Of the tree that the carpenters on the island of Hispaniola call espino,[1] and what use they make of it.

Translated by Ella Nguyen ’23

The espino of this island of Hispaniola, often used by our carpenters and joiners, is a good and profitable tree whose good wood is strong and of a white color tending towards yellow, in the manner of the complexion of a pomegranate, or better yet, of a pretty orange tree. They make use of this wood in this land in many artful ways, to make hip chairs as well as smaller ones, which seem to me better than those of Granada. They make saddle trees for horse riders, and trimmings for doors and windows and other similar things for which boards do not need to be broad nor the plank long or straight nor too thick, because this sort of wood is not fit for that, but for what has been mentioned and other such things.

[1] Most likely a type of Machaonia, a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae.