TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



815 



energy and enterprise are tending to bring Tobago 

 very much to the front. 



For the information of residents outside the 

 colony I will endeavour to give a description of 

 Cocoa, Cacao, or Chocolate bean, as it is variously 

 called ; they must not confuse it with the cocoa-nut, 

 which is very different, the latter being of the palm 

 family. 



The cocoa tree, both in size and shape, somewhat 

 resembles a cherry tree. The flower is a saffron 

 colour, extremely beautiful and delicate, and the 

 pods, which in a green state are like a cucumber, 

 grow from all parts of the body and large branches ; 

 you will see them growing down to the very roots. 

 As they ripen they change their colour and turn to a 

 fine bluish red, almost purple, with picked coloured 

 veins. This is the common sort ; but there is a lar- 

 ger species which produce pods of a delicate lemon 

 colour. Each pod may contain from twenty to 

 thirty nuts or kernels, not unlike almonds which are 

 again enclosed in a white pulpy substance, soft and 

 sweet, and immediately enveloped in a parchment 

 shell. I will not attempt to describe either the culti- 

 vation or curing, except to say that a tree when 

 planted does not become full bearing much before 

 five years and often longer. The curing process 

 takes from ten to fourteen days, according to the 

 amount of sunshine available. Chocolate as a bever- 

 age is much esteemed by West Indians in general and 

 is fast becoming popular all over the world in this 

 respect, and as chocolate creams, the very children 



