Book XIX. The Nature and Cultivation of Flax, and an Account of Various Garden Plants.

Chaps. 1-8.

Chap. 1.—The Nature of Flax—Marvellous Facts Relative Thereto.

We have now imparted a knowledge [More particularly in B. xvii. cc. 2 and 3, and B. xviii. cc. 57-75.] of the constellations and of the seasons, in a method unattended with difficulty for the most ignorant even, and free from every doubt; indeed, to those who understand these matters aright, the face of the earth contributes in no less a degree to a due appreciation of the celestial phænomena, than does the science of astronomy to our improvement in the arts of agriculture.

Many writers have made it their next care to treat of horticulture; but, for my own part, it does not appear to me altogether advisable to pass on immediately to that subject, and, indeed, I am rather surprised to find that some among the learned, who have either sought the pleasures of knowledge in these pursuits, or have grounded their celebrity upon them, have omitted so many particulars in reference thereto; for no mention do we find in their writings of numerous vegetable productions, both wild as well as cultivated, many of which are found, in ordinary life, to be of higher value and of more extended use to man than the cereals even.

To commence, then, with a production which is of an utility that is universally recognized, and is employed not only upon dry land but upon the seas as well, we will turn our attention to flax, [The Linum usitatissimum of Linnæus.] a plant which is reproduced from seed, but which can neither be classed among the cereals nor yet among the garden plants. What department is there to be found of active life in which flax is not employed? and in what production of the earth are there greater marvels [What would he have said to the application of the powers of steam, and the electric telegraph?] revealed to us than in this? To think that here is a plant which brings Egypt in close proximity to Italy!—so much so, in fact, that Galerius [Possibly Galerius Trachalus, Consul A.D. 68, a relation of Galeria Fundana, the wife of the Emperor Vitellius.] and Balbillus, [Governor of Egypt in the reign of Nero, A.D. 55. He is mentioned by Seneca, Quæst. Nat. B. iv. c. 2, and is supposed to have written a work on Egypt and his journeys in that country.] both of them prefects of Egypt, made the passage to Alexandria from the Straits of Sicily, the one in six days, the other in five! It was only this very last summer, that Valerius Marianus, a senator of prætorian rank, reached Alexandria from Puteoli in eight days, and that, too, with a very moderate breeze all the time! To think that here is a plant which brings Gades, situate near the Pillars of Hercules, within six days of Ostia, Nearer Spain within three, the province of Gallia Narbonensis within two, and Africa within one!—this last passage having been made by C. Flavius, when legatus of Vibius Crispus, the proconsul, and that, too, with but little or no wind to favour his passage!

What audacity in man! What criminal perverseness! thus to sow a thing in the ground for the purpose of catching the winds and the tempests, it being not enough for him, forsooth, to be borne upon the waves alone! Nay, still more than this, sails even that are bigger than the very ships themselves will not suffice for him, and although it takes a whole tree to make a mast to carry the cross-yards, above those cross-yards sails upon sails must still be added, with others swelling at the prow and at the stern as well—so many devices, in fact, to challenge death! Only to think, in fine, that that which moves to and fro, as it were, the various countries of the earth, should spring from a seed so minute, and make its appearance in a stem so fine, so little elevated above the surface of the earth! And then, besides, it is not in all its native strength that it is employed for the purposes of a tissue; no, it must first be rent asunder, and then tawed and beaten, till it is reduced to the softness of wool; indeed, it is only by such violence done to its nature, and prompted by the extreme audacity of man, and [Or, as Sillig suggests, “after ill treatment such as this, that it arrives at the sea.” The passage is evidently defective.] * * * that it is rendered subservient to his purposes. The inventor of this art has been already mentioned by us on a more appropriate occasion; [In B. vii. c. 57. He alludes to Dædalus.] not satisfied that his fellow-men should perish upon land, but anxious that they should meet their end with no sepulchral rites to await them, there are no execrations [He probably has in view here the imprecation uttered by Horace:— “Illi robur, et æs triplex Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci Commisit pelago ratem.”— Odes, i. 3. At the present day hemp forms a material part in the manufacture of sails. In addition to flax, the ancients employed broom, rushes, leather, and various skins of animals for the purpose.] to be found that can equal his demerits!

It is only in the preceding Book [In c. 76.] that I was warning the agriculturist, as he values the grain that is to form our daily sustenance, to be on his guard against the storm and the tempest; and yet, here we have man sowing with his own hand, man racking his invention how best to gather, an object the only aspirations of which upon the deep are the winds of heaven! And then, too, as if to let us understand all the better how highly favoured is this instrument of our punishment, there is no vegetable production that grows with greater facility; [On the contrary, as Fée observes, the cultivation of flax is attended with the greatest difficulties.] and, to prove to us that it is in despite of Nature herself that it exists, it has the property of scorching [See B. xvii. c. 7. Virgil says, Georg. i. 77, “Urit enim lini campum seges”—but in the sense, as Fée remarks, of exhausting, not scorching the soil.] the ground where it is grown, and of deteriorating the quality of the very soil itself.

Chap. 2. (1.)—How Flax Is Sown: Twenty-seven Principal Varieties of It.

Flax is mostly sown in sandy [A light soil, and well manured, is usually employed for the purpose. Columella, B. ii. c. 10, recommends a rich, moist soil. It is sown in March or April, and is gathered, according to the season, from June to September.] soils, and after a single ploughing only. There is no plant that grows more rapidly [Though rapid in its growth, there are many vegetable productions that grow more rapidly.] than this; sown in spring, [This was the time for sowing it with the Romans, though in some countries, at the present day, it is sown so late as the autumn.] it is pulled up in summer, and is, for this reason as well, productive of considerable injury to the soil. [In B. xviii. c. 72, he has spoken of this method of gathering vegetable productions as injurious to the soil, by withdrawing its natural juices.] There may be some, however, who would forgive Egypt for growing it, as it is by its aid that she imports the merchandize of Arabia and India; but why should the Gallic provinces base any of their reputation upon this product? [“Censentur hoc reditu?” There is little doubt that the Gauls, like their German neighbours, cultivated flax for the purposes of female dress, and not mainly for the manufacture of sails.] Is it not enough, forsooth, for them to be separated by mountains from the sea, and to have, upon the side on which they are bounded by the Ocean, that void and empty space, as it is called? [“Quod vocant inane.” He implies that the boundless space of ocean on the Western coasts of Gaul was useless for any purposes of navigation.] The Cadurci, [See B. iv. c. 33.] the Caleti, the Ruteni, [See B. iv. c. 33.] the Bituriges, [See B. xxxiv. c. 48.] and the Morini, [See B. iv. c. 31.] those remotest of all mankind, as it is supposed, the whole of the Gallic provinces, in fact, are in the habit of weaving sail-cloth; and at the present day our enemies even, who dwell beyond the Rhenus, have learned to do the same; indeed, there is no tissue that is more beautiful in the eyes of their females than linen. I am here reminded of the fact, that we find it stated by M. Varro, that it is a custom peculiar to the family of the Serrani [A family of the Atilia gens.] for the women never to wear garments of linen. In Germany it is in caves [It was, and is still to some extent, a prevalent opinion, that the humidity of caves under-ground is favourable to the manufacture of tissues of hemp and flax.] deep under-ground that the linen-weavers ply their work; and the same is the case, too, in the Alian territory, in Italy, between the rivers Padus and Ticinus, the linen of which holds the third rank among the kinds manufactured in Europe, that of Sætabis [In Spain. Sec B. i. c. 1, and B. iii. c. 4.] claiming the first, and those of Retovium [Cluvier takes this place to be the same with Litubium in Liguria, mentioned by Livy, B. xxxii.] and of Faventia, in the vicinity of Alia, on the Æmilian Way, the second, place in general estimation. The linens of Faventia are preferred for whiteness to those of Alia, which are always un-bleached: those of Retovium are remarkable for their extreme fineness, combined with substance, and are quite equal in whiteness to the linens of Faventia; but they have none of that fine downy nap [“Lanugo.” This is not generally looked upon as a merit in linen, at the present day.] upon them, which is so highly esteemed by some persons, though equally disliked by others. A thread is made, too, from their flax, of considerable strength, smoother and more even, almost, than the spider’s web; when tested with the teeth, it emits a sharp, clear twang; hence it is, that it sells at double the price of the other kinds.

But it is the province of Nearer Spain that produces a linen of the greatest lustre, an advantage which it owes to the waters of a stream which washes the city of Tarraco [Now Tarragona. See B. iii. c. 4.] there. The fineness, too, of this linen is quite marvellous, and here it is that the first manufactories of cambric [“Carbasus.” This was probably the Spanish name originally for fine flax, and hence came to signify the cambrics, or fine linen tissues made of it. It seems, however, to have afterwards been extended to all kinds of linen tissues, as we find the name given indifferently to linen garments, sail-cloth, and awnings for the theatres.] were established. From the same province, too, of Spain, the flax of Zoëla [See B. iii. c. 4.] has of late years been introduced into Italy, and has been found extremely serviceable for the manufacture of hunting-nets. Zoëla is a city of Callæcia, in the vicinity of the Ocean. The flax, too, of Cumæ, in Campania, has its own peculiar merits in the manufacture of nets for fishing and fowling; it is employed, also, for making hunting-nets. For it is from flax, in fact, that we prepare various textures, destined to be no less insidious to the brute creation than they are to ourselves. It is with toils made from the flax of Cumæ that wild boars are taken, the meshes being proof against their bristles, [“Sætas ceu per ferri aciem vincunt.” This passage is probably in a mutilated state.] equally with the edge of the knife: before now, too, we have seen some of these toils of a fineness so remarkable [There must either be some corruption in the text, or else Pliny must have been mistaken. Nets such as these could have been of no possible use in taking a wild boar.] as to allow of being passed through a man’s ring, running ropes and all, a single individual being able to carry an amount of nets sufficient to environ a whole forest—a thing which we know to have been done not long ago by Julius Lupus, who died prefect of Egypt. This, however, is nothing very surprising, but it really is quite wonderful that each of the cords was composed of no less than one hundred and fifty threads. Those, no doubt, will be astonished at this, who are not aware that there is preserved in the Temple of Minerva, at Lindus, in the Isle of Rhodes, the cuirass of a former king of Egypt, Amasis by name, each thread employed in the texture of which is composed of three hundred and sixty-five other threads. Mucianus, who was three times consul, informs us that he saw this curiosity very recently, though there was but little then remaining of it, in consequence of the injury it had experienced at the hands of various persons who had tried to verify the fact. Italy, too, holds the flax of the Peligni in high esteem, though it is only employed by fullers; there is no kind known that is whiter than this, or which bears a closer resemblance to wool. That grown by the Cadurci [See B. iv. c. 33. Now Querci, the chief town of which is Cahors.] is held in high estimation for making mattresses; [“Culcitæ.”] which, as well as flock, [“Tomenta.”] are an invention for which we are indebted to the Gauls: the ancient usage of Italy is still kept in remembrance in the word “stramentum,” [Exactly corresponding to our “paillasse,” a “bed of straw.”] the name given by us to beds stuffed with straw.

The flax of Egypt, though the least strong [This is doubtful, though at the same time it is a well-known fact that the Egyptian flax grows to the greatest size. Hasselquist speaks of it attaining a height of fifteen feet.] of all as a tissue, is that from which the greatest profits are derived. There are four varieties of it, the Tanitic, the Pelusiac, the Butic, and the Tentyritic—so called from the various districts in which they are respectively grown. The upper part of Egypt, in the vicinity of Arabia, produces a shrub, known by some as “gossypium,” [Our cotton, the Gossypium arboreum of Linnæus. See B. xii. c. 21. The terms xylon, byssus, and gossypium, must be regarded as synonymous, being applied sometimes to the plant, sometimes to the raw cotton, and sometimes to the tissues made from it. Gossypium was probably the barbarous name of the cotton tree, and byssus perhaps a corruption of its Hebrew name.] but by most persons as “xylon;” hence the name of “xylina,” given to the tissues that are manufactured from it. The shrub is small, and bears a fruit, similar in appearance to a nut with a beard, and containing in the inside a silky substance, the down of which is spun into threads. There is no tissue known, that is superior to those made from this thread, either for whiteness, softness, or dressing: the most esteemed vestments worn by the priests of Egypt are made of it. There is a fourth kind of tissue, known by the name of “othoninum,” which is made from a kind of marsh-reed, [Probably the Arundo donax of modern botanists. See B. xvi. c. 66.] the panicule only being employed for the purpose. In Asia, again, there is a thread made from broom, [Fée says, that the people of Pisa, at the present day, soak the stalks of broom, and extract therefrom a thread, of which cords and coarse stuffs are made.] which is employed in the construction of fishing-nets, being found to be remarkably durable; for the purpose of preparing it, the shrub is steeped in water for ten days. The Æthiopians, also, and the people of India, prepare a kind of thread from a fruit which resembles our apple, and the Arabians, as already [In B. xii. c. 21. He seems there to speak of the cotton-tree, though Fée suggests that he may possibly allude to the “Bombax pentandrum” of Linnæus.] mentioned, from gourds that grow upon trees.

Chap. 3.—The Mode of Preparing Flax.

In our part of the world the ripeness of flax is usually ascertained by two signs, the swelling of the seed, and its assuming a yellowish tint. It is then pulled up by the roots, made up into small sheaves that will just fill the hand, and hung to dry in the sun. It is suspended with the roots upwards the first day, and then for the five following days the heads of the sheaves are placed, reclining one against the other, in such a way that the seed which drops out may fall into the middle. Linseed is employed for various medicinal [It is the mucilage of the perisperm that is so useful in medicine. As an article of food, the farina of linseed is held in no esteem whatever. In times of scarcity, attempts have been made to mix it with flour or meal, but the result has been found to be heavy and indigestible, and has caused, it is said, the death even of those who have eaten of it in considerable quantities.] purposes, and it is used by the country-people of Italy beyond the Padus in a certain kind of food, which is remarkable for its sweetness: for this long time past, however, it has only been in general use for sacrifices offered to the divinities. After the wheat harvest is over, the stalks of flax are plunged in water that has been warmed in the sun, and are then submitted to pressure with a weight; for there is nothing known that is more light and buoyant than this. When the outer coat is loosened, it is a sign that the stalks have been sufficiently steeped; after which [There are various other methods employed of dressing flax at the present day; but they are all of them long and tedious.] they are again turned with the heads downwards, and left to dry as before in the sun: when thoroughly dried, they are beaten with a tow-mallet on a stone.

The part that lies nearest to the outer coat is known by the name of “stuppa;” it is a flax of inferior quality, and is mostly employed for making the wicks of lamps. This, however, requires to be combed out with iron hatchels, until the whole of the outer skin is removed. The inner part presents numerous varieties of flax, esteemed respectively in proportion to their whiteness and their softness. Spinning flax is held to be an honourable [And not feminine or servile.] employment for men even: the husks, or outer coats, are employed for heating furnaces and ovens. There is a certain amount of skill required in hatchelling flax and dressing it: it is a fair proportion for fifty pounds in the sheaf to yield fifteen pounds of flax combed out. When spun into thread, it is rendered additionally supple by being soaked in water and then beaten out upon a stone; and after it is woven into a tissue, it is again beaten with heavy maces: indeed, the more roughly it is treated the better it is.

Chap. 4.—Linen Made of Asbestos.

There has been invented also a kind of linen which is incombustible by flame. It is generally known as “live” [“Vivum.”] linen, and I have seen, before now, napkins [He evidently considers asbestus, or amianthus, to be a vegetable, and not a mineral production. It is, in reality, a mineral, with long flexible filaments, of a silky appearance, and is composed of silica, magnesia, and lime. The wicks of the inextinguishable lamps of the middle ages, the existence of which was an article of general belief, were said to be made of asbestus. Paper and lace, even, have been made of it in modern times.] that were made of it thrown into a blazing fire, in the room where the guests were at table, and after the stains were burnt out, come forth from the flames whiter and cleaner than they could possibly have been rendered by the aid of water. It is from this material that the corpse-cloths of monarchs are made, to ensure the separation of the ashes of the body from those of the pile. This substance grows [“Nascitur.” In the year 1702 there was found near the Nævian Gate, at Rome, a funereal urn, in which there was a skull, calcined bones, and other ashes, enclosed in a cloth of asbestus, of a marvellous length. It is still preserved in the Vatican.] in the deserts of India, [On the contrary, it is found in the Higher Alps in the vicinity of the Glaciers, in Scotland, and in Siberia, even.] scorched by the burning rays of the sun: here, where no rain is ever known to fall, and amid multitudes of deadly serpents, it becomes habituated to resist the action of fire. Rarely to be found, it presents considerable difficulties in weaving it into a tissue, in consequence of its shortness; its colour is naturally red, and it only becomes white through the agency of fire. By those who find it, it is sold at prices equal to those given for the finest pearls; by the Greeks it is called “asbestinon,” [Signifying “inextinguishable,” from ἀ, “not,” and σβέννυμι, “to extinguish.” See B. xxxvii. c. 54.] a name which indicates its peculiar properties. Anaxilaüs [See end of.] makes a statement to the effect that if a tree is surrounded with linen made of this substance, the noise of the blows given by the axe will be deadened thereby, and that the tree may be cut down without their being heard. For these qualities it is that this linen occupies the very highest rank among all the kinds that are known.

The next rank is accorded to the tissue known as “byssus,” [He evidently alludes to cotton fabrics under this name. See Note to c. 2 of this Book.] an article which is held in the very highest estimation by females, and is produced in the vicinity of Elis, in Achaia. [Pausanias, in his Eliaca, goes so far as to say, that byssus was found only in Elis, and nowhere else. Judging from the variable temperature of the climate, it is very doubtful, Fée says, if cotton was grown there at all. Arrian, Apollonius, and Philostratus say that the tree which produced the byssus had the leaves of the willow, and the shape of the poplar, characteristics which certainly do not apply to the cotton-tree.] I find it stated by some writers that a scruple of this sold formerly at four denarii, the same rate, in fact, as gold. The downy nap of linen, and more particularly that taken from the sails of sea-going ships, is very extensively employed for medicinal purposes, and the ashes of it have the same virtues as spodium. [Impure oxide of metals, collected from the chimneys of smelting-houses. Fée says that Pliny on this occasion is right.] Among the poppies, too, [In B. xx. c. 79, he speaks of the “heraclion” poppy, supposed by some of the commentators to be identical with the one mentioned here.] there is a variety which imparts a remarkable degree of whiteness to fabrics made of linen.

Chap. 5.—At What Period Linen Was First Dyed.

Attempts, too, have even been made to dye linen, and to make it assume the frivolous colours [“Vestium insaniam.”] of our cloths. This was first done in the fleet of Alexander the Great, while sailing upon the river Indus; for, upon one occasion, during a battle that was being fought, his generals and captains distinguished their vessels by the various tints of their sails, and astounded the people on the shores by giving their many colours to the breeze, as it impelled them on. It was with sails of purple, too, that Cleopatra accompanied M. Antonius to the battle of Actium, and it was by their aid that she took to flight: such being the distinguishing mark of the royal ship.

Chap. 6.—At What Period Coloured Awnings Were First Employed in the Theatres.

In more recent [“Postea.” Sillig would reject this word, as being a corruption, and not consistent with fact, Catulus having lived before the time of Cleopatra. He suggests that the reading should be “Populo Romano ea in theatris spectanti umbram fecere.” “Linen, too, has provided a shade for the Roman people, when viewing the spectacles of the theatre.” Lucretius, B. iv. l. 73, et seq., speaks of these awnings as being red, yellow, and iron grey.] times linens alone have been employed for the purpose of affording shade in our theatres; Q. Catulus having been the first who applied them to this use, on the occasion of the dedication by him of the Capitol. At a later period, Lentulus Spinther, it is said, was the first to spread awnings of fine linen [“Carbasina.” Cambric.] over the theatre, at the celebration of the Games in honour of Apollo. After this, Cæsar, when Dictator, covered with a linen awning the whole of the Roman Forum, as well as the Sacred Way, from his own house as far as the ascent to the Capitol, a sight, it is said, more wonderful even than the show of gladiators which he then exhibited. At a still later period, and upon the occasion of no public games, Marcellus, the son of Octavia, sister of Augustus, during his ædileship, and in the eleventh consulship of his uncle, on the * * * day before the calends of August, covered in the Forum with awnings, his object being to consult the health of those assembled there for the purposes of litigation—a vast change, indeed, from the manners prevalent in the days of Cato the Censor, who expressed a wish that the Forum was paved with nothing else but sharp pointed stones.

Awnings have been lately extended, too, by the aid of ropes, over the amphitheatres of the Emperor Nero, dyed azure, like the heavens, and bespangled all over with stars. Those which are employed by us to cover the inner court [The cavædium is generally supposed to have been the same as the “atrium,” the large inner apartment, roofed over, with the exception of an opening in the middle, which was called the “compluvium,” or “impluvium,” over which the awning here mentioned was stretched. Here the master of the house received his visitors and clients.] of our houses are generally red: one reason for employing them is to protect the moss that grows there from the rays [White would be much preferable to red for this purpose.] of the sun. In other respects, white fabrics of linen have always held the ascendancy in public estimation. Linen, too, was highly valued as early as the Trojan war; for why else should it not have figured as much in battles as it did in shipwrecks? Thus Homer, [Il. ii. ll. 529 and 830.] we find, bears witness that there were but few among the warriors of those days who fought with cuirasses [Il. viii. l. 63.] on made of linen; while, as for the rigging of the ships, of which that writer speaks, it is generally supposed by the more learned among the commentators, that it was made of this material; for the word “sparta,” [Il. ii. l. 135. See B. xxiv. c. 40.] which he employs, means nothing more than the produce of a seed.

Chap. 7. (2.)—The Nature of Spartum.

For the fact is that spartum [The Stipa tenacissima of Linnæus; a kind of broom, called “Esparto” by the Spaniards.] did not begin to be employed till many ages after the time of Homer; indeed, not before the first war that the Carthaginians waged in Spain. This, too, is a plant that grows spontaneously, [Although, as Fée says, this is still the fact, it is a plant which would readily admit of cultivation. Varro, however, De Re Rust. B. i. c. 23, speaks of it in conjunction with hemp, flax, and rushes, as being sown.] and is incapable of being reproduced by sowing, it being a species of rush, peculiar to a dry, arid soil, a morbid production confined to a single country only; for in reality it is a curse to the soil, as there is nothing whatever that can be sown or grown in its vicinity. There is a kind of spartum grown in Africa, [This kind, Fée thinks, may possibly have been identical with the Spartum Lygeum of Linnæus, false esparto, or alvarde.] of a stunted nature, and quite useless for all practical purposes. It is found in one portion of the province of Carthage [At the present day it is only in the provinces on the Mediterranean that spartum is found; the other provinces producing nothing but alvarde.] in Nearer Spain, though not in every part of that; but wherever it is produced, the mountains, even, are covered all over with it.

This material is employed by the country-people there for making [It is still used in the southern parts of Spain for the same purposes.] their beds; with it they kindle their fires also, and prepare their torches; shoes [The shoes now made of it are known as “espartenas” and “alpargatas.”] also, and garments for the shepherds, are made of it. As a food for animals, it is highly injurious, [It is not dangerous in itself, but is too tough to be a favourite article of food with cattle.] with the sole exception of the tender tops of the shoots. When wanted for other uses, it is pulled up by the roots, with considerable labour; the legs of the persons so employed being protected by boots, and their hands with gloves, the plant being twisted round levers of bone or holm-oak, to get it up with the greater facility. At the present day it is gathered in the winter, even; but this work is done with the least difficulty between the ides of May [Fifteenth of May and thirteenth of June.] and those of June, that being the period at which it is perfectly ripe.

Chap. 8.—The Mode of Preparing Spartum.

When taken up it is made into sheaves, and laid in heaps for a couple of days, while it retains its life and freshness; on the third day the sheaves are opened out and spread in the sun to dry, after which it is again made up into sheaves, and placed under cover. It is then put to soak in sea-water, this being the best of all for the purpose, though fresh water will do in case sea-water cannot be procured: this done, it is again dried in the sun, and then moistened afresh. If it is wanted for immediate use, it is put in a tub and steeped in warm water, after which it is placed in an upright position to dry: this being universally admitted to be the most expeditious method of preparing it. To make it ready for use, it requires to be beaten out. Articles made of it are proof, more particularly, against the action of fresh or sea-water; but on dry land, ropes of hemp are generally preferred. Indeed, we find that spartum receives nutriment even from being under water, by way of compensation, as it were, for the thirst it has had to endure upon its native soil.

By nature it is peculiarly well adapted for repairing, and however old the material may be, it unites very well with new. The person, indeed, who is desirous duly to appreciate this marvellous plant, has only to consider the numerous uses to which, in all parts of the world, it is applied: from it are made, the rigging of ships, various appliances of mechanism employed in building, and numerous other articles which supply the wants of daily life. To suffice for all these requirements, we find it growing solely on a tract of ground which lies upon the sea-line of the province of New Carthage, somewhat less than thirty miles in breadth by one hundred in length. The expense precludes its being transported to any very considerable distance.