stooping and declension, as she had in the rising of her branches, when her youth thrusts them forth with greater violence and vigour, and yet they had then some little stooping neer the poynts. And now there is an addition to her beauty by two green studds, or supporters, that rise out of her sides, neer the place where the filmes joyne to the tree, and they are about three foot long, small at the place from whence they grow, but bigger upwards, purely green and not unlike the Iron that Glasiers use to melt their Sawder with. [Illustration: _The Yonge Palmeto Royall_ page. 76.] One growes on one side of the tree, the other on the other side, and between these two of the same height, on either side the tree, a bush upon which the fruit growes, which are of the bigness of large French grapes, some green, some yellow, some purple, and when they come to be purple, they are ripe, and in a while fall down, and then the yellow becomes purple, and the green yellow; and so take their turnes, till the tree gives over bearing. These fruits we can hardly come by being of so great a height, nor is it any great matter: for the taste is not pleasant; but the Hoggs find them very agreeable to their palats for those that eat of them grow suddenly fat. I have seen an _Negre_ with two short ropes clyme the tree, and gather the fruit, about this time, she is 80 foot high, and continues that forme, without variation; only as she growes older, so taller and larger; and has alwaies green, yellow, and purple fruit, succeeding one another; whether there be blossomes, I know not, for I never went so high as to look. This sort of trees I have seen of all sises, from ten, to two hundred foot high; and I have been told by some of the antient Planters, that when they came first upon the Iland, they have seen some of them three hundred foot high: And some reasons I have to perswade me to believe it; for, amongst those that I have seen growing, which I have guest to be two hundred foot high, the bodies of which I measured, and found to be but sixteen inches diameter. And I once found in a wood, a tree lying, which seem’d to have been long fallen; for, the young wood was so grown about her, as standing at one end, I could not see the other: But, having a couple of Negres with me, that were axe-men, I caused them to cut away the wood that grew about the tree, that I might come to the other end, which I thought would never be done, she was so long, and yet a great part of her cut off, and carried away. I measured the diameter of her stem, and found it to be 25 inches. 16 ----- 200 / / / 25 ----- 312 200 ----- 25 / / / 312 ----- 39