merly the cultivation of this plant was both extensive and successful in the British sugar islands; but at present there is not a single plantation in Jamaica. A few scattered trees are all that remain of those beautiful groves which were once the pride and boast of the country. The only plantations of any account in our colonies are in Grenada and Dominica, and the worth of the annual produce is not estimated at more than ten or eleven thousand pounds.

GINGER is supposed to have been originally carried to Hispaniola from the East-Indies. It requires no greater skill in the cultivation than potatoes in this country: it is planted much in the same manner, and is fit for digging only once a year, unless for preserving in syrup. It is distinguished into the black and white, but this difference arises wholly from the mode of curing; the former being rendered fit for preservation by means of boiling water, the latter by being exposed for a length of time to the rays of the sun; but as it is necessary to select the fairest, soundest, and in every respect the best roots, for the latter purpose, white ginger is one third or more dearer than the black.

ARNATTO is a shrub which rises to the height of seven or eight feet, and produces oblong hairy pods, somewhat resembling those of a chesnut; within these are envelloped, in a kind of pulp of a bright red colour, thirty or forty seeds: the pulp is something like paint; and as paint it was used by the Indians, in the same manner as woad was used by the ancient Britons. The method of extracting the pulp is by boiling the seeds in clear water, till they are extricated, after which the seeds are taken out, and the pulp left to subside. It is then drawn off, and the sediment distributed

in shallow vessels, and dried in the shade. Arnatto thus prepared is sometimes mixed with chocolate, to which it gives a fine tincture, and some medicinal virtue; but its principal consumption is among painters and dyers. It is frequently used by farmers to give a richness of colour to their butter.

ALOES are propagated by suckers, and will thrive in soils the most dry and barren. To collect the juice, the leaves are cut off near the stalk, and then placed on each other after the manner of hollow tiles. The juice of the first leaf flows into a vessel below, and the same leaf serves as a channel for the juice of those above it. When all the juice is collected, it is brought to a proper consistence, at Jamaica by evaporation, but at Barbadoes, where it is chiefly cultivated, by ebullition. When it becomes of the consistence of honey it is poured into gourds for sale, and in them it hardens by age,

The PIEMENTO OF ALLSPICE is one of the most elegant productions of nature; it combines the flavour and properties of many of those spices which are raised in the east, and forms, as its name denotes, a sort of substitute for them all. This tree is purely the child of nature, and seems to mock the labours of man in his endeavours to extend or improve its growth: not one attempt in fifty to propagate young plants, where it is not found growing spontaneously, having succeeded. In the whole vegetable creation there is not a tree of greater beauty than the young piemento. The trunk, which is of a grey colour, smooth and shining, and altogether free from bark, rises from fifteen to twenty feet high. It branches out on all sides, and is richly clothed with leaves of a deep green, somewhat like those of the bay-tree; and

these, in July and August, are beautifully contrasted and relieved by an exuberance of white flowers. From the leaves, which are as fragrant as the fruit, is obtained by distillation a fluid which is known by the name of the oil of cloves. The berries are gathered by hand, and then dried in the

sun.

OF THE TRADE ON THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF AMERICA.

We cannot conclude our volume without briefly noticing some facts relating to the north-west coast of America. When captain Cook and the other British navigators were sent out upon voyages of discovery, it certainly was not foreseen that any particular commercial advantages would arise from their several expeditions. But the extension of the fur trade to the north-west coast of America is already one beneficial consequence from Cook's discoveries.

Of all materials for human clothing, none are more salutary to the inhabitants of the northern and middle latitudes, than the furs of the arctic quadrupeds. In the Chinese empire and in Europe the demand for these furs is immense. They are indeed to be procured from the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America. But the progress of civilization renders those animals that are covered with fur, very rare in the north of Europe. As civilization is extended, these animals will be still more exterminated. Our knowledge therefore of a coast, of which we were before ignorant, where furs may be procured in abundance, was an important acquisition to the interests of commerce. From London, from India, and from the United

States, expeditions for the fur trade on the northwest American coast have now for many years been fitted out. The first attempts were exposed to some of those inconveniences, and losses, that ever attend any considerable new undertakings. The Russians and the Spaniards share it with the English. The dispute respecting Nootka Sound arose between Spain and England, in consequence of the benefits which were promised by this trade, but these were so adjusted as to leave the trade still open to Britain.

These differences being terminated, captain Vancouver was sent out upon further and more particular discoveries; from him we learn the existence of isles on the western coast of America, not less numerous nor less extensive than those on its eastern side. His observations, the effect of patience and perseverance, coincide with those of the British and American fur traders, which were, in some instances, prior to his; and in others came only to confirm them.

In connexion with the trade on this coast the Sandwich, the Friendly, the Society Isles, and the other similar groups in the Pacific Ocean, have acquired new importance, as being well adapted for victualling and wintering places for the ships engaged in that traffic. And it is earnestly to be hoped that in proportion to the advantages obtained from them by Europeans, they in return will adopt every measure in their power to benefit the natives, by introducing among them every species of food that will flourish in their soil and climate, and by treating them with that humanity and kindness, which as christians they are bound to exhibit towards every individual of the human species..