Directions for taking care of grow ing Plants at Sea, by Dr. W. Roxburgh, of Calcutta.

PART

[From Transactions of the Society of Arts, Vol. XXVII.] ARTICULAR care, if not placed in a cabin, must be taken, that they are kept covered during stormy weather, or such as raises the least saline spray into the air; for the chief danger plants are liable to at sea, is occasioned by the saline particles with which the air is then charged. These, falling on the plants, quickly evaporate, but leave the deadly salt behind every care must therefore be taken, to guard against salt water, and the spray at sea. During moderate weather, it will be proper to keep the boxes open, for plants cannot long exist without air and light; also during moderate rain, which is much better for plants than water from the cask; but too much moisture is more dangerous than drought. When the weather is dry, it will be necessary to give them a little fresh water now and then; the periods and quantity cannot be pointed out in any in

structions, as the state of the weather must be the guide.

Directions where to place the chests, cannot be well given ; as that will, in a great measure, depend on the size, structure, &c. of the ship. In our Indiamen, round the capstan, on the quarterdeck, seems the best, on many accounts. The greatest danger in such a situation is, while the deck is washing in the mornings, the boxes must then be shut, and covered with a piece of canvas, or something to prevent the salt water getting in between crevices.

When plants from a cold climate get into a warm one, they shoot most luxuriantly, and often kill or choke one another: the larger shoots must therefore be frequently shortened, and as many of the leaves thinned as will give the rest air and room. Insects, par. ticularly caterpillars, often make their appearance about the same time; they must be carefully picked off.

Baskets with roots (such as potatoes, &c.), or succulent plants, may be hung up in any cool, airy place; such, for example, as the

Account of the Mahogany Tree, and of the cutting thereof at Honduras.

[From Captain Henderson's Account of the British Settlement of Honduras.] There are two seasons in the year for cutting of mahogany the first commencing shortly after Christmas, or at the conclusion of what is termed the Wet Season, the other about the middle of the year. At such periods all is activity; and the falling of trees, or the truckling out those that have been fallen, form the chief employments. Some of the wood is rough-squared on the spot, but this part of the labour is generally suspended until the logs are rafted to the entrance of the different rivers. These rafts often consist of more than two hundred logs, and are floated as many miles. When the floods are unusually rapid, it very frequently happens, that the labour of a season, or perhaps of many, is at once destroyed by the breaking asunder of a raft, and the whole of the mahogany being hurried precipitately to the sea.

The gangs of negroes employed

in this work consist of from ten to fifty each; few exceed the latter number. The large bodies are commonly divided into several small ones, a plan which, it is supposed, greatly facilitates labour.

Each gang of slaves has one belonging to it, who is styled the Huntsman. He is generally selected from the most intelligent of his fellows, and his chief occupation is to search the woods, or, as in this country it is termed, the Bush, to find labour for the whole. A negro of this description is often valued at more than five hundred pounds.

About the beginning of August the huntsman is dispatched on his errand; and if his owner be working on his own ground, this is seldom an employment of much delay or difficulty. He cuts his way through the thickest of the woods to the highest spots, and climbs the tallest tree he finds, from which he minutely surveys the surrounding country. At this season the leaves of the mahogany tree are invariably of a yellow reddish hue, and an eye accustomed to this kind of exercise can discover, at a great distance, the places where the wood is most abundant. He now descends, and to such places his steps are directed; and without compass, or other guide than what observation has imprinted on his recollection, he ne ver fails to reach the exact point to which he aims.

It not unfrequently happens, when the huntsman has been particularly successful in this journey of discovery, in finding a large body of wood in some remote corner, that it becomes a contest with

his conscience, whether he shall disclose the matter to his master, or sell it to his master's neighbour: a liberal equivalent for this breach of fidelity being always punctually discharged. Those, however, who afford encouragement to such practices, by such impolitic tempta tion, are perhaps not more mindful of the old adage than of their interest, as it cannot but indirectly sanction their own slaves to take equal advantage whenever the opportunity presents itself.

On some occasions no ordinary stratagem is necessary to be resorted to by the huntsman to prevent others from availing themselves of the advantage of his discoveries; for if his steps be traced by those who may be engaged in the same pursuit, which is a very common thing, all his ingenuity must be exerted to beguile them from the true scent. In this, how ever, he is not always successful, being followed by those who are entirely aware of all the arts he may use, and whose eyes are so quick, that the lightest turn of a leaf, or the faintest impression of his foot, is unerringly perceived; even the dried leaves which may be strewed on the ground, often help to conduct to the secret spot. Patents for discovery having never been contemplated by the Honduras wood-cutters, any invasion of the right appertaining to it has therefore seldom been very scrupulously regarded by them. And it consequently happens, that persons so engaged must frequently undergo the disappointment of finding an advantage they had promised to themselves seized on by others.

The mahogany tree is commonly

cut about twelve feet from the' ground, and a stage is erected for. the axe-man employed in levelling it. This, to an observer, would appear a labour of much danger, but an accident rarely happens to the person engaged in it. The body of the tree, from the dimensions of the wood it furnishes, is deemed the most valuable; but for purposes of ornamental kind, the branches or limbs are generally preferred, the grain of these being much closer, and the veins more rich and variegated.

The last day of falling the trees, if the negroes have not been disturbed in their labour, is always one of festivity and merriment ; and these people may now anticipate a short interval of leisure that will allow them to think of comforts in which they seldom can indulge at the commencement of their work. Some are busily employed in the improvement of their dwellings, which are nothing more than huts composed of a few sticks and leaves, that of the master being seldom better, whilst others search the woods for game, in which they generally are abundantly successful. The more ingenious turn their attention to the manufacture of a variety of small articles from the less valuable mahogany, for domestic use; and which, either as presents to their wives, or as matters for sale, are disposed of on their return from the woods.

The mahogany tree is seldom found in clusters or groups, but single, and often much dispersed ; what, therefore, is denominated a mahogany work, comprehends an extent of several miles. The growth of this tree is considered rapid,

but that of the logwood much more so, which, it is said, attains maturity in five years.

It has been remarked, by those of most experience in this occupation, that the mahogany which is fallen between the months of February and September is very liable to split; the same observation extends to that also which grows in rocky or mountainous situations. This is the bay-man's greatest evil, for the wood more particularly subject to this inconvenience is invariably the largest and of the finest quality. There is but one precaution against this, whenever the tendency towards it is discovered, which is to keep the tree immersed as closely as possible in deep water, until the time for shipping or otherwise disposing of it arrives.

The logs of mahogany are generally brought out by cattle and trucks to the water side, or to the barquadier, as it is termed in this country, which has been previously prepared by the foreman of the work for their reception. When the distance is great, this is a labour of infinite and tedious difficulty. As soon as a sufficient number to form a raft is collected, and the waters have gained the necessary height, they are singly thrown from the banks, and require no other aid or guidance than the force of the current to float them to the booms, which are large cables placed across the rivers at the different eddies or falls. Here they are once more collected, each party claiming his own from the general mass, and formed into separate rafts for their final destination. Sometimes more than a thousand logs together are sup

ported by the booms; and the catastrophe attendant on their breaking asunder, which during extraordinary floods often happens, has been previously noticed.

The mahogany, when disposed of at Honduras, produces from sixteen to thirty pounds, Jamaica currency, per thousand feet: the price of this article, however, can seldom be fixed, and must always fluctuate as it may be governed by quality or size. The shipping of it to Europe, especially during war, has seldom been found advantageous, excepting to a few individuals, who have succeeded in establishing a kind of preference in the London market. The exporting of it to the American States would, it is considered, be highly beneficial to the settlers generally, were there less restriction in the way of the dimensions of that which is permitted to be carried to them: this renders the intercourse, as it exists at present of insignificant importance.

To give some idea of the profit, though perhaps the instances of such success are not numerous, which has been known to attend the cutting of mahogany: a single tree has been found to contain 12,000 superficial feet, and this to produce upwards of one thousand pounds sterling. This certainly is a most flattering view of the subject; but, unquestionably, many more examples of opposite advantage might be produced. The great expense the settler must incur in the purchase, feeding, and clothing a number of slaves; the tools, cattle, and furniture, he must supply for the purpose of draught, exclusive of a variety of miscella