amon, which seems to be planted here only for curiosity;
and indeed we doubted whether it was the genuine plant, knowing that the
Dutch are very careful not to trust the spices out of their proper
islands. There are, however, several kinds of fruit besides those which
have been already mentioned; particularly the sweet-sop, which is well
known to the West Indians, and a small oval fruit, called the _blimbi_,
both of which grow upon trees. The blimbi is about three or four inches
long, and in the middle about as thick as a man's finger, tapering
towards each end: It is covered with a very thin skin of a light green
colour, and in the inside are a few seeds disposed in the form of a
star: Its flavour is a light, clean, pleasant acid, but it cannot be
eaten raw; it is said to be excellent as a pickle; and stewed, it made a
most agreeable sour sauce to our boiled dishes.

The tame animals are buffaloes, sheep, goats, hogs, fowls, pigeons,
horses, asses, dogs, and cats; and of all these there is great plenty.
The buffaloes differ very considerably from the horned cattle of Europe
in several particulars; their ears are much larger, their skins are
almost without hair, their horns are curved towards each other, but
together bend directly backwards, and they have no dewlaps. We saw
several that were as big as a well-grown European ox, and there must be
some much larger; for Mr Banks saw a pair of horns which measured, from
tip to tip, three feet nine inches and a half, across their widest
diameter, four feet one inch and a half, and in the whole sweep of their
semicircle in front, seven feet six inches and a half. It must, however,
be observed, that a buffalo here of any given size, does not weigh above
half as much as an ox of the same size in England: Those that we guessed
to weigh four hundred weight, did not weigh more than two hundred and
fifty; the reason is, that so late in the dry season the bones are very
thinly covered with flesh: There is not an ounce of fat in a whole
carcase, and the flanks are literally nothing but skin and bone: The
flesh, however, is well tasted and juicy, and I suppose better than the
flesh of an English ox would be if he was to starve in this sun-burnt
country.

The horses are from eleven to twelve hands high, but though they are
small, they are spirited and nimble, especially in pacing, which is
their common step: The inhabitants generally ride them without a saddle,
and with no better bridl