104 
exchange a great number with the ships that touch at 
the island. 
They make indigo from a tree called Banghets, by 
the following process : As soon as the tree is in blos¬ 
som, they collect great quantities of it, which they 
steep in water, together with the stalks and leaves ; 
which, being well stirred, are decomposed in two or 
three days. The water, by this infusion, becomes of 
a violet colour : the stalks and leaves are then cleared 
from the decoction, which, being mixed and well 
incorporated with a proportionable quantity of olive 
oil, is let off from the bottom through a sieve, into a 
large tub underneath, and the indigo precipitates like 
dregs, in the course of two or three days. The water 
is then drawn off, by means of pipes, (or by dipping 
rags and wringing them out) till nothing but the 
sediment remains, which, being dried in the shade, is 
the true indigo. 
They make three sorts of wine. The first is from 
honey, much in the same way as mead. It is called 
toak, and is the most common. The second is made 
of the sugar-cane, and is called toupare, which signifies 
sugar-wine. It has a bitterish taste, something like 
strong beer that is well hopped, or apricot kernels. 
A great deal of this kind is made in the provinces of 
Manamboule, Matatane, aud Manghabei. The fol¬ 
lowing is the process :—The sugar-canes are boiled in 
water to two-thirds : it is then put into large calabashes, 
and in three days the wine becomes so strong and 
corrosive, that it will eat through an egg-shell' in a 
