182 Letter XII. 
I am indebted to Mr Hebblewhite, of Havannah Harbour, for 
much of my information upon this point ; and I beg here to 
acknowledge that gentleman’s kindness in this respect. 
One acre of land should yield one ton of rough cotton, 
which, when ginned, will give 500 lbs. net. 
If 2/. per tb be obtained for it—and this is not a high price for 
Sea Island—-£50 per acre will equal the gross proceeds. 
The expenses consist of wages, supply of food, machinery, 
freight, &c. Natives are paid at the rate of £2 to £3 per 
annum, besides the sum per head paid to the vessel engaged 
in fetching them. Their food consists of native vegetables, 
pork, rice, &c., and costs about £2 per man a year. One 
man, or one and a-half, is allowed to each acre. 
The machinery may be a very expensive item or may not,— 
that of course depends entirely upon the style of business that 
is adopted ; some planters have none at all, sending their cotton 
to be ginned elsewhere, or selling it in the rough ; whereas 
others, such as Mr. Hebblewhite on Efaté, have several gins, 
and a steam engine to drive them. A small hand gin that 
would turn out 100 ibs. per day costs about £15 to £20. 
The freight to the colonies is 1d. per bb. 
A second industry and export is cobra. Some time ago the 
traders down here used to manufacture cocoanut oil from the 
kernel of the cocoanut, and export it; but they have since 
found it pay better to send the kernels home as cobra, and let 
the British manufacturers express the oil with their more per- 
fect machinery. 
The process of making cobra is very simple. The nut 
is first broken into halves, and laid in the sun until the kernel 
is so loose that it can easily be cut out. This is next done, 
and the dried kernel having been cut into several pieces, is 
bagged and exported. The price paid the natives for the -nuts 
