[188] Labat says, that “la patate est une espece de pomme de terre que approche assez de ce qu’on appelle en France les Taupinambours.”—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. ii. p. 400.
Du Tertre says, “Lorsque les ouragans ont tant de fois ravagé les manyocs de nos isles, on a toujours eu recours aux patates, sans lesquelles bien du monde auroit pery de faim.” And again, “Tous les matins, c’est une coustume generale par toutes les isles de faire cuyre plein une chaudiere de patates pour dejeûner.”—Histoire des Antilles, &c. tom. ii. p. 118 and 119.
[189] Labat says, in speaking of cacao, “On ne manque jamais de planter du manioc en même tems qu’on met les amandes en terre.” This is done for the purpose of defending the plant from the sun. “On arrache le manioc au bout de douze ou quinze mois”—“et sur le champ on en plante d’autres, mais en moindre quantité, c’est a dire, qu’on ne met qu’un rang de fosses au milieu des allées;” and he recommends that the water-melon, the common melon, and such like plants should be sown between the mandioc and the cacao-trees.—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vi. p. 397 and 398.
[190] Labat is angry at a notion which was entertained in his time by some people, that the black Ipecacuanha was only to be found near to the gold mines in the interior of Rio de Janeiro. He speaks of a third species of Ipecacuanha, which he distinguishes by the epithet of gris, and he likewise mentions the white kind; both of these, he says, answer the same purpose as the black, but a larger dose is required.—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. vi. p. 29.
[191] “Vieyra, in his letters, mentions a received tradition that Emanuel ordered all the spice plants to be rooted up, lest the Indian trade should be injured, and that ginger was the only spice which escaped, because it was under-ground. He does not appear to have recollected the impossibility of carrying such an order into effect upon a continent.”—History of Brazil, vol. i, note to p. 32. Dr. Arruda alludes to this order in his Discurso sobre a utilidade da instituiçam de jardims, &c. And he adds that a few cinnamon trees at Pernambuco escaped as well as the ginger, p. 8.
[192] “On one article, guinea-grains or malagueta-pepper, the duty has been doubled; not with a view of increasing the revenue, but of operating as a prohibition of the use of it, as it is supposed to have been extensively employed in the brewing of malt-liquor. The Directors however have great reason to doubt the existence of the deleterious qualities ascribed to this drug; as they find it to be universally esteemed in Africa one of the most wholesome of spices, and generally used by the natives to season their food.”—Fourth Report of the Directors of the African Institution, p. 16.
If this article and the malagueta of Brazil are the same, I should be strongly inclined to agree with the Report; and indeed I conceive that it is not only harmless but extremely wholesome. A decoction of the pods is used among the peasantry as an injection in aguish disorders.
[193] Noticias MSS. quoted by Mr. Southey, History of Brazil, vol. i. p. 320.
[194] Labat says, “a l’égard du thé, il croît naturellement aux isles. Toutes les terres lui sont propres, j’en ai vû en quantité à la Basseterre.” &c.—Nouveau Voyage, &c. tom. iv. p. 225.
He mentions it again, and seems to be quite confident that the plant of which he speaks is the tea shrub.