The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-06-02
COFFEE AND COCOA.
THE PEOPLE, CUSTOMS AND PRO-
DUCTS OF GUATEMALA.


u Coffee PIan.ation--Bad Indians and
Their ways-The Art of Lying-Pic-
turcsque Dress.
The part Of Guatemala we are now in Is
called the Costa Cuca, and from san
Sebastian to San Felipe. ten miles away
and near the mountains the road passes
through a succession OF coffee plantations,
To one not familiar with il, it would ap-
pear to be bright. frc.h ieaved tree of Il
rather rich and glossy green. but with its
limbs covered with parasitical green
growth resembling small acoFns, which
Illusion il dspelled when the regular
rows Of trees are seen and the careful cul-
tivation of the ground noted. While
great care must be taken Of the coffee
tree. it is not circumstance to that re
quired by the cacao plant which much
resembles it CacaO, or IN English cocoa,
the source Of chocolate. is more abun-
dainty grown in Ecuador than in any
other portion Of this hemisphere. and the
Guayaquil cocoa Of commerce commands
a price in Guatemala city of SIS per
"carga, or sixty pounds, 50 it may be
seen that it is a valuable crop The cocoa
Of Guatemala is much finer variety and
sells at S3j per carga, right here in the
country, but the amount raised is not
sufficient for home consumption. and but
little OF it finds its way into the outside
world.
The plant has So many natural enemies
that many fnqueros are deferred from at
tempting its cultivation The tree Is
planted from the seeds, which are no
sooner put in the ground than n large ant
searches for them and ruins many; when
the tree appears and is about three feet
tall deer, attracted by the richness Of the
leaf. risk their lives for feed of it; when
these dangers are past and the fruit ap
pears, squirrels come to eat It in large
numbers and any decent sized cacaotal
must have two huntsmen TO kill squirrels.
Thus il may be seen that chocolate IS
universal favorite During this tine the
ground must be as well weeded and
cleaned as a Chinaman kitchen garden.
And in addition TO this each cocoa tree
requires madre or mother. which is a
shade tree planted for its own particular
use. With such great care necessary. it
IS not strange that many prefer coffee
planting
ANOTHER VIEW OF IT
And it occurs to me. how few vino sit
slipping Maillards or Members chocolate
ever give thought or ever know Of the
immense labor of its production On the
other hand it has its advantages for
while a coffee tree is fairly on the down
grade to worthlessncss after bearing eight
years, the cocoa tree Is said TO bear
abundantly for seventy five years. and
even more Some cacaOtals near the
frontier of San Salvador. are so old that
the oldest Indians in the vicinity testify
that they were hourishing plantations
when they were children, and the trees
bear as well today as ever. The coffee
estates near San Felipe were nearly all
planted at the same time every available
space was utilized. consequently they all
failed at the same time and san Felipe,
from being thriving, busy town. became
but place to live in, and failed 10 see
its attractions even in that respect When
the coffee trees failed many finQueros
planted sugar cane This requires. from
planting 10 maturity, only nine months,
but is not 50 profitable as coffee.
The cocoa fruit as it appears on the
tree is Il pear shaped green mass about
nine inches long and in circumference
not So large as al average pineapple. The
inside Of this pulpy sheath is divided into
cells. about twenty. each containing one
cocoa berry Children and women are
employed 10 prepare il for market. and it
is not a sight which would induce one TO
4 . 10 H.s
cleaned. Each berry is surrounded IN its
cell by sweet, pasty brown aud greasy
substance which the Indians like. 50 each
berry goes to an Indians mouth, where
the sweet coating is sucked off and
chewed but this IN reality does not az
feet the berry because under the brown
paste there is a parchmentliko shell which
is lmperyious 20 the Indians saliva, and
comes of only in the roasting, leaving the
inside meat pure.
SOMETHING ABOUT BAD INDIANS.
\ marked difference is apparent between
the true Indian of the Indian town and
the one who has had much contact with
whites ard ladiIOs The former Is always
respectful and polite and lac is a natural
gentleman. He never approaches You 10
speak without removing Lis hat and bow
ing low. and he never reires without cX-
cusing himself until be may return The
latter is usually disrespecttUl and Of an
iusolcnt dispOsition-oager 10 take every
undue advantage of his masters leniency
and has to be taught by the generous use
Of a club The ordinary feelings Of the
human heart are unknown to him. You
can govern him, and govern him well, by
simply causing him to fear you.
The art of lying is unknown in the
United States when compared with the
state Of perfection it has reached among
some of these Indian tribes You may tell
an individual IN your employ to do a GER
tain thing but you must accompany him
to see that he does it, because ii he does
not feel like doing il he will come back
and lie about IT, Hit one OF them with
your fist or kick him out of your house,
and he will complain 10 the nearest al
calde. and will have twenty Witnesses to
swear that they saw You beat the com
plainant over the head with club until
he lay insensible in his own blood. and
this though they may have been miles
away at the time.
i : T..