1769' ROUND THE WORLD. 185 



which have not been mentioned ; but, as they are 

 contiguous to it, and laid down in the plan, a de- 

 scription of them is unnecessary. 



The face of the country, except that part of it 

 which borders upon the sea, is very uneven ; it rises 

 in ridges that run up into the middle of the island, 

 and there form mountains, which may be seen at the 

 distance of sixty miles : between the foot of these 

 ridges and the sea is a border of low land, surround- 

 ing the whole island, except in a few places where 

 the ridges rise directly from the sea : the border of 

 low land is in different parts of different breadths, 

 but no where more than a mile and a half. The soil, 

 except upon the very tops of the ridges, is extremely 

 rich and fertile, watered by a great number of rivu- 

 lets of excellent water, and covered with fruit trees 

 of various kinds, some of which are of a stately 

 growth and thick foliage, so as to form one con- 

 tinued wood ; and even the tops of the ridges, though 

 in general they are bare, and burnt up by the sun, 

 are, in some parts, not without their produce. 



The low land that lies between the foot of the 

 ridges and the sea, and some of the valleys, are the 

 only parts of the island that are inhabited, and here 

 it is populous : the houses do not form villages or 

 towns, but are ranged along the whole border at the 

 distance of about fifty yards from each other, with 

 little plantations of plantains, the tree which fur- 

 nishes them with cloth. The whole island, according 

 to Tupia's account, who certainly knew, could fur- 

 nish six thousand seven hundred and eighty fighting 

 men, from which the number of inhabitants may easily 

 be computed. 



The produce of this island is bread-fruit, cocoa- 

 nuts, bananas, of thirteen sorts, the best we had ever 

 eaten ; plantains ; a fruit not unlike an apple, which, 

 when ripe, is very pleasant; sweet potatoes, yams, 

 cocoas, a kind of Arum; a fruit known here by the 

 name ofJambu, and reckoned most delicious ; sugar. 



