I 



A VISIT TO AN OLD-WORLD SUGAR-MILL 63 



all the time they are continuously on the go. And 

 listen to the tunes that are being hummed, whistled 

 and sung by the magic musicians who haunt the sails. 

 Now you have seen signs and heard rumours that belie 

 your first impressions — this little centre of life is not 

 resting, dreaming, sleeping ; on the contrary, it is very 

 wideawake and active. 



To-day is one of the busiest days of the grinding 

 season. Yonder windmill has to crush all the canes 

 grown on the surrounding estate ; it can only work at 

 the will of the wind, and to-day there is a strong breeze 

 blowing. That little shed, which boasts the name of 

 boiling-house, is the factory where all the juice ex- 

 tracted by the mill is made into sugar. The furnaces 

 are fed with megass, but they will only consume dry 

 megass ; crushed cane, as it leaves the mill, is " green 

 megass," which contains moisture, and this can only 

 be used directly as fuel in big furnaces, where there is 

 a strong draught. Here, the megass always has to be 

 spread out in the sun to dry ; rainy weather cuts short 

 the supply of dry fuel and brings the work of the 

 boiling-house to a standstill. And sugar- juice, as 3''ou 

 know, deteriorates if it cannot be extracted and 

 solidified soon after the canes are cut. To-day, the 

 Sim is shining and the wind blowing ; the mill can 

 work and the fires can be kept going. It is ideal 

 weather for getting the utmost possible amount of 

 work out of a windmill factory, and all hands must 

 co-operate in taldng the utmost possible advantage of 

 it. They are certainly doing their share with whole- 

 hearted enthusiasm, but hurry and scurry in this old- 

 world centre of activity are wrapped in a mantle of 

 poetic calm. 



