CHAP. IV.] 
WEST INDIES. 
M3 
ALOES. 
THE most valuable species of aloes is that of 
the island of Socotora in the East Indies, the in¬ 
troduction of which in our West Indian colonies, 
has hitherto been unaccountably neglected. The 
species called the hepatic, is the only sort known 
to our planters, and even of this, the cultivation 
in the British dominions is, I believe, at present, 
wholly confined to the island of Barbadoes, where 
it is said to have been originally introduced from 
Bermudas. It is propagated by suckers, and will 
thrive in soils the most dry and barren. The 
mode of extracting and preparing the juice is as 
follows: 
The plant is pulled up by the roots, and care¬ 
fully cleansed from the earth, or other impurities. 
It is then sliced, and cut in pieces, into small 
hand-baskets or nets. These nets or baskets are 
put into large iron boilers or cauldrons with water, 
and boiled for ten minutes, when they are taken 
out, and fresh parcels supplied, till the liquor is 
strong and black. 
At this period the liquor is thrown through a 
strainer into a deep vat, narrow at bottom, where 
