134 Timehri. 



morocot and Venezuelan cheese. The latter article is quite palatable 

 and compares well with the cheaper varieties imported from further 

 afield. 



For years past there has been regular steamship communication be- 

 tween Port-of-Spain and Ciudad Bolivar, up the Orinoco. The possibili- 

 ties of a similar service between the latter port and Georgetown via the 

 Mora Passage and lower Barima River should be considered. 



The agricultural possibilities of the North West are enormous. On 

 the Waini River alone are 150 miles of alluvial land waiting to be culti- 

 vated. The few attempts at rice-planting in the Barima and Aruka 

 Rivers have demonstrated the suitability of these districts for the growth 

 of the cereal. Coffee-growing, already carried on extensively and success- 

 fully, may be greatly increased. The castor-oil plant thrives well and a 

 few of the poorer classes assist themselves by the crude extraction of the 

 oil. In view of the increasing demand for it as a lubricant for aeronauti- 

 cal purposes, a small castor-oil factory on the Aruka should prove a profit- 

 able proposition. 



The great swamps aback of the empoldered areas abound in palms 

 of which billions of nuts fall yearly to the ground and rot. Nearly all of 

 them can produce oils suitable for soap-making purposes and their hard 

 shells furnish material for the manufacture of buttons. 



Tobacco grows prolifically in the Morawhanna district where leaves 

 twelve inches wide and three feet in length have been produced. 



Throughout the tidal portions of the great rivers the wild mangrove 

 lines the banks and yet very little has hitherto been done in the collec- 

 tion of the bark, a valuable tanning agent. The anatto trees also flourish 

 in the district where the primitively prepared dye may be purchased for 

 three shillings a pound. 



In spite of the illicit felling of bullet trees that has been going on 

 for years, the forests of the North West still possess some valuable 

 untouched reefs of balata, and commercial gums and resins are obtainable 

 in fair quantities. 



Whilst the forests contain but little wallaba and practically no green- 

 heart, this deficit is made up by the crabwood and red cedar that 

 abounds on the upper courses of the rivers. 



The gold industry is decidedly on the wane, but this appears to be 

 due rather to lack of capital than of the precious metal. Many small 

 shafts, sunk by " pork-knockcrs " with little or no means, promise well, 

 but eventually have to be abandoned for lack of pumping facilities. It 

 is proven that the bed of the Barima is very rich and would well repay the 

 cost of dredging : if the Barima why not the Barama also ? Many years 



