The Bois Bande’

On the valley view side of the main building of Island House, in front of the vanishing pond, on the cliff edge, stands a Bois Bande’ tree. It is not a rare tree. There are plenty of them in Dominica’s forests. When we were building the hotel we almost cut this one down, but it was the only thing, other than the sky, that was reflected in the pool’s smooth surface. We also guessed that it would provide a topic of conversation for guests after they were told of the folkloric legends.

Our Bois Bande’ was about ten inches in diameter and a handsome tree, earning its place in the landscaping without reliance on the assumed special qualities of its bark.

Calypsonians made up songs about the Bois Bande’. People joked and laughed at its mention. I doubt that there was one West Indian in the Eastern Caribbean Islands that did not know of the tree’s alleged special qualities. One could stop a Dominican anywhere and ask what Bois Bande’ was and he or she would be likely to smile and tell you that it was to “make the man strong for loving,” or words to that effect, and that its common name literally meant stiff wood.

Pursue the point further and the method of securing the tree’s special qualities would be explained. “Mahn, you just take some bark, grind it nicely, and put it to make a tea.” Herbal teas are traditional, varied, and popular in the Caribbean.

We did, however, know many stories about the bark and one told of a man in St. Lucia who, having tried several times with no results, took a massive dose and had to have his erection surgically removed. We passed this story on as a warning to would-be adherents and only twice did a guest actually ask for a sample; allegedly for chemical analysis back home. These two scars in the trunk, each about an inch wide and four or five inches long were easily seen from the hotel dining room and served to enhance my story about the Bois Bande’.

Neither guest ever sent us the results of a chemical analysis and we continued to assume that it was nothing more than superstition.

After a few years of our hotel operation the vanishing pool developed a crack and I set about to drain and repair the failed area. As I began working on the pool I happened to look at the valley side of the Bois Bande’ tree and broke out laughing. There were dozens of scars where pieces of the bark had been removed from the side not visible from the hotel.

We assumed that surgery had never been necessary or we would have heard.