68 
Relation 
[1671 
Crystal. 
Precious 
stones. 
Sterility. 
There are Provinces in the Island where there are 
mountains, of which the largest part is of Stones, where 
they find all sorts of crystal, which is very beautiful. 
They find also a quantity of precious Stones, they are 
not of great value, not having great lustre or hardness. 
I have seen nevertheless the Aquamarines, Topazes & 
Amethysts of considerable beauty. 
They find as well some Ambergris, black Amber, & 
some very beautiful shells, to wit, Bellelles , Helmet-Shells, 
Pearl Oysters, & a quantity of other sorts. 
There often occurs great sterility in the Island, not in 
general, but in cantons & Provinces, caused by a pro¬ 
digious multitude of Grasshoppers, which they name in 
this Island Vallalles ; they go through cantons, & occupy 
sometimes eight or ten leagues of country, more or less 
according to the quantity which there is of them. They 
are often one or two feet thick on the ground, there being 
besides so great a number in the air, that one cannot see 
one’s way. One cannot better represent the multitude of 
these Grasshoppers than by comparison with the Winter 
time, when it snows thickly in Europe, they are more 
dense in the air than one sees the snow ; they eat all the 
herbage where they are deposited, & do not leave any 
verdure on the land, which they leave as if the fire had 
passed there, then they go from it to do the same else¬ 
where. 
When they pass in the season when the rice is yet 
tender under foot, ’tis not possible to hope, wherever these 
animals stop. Beyond the destruction of the rice & other 
Plantations, the cattle suffer much, not finding pasturage, 
until the grass grows again. Wherever these Grass¬ 
hoppers alight, they lay their eggs, which the Sun hatches, 
from which great numbers of little Grasshoppers are 
formed ; where they pass they infect the air & cause 
great sickness. I have seen them three times at Fort 
