Ch. VIII. SOUTH AMERICA. 171 



load there, which cannot be done at Guayaquil, on 

 account of the fand in its river j while others comq 

 there to load with wood. 



The jurifdidions of Machala and Manaranjol pro- 

 duce great quantities cf cacao, and that of the for- 

 mer is efteemed the beft in all Guayaquil. In its 

 neighbourhood, as in the ifland of Puna, are great 

 numbers of mangles, or mangrove-trees, whofe in- 

 terwoven branches and thick trunks cover all thofe 

 plains ; which, lying low, are frequently overflowed. 

 As this tree is Uttle known in Europe, it muft not be 

 pafied over v/ithout a fhort defcription. 



The mangrove is fo far different from other trees, 

 that it requires a foil daily overflowed by the fea.. 

 Accordingly, when the water is ebbed away from the 

 fpots where the mangroves thrive, they exhale very 

 difagreeabie effluvia from their muddy furface. This 

 tree no fooner appears above the ground, than it di- 

 vides itfelf into very knotty and difl:orted branches ; 

 and from each knot germinates a multitude of others, 

 increafing fo as to form, when grown up, an im- 

 penetrable thicket. Nor is it poffible to difcern the 

 Ihoots belonging to the principal branches; for, be- 

 fides this entangled labyrinth, thofe of the fifth or 

 fixth produdlion are equal, in magnitude, to thofe of 

 the firfl:, which is generally of an inch and a half or 

 two inches in diameter; and all fo flexible, that the 

 only method of fevering them is by fome edged tool. 

 Though they extend themfelves nearly horizontally, 

 yet the trunk and principal branches increafe both 

 in height and thicknefs. Its leaves are very fmall, 

 in proportion to the branches, not being above an 

 inch and a half or tv»^o inches in length, oval, thick, 

 ^nd of a pale green. The ufual height of the prin- 

 cipal fliems of the mangrove is eighteen or twenty 

 yards, ten or twelve inches in diameter, and covered 

 ^vith a thin, rough bark. But its wood is fo folid 

 and heavy, that it finks in water, and, when ufed in 



ihips 



