either by slaves, water, wind, or cattle. Those turned by the hand were first in use, but are now laid aside, as being an intolerable hardship to the poor negroes who were doomed to that work,' besides the slowness of their progress. Windmills are the most modern, and are not yet very common, except in Barbadoes and St. Christopher's, and among the Portuguese. These make good dispatch, but have this inconvenience, that they are not easily stopped, which proves sometimes fatal to the negroes who feed them.

The juice coming out of the canes, when pressed and broken between the rollers, is conveyed by a leaden canal into the sugar-house, which is near the mill, where it falls into a vessel, and thence runs into a copper or caldron, to receive its first preparation, only heated by a slow fire to make it simmer. With the liquor is here mixed a quantity of ashes and quick-lime; the effect of which mixture, together with the action of the fire, is, that the unctuous parts are separated from the rest, and raised to the top in the form of a thick scum, which they keep constantly taking off, and serves to feed poultry, horses, &c.-The juice in the next place is purified in a second copper, where a brisker fire makes it boil; and all the time the casting up of the scum is promoted by means of a strong lye composed of lime-water and other ingredients.-This done, it is purified in a third boiler, wherein is cast a lye that assists in purging it still farther, making its impurities rise to the surface, whence they are taken with a skimmer.Hence it is removed to a fourth boiler, where it is farther purified by a more violent fire; and hence to a fifth, where it is brought to the consistence of a syrup. In a sixth boiler the syrup receives

its full coction; and here all the impurities which the former lyes had left are taken away by the in, jection of a new one, and a water of lime and alum. In this last copper there scarcely remains a third of what was put into the first, the rest being wasted by frequent boilings and skimmings. It is to be observed, that the size of the several coppers always diminishes from the first to the last, each being provided with a furnace to give a heat proportionable to the degree of coction the juice has received. In some large sugar-works there are also particular coppers for boiling and preparing the skimmings for farther uses.

By thus passing successively a number of coppers, the juice of the canes is purified, thickened, and rendered fit to be converted into any of the kinds of sugar hereafter mentioned, which are all prepared in the American islands. According to F. Labat, these are, 1. Crude sugar, or moscovado, which is that first drawn from the juice of the cane, and whereof all the rest are composed. The method of making it is that already described for sugars in general; but here we may add, that, when taken out of the sixth copper, it is put into a cooler, where, after stirring it briskly together, it is let stand to settle, till a crust, as thick as a crown-piece, is formed thereon. The crust being formed, they stir it again, then put it into vessels, where it stands to settle till it be fit to barrel. 2. Strained sugar, though somewhat whiter than the former, is prepared in the same manner, with this difference, that to whiten it they strain the liquor through blankets, as it comes out of the first copper; which invention is owing to the English, who likewise put the sugar into wooden forms or moulds, and, when

it has purified itself well, cut it in pieces, dry it in the sun, and barrel it up. 3. Earthed or clayed sugar is that which is whitened by means of earth laid on the top of the moulds it is put into to purge itself, and after a long process (too tedious to be here related) it is formed into loaves and baked, then pounded with huge wooden pestles, and put up in barrels. This is the white powder sugar. 4. Refined sugar is boiled and freed from its impurities by throwing in lime-water, eggs, and other ingredients, which the earthed sugar has not; in other respects the process is much the same, only more care and exactness is used, and the refined sugar is drier and whiter.-Several other sorts of sugar might be mentioned, but these seem to be the chief that are prepared in the sugar islands.

Here it seems proper to add, that in Canada and New England they obtain a species of sugar from the juice of a kind of maple-tree, by boiling it till ten gallons are reduced to a pint and a half, and then keeping it stirring to prevent its candying. A good tree, Mr. Dudley tells us, will yield twenty gallons of juice; and the physicians look upon the sugar to be as good for common use as that of the sugar cane, and to exceed all others in its medicinal virtue. The famous syrup of maiden-hair of Canada is made with this sugar; which, as brought to us, is of a greyish colour, and tastes like other sugar.

But we must not forget to mention another commodity produced from the juice of the sugarcane, viz. rum, a spirituous liquor well known amongst us, and distilled in great quantities in Jamaica and Barbadoes. The particular process of this distillation we shall not attempt to describe

but only observe, that Jamaica had for many years produced fine sugars, before the planters knew how to make rum; but, having learnt the art from those of Barbadoes, they are now reckoned to excel them in that commodity.

To this account of the sugar-cane and its pro duce perhaps it will not be amiss to subjoin a few observations on the qualities of sugar. Hoffman, speaking of sugar, says, that it is a temperate salt, and friendly to nature; but it has been a point much disputed, whether in general it is wholesome or otherwise. According to some, it is heating, emollient, resolvent, aperient, and calculated to resist putrefaction; good for the stomach, breast, and lungs; promotes expectoration, softens internal tumours, cleanses ulcers of the kidneys, bladder, and intestines, and hinders all corrosive substances from acting easily on the internal parts. According to others, it is injurious to scorbutic, hypochondriac, hysteric, and feverish patients, if used in considerable quantities: and others assert, that it impairs the appetite, weakens digestion, produces flatulencies, and generates cholics and dysenteries. It is also said to lay a foundation for the piles; and some foreign physicians have ascribed the frequent consumptions in England to the copious use of sugar. Whilst

some assert that sugar generates worms, others are as positive that it destroys them. It is generally agreed, however, that the common coarse sugars foul the cutaneous glands and excite scorbutic spots and blotches. Rotten teeth are often the consequence of using sugar too copiously, and those who do so are likewise said to be liable to fevers. It is farther to be observed, that sugar in some degree differs in medicinal virtues according to its

degree of fineness; the moscovado, or that first procured from the cane, being more relaxing than the finer sugars. Loaf-sugar is said to animate the blood, to cut phelgm, and promote expectoration. Sugar-candy is most proper in colds, as it melts slowly in the mouth, and thereby gives time for the saliva to mix with it, and thus to blunt the acrimony of the phlegm.

The culture and management of indigo was formerly a very considerable and profitable business in Jamaica, where the plant grew in greater plenty than in any other of our colonies; insomuch that (according to the account of a gentleman who resided a good while in that island) the profits of the planters of it in the parish of Vere, where it was chiefly cultivated, were so great, that there used to be three hundred gentlemens' coaches at the parish-church on a Sunday. But whether it be owing to the want of seasons, or to the high duties laid on that commodity, (which the planters say was the case) at present there is not a stalk of indigo to be found in that parish, nor any other vestiges of its former prosperity. The duty laid by our legislature on indigo was three shillings and six-pence a pound, which could be borne when a pound weight of it was worth ten shillings, but on its falling to four shillings, was insupportable. We became sensible of this too late, and took off all duty upon indigo of our own growth; and there have been some attempts of late to revive this manufacture in Jamaica, but without success, the people there having lost the art. Indeed, in the year 1743, Mr. Macfarlan made a small quantity of very good indigo in the parish of St. Thomas in the vale; but we cannot learn whether other persons have followed his example. However, it