Chap. IV. CACAO PLANTATIONS. 145 



purpose is made into a pear-sliaped bottle, and a quill 

 fixed in the long neck.* 



Septemher 2M]i. — Opposite Cameta the islands are 

 all planted with cacao, the tree which yields the choco- 

 late nut. The forest is not cleared for the purpose, but 

 the cacao plants are stuck in here and there almost 

 at random amongst the trees. There are many houses 

 on the banks of the river, all elevated above the 

 swampy soil on wooden piles, and furnished with broad 

 ladders by which to mount to the ground floor. As we 

 passed by in our canoe we could see the people at their 

 occupations in the open verandahs, and in one place 

 saw a ball going on in broad daylight; there were 

 fiddles and guitars hard at work, and a number of lads 

 in white shirts and trousers dancing with brown damsels 

 clad in showy print dresses. The cacao tree produces a 

 curious impression on account of the flowers and fruit 

 growing directly out of the trunk and branches. There 

 is a whole group of wild fruit trees which have the 

 same habit in this country. In the wildernesses where 

 the cacao is planted, the collecting of the fruit is 

 dangerous from the number of poisonous snakes which 

 inhabit the j^laces. One day, when we were running our 

 montaria to a landing-place, we saw a large serpent on 

 the trees overhead, as we were about to brush past ; 

 the boat was stopped just in the nick of time, and 



* India-rubber is now one of the chief articles of export from Para, 

 and the government derives a considerable revenue from it. In value 

 it amounts to one-third the total sum of exports. Thus in 1857 the 

 amount was £139, OCO, the total exports being £450, 720. In 1858, the 

 rubber exported amounted to £123,000 and the total exports to £356, 000. 



VOL. I. L 



