66 
Relation 
Silk and 
cotton. 
Birds. 
[1671 
made great slaughter of them. There were taken in this 
Foray forty thousand large horned cattle, Oxen & Cows, 
which were not all those of Rahessaf. Many of these 
beasts dy’d on the way, the rest were divid’d between the 
Blacks and the French. 
By this number of beasts one can judge of the quantity 
there is in this island, since by one man alone there were 
taken 40,000 in one single foray. 
They also breed Sheep & Goats, the Sheep are finer & 
larger than those of Europe, they have not wool, & have 
the hair of their coat short like calves : they have a very 
large tail. There are some of these tails which weigh 
more than 12 to 15 pounds, these Sheep are not such good 
eating as those of France. 
The Goats are also better made than those of Europe, 
& are very good, they are equal to the Sheep of France. 
They bring up quantities of poultry. 
’Tis only the Blacks who are near the French who 
breed pigs: the others do not keep them, because they do 
not eat them at all. 
With all these things, the Natives of the Island could 
live comfortably, if ’twere not for the wars and pillages, 
which they generally make one against another. This 
prevents the cultivation of the land. 
There’s a quantity of silkworms in this Island, the 
Blacks collect the silk to make the scarfs & girdles with 
which they cover their nakedness. There grow also 
cotton trees, from which they take the cotton to make 
their lambas. 
There’s much Game in the Island, & particularly river- 
birds. There are some which they name Rassangles. 
They are as large as Geese, they have their plumage 
white, & of a golden bluish-black, & have a large crest on 
the head. 
Others named Flamands , whose body is large like the 
