74 BRITISH HONDURAS. 



seed in British Honduras, they might be obtained from 

 Guatemala, or from Tabasco, or any districts on the mainland 

 known to possess this particular variety. In a subsequent 

 chapter I shall deal, particularly, with the methods to be 

 pursued in establishing a cacao plantation ; and point out the 

 kind of land and the localities best adapted for it. 



Next to cacao, the most interesting plant found wild in the 

 forests of British Honduras is the indiarubber-tree, called by 

 the natives "Toonu." This tree (Castilloa elastica), a member 

 of the bread-fruit family, and whose produce is known in com- 

 merce as Castilloa, or Central American rubber, should become, 

 in course of time, one of the most important cultivated trees in 

 the colony. The large and increasing demand which arises for 

 indiarubber for all kinds of appliances in arts and manufac- 

 tures renders the production of this article an industry of great 

 value. The original supplies of indiarubber, derived from 

 various trees growing wild in tropical forests all over the world, 

 are likely, at no distant date, to fall far short of the demand ; 

 and hence these supplies will require to be supplemented, if 

 not, indeed, to be replaced, as in the case of Cinchona barks, 

 by the produce of trees under cultivation. The Toonu in 

 British Honduras is found in most of the cohune ridges of the 

 country, and especially along the banks and in the valleys 

 bordering Mullin's River, Sittee River, and the Rio Grande, in 

 the south; as well as along the Sibun River and the upper 

 waters of the Belize River, in the west. The tree is very 

 abundant in some places, although daily becoming scarcer in 

 the immediate neighbourhood of settlements. It grows to the 

 height of about 40 to 50 feet ; has a thick, clean stem, about 

 2 feet in diameter at the base, and in habit of growth much 

 resembles a bread-fruit tree, to which, indeed, as mentioned 

 above, it is closely allied. The leaves are large, oblong in 



