246 COFFEE : ITS CULTIVATION AND PROFIT. 



having given his consent, and having received no part of the 

 purchase-money. The total absence of hurricanes, or indeed 

 of any winds strong enough to cause damage, make these 

 islands more suitable for the growth of sugar-cane than many 

 other parts of the world, where the whole crop is liable to be 

 destroyed in one blow. In starting a plantation in Samoa, 

 after acquiring the land, the greatest difficulty would be in 

 procuring labour. The supply of Polynesian labourers is 

 visibly falling off, through the disinclination of natives to go 

 to Samoa to work, and the greater advantages and comfort 

 offered them in other parts, such as Queensland and Fiji." 



A Ceylon planter who has made a personal visit 

 to the island takes a rather more cheerful view. 

 Doubtless here as elsewhere some men will succeed 

 while others will fail from the very first. He 

 writes : 



" Of Coffee there were a few trees planted at an elevation 

 of about 500 to 600 feet above sea-level and looked remarkably 

 well. There was no leaf disease or other pest that I noticed. 

 A Coffee planter has opened a nursery of some 600,000 

 seedlings, which were to be planted out and, I believe, will 

 do very well indeed. The soil is a chocolate loam of great 

 depth. Labour, however, is the great drawback. They have 

 to get all their coolies from the Hebrides and Solomon 

 Islands, which are a long way off, and are also the recruiting 

 ground for the Fiji and Queensland planters, so that Samoa 

 is pretty well handicapped in this respect. 



" The land is all mountainous, but does not rise abruptly 

 from the sea. Towards the beach it is planted with cocoanut 

 groves, throughout which are innumerable villages. Coral 

 reefs circle all the islands, inside which the water is smooth 

 and rarely ruffled by anything but a gentle breeze. To say 

 they are inviting, enchanting and altogether charming does 

 no more than express the feelings of all visitors. I was 

 pleased and delighted beyond telling with my stay. 



" Darwin's sentence applies with truth here : ' Every 



