July.] BONAVISTA. 26? 



leaves in a wooden mortar. They next make it into a kind of paste, 

 of which they form round balls that are dried for use. This is not the 

 process of preparing this beautiful die-stuff in our country. Here, the 

 leaves of the plant are laid in vats full of water, and left to ferment. 

 The liquor is then drawn off into another vat, and after having been 

 well stirred up, it is drawn off, and what remains at the bottom is ex- 

 posed to the air until it is thoroughly dry, when it is fit for use. 



Though the cotton-tree grows naturally on the island of Bonavista, 

 yet its culture is greatly neglected by the natives : they never think of 

 collecting it till some vessel arrives to purchase it. But were it prop- 

 erly attended to, I believe they could every year furnish a cargo for a 

 large ship ; and I have been told that in some years, when it has failed 

 in the other islands, it has been produced in great abundance in 

 Bonavista. 



But this island will never be distinguished for agricultural fecundity. 

 The soil for the most part is sandy, barren, and uncultivated ; and 

 though enjoying the genial influence of a tropical sun, it must feel the 

 more effective influence of industry and enterprise before it becomes 

 productive. The sweat which falls from the brow of slavery scalds 

 and blights the verdure which the dew-drops of heaven have brought 

 into existence. 



The surface of the island is very uneven, comprising alternate hills 

 and valleys ; and at the sea-board it has low points running into the 

 sea. The southern and eastern part of this island, in particular, is 

 very low, and the shore is lined with reefs of coral, some of which lie 

 three miles from the island to the eastward ; and oftentimes in the 

 night, when the weather is hazy, a ship might be on the reef before 

 the land can be seen, on account of its being so very low on that side 

 of the island. In 1831 my worthy friend Captain Weatherby, of Liv- 

 erpool, lost a fine ship on the reef which lies off the east end of this 

 island. He had his two daughters with him at the time. Her 

 cargo was worth two hundred thousand dollars, destined for the Isle 

 of France ; but it was all lost. 



Ships bound to the south, and passing to the eastward of Bonavista 

 in the night, should never approach the island nearer than twenty 

 miles, as the currents, which set about west, frequently run, after a 

 fresh trade, at the rate of two miles an hour. In the month of July I 

 have known the current to set in a west direction, between the Isle of 

 Mayo and Bonavista, at the rate of two and a half miles an hour. I 

 would therefore advise ship-masters, in all cases, to pass to the west- 

 ward of the islands of Sal, Bonavista, Mayo, and the Leton Rocks, of 

 which I shall speak presently. 



A dangerous reef likewise lies off the western extremity of Bona- 

 vista, about three miles from the shore, covered by four feet of water. 

 The sea breaks very heavy on the shoal part of this reef in rugged 

 weather. There is a good passage, however, between the reef and 

 the island, with six fathoms of water, over a white coral bottom, which 

 has a frightful appearance to such navigators as are not acquainted 

 with coral reefs. Large ships, however, should always pass outside 

 of the reef, giving the breakers a berth of two hundred fathoms, when 



