The colour is like ashes, and the taste the very same as that of our apricots
     in Europe, the inward stones of this fruit being of the bigness of a hen's egg.
     On these the wild boars feed very deliciously, and fatten even to admiration.
     The trees called caremites are very like our pear-trees, whose fruits resemble
     much our Damascene plums or pruants of  Europe, being of a very pleasant and
     agreeable taste and almost as sweet as milk. This fruit is black on the inside,
     and the kernels thereof, sometimes only two in number, sometimes three, pthers
     five, of the bigness of a lupin. This plum affords no less pleasant food to the
     wild boars than the apricots above-mentioned, only that it is not so commonly to
     be found upon the island, nor in such quantity as those are.
     The Genipa-trees are seen everywhere all over this island, being very like our
     cherry-trees, although its branches are more dilated. The fruit hereof is of an
     ash colour, of the bigness of two fists, which interiorly is full of many prick-
     les or points that are involved under a thin membrane or skin, the which, if
     not taken away at the time of eating, causes great obstructions and gripings of
     the belly. Before this fruit grows ripe, if pressed, it affords a juice as black
     as ink, being fit to write with upon paper. But the letters disappear within the
     space of nine days, the paper remaining as white as if it had never had been
     written upon. The wood of this tree is very strong, solid and hard, good to build
     ships with, seeing it is observed to last many years in the water without putre-
     faction.
     Besides these, divers other sorts of trees are natives of this delicious island,
     that produce very excellent and pleasant fruits. Of these I shall omit to name
     several, knowing there are entire volumes of learned authors that have both de-
     scribed and searched them with greater attention and curiosity than my own. Not-
     withstanding I shall continue to make mention of some few more in particular.
     Such are the Cedars, which trees this part of the world produces in prodigious
     quantity. The French nation calls them Acajou; and they find them very
     useful for the building of ships and canoes. These canoes are like little wherry-
     boats, being made of one tree only, excavated, and fitted for the sea. They are
     withal so swift as for that very property they may be called "Neptune's post-hor-
     ses" The Indians make these canoes without the use of any iron instruments, by
     only burning the trees at the bottom near the root, and afterwards governing the
     fire with such industry that nothing is burnt more than what they would have.
     Some of them have hatchets, made of flint, wherewith they scrape or pare off what-
     soever was burnt too far. And thus, by the sole instrument of fire, they know
     how to give them that shape which renders them capable of navigating threescore
     or fourscore leagues with ordinary security.