AKOEIRA. 



67 



the yellow colour is alter this period lost, and 

 the wood becomes of a dirty brown. The ca- 

 noes are almost exclusively made of the pao 

 amaretto. The pao santo, or holy-wood, is scarce, 

 and is much sought after for certain purposes, as 

 it is not liable to split, bend, or break : it is parti- 

 cularly required for the teeth of the sugar-rollers. 

 The wood is beautifully veined with yellow and 

 brown, but becomes after some time of a dusky 

 brown colour. There is likewise a tree which is 

 called cedro, but whether it is the cedar or not 

 I cannot determine ; the wood is hard, and is 

 much esteemed for building. * 



I cut down all the mangroves which grew 

 along the borders of my piece of land, and like- 

 wise some other kinds of trees which grew just 

 beyond the reach of the salt-water ; among these 

 was the aroeira, a small irregular tree, of which 

 the wood is soft, and not even fit for timber ; 



* Labat says, " L'arbre que nous appellons acajou aux isles 

 du Vent, est le meme que celui que les Espagnols appellent 

 cedre dans la Terre-Jerme et dans les grandes isles. Je ne 

 scat qui a plus de raison ; car je nai jamais vu les cedres du 

 Liban, que selon les relations que j 'en ai Id ne rcssemblent point 

 du tout au cedre Espagnol." He says likewise, " Ce qu'il ne 

 Jaid pas confondre avec V acajou a fruit dont j 'ai parli dans 

 un autre endroit." — Nouveau Voyage, torn. viii. p. 208. and 

 212. 



He speaks in vol. ii. p. 94. of two large Indian canoes made 

 oi" bois d 'acajou or cedre. I am inclined to think that the 

 acajou of the islands and the cedre of the Spaniards is the pao 

 amardlo of Pernambuco. 



F 2 



