154 COFFEE : ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



are almost worse than the fallen stems. Elsewhere 

 I have mentioned amongst my earliest road-making 

 experiences how now and again it was the stump of 

 one of these forest giants, that had been cut off five 

 feet above the ground, which we had to draw, like a 

 mighty tooth. One or two of these stumps took 

 us perhaps four or five days' toil. The first day's 

 would go in scratching away soil and undermining 

 roots, and when those were laid bare we had the 

 task of cutting through them, many being under- 

 ground branches as thick as the stem of a small 

 tree. When at last they were severed, all available 

 hands mustered, and, with crowbars and long levers, 

 the stump was slowly hoisted out amongst frantic 

 cries of maistries and shouts of perspiring coolies, to 

 be rolled down the hillside, there to stay for twenty 

 or thirty years, until sun and rain have resolved it 

 into dust. The greater proportion of the trees were 

 cut through in two places, and the intermediate 

 portion was rolled away easily enough ; but some- 

 times, in spite of my utmost engineering skill, the 

 upper portion of the trunk would come rolling down 

 the hill-slope, sending everyone flying for life, and 

 blocking up the track again. 



Gradients should be as slight as possible, and 

 all roads well planned and thought of beforehand. 

 They should centre at the superintendent's bungalow 

 or at the stores. It is better to have them on ridges 

 than in valleys, but halfway between crest and 

 bottom is the proper line for them to take. 



