Cap. VIII. TfoGaribbyJflands. 



CINAMON. 



THe Tree which bears that kind of Cinanton which is Co 

 common in all the Iflands, may be ranked among thofe 

 which are ufeful in Medicine, firtce its Aromatick Bark is fought 

 after by all thofe who are troubled with cold diftempers, and 

 fuccefsfully ufed to difburthen the cheft of the vifcous and 

 phlegmatick humors which opprefs it. Thefweet fcent and 

 perpetual verdure of this delightful Tree have per fwaded fome 

 that it was a kind of Laurel : but it grows much higher, its 

 trunk is alfo bigger, its branches larger, and its leaves, which 

 are not altogether fo long, are much fofter, and of a more live- 

 ly green. The bark of it, which is cover'd by an Afli-colour'd 

 lkin, is thicker, and of a whiter colour then the Cinamon which 

 comes from the Levant : It is alfo of a fharper and more biting 

 tafte : but being dried in the (hade, it gives a pleafant tafte 

 to Meats. 



The lihnds Tabago, Barbados , and Sante Croix are account- 

 ed to be better furnifrYd then any of the reft with feveral forts 

 of wood, which experience hath found very ufeful in Me- 

 dicine : For they aflord Sandal-wood, Gmiacum, and Safafras^ 

 all which are fo well known, that we need not in this place 

 make any particular defcriptions thereof. 



COTTON-TKEE. 



THere are feveral other Trees very common in all thefe 

 Iflands, whereof the Inhabitants may make very confi- 

 derable advantages. The Cotton-tree, called by the Savages 

 Manoulou-Akecha, may be ranked among the chiefeft, as being 

 the moft profitable. It grows up to the height of a Peach-tree, 

 the bark is of a brownifh colour, the leaves fmall, divided in- 

 to three parts : It bears a flower about the bignefs of a Rofe, 

 under which there are three little green and (harp-pointed 

 leaves, by which it is encompafled. This flower confifts of 

 five leaves which are of a bright yellow colour, having towards 

 the ftem fmall lines of a purple colour, and a yellow button or 

 crown encompafled with little filaments ©f rhe fame colour : 

 The flowers are fucceededby a fruit of an oval figure, about 

 the bignefs of a fmall Nut with its (hell : when it is come to 

 maturity it is all black on the out-fide, and opens in three fe- 

 veral places, at which appears the whitenefs of the Cotton lying 

 within that rough covering : there are in every of the fruit 

 feven little beans, which are the feed of the Tree. 



There is another kind of Cotton-tree which creeps along the 

 ground like an unsupported Vine : this bears the beft and moft 

 efteemed Cotton : Of both there are made Cloths, and feveral 

 cheap Stuffs, very ufeful in Houfe-keeping. SO A?- 



