This Tree Somewhat
Resembles The Date Palm, And Supplies The Natives With Bread, Oil, Wine,
Vinegar, And Even Physic.
The wine being drawn from the tree itself, and
all the rest from the fruit or nut.
To procure the wine, they eat off
part of a branch, and fasten to the remaining part a large reed or
hollow cane, into which the liquor drops, being like white-wine in
colour, and of a grateful tartish taste. When a good quantity of this is
drawn off, it is put into a vessel, and is their cocoa-wine without
farther preparation.
[Footnote 7: In this voyage the term Ladrones seems confined to the most
southern islands of this group, as there are no other islands for a very
considerable distance in any direction. The entire group stretches about
6 deg. 10' nearly N. and S. or 125 leagues. In modern geography, Guaham and
Tinian are the largest islands of the group. Urac, Agrigan, Analajam,
and Saypan, are the names of some others of the Ladrones. The names in
the text do not occur in modern maps. Thirty leagues from Guaham, the
southernmost island, would bring them to Tinian. - E.]
The fruit, which is as large as a man's head, has two rinds or coats.
The outermost is green, and two fingers thick, entirely composed of
strings and threads, of which they make all the ropes that are used in
their canoes. Under this there is another rind, or shell rather, of
considerable thickness, and very hard.
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