the mangrove, or Mangle; a genus of the monogynia order, belonging to the decandra class of plants. These plants are natives of the East and West Indies, and often grow 40 or 50 feet high. They grow only in water and on the banks of rivers, where the tide flows up twice a day. They preserve the verdure of their leaves throughout the year. From the lowest branches issue long roots, which hang down to the water, and penetrate into the earth. In this position they resemble so many arcades, from five to ten feet high, which serve to support the body of the tree, and even to advance it daily into the bed of the water. These arcades are so closely intertwined one with another, that they form a kind of natural and transparent terrace, raised with such solidity over the water, that one might walk upon them, were it not that the branches are too much encumbered with leaves.

The most natural way of propagating these trees, is to suffer the several slender small filaments which issue from the main branches, to take root in the earth. The most common method, however, is that of laying the small lower branches in baskets of mould or earth, till they have taken root.

The description just given, pertains chiefly to a particular species of mangrove, termed by the West Indians black mangles, on account of the brown dusky colour of the wood. The bark is very brown, smooth, pliant when green, and generally used in the West India islands for tanning of leather. Below this bark lies a cuticle, or skin, which is lighter, thinner, and more tender. The wood is nearly of the same colour as the bark; hard, pliant, and very heavy. It is frequently used for fuel, for which purpose it is said to be remarkably proper; the fires which are made of this wood, being both clearer, more ardent and durable than those made of any other materials whatever.—The wood is compact; almost incorruptible; never splinters; is easily worked; and were it not for its enormous weight, would be commodiously employed in almost all kinds of work, as it possesses every property of good timber.

To the roots and branches of mangroves that are immersed in the water, oysters frequently attach themselves; so that wherever this curious plant is found growing on the sea-shore, oyster-fishing is very easy; as in such cases, these shell-fish may be literally said to be gathered upon trees.

The red mangles, or mangrove, grows on the seashore, and at the mouth of large rivers; but does not advance, like the former, into the water. It generally rises to the height of 20 or 30 feet, with crooked, knotty branches, which proceed from all parts of the trunk. The bark is slender, of a brown colour, and, when young, is smooth, and adheres very closely to the wood; but when old, appears quite cracked, and is easily detached from it. Under this bark is a skin as thick as parchment, red, and adhering closely to the wood, from which it cannot be detached till the tree is felled and dry. The wood is hard, compact, heavy, of a deep red, with a very fine grain. The pitch or heart of the wood being cut into small pieces, and boiled in water, imparts a very beautiful red to the liquid, which communicates the same colour to wool and linen. The great weight and hardness of the wood prevents it from being generally used. From the fruit of this tree, which, when ripe, is of a violet colour, and resembles some grapes in taste, is prepared an agreeable liquor, much esteemed by the inhabitants of the Caribbee islands.

White mangle, so termed from the colour of its wood, grows like the two former, upon the banks of rivers, but is seldom found near the sea. The bark is grey; the wood, as we have said, white, and when green, supple; but dries as soon as cut down, and becomes very light and brittle. This species is generally called rope-mangrove, from the use to which the bark is applied by the inhabitants of the West Indies. This bark, which, by reason of the great abundance of sap, is easily detached, when green, from the wood, is beaten or bruised betwixt two stones, until the hard and woody part is totally separated from that which is soft and tender. This leaf, which is the true cortical substance, is twisted into ropes of all sizes, which are exceedingly strong, and not apt to rot in the water.