308 cook's first voyage dec. 



mense quantities ; very great crops of the finest and 

 largest canes that can be imagined are produced 

 with very little care, and yield a much larger pro- 

 portion of sugar than the canes in the West Indies. 

 White sugar is sold here at two-pence half-penny a 

 pound ; and the molasses makes the arrack, of which, 

 as of rum, it is the chief ingredient ; a small quantity 

 of rice, and some cocoa-nut wine, being added, chief- 

 ly, I suppose, to give it flavour. A small quantity 

 of indigo is also produced here, not as an article of 

 trade, but merely for home-consumption. 



But the most abundant article of vegetable luxury 

 here, is the fruit ; of which there is no less than six- 

 and-thirty different kinds, and I shall give a very 

 brief account of each. 



1. The pine apple, Bromelia Ananas. This fruit, 

 which is here called Nanas, grows very large, and 

 in such plenty that they may sometimes be bought 

 at the first hand for a farthing a piece ; and at the 

 common fruit shops we got three of them for two- 

 pence half-penny. They are very juicy and well 

 flavoured ; but we all agreed that we had eaten as 

 good from a hot-house in England : they are, how- 

 ever, so luxuriant in their growth that most of them 

 have two or three crowns, and a great number of 

 suckers from the bottom of the fruit ; of these Mr. 

 Banks once counted nine, and they are so forward, 

 that very often while they still adhered to the parent 

 plant they shot out their fruit, which, by the time 

 the large one became ripe, were of no inconsider- 

 able size. We several times saw three upon one 

 apple, and were told that a plant once produced a 

 cluster of nine, besides the principal : this indeed 

 was considered as so great a curiosity, that it was 

 preserved in sugar, and sent to the Prince of Orange. 



2. Sweet oranges. These are very good, but while 

 we were here, sold for sixpence a piece. 



3. Pumplemoeses, which in the West Indies are 

 called Shaddocks. These were well flavoured, but 



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