CACAO OB COCOA. 



83 



Montague James — the first white person born in Jamaica after 

 the occupation of the island by the English — lived to the great 

 age of 104i ; and for the last thirty years of his life took sc£ircely 

 any other food but chocolate. It is also certain that those who 

 indulge in excesses find their vigor more speedily restored by the 

 alternate use of chocolate and coftee than by any other ingesta ; 

 and pigs, goats, and horses, which are fed even on the spoiled 

 berries, are observed to become very speedily fat, and in good 

 condition. 



But cacao has not only the property of rapidly restoring the 

 invalid to health, strength, and condition, but a very inconsider- 

 able quantity of it will sustain life for a long period. The South 

 American Indians perform extraordinary journeys, subsisting, 

 during these prolonged travels, on an incredibly small quantity ot' 

 chocolate — so small, indeed, as to render the accounts cf travellers 

 upon the subject almost marvellous. In this respect it resembles 

 cofi"ee, Avhich also possesses the estimable property of sustaining 

 the powers of life, while it modifies and restrains the passion of 

 himger. 



It is a curious fact, and how far this condition may be connected 

 with its powers of sustenance is worthy of inquiry, that chocolate 

 recently boiled, if the operation be performed in a tin pan, is highly 

 electrical ; and this property may be frequently manht'ested by re- 

 peating the process. 



Cacao, according to Bridges, " was the favourite staple of the 

 Spanish commerce, trifiing as that commerce was ; and when the 

 Enghsh took possession of the island of Jamaica, it was that Avhieh 

 first engaged their attention. Tlie extensive plantations left by 

 their predecessors, who had made it their principal food and only 

 support, soon, hov\-ever, began to fail. They were renewed ; but 

 whether it might be from the v\-ant of attention, or of information 

 in the new colonists, the plants never succeeded under their man- 

 agement ; so that, disgusted with the troublesome and unprofitable 

 cultivation, they soon substituted indigo." Tet forests of cacao 

 trees grow wild in G-uiana, the Isthmus of Darien, Yucatan, Hon- 

 duras, Guatemala, Chiapa, and Xicaragua ; while in Cuba, St. Do- 

 mingo, and Jamaica, it was once an indigenous plant. 



The folioAving Avere the expenses of a cacao plantation in J amaica 

 during the early period of British possession : — 



£stg. 



Letters latent of five hundred acres of land . .10 

 Six negroes . . . . . ,120 



he breathed the breath of life. To inquire how he lost this property is not our 

 business at present, but it is only by supposing the quondam existence of such 

 a property, active and manifest, that can in any ^vay explain a first knowledge 

 of the therapeutic, or threptic, qualities of plants and shrubs. With regard 

 to the identity of theine, caffeine, theobromine, &c., it would be as well that 

 the reader .should keep in mind that it is so chemically only^ for in appearance, 

 taste, weight, odor, &c., no substances can differ m.ore. Does the palate exert 

 some peculiar action on the ingesta, so as to give to each a distinct saioor } Or 

 Vice versa ? 



D 



