THIS plant may be, as well as the coco, reared in sandy soils, but it will flourish with more luxuriance, upon those that are of a richer kind. The oil, which is extracted from the seed, is in general use for lamps and other purposes, but neither is it eaten, nor known as a medicine; but it is administered as an outward application. It is given to animals that have drank the juice of the mandioc, and is sometimes successful in forcing the poison back from the stomach. The plant is much cultivated, but it is frequently to be seen growing spontaneously.[183] BRAZIL WOOD. THE wood from which is extracted the beautiful red dye, which is so much esteemed in Europe, is, I believe, generally supposed to be peculiar[184] to the country to which it has given a name[185]. It is often called in Pernambuco (from whence, I imagine, that it is exclusively exported) _pao da Rainha_ or Queen’s wood, owing to the circumstance of the trade in it being a government monopoly; and it is exported to Europe on account of the Crown. No care has been taken to prevent a scarcity of the wood, and indeed its ultimate extirpation; it is cut down unmercifully wherever it is met with by the officers who are appointed for this purpose, without any regard being paid to the size of the tree. No plantations have been formed of it, and consequently it is now rarely to be seen, within many leagues of the coast. The labour which is required in obtaining it is now considerable, for the weight of the wood renders its conveyance very difficult upon the backs of horses, and this is the only manner in which it can be carried. The pay which is given by the government to the carriers is below the usual rate for work equally laborious, and therefore a wide source of oppression is afforded. The carrier receives with his load a slip of paper, declaring the weight of the wood which he is conveying; this is to be presented by him at the _Intendencia da Marinha_, or dock-yard at Recife, and he must wait until the wood is again weighed and the paper countersigned, before he can return home. These men are delayed sometimes for several days, before they are permitted to return; and they find that it is their interest to make many presents to the inferior officers, that they may be quickly dispatched. Here the old system of indifference to what is just, still most glaringly continues. This account of the treatment of the men who convey the wood, I received from several who had been employed in the business.