1 6 HISTORY OF THE [book, v, 
niola, and such I believe was the fact. But be 
this as it may, the industry with which the Spanish 
settlers applied themselves to its cultivation, affords 
a wonderful contrast to the manners of the present 
inhabitants; it appearing by the testimony of Ovi¬ 
edo, that no less than thirty ingenios , or sugar- 
mills, were established on that island so early 
as 1535. 
The botanical name of the sugar-cane is Arun- 
do Saccharifera. It is a jointed reed terminating 
in leaves or blades, whose edges are finely and 
sharply serrated, the body of the cane is strong but 
brittle, and when ripe, of a fine straw colour in¬ 
clinable to yellow; and it contains a soft pithy sub¬ 
stance, which affords a copious supply of juice, of 
a sweetness the least cloying and most agreeable 
in nature. The intermediate distance between 
each joint of the cane varies according to the na¬ 
ture of the soil;—in general it is from one to three 
inches in length, and from half an inch to an inch 
in diameter. The length of the whole cane de¬ 
pends likewise upon circumstances. In strong- 
lands, and lands richly manured, I have seen some 
that measured twelve feet from the stole to the 
upper joint. The general height however (the 
flag part excluded) is from three feet and a half to 
seven feet, and in very rich lands the stole or root 
has been known to put forth upwards of one hun¬ 
dred suckers or shoots.* 
* The tops of canes sometimes shoot up in arrows, decorated at 
the top with a pinnacle, the glumes of which contain a whitish dust, 
