258 TRINIDAD. 



barrel of seeds gives about twelve bottles, or about 264 ounces 

 of oil. Carapa oil is thick, excessively bitter, and keeps a long 

 time. It is especially used in destroying insects, and particularly 

 tics j which are at times very troublesome to animals, hundreds 

 of them sticking to the hides of mules and oxen in the pastures 

 on estates. This oil is also applied by friction, as a remedy in 

 rheumatism. It has been remarked, as a singular effect, that 

 whenever animals that have been rubbed with carapa oil are 

 exposed to rain, the rubbed part becomes swollen. The agouti 

 and lapa are very fond of the carapa seeds. 



Sesame (Sesamum orientate). — Although sesame, or Gigeree 

 as it is called by Creoles, is cultivated here only by a few Africans 

 for its oily seeds, yet it is well known that large quantities of it 

 are imported into France — particularly from Egypt and the 

 East. The sesame oil is sweet, pleasant, and keeps a long time ; 

 it will even bear comparison with the best olive oil, and as a 

 substitute for the latter may be used for culinary purposes ; in 

 fact, Thunberg says that in Japan it replaces butter and lard. 

 The people here use it in preparing their food : they first heat, 

 then bruise it, and in that state mix it with their food. Sesame 

 grows in almost any soil ; it is planted in the beginning of the 

 wet season, and comes to maturity within four months or four 

 months and a half; for its reception the land must be well 

 prepared and thoroughly cleared of weeds. As the fruits or 

 capsules ripen gradually, and grow along the upper part of the 

 stem, the latter is cut as soon as the lower capsules are ripe ; 

 otherwise these split when dry, and the seeds are then lost. 

 When reaped they are tied in bundles, so as to keep the capsules 

 together and prevent their splitting ; they are then stored up in 

 some cool place. The seeds are very small and flat, and are 

 separated by merely beating or rubbing the bundles with the 

 hand. It is stated that sesame contains as much as 50 per cent, 

 of oil ; and there is no doubt it might be cultivated here 

 to advantage — if not for exportation, at least for culinary 

 purposes. 



Spices — nutmegs (Myristica moschata). — The nutmeg may 

 be said to be perfectly acclimatised in the colony, and it yields 

 nuts as good and fine as any which can be imported from the 

 Asiatic Islands ; it has not yet, however, been cultivated with a 

 view to commerce. The nutmeg tree requires a good moist soil 



