BOOK III. CHAP. VIIT. 675 



both of them applied : in general, it may be computed, that only about one- 

 fourth part of the ingredients [/6], ufed in the diftilbtion of rum, confilts 

 of melalfcs. In this cafe, 100 lb. \vt. of mufcovado is proportioned to i 

 gallon of melaffe^, or 4 gallons of rum [i] ; i. e. one puncheon of 1 1 2 gal- 

 lons to two hogflieads of 14001b. each, nett weight. There is a great 

 wafle of this fyrup in various ways; in the curing-houfe, the cifterns, 

 &c. and much is left in the fugar hogftieads, undraincd. The wafte in a 

 hogfliead of fugar on the voyage home is very frequently 106 lb. wt., 

 which chiefly (if not entirely) is nielafies ; from ill-cured fugars the 

 drain is ftill greater, amounting fometimes to one-third of the whole weight 

 fliipped. 1 00 lb. may, therefore, be calkd the average per hogfliead. 

 This, on 1000 hogflieads, is 1 00,000 lb,, ^which probably might have 1 

 yielded 8750 puncheons of rum, worth upwards of 1.2,000/. fterling. 



Sugar is of the fame nature as honey ; it yields the fame principles, and. . 

 in the fame proportions; it is a native vegetable foap, contaioing an oilj 

 niifcible with water, by means of a fulino-acid lubftance. Lime readily ^ 

 unites with all acids, but probably lofes all its cauftic quality by the ; 

 union, and by imbibing a large quantity of faftitious air in the procefs. 



2. Indigo. — Indigofera. 



There are three fpecies of it, the common, the guatimala, and the wild. 

 The firft yields more of the dye than the others, but is fubjeft to more 

 mifchances in the culture. The fecond is better than the firfl; ; but the 

 wild indigo is preferable to either ; its leaves are fmaller, the ftem more 

 woody, and it grows fometimes 8 or lo feet high. It is found in great 

 plenty in the river courfes and favannahs on the South fide of Jamaica, 

 particularly about the Rio Minho in Clarendon, near the banks of which 

 it was formerly cultivated, as appears from the ruins of feveral vats ftill 

 remaining. It is much hardier than the other fpecies, and the dye ex- 

 traded from it is of a beautiful copperifh caft, and clofe grain. As it has 

 a tap root, it requires a deep foil, and thrives beft in what is free and 

 rich, in a warm fituation, where it is frequently refrefhed with rain. It 

 may be planted at any feafon of the year. The land is firft hoed in little 

 ftrait trenches, about two Inches deep, and eighteen inches afunder ; the 

 feed is fown in thefe trenches not very thick, and then lightly covered in 

 with earth. A buftiel of feed is allowed for fix to eight acres. If the 



\J}\ The proportions may be found to vary from one-fourth to one-fixteentli, according to the, 

 yielding of the canes, and the pleafure ot the diftilleis. 



[/] It was foroierly computed in Barbadoes, that loolb. wt. of mufcovado wo.uld yield 5 gallons of' 

 rum; but, I think, this allowance of fpirit too large, if it is of good proof, or highly reftified. 



4 R 2 weather 



