CA.CAO OR COCOA. 23 



are cut open with a tresado, arid the seeds, squeezed carelessly from the pulp, 

 are spread -*tpon mats to dry in the sun. Before being half dried they are loaded 

 into canoes in bulk, and transmitted to Para. Some of these vessels will carry 

 four thousand arrobas, of thirty-two pounds weight each, and, as if such a bulk 

 of damp produce would not sufficiently spoil itself by its own steaming during 

 a twenty days' voyage, the captains are in the habit of throwing upon it great 

 quantities of' water, to prevent its loss of weight. As might be expected, when 

 they arrive at Para it is little more than a heap of mould, and it is then little 

 wonder that Para cacao is considered the most inferior in foreign markets. 

 Cacao is very little drunk throughout the province, and in the city we never 

 saw it except at the cafes. It is a delicious drink when properly prepared, and 

 one soon loses relish for that nasty compound known in the States as chocolate, 

 whose main ingredie^s are damaged rice and soap fat. The cacao trees yield 

 two crops annually, and, excepting in harvest time, the proprietors have nothing 

 to do but lounge in their hammocks. Most of these people are in debt to traders 

 in Santarem, who trust them to an unlimited extent, taking a lien upon their 

 crops. Sometimes the plantations are of vast extent, and one can walk for 

 miles along the river, from one to another, as freely as through an orchard. No 

 doubt a scientific cultivator might make the raising of cacao very profitable, 

 and elevate its quality to that of Guyaquil." 



Cacoa shipped from Brazil to the United Kingdom, for nine 

 years, ending 1835 : 



Ibs. 



1827 .... 3,992,449 



1828 .... 1,174,168 



1829 .... 2,442;456 



1830 .... 1,308,694 



Ibs. 



1832 .... 2,198,709 



1833 .... 2,402,803 



1834 .... 1,591,600 



1835 .... 1,678,769 



1831 .... 1,716,614 



Cultivation in the West India Islands. The only English colo- 

 nies where this nutritious and wholesome substance is now culti- 

 vated to any extent, are Trinidad, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. 

 Vincent. 



In Jamaica and British Guiana it has given place to the pro- 

 duction of sugar, and though it forms such an important article 

 in the imports and consumption of the United Kingdom, the 

 quantity introduced from British plantations is barely equal to the 

 demand. The imports from Jamaica in 1831 were 6,684 Ibs , 

 and in 1838, 16,564 Ibs. ; while the imports since have been merely 

 nominal. Of 5,014,681 Ibs. imported in 1841, 2,920,298 Ibs. were 

 furnished by the British West Indian colonies, 1,802,547 Ibs. came 

 from the Colombian republics, and 269,794 Ibs. were brought from 

 Brazil. Trinidad furnishes by far the largest proportion of the 

 West Indian supplies, the imports from thence in 1841 having 

 been 2, 500,000 Ibs., while the imports from all the other islands 

 were but 427,000 Ibs. In 1850, 4,750,000 Ibs. were shipped from 

 Trinidad, whilst in 1851 the quantity was nearly as much. 



TBUSTIDAD. Although this tree is indigenous to many, if not 

 most of the tropical parts of America, it was first extensively 

 cultivated in Mexico ; and it is remarkable that the words cacao 

 and chocolate are both of Mexican origin. From Mexico the 

 variety called Creole cacao it is supposed was transplanted to the 

 West India colonies ; that variety called Forastero (stranger) 

 <-ame from the Brazils, The latter tree is the most productive, 

 but the former gives the best fruit, insomuch that few persons 



