Ananah are a well-tafted Fruit when ripe ; they are 
yellow or red, and emit a very agreeable Scent : The 
Plant fhoots its j^eaves ('fomewhat like Aloes) to the 
Heighth of fix or feven Feet j the Leaves are three 
Fingers broad, alfo hairy or woolly j and of them whilft 
tough a Sort of Clothes or Stuffs are made, which in 
Finenefs equals Silks : The Fruit fprouts out in the Mid- 
dle amongfl; the Leaves, and when come to Maturity is 
very near as large as a Man’s Head ; it is fweet and acid 
on the Tongue, though very delicious j at a Diffance it 
looks like an Ardchoak : On its middle Stem grow fe- 
veral young ones, which are clapped into the the Earth, 
by thofe who gather the Fruit, and in a Year’s Time 
produce ripe Fruit. The fharp and corrofive Nature 
of this Fruit is fo violent as to work even on Iron and 
Copper, and it alfo renders the Throat by fwallowing 
it very rough. 
The Petchi likewife grows here at the Side of or in 
the Water ; and the uppermoft Paring being taken off 
its Root, there appears a Sort of Whitenefs which taftes 
almoft like a Hazle-nut, and is endowed with the Virtue 
of foftening Copper in the Mouth. 
Le Comte faith, “ That he had an Account of 
‘‘ an Experiment made to that Purpofe by one of their 
“ Society, by rubbing a Copper Coin with this Root \ 
“ one of us, faith he, which had good Teeth, bit 
it into feveral Pieces, but the Fragments ftill remain- 
“ ed hard, which made us apt to think that this Root 
“ was naturally more efficacious to the fortifying of the 
“ the Teeth, than foftning of Copper. 
The Cocao-nut is the Fruit of a Tree which fhoots 
upright : They grow in the Province of Junan, on the 
Ifland of Hainan^ and in ocher Places in China^ but in 
India they are incredibly plentiful *, the Nuts are as big 
as a Man’s Head, the external Part of the Shell is 
hairy, and the Subffance of it ligneous, being in the 
whole about three or four Inches thick, and in the Core 
or innermoft Part of it full of Juice, which the ligneous 
Cruft being pierced through, runs out to the Quantity 
of a Cup- full : The Kernel is white and firm, and being 
fhaved or feraped, and mixed with fair Water, it turns 
it to a laeffeous Colour, not unlike Milk from a Wo- 
man’s Breaft, only a little, thicker, as if it had been 
turned with Rennet ; it is alfo very good Food ; it cor- 
roborates thofe who are weary and faint, refrefhes Sea- 
faring Men, fatigu’d with the Scurvy and other Difeafes 
after long Voyages •, for which Reafon they are very 
fond of it, being well acquainted with its Ufes. It is 
boiled with Rice, or in Flefh-foops : Befides which a 
very fine Oil is drawn from it, not inferior to that of 
Almonds, and is not only ufed in Medicinal Prepara- 
tions, but eaten as Sauce like Oil of Olives. The ex- 
terior Shell is fo hard, that the Kernel being taken out, 
is is ufed as a Cup or Bottle. The Trunk on which the 
Fruit grows, fhoots diredtly upright to the Height of 
fifty Feet, like the Maft of a Ship 5 the Wood is hard, 
and through it runs oleaginous Veins in the inner Part 
of it which is fpongy : Its Root doth not pierce deep, 
nor is it large, fo that it is very furprizing that fuch 
lofty Trees, laden with the heavy Weight of Fruit and 
Leaves, fnould not be blown up by the Roots by the 
Winds. The Branches and Leaves are very beautiful 
and long, the former being full charged with the latter 
both without and within ; and both regale the Eye with 
a very agreeable Profped. No Part of this excellent 
Tree is ufelefs ; the very hairy Covering which encom- 
paffes the Nutffell, ferves inftead of Tow to caulk and 
ftop Ships : Cups and other VYffels are made of the 
Nutfhells i the Leaves are made into Paper and Cloth j 
the Wood is , worked into Mafts, Planks, and Rudders, 
the Bark furnifhes Sails and Ropes, and its Fruit lade 
our Ships, and is ufeful alfo in Phyfick. 
Arceka^ of which I fpoke in treating of the Province 
of Canton^ is an- Indian Fruit, tranfplanted thence to 
China : The Tree bears fome Sort of Similitude to the 
Coco^ but is neither fo thick, nor loaded with fo many 
Leaves *, both Fruit and Tree are called Arecka : The 
Fruit is hard, bitter and acrimonious ; it is chewed with 
'Betei and a little foltened with Lime, and the Spittle 
tinftures the Mouth and Lips red. The Indians chew 
it inceffantly, and are mofily followed herein by the In- 
habitants of ^antung^ Junan^ and ^oanfi, which is 
indeed to be wondred at, confidering how little the Chi- 
ne fe are addifted to Travelling, and confequemly the 
few Opportunities they have of catching Foreign Cuff 
toms ; but finding by Experience that it is good for 
their Gums, keeps their Mouths clean as well as moift 
in hot Countries, and befides caufes a fweet Breath, hath 
drawn them into this Cuftom, as well as feveral others 
which they borrowed from the Europeans, being now 
convinced, that they are full as clear fighted, if not 
more, than themfelves. 
The Fruit Jamhua is a Sort of Lemon and Orange 
blended, as big as a Man’s Head 5 the Peel or Rind is 
all round a Finger thick j the Fruit is white and red, 
fpongy, and of a bitter Tafte •, its Infide is almoft like 
that of Oranges, with this Difference only, that the 
Kernels or Seeds are larger: The Juice of fome of 
them is fweet, and of others fower : The Trees are 
much larger than Lemon- trees, and their Leaves are 
broader and rough *, they are prickly or thorny like the 
above-mentioned Lemon-tree, which they alfo refemble 
in their Bloffom *, they afford a very grateful Smell, as 
hath alfo the Water extrafled from them by Dccodion. 
The Indians call this Fruit Pampelimans. 
The Pepper tree is but a Shrub, which, like Beans or 
Flops, climbs up Poles or Stakes, and, when got to the 
Top, like them, inclines downwards. There is a fe- 
cond Sort of Pepper, which is round and long •, both of 
them, whilft green, grow in long Bunches clofe to the 
Stalk, but when ripe the Fruit turn black, is ftript off 
and dried in the Sun j and if the black Skin falls off, as 
it is eafily made to do, it is white, and taftes much hot- 
ter. The Long Pepper, which is more ufed in Phar- 
macy than Cookery, grows much in the fame Manner, 
but creeps more on the Earth, and climbs about lower 
Stakes, wherefore it becomes more moift, and if that 
Humidity be not dried up, becomes worm-eaten ; the 
long Sort is dearer and harder than the round j and the 
Leaf of the former differs fomewhat, but not much 
from the latter, which is fofter, and of a deeper Green 
than the ocher, fomewhat like Ivy. The Leaves, 
Branches and Roots are all hot and dry, enflaming both 
Tongue and Throat, though not to fo great a Degree as 
the fmall Corns. 
Here grows likewife a Plant or Berry called Maluei 
(in the Indian Language Carambole :) This Fruit fprouts 
from large Plants or Shrubs, about three Ells in Height-i 
The Be_rries are like thofe of Palma Chrijti ; they are a 
very ftrong Purge, four or five Grains being a Dofe large 
enough for the moft robuft Man j they operate on tough 
Phlegm, and pituitous Humours, and are good againft 
a foul Stomach, cleanfing the Entrails : The Leaves, ay 
well as the Berries, are inflammatory to a high Degree ; 
wherefore thofe who pluck them are obliged carefully 
to avoid putting their Hands (when gathering them ) 
to their Face or Eyes, which would immediately inflame 
them. This Plant, mixed with Rice or Dough, and 
thrown into the Water kills the Fifh. It grows in 
India as well as in feveral Provinces of China : It is alfo 
preferved in Pots with Sugar, and fo tranfported ; and 
by Reafon of its cordial Virtue made ufe of againft a 
cold Stomach or ftinking Breath. There are alfo Nut- 
meg-Trees, in fome Parts of China, but they are not 
near fo Plenty there as in other hotter Places in India^ 
from whence they are brought thither. This Tree is 
almoft like a Pear or Apple-tree : It fprouts free enough 
and grows wild. The Nut which follows the Bloffom 
joined to the End of the Branch, is at firft green and 
rough, but when ripe changes its Colour, and becomes 
pointed all over, and chop’d on the Outfide, being very 
ornamentally encompaffed by the Mace> which per- 
feflly ripe, is three or four times annually gathered, 
and is of feveral Sorts, and of different Natures with 
Refpeeft to its Virtue and Worth. 
Grim ff el, or Clove-Irees are by no Means fo plenti- 
ful here as in other Places in India, from whence they 
are imported hither in vaft Quantities. The Tree on 
which they grow is, when young, about as large as the 
former, and fo encreafes to a great Thicknefs % the 
* -Leaf 
