'Some years travels into divers parts of Africa, and Asia the great. Describing more particularly the empires of Persia and Industan: interwoven with such remarkable occurrences as hapned in those parts during these later times. As also, many other rich and famous kingdoms in the oriental India, with the isles adjacent. Severally relating their religion, language, customs and habit: as also proper observations concerning them.' [‎382] (405/448)

¥rees.
Or, ■wants thouSugar! fieef the fame aflomd,
j&nd jxvectey SuQW fiotto hc found'
""Tis what you willy or will he what you would:
Should Mydas touch it, fare it would he geld,
And God (all good) to crown our life with Bayes,
The earth with plenty, and his name with praife.
Had done enough if he had made no more
But this one plant, fo full of choicefflft ore.
Save that the world where one thing breeds fatiety
Could not he fair withoutfogre at variety.
Praifes it very well deferveth: and concerning the Palmeto, the reliih is fo perfedly
sood that none of us who tafted of it thought it naufeous, but rather pleafant and dainty.
Lucan in his PharfalU had notice of it, hihmt tenera dukes ah arundine fuccos,
And Farro thus in its commendation,
Indie a magnanimis non arbor e crefcit arundo,
Illim & lentis premitur radicibm humor,
Dulcia cm nequemt [ hcco contendere mella*
We alfo took notice, that we were no fooner gone, but that the Ly7.ards which fome from
its relemb lance call the Land Crocodile in little, but of ^.better nature, would make hafte
to fuck this diftillingNedar and were intoxicated with it: a creature fo exceedingly de
lighted with beholding mans Vifage,and what in them lyes expreffing fo much affection,that
we would not injure them in that fenfelefs condition. Parratsand other Birds alfo would
be tafters, which made it of more repute with Paffengers. Several other forts of Trees
there are which differ no lefs in quality than form. One I took fpecial notice of was above
five yards about and of a reafbnable height, but umbriferous it was not 5 for albeit it
had many branches, yet was it without leaf or fl ower : the bole fo foft, as with a knife I
could almoft as eafily write my name in it as with a Hick one may in land: in curiofity
I put fome of the wood into my mouth and chewed if, what the vertuemay be I know
not •, but for half an hour my mouth was inflamed as if I had takenTo much Vitriol. Near
that was another which was low of growth, yet large fpread in its branches*, upon it
hung fruit or feed like alh-keyes, only thefe were larger and thicker,refembling the Gynny
Beans or Carravances, but fafe-guarded with fharp prickles 5 by fiich a defence one
might have thought what wasuwithin fliould have been conllderable, the fhell or codd
was very hard, but being broke, found in it fix or eight Nutseach of which was lels
than a Doves-egg *, but in colour and fhape not unlike the Beazer •, the kernell tafted like
an Acorn-, what the quality was I could not tell, fave that by fome experiment the Chi-
» rurgionmade, it was found in operation to be little better than Poyfon. The Africans
at Sierra have fuch a Tree as this they call Ogou with which they invenom their Darts:
this peradventure may be of that kind. Many other we faw here, fome of which were
like Pines, others like Lymes and Sycamores •, and do not remember that we faw any
Oak, Cedar, Fig or Cyprefs: nor was the fruit or feed they bore fuch as we knew,
though we could refemble them to Pine apples, Artichoaks, Plums, Nuts, Cherries,
and the like •, but asto their names or properties utterly ignorant', for the truth is, all
or moft of the Trees, Birds and Beafts I faw in the oriental and fouthern parts of the
World far remote vary or differ in fome part of their fhape from the Trees, Beafts and
Birdswithus in Europe', neverthelefs in their feveral fpecies and kinds may be known by
that their refemblance. Obferve we could alfo that nothing was loft •, for what was
food for Birds, the Tortoifes would eat •, and what the Tortoifes refufed, the Hog^did
devour: fo as by one or other all was tafted of. Again, this noble Ifle as it is prodigal
in her water and wood, fofhe correfponds in what elfe a fruitful Parent labours in: not
only boafting in that variety, but in feathered creatures alfo yea, in the rarenefsof
that variety ; I will name but fome, and firft the Dodo •, a Bird the Dutch call Walgh-
vogelor Dod Eerfen : her body is round and fat which occafions the flow pace or that her
corpulencie *, and fo great as few of them weigh lefs than fifty pound : meat it is with
fome, but better to the eye than ftomach •, fuch as only a ftrong appetite can vanquilh:
but other wife, through its oylinefs it cannot chufe but quickly cloy and naufeate the fto-
mach, being indeed more pleafurable to look than feed upon. It is of a melancholy vi-
fage, as fenfible of Natures injury in framing fo maffie a body to be direded by comple-
menta!