182 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



invaded by swarms of tlie Grolunda, a species of rat whicli 

 inhabits the forests, making its nest among the roots of the 

 trees, and, like the lemmings of Lapland, migrating in vast 

 numbers when the seeds of the nillo-shrub {Strobilanthes), its 

 ordinary food, are exhausted. ' In order to reach the buds and 

 blossoms of the coffee, the Grolunda eats such slender branches 

 as would not sustain its weight, and feeds as they fall to the 

 ground ; and so delicate and sharp are its incisors, that the twigs 

 thus destroyed are detached by as clean a cut as if severed with 

 a knife.' * 



Another great enemy of the Ceylon planters is the Lecanium 



THE COFFEE KAT. 



Ck)ffecc, a species of coccus, whicli establishes itself on young 

 shoots and buds, covering them with a noisome incrustation of 

 scales, from the influence of which the fruit shrivels and drops 

 off. A great part of the crop is sometimes lost, and on many 

 trees not a single berry forms from the invasion of this insect 

 plague. 



Theobroma, — food for gods, — the Grreek name given by 

 Linnaeus to the cacao or chocolate tree, sufficiently proves how 

 highly he valued the flavour of its seeds. 



Indigenous in Mexico, it had long been in extensive cultiva- 

 tion before the arrival of the Spaniards, who found the beverage 



* Tennant"s ' Ceylon,' vol. ii. p. 234. 



