Engraving accompanies Section VII. (Bahia de Todos los Sanctos), in which Montanus describes sugar-cane planting and sugar-making in Brazil. Scene features a hydo-powered sugar-mill, which, as Montanus explains, "consist[s] of three great Iron Bars, between which the Canes are squeez'd." Here, under the inspection of two European planters, several slaves feed stalks of sugar cane into the mill. The extracted juice (which Montanus calls Caldo) runs through a gutter into a keetle, where it is boiled. Afterwards, the sugary syrup is boiled a second and third time until nears the consistency of sugar. As Montanus noted, the "dross which remains" is given to the slaves, "which work for half a year together Night and Day like Horses." (p. 504), Illustration Arnoldus Montanus's America: Being the Latest, and Most Accurate Description of the New World; Containing the Original of the Inhabitants, and the Remarkable Voyages Thither. . . (London: Printed by the author [i.e. translator], and are to be had at his house in White Fryers, M.DC.LXXI. (1671)], p. 504., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Works Scenes.
Date
[1671]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1671 Mon 15.F p 504, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2660
