Page:A voyage to New Holland - Dampier.djvu/103

 igo, maize, fruit-trees of several kinds, and eatable roots of all sorts. Of the several kinds of trees that are here I shall give an account of some, as I had it partly from an inhabitant of Bahia, and partly from my knowledge of them otherwise, namely sapiera, vermiatico, comesserie, guitteba, serrie, as they were pronounced to me, three sorts of mangrove, speckled wood, fustick, cotton-trees of 3 sorts, etc., together with fruit trees of divers sorts that grow wild, beside such as are planted.

Of timber-trees the sapiera is said to be large and tall; it is very good timber, and is made use of in building of houses; so is the vermiatico, a tall straight-bodied tree, of which they make plank 2 foot broad; and they also make canoes with it. Comesserie and guitteba are chiefly used in building ships; these are as much esteemed here as oaks are in England, and they say either sort is harder and more durable than oak. The serrie is a sort of tree much like elm, very durable in water. Here are also all the three sorts of mangrove trees, namely the red, the white, and the black, which I have described. The bark of the red mangrove is here used for tanning of leather, and they have great tan-pits for it. The black mangrove grows lar