50 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



rubber-trees and pimento, the latter being a tall tree, finer than 

 any I had ever seen before. 



The woods also were fragrant with the ripe bursting pods of 

 vanilla, which hung in festoons from the trunks of Santa Maria 

 and other rough-barked trees. 



The Cayo was reached about noon, and I called upon Mr. 

 Travers, the newly-appointed magistrate of this remote frontier 

 station. 



One of the chief inducements which drew me to the Cayo 

 was to see a coffee estate about two miles beyond, under charge of 

 M. Vivenot. In company with the latter, whom I fortunately 

 met at the Cayo, and Mr. Blanconeaux, we proceeded up the 

 western branch of the Belize Eiver, until we came to a deep, 

 rich, well-sheltered valley surrounded by low wooded hills. 



Here about 100 acres had been cleared and established in 

 coffee under the shade of bananas, with corn as an intermediary 

 crop. The coffee-trees, about 30,000, were from one to two years 

 old, planted out. Seed had been obtained from Martinique, 

 Trinidad, and Guatemala. As a whole, the plantation was in a 

 promising state ; in some cases the trees were overshaded by 

 bananas, and consequently the plants were weak and " spindled." 

 There is no doubt, also, that the ground had been somewhat 

 impoverished by the large crop of com (maize) which was then 

 being taken off. 



Most of the trees about two years old were, however, bearing 

 their first crop, and looked as if, even at this early age, some 

 two or three hundredweights per acre would be yielded by them. 

 The plantation was well laid out, with roads and intervals of 

 18 feet dividing the blocks. Naturally, being a pioneering effort, 

 the best mode of procedure adapted to the district could not be 

 obtained at once ; and, again, the difficulty of obtaining labour 

 had hampered the undertaking and increased the expenses. 



