COFFEE PLANTATION. 51 



I left the plantation, however, with a favourable impression 

 respecting the possibility of growing good coffee in British 

 Honduras, and I have no doubt that if Coolie labour could be 

 obtained, the whole of this western district would soon be dotted 

 over with prosperous plantations. The cost of clearing and 

 cleaning land ready for planting is put down at 6 per acre ; 

 the labourers, at present, owing to the remoteness of the district, 

 get from 42 to 50 cents per day. 



I returned to the Cayo, or the Cay, which, from its position 

 nearly on the frontier line between British territory and that of 

 the Republic of Guatemala, possesses more importance than its 

 appearance and size would indicate. 



It is connected with Belize by the Government road already 

 mentioned, and this leads over the frontier to Peten and other 

 towns in Guatemala. A fair amount of trade is carried on 

 between Belize and Peten by way of the Cayo ; merchandise 

 being either carried all the way by mules, or partly by river. 



This little frontier station occupies a picturesque position 

 at the junction of the two branches of the Belize Kiver. The 

 principal houses are those of the magistrate, the court-house, 

 and the headquarters of the police, situated on the higher ground ; 

 while below, and extending to the point where the two rivers 

 meet, is an open savannah, affording pasturage for cattle, and 

 dotted here and there with the thatched huts of the natives. 



The entire population is about 300. 



With the appointment of Mr. Travers, a highly-educated 

 and accomplished officer, as magistrate, the Cayo is destined to 

 increase in importance and character, and as it is proposed to 

 organise a regular system of water communication by a Govern- 

 ment " pit-pan " with Belize, the settlement will be brought into 

 closer connection with the headquarters of the Government. 



In returning from the Cayo I experienced very wet and 



