ther them when all the
Shell has changed Colour, and when there is but a small Spot below which
shall remain green. They go from Tree to Tree, and from Row to Row, and
with forked Sticks or Poles, they cause the ripe Nuts to fall down,
taking great care not to touch those that are not so, as well as the
Blossoms: They employ the most handy _Negroes_ in this Work, and others
follow them with Baskets to gather them, and lay them in Heaps, where
they remain four Days without being touch'd.

In the Months that they bear most, they gather them for a Fortnight
together; in the less-fruitful Seasons, they only gather them from Month
to Month. If the Kernels were left in Shells more than four Days, they
would sprit, or begin to grow, and be quite spoiled[y]: It is therefore
necessary to shell them on the fifth Day in the Morning at farthest. To
do this, they strike on the middle of the Shells with a Bit of Wood to
cleave them, and then pull them open with their Fingers, and take out
the Kernels, which they put in Baskets, casting the empty Shells upon
the Ground, that they may with the Leaves, being putrified, serve to
fatten the Earth, and supply the Place of Dung.

They afterwards carry all the Kernels into a House, and lay them on a
heap upon a kind of loose Floor cover'd with Leaves of _Balize_[7],
which are about four Feet long, and twenty Inches broad; then they
surround it with Planks cover'd with the same Leaves, making a kind of
Granary, which may contain the whole Pile of Kernels, when spread
abroad. They cover the whole with the like Leaves, and lay some Planks
over all: the Kernels thus laid on a heap, and cover'd close on all
sides, do not fail to grow warm, by the Fermentation of their insensible
Particles; and this is what they call _Sweating_, in those Parts.

They uncover the Kernels Morning and Evening, and send the _Negroes_
among them; who with their Feet and Hands, turn them topsy turvy, and
then cover them up as before, with the same Leaves and the same Planks.
They continue to do this for five Days, at the end of which they have
commonly sweat enough, which is discover'd by their Colour, which grows
a great deal deeper, and very ruddy.

The more the Kernels sweat, the more they lose their Weight and
Bitterness: but if they have not sweat enough, they are more bitter, and
smell sour, and sometimes sprit. To succeed well therefore, there should
be a certain Medium observed, which is only to be learnt by