Cacao or Cocoa 



115 



of the Amazon and Orinoco basins and of their tributaries up, to four hundred feet of altitude. 

 It is also said to grow wild in Trinidad, which lies near the mouth>o£ the Orinoco. I find no 

 proof that it is indigenous in Guiana, although it seems probable. : Many early writers indicate 

 that it was. wild and cultivated at the time of the discover^ of America from Panama to Guate- 

 mala and Campeachy, but from the numerous quotations collected by Sloane it is to.be feared 

 that its wild character was not sufficiently verified. It was perhaps introduced into Central 

 America and into the warm 

 regions of Mexico by the 

 Indians before the discovery 

 of America. Cultivation may 

 have naturalised it here and 

 there, as is said to be the 

 case in Jamaica. In sup- 

 port of this hypothesis, it 

 must be observed that Triana 

 indicates the cacao as only 

 cultivated in the warm 

 regions of New Granada, a 

 country situated between 

 Panama and the Orinoco 

 valley. However this may 

 be, the species was grown in 

 Central America and Yuca- 

 tan at the time of the dis- 

 covery of America. The 

 seeds were sent into the high- 

 lands of Mexico, and were 

 even used as money, so 

 highly were they valued. The 

 custom of drinking chocolate 

 was universal. The name of 

 this excellent drink is Mexi- 

 can. The Spaniards carried 

 the cacao from Acapulco to 

 the Philippine Isles in 1674 

 and 1680, where it succeeded 

 wonderfully. It is also culti- 

 vated in the Sunda Isles. I 

 imagine it would succeed on 



the Guinea and Zanzibar coasts, but it is of no use to attempt to grow it in countries which 

 are not very hot and very damp." 



The forecast of De Candolle, based on his knowledge of the geographical distribution of 

 plants, that the cacao plant would probably thrive on the Guinea coast, has been verified 

 to a degree probably beyond his utmost expectations, in the extraordinary development, as 

 is shown below, of the industry in San Thome and to a less degree in the Gold Coast Colony 

 and the Cameroons. 



CACAO-PRODUCING COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD 



The output of cacao for 1904, the last year for which complete statistics are available, 

 in the chief producing countries of the world was as follows according to the Gordian : — 

 America and West Indies. Ecuador . . . . . . 28,433 tons 



CEYLON. FIRST CROP OF COCOA AFTER FIVE YEARS 



