268 TRINIDAD. 



by its growth and exportation. This cultivation was, however, 

 afterwards abandoned for the more lucrative production of sugar. 

 Though cotton is here classed amongst exported articles, the 

 whole of such exportation is derived from the neighbouring 

 province of Cumana. The soil and the climate of Trinidad seem 

 to be well adapted to the production of cotton of the best quality ; 

 but the general expenditure of manual labour, and competition 

 with countries better situated, in that respect, will, for a long 

 time, if not for ever, prevent the restoration of that cultivation 

 here. The cotton plant has its enemies in locusts and cater- 

 pillars ; the cold northerly winds also cause the pod to freeze 

 that is to say, occasions a blight, which prevents its regular 

 development to maturity. 



Coco-nuts (Oocos nucifera). The coco-palm thrives admir- 

 ably in Trinidad, and is cultivated to great advantage in several 

 districts, either for sale in the nut, or for the manufacture of oil. 

 In a green state, the nuts are sold at five cents for three nuts ; 

 dry, one dollar per hundred, on the spot : the oil ranges from 

 one dollar to one dollar twenty cents the gallon. The coco-palm 

 grows best along the sea-shore, in the very sand of the beach, salt 

 not only being necessary for its healthy growth, but to its very 

 existence. The whole of the eastern coast, with Guayaguayare 

 and Icacos, might be made to produce an immense quantity of 

 coco-nuts. The whole beach, from Point Manzanilla to the 

 mouth of the Guataro, is lined with coco-nut palms which grew 

 there accidentally, the nuts having been originally washed on 

 shore from the wreck of some vessel. The finest specimens, are, 

 perhaps, along the Mayaro beach, some of them being seen to 

 flower at the early age of three years, which is very unusual 

 indeed this palm commencing to bear fruit, generally, at five or 

 six years. Its period of full bearing is at eight years and upwards, 

 when it brings forth a bunch of flowers every month, each bunch 

 having nine nuts, on an average, and some as many as twenty : 

 each tree is calculated to yield, at least, one dollar yearly net, 

 from the sale of the nuts. Coco-palms are planted at twenty- 

 four feet apart, and require very little or no care. When arrived 

 at maturity, a cocal or coco-nut walk forms an excellent pasture- 

 ground for sheep, cattle, or any other grazing animal ; poultry, 

 pigs, &c., also fatten wonderfully on the coco-nut pulp, or the 

 refuse of the nuts after the oil has been expressed. The almond 



