ugh which the molasses drain off. Rum is
made from the molasses, which being mixed with about five times as much
water, is put into a still.

There are three sorts of _cotton-trees_. One creeps on the earth like a
vine; another is a bushy dwarf tree; and the third is as high as an oak.
The second-named, after it has produced very beautiful flowers about
the size of a rose, is loaded with a fruit as large as a walnut, the
outward coat of which is black. This fruit, when it is fully ripe,
opens, and a down is discovered of extreme whiteness, which is the
cotton. The seeds are separated from it by a mill.

The stem of the cacao-tree is about four inches in diameter. In height
it is about twelve feet from the ground. The cacao grows in pods shaped
like cucumbers. Each pod contains from three to five nuts, the size of
small chestnuts, which are separated from each other by a white
substance like the pulp of a roasted apple. The pods are found only on
the larger boughs, and at the same time the tree bears blossoms and
young fruit. The pods are cut down when ripe, and allowed to remain
three or four days in a heap to ferment. The nuts are then cut out, and
put into a trough covered with plantain-leaves, where they remain nearly
twenty days; and, lastly, dried three or four weeks in: the sun. Indigo
is made from an herb not unlike hemp. This is cut, and put into pits
with water; and being continually stirred up, forms a sort of mud,
which, when dry, is broken into bits for exportation.

I will mention one plant more of general use--coffee. It is a shrub,
with leaves of a dark-green colour. The berries grow in large clusters.
The bean is enclosed in a scarlet pulp, often eaten, but very luscious.
One bush produces several pounds. When the fruit is ripe, it turns
black, and is then gathered; and the berries, being separated from the
husk, are exposed to the sun till quite dry, when they are fit for the
market.

However, I might go on all day describing the curious plants, and trees,
and animals, and birds I saw. I must speak of the ginger. The blade is
not unlike that of wheat. The roots, which are used, are dug up and
scraped free from the outward skin by the negroes. This is the best way
of preparing it, and it is then soft and white; but often, from want of
hands, it is boiled, when the root becomes hard and tough, and is of
much less value.

I shall never forget the beautiful humming-birds, with magnif