A VISIT TO A DEMERARA SUGAR FACTORY 41 



mule. To-day, throughout the whole sugar-producing 

 region of the Colony, canes are being cut, transported 

 to the mills, and ground with the utmost speed ; for 

 when the harvest season, or, as it is more usually 

 called, the grinding season, begins, everything must 

 be done as quickly as possible, because freshly cut 

 canes give the best sugar-juice. There are two grind- 

 ing seasons in British Guiana — one in May and one in 

 October. 



The pleasure of arriving at our destination is tinged 

 with regret that the journey has come to an end. But 

 just now there is barely a second in which to think of 

 the past, for the present is brimming with dehghts. 



In a spacious room, which occupies the entire first- 

 floor of a country mansion that is balanced aloft on 

 piles, we are made very welcome by the manager and 

 his family. But we are not allowed to go over to the 

 mill just yet. Surely we must be tired after that long 

 drive in the sun — and thirsty and hungry, too. Yes, 

 here we find ourselves once more happy strangers in 

 the 'midst of friends. Thoroughly refreshed, we are 

 sent across to the factory buildings in charge of an 

 overseer. Our guide is most stimulatingly enthusi- 

 astic ; he is heart and soul in his work, and not only 

 has he a mind for the commercial side of sugar-makmg, 

 but an artistic eye that spots the picturesque features 

 in the life of his business. Almost at once we feel sure 

 that he will not insist on giving us a dry-as-dust lesson, 

 but that he will put us in possession of facts in a way 

 that tends to show the romance of a great industry. 



