8o 



Cucmk 



yielJons. 



Graces, 



VUntine. 



WaterMil- 

 lon. 



A True and ExaB Htftory 



Having inflam'd this leafe with a burning heat, it is fit to apply a 

 Cooler left it Fall on fi_re and that is fuch a one, as is cold in the third 

 degree'a Cucumber:^ of which kind we have excellent good, from the 

 beginning of Ntf2^i?wkr, to the end of Fe/.^r?^o'i 'but after that, the wea- 

 thergrowes too hot,. They fcrveas Salletscold, with Oyie, Vinegar, 

 and Peppery and hot, being ftewed, or iryed , of which we make 

 Sawce for Mutton, Pork 5 Turkeys, or iVlufcovia Ducks. Geefe I 

 never faw but two in the Ifland , and thole were at the Governours 

 houle. 



Miilons we have likewife for thofe four months ^ but before or af- 

 ter the weather is too hot. They are for the moft part larger than 

 here in England. 1 haveieen them cut four inches thick; they eat moi- 

 fter then here they do , v/hich makes them the lefs whollbme. We 

 take no other care (after the feeds are put into I he ground) but to 

 i weed them. I have feen of them fixteen inches long, 



The Water Millon there, is one of the goodi ieft fruits that growes. 

 I have feen ofthem,big as a C!oakbag,vvith a fuit ofcloaths in it^ pure- 

 ly green, engrayl'd with ftraw colour , And fo wanton Nature is, in 

 difpofing thofe figures, as though they be upon all parts of the frait 5 

 yet, they vary and fiowib irmnitely, and no inch offquare or circle is 

 to be found upon the rinde, that is like one another, and the whole 

 rindeasfmoothaspoliftir glafs. Where they put out upon the ground, 

 there they lie 5 for the Vine they grow by, has not ftrength to re- 

 move them. This fruit within is not unlike an Apple for colour^ but 

 for taftc , not like any fruit I know in England, wateriih , and wal- 

 lowilh^ yet the people there eat ftrange quantities of it, two or three 

 pieces big, as if cut round about a twelve-penny loafe,an inch thick: 

 They hold it rarely cooling to the body, and excellent for the ftone. 

 The feeds are of themfelves fo ftrong a Purple, as to dye that part of 

 the fruit it touches, of the fame colour v and til! they do fo, the fruit 

 is not full ripe They account the largeft,beft. Extreamly full of feeds 

 they are,which in the eating flip out with fuch eafe, as they are not at 



all troublefome. m /i j 



Grapes we have in thelfland, and they are indifferently well tafted, 

 but they are never ripe together 5 fome may be pickt out to make 

 Wine , but it will be fo fmall a quantity, as it will not be worth the 

 while.' There is alwaies fome green, fome ripe, fome rotten grapes in 

 the bunch. 



Though the Plantine bear not the moft delicious fruit that growes 

 on this Uland ^ yet, for that (he is of great ufe, and beauty too, and for 

 many other rarities that (he excels other Plants in, I (hall endeavour 

 to do her right in my defcription. And firft, for the manner of plan- 

 ting 5 we put a root into the ground, fix inches deep, and in a very 

 fhort time, there will com^e forth three or four fprouts, whereof one has 

 the .precedence, and holdsthat advantage, fas the prime Hawke does 

 in an Ayery.J And as this fpiout growes, it fprings from the mtrin- 

 fick partoftheftem, and the out-leaves hang down and rot 5 but 

 ftiliuew ones come within, as rifeupas thePalmcrodoes, like a pike. 

 Which opened with the Sun, becomes a leafe ^ and about the time it 

 comes to be eight or ten foot high, the pikes , (and confequentty 



