Jean Baptiste Labat (1663-1738) was a member of the Order of Preachers and wrote this 8-volume work after extensive missionary work. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "Labat had a wide reputation as a mathematician and won recognition both as a naturalist and as a scientist. He embodied in the history his scientific observations and treated comprehensively and accurately of the soil, trees, plants, fruits, and herbs of the islands. He also explained the manufactures then in existence and pointed out means for the development of commercial relations. He published similar works on other countries, drawing information from the notes of other missionaries." (Source: Smith, Ignatius. "Jean-Baptiste Labat." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 3 Jun. 2015)
