272 TRINIDAD. 



distinguishable not only by the colour of the plant and its pedicles, 

 which is violet in the one and whitish green in the other, but by 

 several other characteristics. The red castor-oil plant is more 

 vigorous, its seeds larger, and of a darker hue ; the seeds of the 

 white, though smaller, are in general more plump, and also con- 

 tain, as is asserted, more oil. The castor-oil plant is not culti- 

 vated here with a view to commerce, but many poor people have 

 two or three trees near their houses from which to prepare their 

 own oil. In this preparation they follow the old system : the 

 seeds are grilled, then crushed and formed into a paste, which is 

 afterwards boiled in water ; this mixture is allowed to cool, the oil 

 skimmed off, and again boiled. Oil obtained by this process is of 

 a dark colour, has a strong scent and taste, and, as a purgative, is 

 somewhat irritating. The best plan, certainly, is to crush the 

 seeds and express the oil from the paste by means of a screw- 

 press ; but an improvement on the former plan, although not ren- 

 dering it equal to the latter, would be to crush the seeds without 

 grilling, and then boil the paste, as already mentioned. The seeds 

 of the castor-oil might be exported to England with advantage, for 

 it is very prolific, requires but little or no attention, and the 

 gathering of the seed is a most simple task. 



Carapa oil, yielded by Carapa Gruianensis and 0. Toulou- 

 couna. The carapas are lofty forest and timber trees, bearing 

 pods as large as a husked coco- nut, and containing from 12 to 

 14 seeds of the size of the walnut. The seeds are gathered in 

 June and July, boiled for about six hours, then laid in heaps for 

 eight or ten days, during which time they undergo a sort of fer- 

 mentation ; they are then broken, and the pulp they contain 

 carefully taken out and kneaded into lumps ,of thick paste, each 

 about 15 pounds. This paste is laid on boards slightly incur- 

 vated and inclined, and placed in a sheltered place, when the 



011 oozes through the mass, and runs into a vessel placed for 

 its reception. The paste is carefully remoulded every morning 

 and evening, so as to favour the disengagement of the oil. After 



12 days, boiling water is poured on the mass, and a fresh quan- 

 tity of oil of inferior quality is thereby obtained. One barrel of 

 seeds gives about 12 bottles, or about 264 ounces of oil. Carapa oil 

 is thick, excessively bitter, and keeps a long time. It is especially 

 used in destroying insects, and particularly tics, which are at times 

 very troublesome to animals, hundreds of them sticking to the 



