To Britain's shore, ere Libra weigh the year: 490 Thy fields thus planted; to secure the canes With limes, with lemons, let thy fences glow, Their shapely beauties, and perfume the sky. Much cause have I to weep thy fatal sway.- 510 With which the sons of Jewry, stiff-neck'd race, 520 Emblem of innocence, shall grace my song. But if with stones thy meagre lands are spread; ...... strong cement; and the main stem, being wounded, Ver. 508. Nor shall the ricinus.] This shrub is commonly called the physic-nut. It is generally divided into three kinds, the common, the French, and the Spanish, which differ from each other in their leaves and flowers, if not in their fruit or seeds. The plant from which the castor-oil is extracted is also called ricinus, though it has no resemblance to any of the former, in leaves, flowers, or seeds. In one particular they all agree, viz. in their yielding to coction or expression a purgative or emetic oil. Ver. 526. ...... seen the humming bird.] The humThe Spaniards name these nuts avellanas purga-ming bird is called picaflore by the Spaniards, on activas; hence Ray terms them avellanæ purgatrices count of its hovering over flowers, and sucking their novi orbis. By roasting they are supposed to lose juices, without lacerating, or even so much as dispart of their virulency, which is wholly destroyed, composing their petals. Its Indian name, says say some people, by taking out a leaf-like substance Ulloa, is guinde, though it is also known by the apthat is to be found between the lobes. The nut ex- pellation of rabilargo and lizongero. By the Caceeds a walnut, or even an almond, in sweetness, ribbeeans it was called cailobree. It is common in and yet three or four of then will operate briskly all the warm parts of America. There are various both up and down. The French call this useful species of them, all exceeding small, beautiful, and shrub medecinier. That species of it which bears bold. The crested one, though not so frequent, red coral like flowers is named bellyach by the is yet more beautiful than the others. It is chiefly Barbadians; and its ripe sceds are supposed to be to be found in the woody parts of the mountains. specific against melancholy. Edwards has described a very beautiful humming bird, with a long tail, which is a native of Surinam, but which I never saw in these islands. They are easily caught in rainy weather. ...... Ver. 510. The acasse.] Acacia. This is a species of thorn; the juice of the root is supposed to be poisonous. Its seeds are contained in a pod or ligumen. It is of the class of the syngenesia. No astringent juice is extracted from it. Its trivial name is cashaw. Tournefort describes it in his Voyage to the Levant. Some call it the holy thorn, and others sweet-brier. The half-ripe pod affords a Ver. 536.......prickly pear. The botanical name of this plant is opuntia; it will grow in the barrenest soils, and on the tops of the walls, if a small portion of earth be added. There are two sorts of it, one whose fruit is roundish and sweet, the other, which 541 550 They soon a formidable fence will shoot: 559 570 Cft, oft hath she their ill-judg'd avarice blam'd, 580 And with cool cedars screen the public way? 589 who exceed in drinking or exercise, are liable on their arrival in the West Indies. The French call it maladie de Siame, or more properly, la fievre des matelots. Those who have lived any time in the islands are no more subject to this disease than the Creoles, whence, however, some physicians have too hastily concluded, that it was of foreign extraction. Ver. 595. Cassada,] Cassavi, cassava, is called has more the shape of a fig, is sour. The former jatropha by botanists. Its meal makes a wholeis sometimes eaten, but the other seldom. The some and well-tasted bread, although its juice be French call them pomme de raquette. Both fruit poisonous. There is a species of cassada which and leaves are guarded with sharp prickles, and, may be eat with safety, without expressing the even in the interior part of the fruit, there is one juice; this the French call camagnoc. The colour which must be removed before it is eaten. The of its root is white, like a parsnip; that of the leaves, which are half an inch thick, having a sort common kind is of a brownish red, before it is of pulp interposed between their surfaces, being scraped. By coction the cassada juice becomes deprived of their spines, and softened by the fire, an excellent sauce for fish; and the Indians premake no bad poultice for inflammations. The pare many wholesome dishes from it. I have given juice of the fruit is an innocent fucus, and is often it internally mixed with flour without any bad conused to tinge guava jellies. The opuntia, upon sequences; it did not however produce any of the which the cochineal insect breeds, has no spines, salutary effects I expected. A good starch is made and is cultivated with care in South America, from it. The stem is knotty, and, being cut into where it also grows wild. The prickly pear makes small junks and planted, young sprouts shoot up a strong fence, and is easily trimmed with a sci- from each knob. Horses have been poisoned by mitar. It grows naturally in some parts of Spain. cating its leaves. The French name it manihot, Ver. 538. Wild liquorice.] This is a scandent magnoc, and manioc, and the Spaniards inandiocl a. plant, from which the Negroes gather what they It is pretended that all creatures but man cat the call jumbee beeds. These are about the size of raw root of the cassada with impunity; and, when pigeon-peas, almost round, of a red colour, with a dried, that it is a sovercigo antidote against veblack speck on one extremity. They act as an nomous bites. A wholesome drink is prepared enetic, but, being violent in their operation, great from this root by the Indians, Spaniards, and Porcaution should be observed in using them. The tuguese, according to Pineda. There is one specics leaves make a good pectoral drink in disorders of of this plant which the Indians only use, and is by the breast. By the French it is named petit pana- them called baccacoua. coco, to distinguish it from a large tree, which bears seeds of the same colours, only much bigger. This tree is a species of black ebony. ...... Ver. 558. contagious blast. So a particular species of blight is called in the West Indies. Sce its description in the second book. Ver. 571....... yellow deaths. The yellow fever, to which Europeans of a sanguine habit of body, and Ver. 526. Janie..] This wholesome root, in some of the islands, is called edda: its botanical name is arum maximum Egyptiacum. There are three species of tanies, the blue, the scratching, and that which is commonly roasted. The blossoms of all three are very fragrant, in a morning or evening. The young leaves, as well as the spiral stalks which Support the flower, are caten by negroes as a salad. (Which Nature to the soursop had resign'd) With ginger, and with Raleigh's pungent plant, Gave wealth; and gold bought better land and slaves. 599 Heaven bless'd his labour: now the cotton-shrub, Grac'd with broad yellow flowers, unhurt by worms, O'er many an acre shed its whitest down: The power of rain in genial moisture bath'd His cacao-walk, which teem'd with marrowy pods; The root makes a good broth in dysenteric complaints. They are seldom so large as the yam, but most people think them preferable in point of taste. Ver. 597.....to the soursop.] The true Indian name of this tree is suirsaak. It grows in the barrenest places to a considerable height. Its fruit will often weigh two pounds. Its skin is green, and somewhat prickly. The pulp is not disagreeable | to the palate, being cool, and having its sweetness tempered with some degree of an acid. It is one of the anonas, as are also the custard, star, and sugar-apples. The leaves of the soursop are very shining and green. The fruit is wholesome, but seldom admitted to the tables of the elegant. The seeds are dispersed through the pulp like the guava. It has a peculiar flavour. It grows in the East as well as the West Indies. The botanical name is guanabanus. The French call it petit corosol, or cœur de bœuf, to which the fruit bears a resemblance. The root, being reduced to a powder, and snuffed up the nose, produces the same effect as tobacco. Taken by the mouth, the Indians pretend it as a specific in the epilepsy. Ver. 600. Cotton.] The fine down, which this shrub produces to envelope its seeds, is sufficiently known. The English, Italian, and French names, evidently are derived from the Arabic algodon, as the Spaniards at this day call it. It was first brought by the Arabians into the Levant, where is now cultivated with great success. Authors mention four species of cotton, but they confound the silk-cotton tree, or ceiba, among them. The flower of the West India cotton-shrub is yellow, and campanulated. It produces twice every year. That of Cayenne is the best of any that comes from America. This plant is very apt to be destroyed by a grub within a short time; bating that, it is a profitable production. Pliny mentions gossipium, which is the common botanical name of cotton. It is likewise called zylon. Martinus, in his Philological Lexicon, derives cotton from the Hebrew word 17 katon, or, as pronounced by the German Jews, kotoun. His coffee bath'd, that glow'd with berries, red 610 In time, a numerous gang of sturdy slaves, 620 those who plant cacao-walks, sometimes screen them by a hardier tree, which the Spaniards aptly term madre de cacao. They may be planted fifteen or twenty feet distant, though some advise to plant them much nearer, and perhaps wisely; for it is an easy matter to thin them, when they are past the danger of being destroyed by dry weather, &c. Some recommend planting cassada, or bananas, in the intervals, when the cacao-trees are young, to destroy weeds, from which the walk cannot be kept too free. It is generally three years before they produce good pods; but, in six years, they are in highest perfection. The pods are commonly of the size and shape of a large cucumber. There are three or four sorts of cacao, which differ from one another in the colour and goodness of their nuts. That from the Caraccas is certainly the best. None of the species grow in Peru. Its alimentary, as well as physical properties, are sufficiently known. This word is Indian. Ver. 605. His coffee.] This is certainly of Arabic derivation; and has been used in the East, as a drink, time immemorial. The inhabitants about the mouth of the Red Sea were taught the use of it by the Persians, say authors, in the fifteenth century; and the coffee-shrub was gradually introduced into Arabia Felix, whence it passed into Egypt, Syria, and lastly Constantinople. The Turks, though so excessively fond of coffee, have not known it much above one hundred and fifty years; whereas the English have been acquainted therewith for upwards of an hundred, one Pasqua, a Greek, having opened a coffee-house in London about the middle of the 17th century. The famous traveller, Thevenot, introduced coffee into France. This plant is cultivated in the West Indies, particularly by the French, with great success; but the berry from thence is not equal to that from Mocha. It is a species of Arabian jasmine; the flower is Ver. 604. . cacao walk.] It is also called cocao and cocô. It is a native of some of the provinces of South America, and a drink made from it was the common food of the Indians before the Spaniards came among them, who were some time in those countries ere they could be prevailed upon to taste it; and it must be confessed, that the Indian cho-particularly redolent, and from it a pleasant corcolate had not a tempting aspect; yet I much doubt whether the Europeans have greatly improved its wholesomeness, by the addition of vanellas and other hot ingredients. The tree often grows fifteen or twenty feet high, and is straight and handsome. The pods, which seldom contain less than thirty nuts of the size of a flatted olive, grow upon the stem and principal branches. The tree loves a moist, rich, and shaded soil: hence dial water is distilled. It produces fruit twice every year; but the shrub must be three years old before any can be gathered. It should not be allowed to grow above six feet high. It is very apt to be destroyed by a large fly, which the French call mouche a caffe; as well as by the white grub, which they name puceron. Its medical and alimentary qualities are as generally known as those of tea. Beneath yon tamarind-vista, which his hands 650 "Be pious, be industrious, be humane; 640 He spoke, and ere the swift-wing'd zumbadore 650 And all the cane-lands wept their father lost. 660 Care meliorates their growth. The trenches fill And now thy cane's first blades their verdure lose, THE SUGAR-CANE. ADVERTISEMENT. 670 THE following book having been originally addressed to William Shenstone, esq. and by him approved of; the author should deem it a kind of poetical sacrilege, now, to address it to any other. To his memory, therefore, be it sacred; as a small but sincere testimony of the high opinion the author entertained of that gentleman's genius and manners; and as the only return now, alas! in his power to make, for the friendship wherewith Mr. Shenstone bad condescended to honour him. ARGUMENT. Ver. 624. Tamarind-vista.] This large, shady, and beautiful tree grows fast even in the driest soils, and lasts long; and yet its wood is hard, and very fit for mechanical uses. The leaves are smaller than those of senna, and pennated: they taste sourish, as does the pulp, which is contained in pods four or five inches long. They bear once a year. An excellent vinegar may be made from the fruit; but the Creoles chiefly preserve it with sugar, as the Spaniards with salt. A pleasant syrup may be made from it. The name is, in Arabic, tamara. The ancients were not acquainted | ENOUGH of culture.-A less pleasing theme, therewith; for the Arabians first introduced tamarinds into physic; it is a native of the East as well as of the West Indies and South America, where different provinces call it by different names. Its cathartic qualities are well known. It is good in sea-sickness. The botanical name is tamarindus. Ver. 641. and ere the swift-wing'd zumbadore.] | This bird, which is one of the largest and swiftest known, is only seen at night, or rather heard; for it makes a hideous humming noise (whence its name) on the desert tops of the Andes. See Ulloa's Voyage to South America. It is also called condor. Its wings, when expanded, have been known to exceed sixteen feet from tip to tip. See Phil. Trans. No. 208. Subject proposed. Address to William Shenstone, esq. Of monkeys. Of rats and other vermin. Of weeds. Of the yellow fly. Of the greasy ily. Of the blast. A hurricane described. Of calms and earthquakes. A tale. Ver. 643. Ere fire-flies.] This surprising insect is frequent in Guadaloupe, &c. and all the warmer parts of America. There are none of them in the English Caribbee, or Virgin Islands. Ver. 644. ...... on rapid Twilight's heel.] There is little or no twilight in the West Indies. All the year round it is dark before eight at night. The dawn is equally short. 10 What ills await the ripening cane, demands 20 Yes, thou wilt weep; for Pity chose thy breast, "O were my pipe as soft, my dittied song" Destructive, on the upland sugar-groves From these insidious droles (peculiar pest 40 51 And well with arms provide them; faithful dogs, Nor with less waste the whisker'd vermin race, These to destroy, while commerce hoists the sail, 70 Thus, on the mangrove-banks of Guayaquil, breed: They, greedy, and unweeting of the bait, Ver. 69. mangrove-banks.] This tree, which botanists call rizophora, grows in marshy soils, and on the sides of rivers; and, as the branches take root, they frequently render narrow streams impassable to boats. Oysters often adhere to their roots, &c. The French name of this strange watershrub is paltuvier. The species meant here is the red mangrove. Ver. 74. Dread alligators.] This dreadful animal is amphibious, and seldom lays fewer than a hundred eggs. These she carefully covers with sand. But, notwithstanding this precaution, the gallinazo 60 (a large species of carrion-crow) conceals itself among the thick boughs of the neighbouring trees, and thus often discovers the hoard of the alligator, which she no sooner leaves, than the gallinazo souses down upon it, and greedily scraping off the sand, regales on its contents. Nor is the male alligator less an enemy to the increase of his own horrid brood, than these useful birds; for, when instinct prompts the female to let her young fry out by breaking the eggs, he never fails to accompany her, and to devour as many of them as he Ver. 46. ...... · peculiar pest.] The monkeys which can: so that the mother scarce ever escapes into are now so numerous in the mountainous parts of the river with more than five out of all her hunSt. Christopher, were brought thither by the French dred. Thus providence doubly prevents the otherwhen they possessed half that island. This cir-wise immense propagation of that voracious animal, cumstance we learn from Pere Labat, who further on the banks of the river Guayaquil; for the galtells us, that they are a most delicate food. The linazo is not always found, where alligators are. English Negroes are very fond of them, but the Ullua. white inhabitants do not eat them. They do a great deal of mischief in St. Kitts, destroying many thousand pounds sterling's worth of canes every year. Ver. 64. These to destroy.] Rats, &c. are not natives of America, but came by shipping from Europe. They breed in the ground, under loose rocks and bushes. Durante, a Roman, who was physician to pope Sixtus Quintus, and who wrote a Latin poem on the preservation of health, enumerates domestic rats among animals that may be caten with safety. But if these are wholesome, cane-rats must be much more delicate, as well as more nourishing. Accordingly we find most field Negroes fond of them, and I have heard that straps of cane-rats are publicly sold in the markets of Jamaica. Ver. 75. ..teeth-fil'd Ibbos.] Or Ebbos, as they are more commonly called, are a numerous nation. Many of them have their teeth filed, and blackened in an extraordinary manner. They make good slaves when bought young; but are, in general, foul feeders, many of them greedily devouring the raw guts of fowls: they also feed on dead mules and horses; whose carcasses, therefore, should be buried deep, that the Negroes may not come at them. But the surest way is to burn them; otherwise they will be apt, privily, to kill those useful animals, in order to feast on them. Ver. 76. Nor thou their wayward.] Pere Labat says that cane-rats give those Negroes who eat them pulmonic disorders, but the good jesuit was no physician. I have been told by those who have eat them, that they are very delicate food. |