Ch. VIII. SOUTH AMERICA. 17X 



which cannot be done at Guayaquil, on account of 

 the fand in its river ; while others come there to load 

 with wood. 



The jurifdi¿lions of Máchala and Manaranjol pro- 

 duce great quantities of cacao, and that ot the former 

 is eiteemed thebeft in all Guayaquil. In its neighbour- 

 hoodj as in the ifland of Puna, are great numbers of 

 mangles, or mangrove-trees, whofe interwoven 

 branches and thick trunks cover all ihofe plains ; 

 which, lying low, are frequently overflpwed. As this 

 tree is little known in Europe, it muli not be paiied 

 over without a ihort delbription. 



The mangrove is fo far different from other trees, 

 that it requires a toil daily overflowed by the fea. 

 Accordingly, when the water is ebbed away from the 

 fpots where the mangroves thrive, they exhale very 

 difagrceable effluvia from their muddy furface. This 

 tree no fooner appears above the ground, than it di- 

 vides itfelf into very knotty and diitortcd branches; 

 and from each knot germinates a multitude of others, 

 increaiing io as to form, when grown up, an im- 

 penetrable thicket. Nor is it poliible to difcern the 

 ihoots belonging to the principal branches ; for, be- 

 fides this entangled labyrinth, thofe of the fifth or 

 iixth produ61ion are equal in magnitude to thofe of 

 the firft, which is generally of an inch and a half or 

 two inches in diameter; and all fo flexible, that the 

 only method of fevering them is by ibrae edged tool. 

 Though they extend themfelves nearly horizontally, 

 yet the trunk and principal branches increafe both in 

 height and thicknefs. Its leaves are very fmall, in 

 proportion to the branches, not being above an inch 

 and a half or two inches in length, oval, thick, and 

 of a pale green. The ulual height of the principal 

 ftems of the mangrove is eighteen or twenty yards, 

 ten or twelve inches in diameter, and covered with a 

 thin, rough bark. But its wood is fo folid and heavy, 

 that it links in water, and, when ufed in ihips or 



veflels^ 



