188 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



" The red mangrove groweth commonly by the 

 sea-side, or by rivers or creeks. ... It always grows 

 out of many roots about the bigness of a man's leg, 

 some bigger, some less, which at about six, eight, or 

 ten foot above the ground, joyn into one trunk or 

 body, that seems to be supported by so many arti- 

 ficial stakes. Where this sort of tree grows, it is 

 impossible to march by reason of these stakes, which 

 grow so mixed one among another, that I have, 

 when forced to go through them, gone half a mile, 

 and never set my foot on the ground, stepping 

 from root to root. The timber is hard and good for 

 many uses : the inside of the bark is red, and it is 

 used for tanning of leather very much all over the 

 West Indies* " 



The natural way of propagating these trees is to 

 suffer the seeds which germinate among the main 

 branches to take root in the earth. The most com- 

 mon method, however, is that of laying the small 

 lower branches in baskets of mould or earth until 

 they have taken root. It is the mangrove which gave 

 rise to the fable of oysters growing upon trees, since 

 from its situation in the water it is a favourite resort 

 of these shell-fish, which cling to its branches, and 

 have the appearance of growing from them. 



The bark of this tree is smooth and pliant. Dr. 

 Howison transmitted a detailed account of the man- 

 ner of forming an extract from it. 



The apparatus consisted of four wooden cisterns, 

 placed one above the other, so that by turning a cock 

 the liquid in the higher one readily flowed into that 

 which was immediately beneath it, and so on in pro- 

 gression. Four hundred pounds of mangrove bark, 

 broken into small pieces, were divided into three 

 equal parts, and thrown into each of the three highest 

 cisterns. One hundred gallons of rain water was put 

 * Voyages, vol. i. 



