37 2 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



of the efforts neceffary for agriculture. In this flat coun- 

 try, large rivers, that fcarce had declivity enough to run, 

 crept flowly along, through meadows of fat black earth, 

 Itagnating in many places as they went, rolling an abun- 

 dance of decayed vegetables, and filling the whole air with 

 exhalations of the moll corrupt and putrid kind. Even 

 rice, the general food of man, the fafefl and mofl friendly 

 to the inhabitants of that country, could not grow but by 

 laying under water the places where it was fown, and there- 

 by rendering them, for feveral months, abfolutely improper 

 for man's dwelling. Providence had done this, but, never 

 failing in its wifdom, had made to the natives a great 

 deal more than a fufficient amends. 



Their bodies were unfit for the fatigues of agriculture, 

 nor was the land proper for common cultivation. But this 

 country produced fpices of great variety, efpecially a 

 fmall berry called Pepper, fuppofed, of all others, and with 

 reafon, to be the greateft friend to the health of man. This 

 o-rew fpontaneoufly, and was gathered without toil. It was, 

 at once, a perfect remedy for the inclemencies and difeafes 

 of the country, as well as the fource of its riches, from the 

 demand of foreigners. This fpecies of fpice is no where 

 known but in India, though equally ufeful in every putrid 

 region, where, unhappily, thefe difeafes reign. Pro- 

 vidence has not, as in India, placed remedies fo near them, 

 thus wifely providing for the welfare of mankind in gene- 

 ral, by the dependency it has forced one man to have upon 

 another. In India, and fimilar climates, this fpice is not 

 tiled in fmall quantities, but in fuch, as to'be nearly equal 



to that of brc ad. 



a In 



