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a Trip to the West Indies. 13 
gardens, was showing me a species of thrip which is appearing 
on the cacao-pods, not only in the gardens but in several of the 
Grenada plantations; it is also attacking the leaves of other 
plants. He is anxious that it should be investigated; it certainly 
disfigures the pods. He looks upon the cacao trees here as a 
cross between the Calabacillo and Forastero varieties. 
The chief industries of this island are cacao, sugar, and nut- 
megs. The cacao trees in the old plantations bear a yellow 
fruit, and you do not get the beautiful varieties of colour and 
shape of pod that you do in Trinidad. The cacao in this island 
is also grown differently to what it is in Trinidad; here they do 
not shade their trees by the ‘‘ madre de cacao,” the Saman, or other 
large shade trees. The consequence is their trees are very 
dwarfed, as the top young wood and leaves are very much checked 
or naturally pruned by the burning rays of the sun. The island 
within the last ten years has made vast strides in respect to the 
curing of the cacao, and in price it runs Trinidad cacao very close. 
We were very much interested by seeing within a mile or so 
of the town one of the last of the old sugar mills, consisting of 
three vertical rollers slowly turned by two pairs of donkeys, the 
rollers being fed by hand. This was extremely primitive, but 
on the same piece of ground stood a still older sugar-mill, once 
turned by sails, very much resembling an English windmill. 
The master first drew my attention to the old mill, saying that 
it was found unsatisfactory, so was allowed to fall into decay. 
He then showed us six large sugar-pans in which the juice 
(pressed out by the rollers) was boiled down to the necessary 
density, after which it was put into wooden trays to crystallize. 
He showed us some finished sugar. Having a friend at Grenville, 
a town on the east coast, whom we wished to visit, we arranged 
with the hotel proprietor to have his buggy to drive to a rest- 
house at the summit of the Grand Etang, which also belonged 
to him. 
This mountain (the Grand Ktang), which is 1,800 feet above 
sea-level, is about the centre of the island. It is reached from 
 $t. George by a good metal road, and makes a hard piece of 
collar work for the horse. A grand sight it is as you gradually 
ascend, passing through (principally) cacao and nutmeg estates 
until you reach an elevation of about 1200 feet, when you dive 
into the virgin forest. The virgin forest is crown land, and is 
_ kept in that condition to encourage the rain; it certainly seems 
to have that effect. At the summit is the lake, which covers an 
area of about twenty-five acres; this is clearly seen, by the 
formation, to be the mouth of an extinct voleano. The land 
round the lake, which is almost circular, rises some hundred feet. 
On reaching the rest-house we had the pleasure of walking into 
the virgin forest, with which we were indeed charmed. Tree- 
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