158 



THE WOODS. 



tion, he will discover that the plantations which 

 are conveniently placed, are only to be obtained 

 at high comparative prices, and by a considerable 

 advance of money ; but many of those in the 

 Mata may be purchased even without any ad- 

 vance, and under the agreement of small yearly 

 payments of eight to ten pet' cent, upon the price. 



The lands of sugar-plantations are appropriated 

 to five purposes. These are ; the woods, — the 

 lands for planting canes, — those which are 

 cleared for pasturage, — the provision-grounds 

 for the negroes, — and the lands which are occu- 

 pied by free people. 



The woods occupy a very considerable portion 

 of the lands belonging to a plantation ; in most 

 cases much more than half the estate is yet 

 covered with wood, but still I do not think, 

 Irom what I saw and heard, that these forests 

 contain so much fine timber as has been imagined. 

 A tree of any species of valuable timber must 

 now be purchased. Very little consideration is 

 given to the quantity of wood that is destroyed 

 in the work of a plantation; in many cases very 

 unnecessarily. The fences are made of stakes, 

 which are formed of the trunks of trees, driven 

 into the ground, and to these are fastened hori- 

 zontally the stems of younger plants. The best 

 timber, rather than that of inferior quality, is 

 selected for this purpose, that it may last the 

 longer under exposure to the heat of the sun 



ic 



