Q6i FRO.AI GUAHON TO ST. HELENA. 



slaked, lime, and so chewed. The Government, 

 which alone has the right of cultivating tobacco, 

 sells it at 4 — 5 reals per lb., and the king has a 

 revenue from it, from the island of Luconia alone, 

 of about 300,000 piasters ; the rum, which is ex- 

 tracted from cocoa-blossoms, belongs likewise to 

 the king, and yearly brings him in 120,000 

 piasters. 



In the evening we drank chocolate at the Go- 

 vernor's, and had an enjoyment of whicii we had 

 been deprived of many years, for his two amiable 

 daughters enraptured us by their singing and play- 

 ing. He persuaded me to return to-morrow to Ca- 

 vite, by land, over Terra Alta, for which he offered 

 me his carriage. I joyfully accepted this proposal, 

 and we were already, at seven o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, on the pleasant road, which leads through 

 avenues of bamboo and cultivated fields. I, for the 

 first time, saw here such high bamboo canes ; but 

 the people in this country know how to make a 

 very good use of them, for they make out of them 

 bridges, houses, and utensils of all kinds. Half 

 way to Terra Alta, lies a convent, at which we 

 stopped, as Chamisso wished to speak with a 

 monk, who had written a history of the Philip- 

 pines. We remained there to dinner, and rode 

 further, having previously been offered, by a 

 Frenchman of the name of Chapare, in the Spa- 

 nish service, his country liouse, if we would 

 come here more frequently. We continued our 



