140 
DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE. 
ford so little scope for geological observations. He 
did not discover any shells or fossil remains of ani- 
mals ; he could not, however, dig to such a depth as 
fully to ascertain that none existed. The climate 
is superb ; it is never subject to hurricanes, or even 
to violent winds ; vessels lie in perfect safety on 
the open coast ; the rains have no fixed season, 
and are never so abundant as to prove injurious. 
The fruits, which grow wild in this region, are 
equal in flavour to those which in Europe are rear- 
ed with the greatest care. The citron, the bitter 
orange, the anana, the pimento, even sugar cane, 
spring up in the woods without culture. The coco, 
the yam, and the potatoe, are also produced in a- 
bundance. The soil is cultivated only around the 
villages in little spots, which may rather be called 
gardens than fields - 9 the rest of the country is co- 
vered with large herbs that rise eight feet high, 
and render it almost impossible to penetrate. Here 
is a tree called mapou, which the author conceives 
to be the largest in nature. All the seamen of a 
vessel, holding each other by the hand, were un- 
able to encircle one of them. The author, how- 
ever, cannot conceive the design of nature in form- 
ing this tree. Its fruit is bad ; it yields no shade; 
and the wood, of a spungy texture, has no use to 
which it can be applied. 
The domestic animals of Europe, although trans- 
r ported in great numbers, have never multiplied in 
