, 1876-04-15
A CAoAo PLANTATION IN sURINAs1.

through the mangrOVe scrub that borders the
rivers bank a narrow creek, at the mouth
Of which several moored barges aud haIfsub-
merged corials are gathered, gives admittanoe
to the heart of the estate. 1t is a vast cacao
grove where you may wander at will under
$3.50 three hundred and fifty continuous acres
Of green caDopy-that is, if you are ready to
jump over any number Of small trimming
bitches, and to GROSS the wider irrigation tren-
ches on bridges, the best of which is simply a
round and slippery tree trunk, exceIieDtIy
adapted, no doubt, to the naked foot Of a negro
labourer, but on which no European boot or
shoe can hope to maintain an ~inStant's hold.
Huge pods, some yellow, some red-the former
color, | am told, indicative of better quality
dangle in your face, and dispel the illusion by
which you might, at first sight Of the growth
and foliage around you, have fancied yourself
to be In the midst of a remarkably fine alder
tree thicket while from distance to distance
broad-boughcd trees Of HE kind called by the
negroes " cotfee-mamma,o from the shelter
they afford to the plantations Of that bush,
spread their thick shade high aloft, and protect
the cacao bushes and their fruit from the direct
action Of the burning sun. Moisture, warmth,
and shade-these are The primary and most
essential conditions for the we'll doing of a
cacaO estate. Innumerablo trenches dug, with
mathematical exactitude Of alternate line and
interspace, supply the first requisite; u temper
allure, that in a wind-fcnced situation like this,
bears a close resemblance for humid warmth
to that Of an accurately shut dollhouse,
assures the second and he " cofee.mamma," q
dense-Ieayed tree, not unlike our own beech,
guarantees the third. Thus favored, q Surf
nam cacaO crop is pretty sure to be an album
dant one. Ever and anon, where he green
labyrinth is at its thickest, you come Suddenly
aor,cg q burly (tr9g1a Dorro hruJIy ,ro~oJ "a,
p~luckirg the large pods from the boughs with
his left hand, and in it so, while with a sharp
cutlass held in his right he dexterousIy cuts
Ell The upper part Of the thick outer covering,
'hpn shakes the Shiny agglomeratjOn of seed
and white burr cIjnging to 1t into q basket
set close by him on the ground. A single
lnborcr will in this fashion collect nearly 400
10 four hundred pounds weight Of seeds in
the course Of a day, When fun The baskets
are carried off on the heads of the assistant
feld-women, or, if taken from the remoter
parts Of the plantation, are H0ated dOwn in
boats or oorials to the brick-paved courtyard
adjoining the planters Westinghouse, where
The nuts are Cleansed and dried by simple and
inexpensive processes, not unlike those in use
for the coff1e-berry after which, nothing re-
mains but to fiji the sacks, and send them off
to their market across the sea.
A Guiana cacao-plantation is an excellent
investment. The first outlay is not heavy nor
is the maintenance Of the plantation expensive
the number of labOreTs bearing an average
proportion Of one to nine to that of the acres
under cultivation, The work required is of a
kind that negroes, who are even now not unfre-
Quently prejudiced, by the memory Of slave
days, against the cane field and sugar factory,
undertake willingly enough and to judge by
their stout limbs and evident good condition,
they find it not unsuited to their capabilities.
More than $1,000, 900 b. four million pounds
weight of cacao are annually produced In Surf
nam, which is a considerations as a negro re-
marked to ME, labOriOusly attempting to put
his ideas into English, instead of the Creole
mixture of every known language that they
use among themselves. Neither Coolies nor
Chinese are employed on these oaoao estates,
much to the satisfaction of the ~creoleS, who
though tolerant of, or rather olinging to, Euro
pean mastership, have little sympathy with
other col0red or semi civilised races. Some
authors have indeed conjectured that the West
Indian IabOrer of the future will be a cross
mixture of the African and the Asiatic; but
to this conclusion, desirable or not, there is for
the present no apparent tendency, either in
Surlnam or elsewhere. As to the Indians
of these regions they keep to themselves, and
their incapaoity of improvement, combined with
hereditary laziness and acquired Drunkenness,
will, it seems, soon render them a mere memo
~, pOetioal or otherwise, of the past.
Soil, climate, and the conditions of labouF,