14 THE ADVENTURES OF 



a plantation, I might almost say a forest, of sugar-canes. The 

 stems of the plants were either of a yellowish hue or veined 

 with blue, and were more than six feet high. The latter kind 

 will ultimately supersede its rival ; for the cultivators assert 

 that, although not so large, it affords a much more certain crop. 

 L'Encuerado, seizing his machete (a straight and short cutlass, 

 indispensable to the inhabitants of the Terre-Chaude), cut down 

 a magnificent stem, and peeling it, offered each of us a piece. 

 The sugar-cane is extremely hard, and it is necessary to cut it up 

 in order to break the cellules in which the sweet juice is con- 

 tained. My companions set to work to chew the pith of the 

 valuable plant ; and even Gringalet seemed to be just as fond of 

 it as they were. 



Not far from the cane-field, some Indians were working on a 

 new plantation. The ground was covered with ashes. The 

 foreman explained to us, that when the canes are cut down, the 

 first thing is to pull off the long leaves, which are left on the 

 ground. In eight days this rubbish is dried by the tropical sun ; 

 they then set them on fire, and the ashes which result serve as 

 manure. Five or six Aztecs were cultivating this apparently 

 sterile ground by means of a primitive kind of plough, made of 

 a mere stake attached to circular discs of wood forming spokeless 

 wheels ; it was drawn by two oxen yoked together. 



Sumichrast took Lucien by the hand. 



"In future," said he, "when you crunch a lump of sugar, 

 you shall know something of the manufacture of what you are 

 eating. The sugar-cane is called in Latin Saccharum officinale, 

 that is, 'druggist's sugar,' because the product of this plant 

 was so rare, that it was sold only at the druggists' shops. The 

 plant itself is said to be a native of India, and is, as you see, 

 a tuft of vegetation, from which spring six to twenty tall 

 stalks, with joints varying, both in number and in distance, 

 from each other. The most esteemed variety, the Tahiti cane, 

 is striped with violet. The specimen you are looking at is one 

 of the most remarkable as regards size, for it must be nearly 

 thirteen feet high." 



■' It is like a stalk of maize," said the boy. 



