Part III. Travels into ^^i? I N D I E S. 
109 
C H A XI. 
J. the Hollander s ;^h.o took it from the Fortuguefe.They who filh there pay The ifle of 
tribute to the Dutch , who (befides that) cmyloy 3. Bramn to buy up moft of 
the Pearls which thefe Fifher-men can catch -, and they have commonly a 
good penny-worth of them, fo that the poor people have but little profit 
of their labour 5 and the D«?<:è are great gainers. The fame thing is done 
at Tatucorim^ which is over againft the Ifle of Manar -, the Pearls that, are 
fifhed thercj afe more lovely than thofe which are taken in the Perjtan Sea.^ 
near Bahrein ^ but they are not fo big. Thèfe two Filhings have fometimes 
been fpoilt , by throwing into the bottom of the Sea a Drug that chafed a- 
way the Fifti that breed them , and hindered them for many years from 
coming back again -, and they who did it (knowing whither they went) fifti- 
ed them there, and grew rich before it was known that there was good Fifli- 
ing in that place. The Fiftiing of Omrof was heretofore fpoiled in the fame 
manner, and it is the fame which is now at Bahrein, 
The King of Candù (in the Hie of Ceilan) is always an enemy to the Dutch ; rj.^^ ^^^^ 
the caufeof that Enmity is. That this Prince having affifted them to drive candii, 
the Porf»^«ff/c out of the places they pofieffed in Cw/d!w, they ufed him as an 
Enemy after they had taken Colombo % which made him fay That he had cha- 
fed a-ivay the Dogs to bring in the Lions -, they defeated his Forces, and he had 
no way to fave his life but by flight. He is a learned King, underftands fe- 
verâl Languages , and is very liberal -, it is faid in the Countrey that he is 
vaftly rich , but that no body but himfelf knows where hisTreafure is, be- 
caufe, when he thinks fit to go thither to put in or take out any thing , he 
takes no body with him but a Moor^ whom he kills on his return , leaft he 
may_ difcover the place where his Riches are. 
It is this Ifle of C(?i/«^» which produces the beft Cinnamon -, the Tree (from Cinnamon, 
which they have that Bark) is ftreight, and pretty like to the Olive-Tree ; 
it bears a white Flower of an excellent Scent , and the Fruit of it is round. 
They take off the Bark in the Summer-time, and when they cut it the Smell 
is fo ftrong that the Soldiers (who are to guard the fame ) fall almoft fick 
upon't. Towards Cochin there is wild Cinnamon j but becaufe it is weak. Wild Cinna- 
it is not much efteemed. mon. 
The beft Nutmegs are got in the Ifle of Banda, which is to the South of Nutmegs, 
the Molucca's : The Tree that produces them is no higher than our com- The ifie of 
mon Apricock-Trees that grow by themfelves -, when its outward Husk fa.lls s^"^^- 
off, its Mace appears of a lovely Vermilion colour \ but being in the leaft 
expofed to the Air, it changes its Colour into a light Brown, as we have it. 
The Tree is produced after this manner , There is a kind of Birds in the 
Ifland , that having picked of the green Husk fwallow the Nuts, which ha- 
ving been fometime in their Storrïach, they void by the ordinary way -, and 
they fail not to take rooting in the place where thev fall , and in time to 
grow up to a Tree. This Bird is fhaped like a CucKoe , and the Dutch pro- 
Kibite their Subjeds under pain of death to kill any of them. 
Cloves grow upon a Shrub that has long narrow leaves ; the Flowers of ciore?, 
it (which at firft are white,)change Colour four or five times, and from the 
out-moft point of its Branches the Cloves grow ,which have then a far more 
fragrant Smell , than when they are brought into Europe. The great Ifle 
of Java furnifhes the good Pepper.The Tree is fow'd , and when it comes to The Pepper oi 
bear,it produces Cods that contain forty or fifty Corns, fuch as are brought Jtiva, 
into our Countrey. 
A Friend 
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