Note 4 — CHAP. I.

Having taken possession of my habitation, my next wish was to furnish it properly; but all cares of this nature were rendered unnecessary by the generous hospitality of the inhabitants; the ladies supplied me with tables, chairs, glasses, and even plate and china, in great abundance; and the gentlemen loaded me with presents of Madeira wine, porter, cyder, rum and sugar, besides a quantity of the most exquisite fruits. Amongst the latter I was particularly struck with the shaddock and awara; the former of these, which is of a very agreeable flavour, between a sweet and an acid, is produced from a tree supposed to be transplanted from the coast of Guinea4, by a Captain Shaddock, whose name it still retains throughout the English West India islands, but is called pompelmoose in Surinam. This fruit appears to be of the orange species, but is as large as the head of a child of eight or ten years old; the skin is extremely thick, of a bitterish taste, and a pale yellow or citron colour. There are two species of the shaddock, of which the pulp of the one is white, and that of the other a beautiful pale red, which may be safely eaten in considerable quantities: indeed it is esteemed by the natives, who are in general remarkably fond of it, as very salubrious.