Its Rocky Shores Abound In Fish, And Are
Much Resorted To By The Inhabitants Of St Thomas On That Account.
When
first discovered, the island of St Thomas was an entire forest,
containing a variety of trees, which, though barren, were extremely
verdant.
These trees were all remarkably tall and straight, their
branches all drawn close to the stems, and not spreading out as with us.
After clearing away a great part of the forest, the inhabitants built a
principal town called _Pouoasan_, which has an excellent harbour. The
principal dependence of the settlers in this island is upon their sugars,
which they exchange yearly with the merchants who trade thither, for
flour in barrels, wines, oil, cheese, leather, swords, glass beads,
drinking-cups, pater-nosters, and _buzios_, which are a small kind of
shells, called by the Italians _white porcelain_, and which pass in
Ethiopia as money. The Europeans who reside on this island depend much
for provisions on the ships, as they cannot subsist on the fare used by
the Negroes. The slaves employed in their sugar plantations are procured
from Guinea, Benin, and Congo; and some rich planters have from 150 to
300 Negroes. These work five days in every week for their masters, and
are allowed the Saturdays to themselves, when they cultivate various
articles of provision, as the _miglio zaburo_, a species of bean formerly
mentioned, a root called _igname_, and many species of culinary
vegetables, the seeds of which must be imported from Europe, as they do
not come to perfection in this climate.
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