The climate and seasons in Cayenne are so near. ly similar to those in Demerara, as to make any notice of them unnecessary ; but as the country is much less cleared of underwood, and as very little draining has been practised, it is far more un healthy than any of the British or• Dutch settle ments on the same coast. That the climate is to tally unfit for European labourers was demonstrat ed in 1794.. When the decree for giving freedom to the negroes was promulgated, the soldiers of the regiment of Alsace, then stationed in the province, were induced, by high wages, to work in the planta tions;. at the end of a month, one half the regiment had-died, and the remainder were so ill. as to-be in, capable of any duty..
From the scanty population of Cayenne, it is evi 1 dent that its productions must be of inconsiderable magnitude; but the experiments that have been made sufficiently show that its capabilities are equal to those of the best soils in the tropical climate. The sugar-cane was, from the first, cultivated with success, but the production of that plant was vastly improved by the introduction of the canes of Ota hole, which the celebrated Bougainville brought from the southern hemisphere; and its sugar is equal to that of Surinam or Demerara. A spirit called by the French Taffia, an inferior kind of rum, is dis tilled from the canes. The coffee of Cayenne is in. ferior to that of Surinam, none of the piantations of it are extensive, and it is remarked that the trees degenerate when planted in the lower grounds. The cocoa plant is a native of Cayenne, and grows spon taneously on the borders of the Oyapoe. Wild in digo grows in great quantities, and the dye that has been obtained from it is equal in quality to what is extracted from the cultivated plant of the same spe cies. This induced the French government to pro mote the production of that commodity in the soil which nature indicated to be well adapted for it. The first results were in almost every instance flat tering, but the plant soon degenerated, and most of the indigo plantations, like those of St Domingo, were converted into sugar estates, but not till the proprietors had suffered very heavy losses. Cotton grows very luxuriantly, though not a native plant, or, if it be, the species varies from that now cultivat ed, which was brought from Guadeloupe, when the ruinous project of colonization was attempted in 1763. This plant yields two crops in the year ; the second called by the planters la petite recolte, in the month of March is frequently destroyed by a species of caterpillars which cover the trees after a shower of rain. All the fruits peculiar to warm climates are most abundant in Cayenne, and attempts have been repeatedly made to introduce the clove, and the cinnamon trees, with the other plants of the East Indies. The seeds of the clove were distributed profusely by the government, which also encouraged the cultivation of the bread-fruit, the mango, and the sago.
The exportable article of greatest amount, which Cayenne has lately furnished to Europe, is the Ro cou, or Roucou, better known in England by the came of Annotta, and which is extensively used as a dye, principally, however, for silks. The tree which yields this substance (Bisa Orellana) grows from twelve to fifteen feet in height, is very bushy, and bears a flower of a pale pink, resembling in shape and colour the dog-ruse. The fruit contains a pulpy substance (intermixed with the seeds), of a very glu tinous nature, which, by frequent washings and fil terings, is separated from them. It is then suffered to ferment during eight or nine days, when it is placed in a vessel, capable of bearing heat, over a fire, and as soon as it forms bubbles on the surface, the fire is withdrawn, and it is suffered to cool. The more gradually it cools, the better the substance is. That which is dried in the shade is much more va luable than that dried by the heat of the sun. When
it is macerated in small quantities, it is black and of little value; and is only of the best quality, when the whole that is made at one time is a very great mass. Its purity is ascertained by the whole dis solving in water, without leaving behind it any ex traneous substances. When in the state of a soft paste, it is moulded into the form of small cakes, and inclosed in the leaves of the Canna Indica angusti• folio, and thus packed for its market. The whole process of preparing this drug is most prejudicial to the health and comfort of the labourers. The smell is offensive beyond the powers of description ; and during the preparation, the workmen are afflicted with a constant nausea, and most violent headache. Its offensive smell, however, gradually subsides, and by the time it reaches Europe, is changed into an agreeable flavour, resembling that of the violet. On the Continent of Europe this commodity is exten sively used in the dyeing of various kinds of cloth ing ; but in England it is almost exclusively applied as the colouring matter of cheese, to which purpose it is well adapted, being nearly tasteless, and perfect• ly harmless. The pepper to which this settlement has given a name, though produced every where in the tropics, was first sent to Europe from hence. It is the pod of a species of Capsicum, gathered when ripe, and dried in the sun ; it is then, with a little flour and some salt, made into a kind of paste, and baked to a biscuit. When perfectly dry and cold, the pepper is made by rasping them upon a grater. Some cassia and a small quantity of vanilla have been produced here for exportation. As no wheat is grown, the dependance of the inhabitants for flour rests on the United States of North America; but maize, cassava, and rice, are cultivated to a sufficient extent, to supply food to the lower orders of the co loured inhabitants. The French seem to have ex ceeded other nations in the success of their efforts to conciliate the aborigines, and a much larger pro. portion of the native Indians have been reclaimed, and induced to labour on their plantations, than in either the Dutch or English settlements on the-coast of Guiana. Though the soil of Guiana may be as prolific as that of Demerara or Surinam, yet its fit. cure products can scarcely be so great as those co lonies. The coast is low, and dangerous to approach, on account of the great number of shoals and sand banks which border it ; and the only good navigable river on the whole line is that on which the capital is built. In the prevalence of fogs, in the general humidity of the atmosphere, and uniform high tem perature of the air, Cayenne is assimilated to the rest of Guiana.* The boundaries of the territories of Portugal in Guiana were much extended to the north by the first peace of Paris, and those boundaries, having been confirmed by the second treaty, may now be considered as finally settled. The northern limit is the mouth of the river Oyapoc, the navigation of which is free, both to the French and Portu guese. A line from the second degree of north latitude till it meets the river Arowari is then the boundary. A line from the first degree of north latitude then separates Portuguese from Spanish Guiana, and proceeds due west till it reaches the mission of St Carlos, on the northern branch of the river Negro. The Negro continues the bound ary till it takes an eastern direction, when a line is drawn due south till it strikes the river Ma ranon or Amazons, both sides of which to its mouth are thus included within the dominions of Portugal. Portuguese Guiana extends about 980 miles from east to west; its mean breadth is about 250 miles, but is not clearly ascertained from the want of ac curate surveys of the upper parts of the rivers Negro -and Maranon.