200 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES ^ 



the ground ; its upper portion was hollowed. The 

 hollow was filled with pieces of the sugarcane cut 

 in short lengths, and from the midst of them, standing 

 nearly upright, there projected a long, thick pole. The 

 pole was made to turn round and round by means 

 of a horizontal shaft, to which were yoked a pair 

 of bullocks. As the pole turned it crushed the cane, 

 and the cane juice flowed out through a hole lower 

 down in the block. A rough wooden trough received 

 the juice, and conveyed it to a shed at a little distance ; 

 there it fell into a cauldron, and was boiled by a fire 

 below. 



The bullocks moved placidly round, the man that 

 drove them sitting half asleep on their shoulders. The 

 shaft and pole creaked and groaned as they turned. 

 The cane juice as it boiled hissed and bubbled, and 

 at the same time diffused through the air a pleasant 

 aroma ; while from the fire, fed with thorny brush- 

 wood, there issued at short intervals loud crackling 

 sounds. 



The pressing and boiling employed the services of 

 several men. Some chopped the canes ; some fed the 

 mill ; others attended to the fire and the boiling. But 

 these formed only a small portion of the people assem- 

 bled. Half the men of the village seemed to be 

 present, looking on. Most of them were comfortably 

 seated on the ground, but several were standing; and 

 these appeared to have just returned from their labours 

 in the fields, for they had with them spades and hoes 

 and their light Indian ploughs. Besides the men, there 

 were women at the well, chattering and drawing water, 



