The
samples which I had collected, had been obtained by great labour, and at no
inconsiderable expense: for whenever I had notice that a vessel had arrived
immediately from that continent, I never hesitated to go, unless under the
most pressing engagements elsewhere, even as far as Bristol, if I could
pick up but a single new article. The Lords having consented, I selected
several things for their inspection out of my box, of the contents of which
the following account may not be unacceptable to the reader.
The first division of the box consisted of woods of about four inches
square, all polished. Among these were mahogany of five different sorts,
tulip-wood, satin-wood, cam-wood, bar-wood, fustic, black and yellow ebony,
palm-tree, mangrove, calabash, and date. There were seven woods of which
the native names were remembered: three of these, Tumiah, Samain, and
Jimlake, were of a yellow colour; Acajou was of a beautiful deep crimson;
Bork and Quelle were apparently fit for cabinet work; and Benten was the
wood of which the natives made their canoes. Of the various other woods the
names had been forgotten, nor were they known in England at all.
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