n6 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 



it to be found in the West Indies), leaving behind them 

 false civilisation, and vain desires, and useless show ; 

 and there live in simplicity and content ' The Gentle 

 Life ' ? J: 



The Planter's Life. 



Few who go to the tropics escape their fascination, 

 and of those that are young, few return to colder climes. 

 Some become overseers, others, more fortunate, own 

 the estates they manage. It is inadvisable for the in- 

 experienced to start on the enterprise of buying and 

 planting an estate with less capital than two or three 

 thousand pounds ; but, once established, a cacao 

 plantation may be looked upon as a permanent invest- 

 ment, which will continue to bear and give a good 

 yield as long as it receives proper attention. 



In the recently published Letters of Anthony Farley 

 the writer tells how Farley encounters in South America 

 an old college friend of his, who in his early days was 

 on the high road to a brilliant political career. Here he 

 is, a planter. He explains : 



" My mother was Spanish ; her brother owned this place. When 

 he died it came to me." 



" How did your uncle hold it through the various revolutions ? " 



" Nothing simpler. He became an American citizen. When 

 trouble threatened he made a bee-line for the United States Con- 

 sulate. I'm British, of course. Well, just when I had decided upon a 

 political life, I found it necessary to come here to straighten things 

 out. One month lengthened itself into a year. I grew fascinated. 

 Here I felt a sense of immense usefulness. On the mountain side 

 my coffee- trees flourished ; down in the valley grew cacao." 



" I grow mine on undulations." 



" You needn't, you know, so long as you drain." 



" Yes, but draining on the flat is the devil." 



" Anyhow, I always liked animals you haven't seen my pigs 

 yet and horses and mules need careful tending. A cable arrived 

 one morning announcing an impending dissolution. I felt like an 

 unwilling bridegroom called to marry an ugly bride. I invited my 

 soul. Here, thought I to myself, are animals and foodstuffs- good, 

 honest food at that. If I go back it is only to fill people's bellies with 

 political east wind." 



