praise of his grace These happy beginnings and first-fruits of the Gospel of our Saviour Jesus were afterwards augmented and advanc'd by the cares of Monsieur the Admiral de Coligny who gave a Commission to one de Laudoniere to carry over thither a considerable supply of Soldiers and all sorts of Tradesmen which arriv'd in the year One thousand five hundred sixty and four But these last Adventurers had hardly taken the air in the Country after their arrival thither ere the Spaniard who imagines that all America belongs to him and who hath ever been jealous of the French Nation made his advantage of the disorders which were then in that Country to traverse the generous designs of the Directors of that hopeful Colony and smother it as 't were in the Cradle To that purpose he sent thither Peter Melandez with six great ships full of men and ammunition who fell upon it on the nineteenth of September M D LXV Monsieur de Laudoniere and Captain Ribauld who had not long before brought the Colony a small recruit of men considering that it would be madness to think to oppose such a powerful force resolv'd with the advice of most of the Officers to capitulate and deliver up the place to the stronger party upon such honourable conditions as people besieg'd are wont to demand Peter Melandez granted them most of the Articles they had propos'd but assoon as he was got into the Fort and had secur'd the Guards he broke the promise he had made them and violating the Law of Nations he cruelly massacred not only the Soldiery but also all the women and children whom he found within the place and who could not make their escape by flight Captain Ribauld fell in the Massacre but de Laudoniere made a shift to escape through the Fenns to the ships newly come from France which by good fortune were still in the Road Some others of the Inhabitants who upon the first arrival of the Spaniards had foreseen the danger likely to fall upon them got in time into the woods and in the night time

in the Caribbies THe Sea-Tortoises are not only taken upon the sand as we shew'd before but also by means of an Instrument which is a pole about the length of a half-pike at the end whereof there is fasten'd a nail pointed at both ends which is square in the midst and about the bigness of a mans little finger Some make notches on that side of it which stands out of the wood that it may take faster hold when it is entred into the shell of the Tortoise In the night time the Moon shining and the Sea calm the Master-fisher being in a little boat with two others one at the oar to turn it of any side as fast as ever he can that the boat may go much faster and with less noise then if it were row'd the other is in the midst of the Canow or Boat holding the line which is fasten'd to the nail and in a readiness to draw it it as soon as the instrument hath done execution on the Tortoise Being thus provided they go where they think to find of them and when the Master-fisher who stands up on the forepart of the Canow perceives one of them by the glittering of the Sea which by getting up ever and anon to the face of the water it causeth to foam he directs him who guides the little vessel to make to the place where he would have him and being gently got neer the Tortoise he violently darts the instrument into its back The nail piercing the shell gets also a good way into the flesh and the wood keeps up above the water As soon as the fish finds it self hurt it sinks down to the bottom with the nail sticking fast in the shell And the more it strives and struggles the more it is entangled At last having wearied it self and spent its forces in striving by reason of its loss of blood it suffers it self to be easily taken and is either taken into the Canow or drawn to the shore After the same manner they also take Lamantins and several other great fishes but instead of the nail there is put into the wooden instrument a great hook or a small dart of iron made like that of a sharp lance On one side of that piece of iron there is a hole through which there passeth a line which is also woond about the dart so that when it is darted into the fish the line easily is let loose that it may have the liberty to tumble up and down in the water and when it hath spent its forces and reduc'd to extremity if it cannot be gotten into the Canow it is easily drawn to the shore where they divide it into quarters Land-Tortoises and Fresh-water-Tortoises THe Land-Tortoises are found in some Islands neer the fresh-water Rivers which are least subject to inundations or in the ponds and fenny places that are farthest from the Sea They are cover'd all over with a hard and solid shell which is not to be rais'd by several pieces or leaves as those of the Sea-Tortoises and it is so thick in all parts that it secures the Animal living within it from any hurt and will not be broken even though the wheels of a loaden Cart should go over it But what is yet more strange is that the creature never finds this moving lodging too narrow for him for it grows larger proportionably as the body of the possessor grows bigger The upper covering is in some of them about a foot and a half in length it is of an oval figure somewhat hollow like a Buckler and on the outside hath several streaks which as it were divide it into so many compartiments with a certain observance of Symmetry All these intermixtures are laid on a black ground which in several places is enamell'd with white and yellow This kind of Tortoise hath a very ugly head like that of a Serpent It hath no teeth but only jaws which are strong enough to break what it would swallow down It is supported by four feet somewhat weak to sustain the weight of its body nor does it upon pursuit trust much to them For if he be not neer some river or pond into which he may cast himself he places all refuge and safety in the covering of his mansion under which like a Hedg-hog he immediately draws in his head feet and tail upon the first apprehension of any danger The Female lays egges about the bigness of those of Pigeons but a little longer Having cover'd them with sand she leaves them to be hatch'd by the Sun Though there be some who hold that the meat of these Land-Tortoises is of hard digestion yet those who have eaten thereof rank it among the most delicate dishes of America The Physicians of the Country advise those who are inclin'd to Dropsies to use it often for a preventive They have also found by experience that the blood of these Tortoises dried and reduc'd to powder takes away the poyson of Vipers and Scorpions being apply'd to the wound It is also certain that the ashes of their shells mixt with the white of an egge cures the chaps in Nursing-womens nipples and if the head be powder'd therewith it prevents the falling of the Hair CHAP. XXII Containing the particular Descriptions of several sorts of Crabs or Crab-fish commonly found in the Caribbies THere are found in all the Caribby-Islands certain Crabs or Crab-fish which are a kind of amphibious Crevices and very good meat whereas those of Brasil are unpleasant in asmuch as they smell of the Juniper-root Accordingly the Indian Inhabitants very highly esteem theirs and make them their ordinary entertainment They are all of an oval figure having the tail turning in under the belly Their bodies which are cover'd all over with a shell hard enough is supported by several feet which are all full of little prickles which facilitate their climbing up to those places whither they would get up The two fore-feet are very big and of those one is somewhat bigger then the other The French call these two fore feet or claws Mordants significantly enough forasmuch as with these they twitch and secure whatsoever they have fastened on The fore-part which is somewhat broader and stands up higher then the other hath standing a little out two eyes which are solid transparent and of several colours Their mouths are armed with two little white teeth dispos'd on each side like a pair of sharp pincers wherewith they cut the leaves of Fruits and the roots of Trees on which they feed TOURLOUROU THere are three kinds of them differing in bigness and colour of which the least are those commonly called Tourlourous They have a red shell marked with black-spots they are pleasant enough to the taste but in regard there is much picking work about them and but little to be gotten from them and that it is conceived they incline people to the bloody flux they are used only in case of necessity WHITE-CRABS THere are others all white

and have their abodes at the foot of Trees on the Sea-side in certain holes which they make in the ground into which they retreat as the Conies do into their Clappers or Hutches These are the biggest of all the kinds nay there have been those taken which have had in one of their claws as much meat as an egge might contain and as delicate as that of the River-Crevices They are seldom seen in the day time but in the night they come in multitudes out of their holes to feed under the Trees and it is then that they are taken with the help of a Lanthorn or Torches They delight very much to be under the Arched-Indian-Fig-tree and other Trees which are on the Sea-side and in the most fenny places If a man shall search into the ground or in the sand to get them out of their lurking places he shall always find half their bodies in water as most of the other amphibious creatures are PAINTED-CRABS BUt those of the third kind which as to bulk is between the two others before mentioned are the most beautiful the most to be admired and the most esteem'd of all They are indeed much of the same figure with the precedent but according to the several Islands and different soils wherein they are bred they are painted with so many colours and those so beautiful and lively that there cannot be a greater divertisement then to see these creatures at mid-day creeping under the Trees where they seek for their sustenance Of some of them the bodies are of a violet colour intermixt with white others are of a bright yellow interlaced with several small greyish and purple lines which begin at the mouth and are drawn down over the back Nay there are some which upon a dark-colour'd ground are streaked with red yellow and green which makes the richest mixture of colours that can be imagin'd looking on them at a little distance a man would think that all those delightful colours wherewith they are naturally enamell'd were not yet fully dry such is their brightness or that they were newly varnish'd over to give them the greater lustre These Painted Crabs are not like the white ones which dare not appear in the day time for these are to be seen morning and evening and after the rains under the Trees where they recreate themselves in great companies together They will also suffer a man to come neer enough to them but as soon as they perceive him make any attempt to take them which is best done with a little wand it being too dangerous to employ the hands they make their retreat without turning their backs on those that pursue them and as they go back they shew their teeth and opening their defensives which are those two Claws or Mordants they have in their feet they therewith defend their whole body and they ever and anon strike them one against another to frighten their enemies And in that posture they get into their forts which are commonly under the root or in the cleft of some rotten Tree or that of some rock These Crabs have this natural instinct to go every year about May in the season of the rains to the Sea-side to wash themselves and disburthen themselves of their egges in order to the perpetuation of their species They come down from the Mountains in such multitudes that the high-ways and woods are covered with them and they have this strange direction given them that they take their way towards that part of the Island where there are Creeks and descents whereby they may the more easily come to the Sea The Inhabitants are at that time very much annoy'd by them in regard they fill their Gardens and with their little Mordants they cut the Pease and young Plants of Tobacco They observe such an order in this descent that they look like an Army marching in rank and file they never break their ranks and whatever they meet with by the way Houses Mountains Rocks or other obstacles they attempt to get over them that they may go on still in a strait line Twice a day they make a halt during the greatest heat both to feed and rest themsleves a while But they make greater journies in the night then in the day till at last they get to the Sea-side When they are upon this expedition they are fat and good to eat the Males being full of meat and the Females of egges And indeed during that time a man may have of them at his door Nay sometimes they come into the houses if the palizadoes be not close enough and that they meet with a place to get in at The noise they make in the night time is greater then that of the Mice and keeps people from sleeping When they are come to the Sea-side having rested themselves a little and consider'd the Sea as the nurse of their young ones they approach so neer it that they wash themselves three or four times in the little waves which gently rise and fall on the sand then having retired into the Woods or neighbouring Plains to recover their weariness the Females return a second time to the Sea and having wash'd themselves a little they open their tails which are commonly thrust up under the belly and shake out the egges fasten'd thereto into the water After which having once more wash'd themselves they return in the same order in which they came thither The strongest of them soon recover the Mountains every one making to the quarter from whence he came and by the same way through which he had pass'd before But then that is in their return they are for the most part so weak and lean that they are forc'd to make some stay in the next fields they come at to refresh themselves and retrive their former vigour before they can get up to the tops of Mountains As to the Egges thus committed to the Sea having been cast up by it on the softer kind of sand and warm'd some time by the beams of the Sun they are at last hatch'd and become little Crabs whereof there may be seen millions about the bigness of a large farthing getting into the neighbouring bushes till such time as they are strong enough to get to the old ones in the Mountains Another considerable thing in these Crabs is that once a year to wit after their return from the Sea they are under ground for the space of six weeks so that there is not one of them to be seen During this time they change their skin or shell and become wholly new They work out the earth so neatly at the entrance of their retreats that there is no hole to be seen which they do to prevent their taking of any air for when they put off their old coat their whole body is as it were naked being only cover'd with a very thin pellicle which grows thicker and harder by degrees till it come to the solidity of the shell they had