CACAO OR COCOA. 



23 



are cut open -vrith a tresado, and the seeds, squeezed carelessly from the puip, 

 are spread upon mats to dry in the sun. Before heing half dried they are loaded 

 into canoes in bulk, and transmitted to Para. Some of these ressels will carry 

 four thousand arrohas, of thirty-two poroids weight each, and, as if such a bulk 

 of damp produce would not sufficiently spoil itself by its own steaming during 

 a twenty days' voyage, the captains are in the habit of throvring upon it great 

 quantities of water, to prevent its loss of weight. As might be expected, when 

 they aiTive at Para it is little more than a heap of mould, and it is then little 

 wonder that Para cacao is considered the most inferior in foreign markets. 

 Cacao is very little drunk throughout the pro'^i.nce, and in the city we never 

 saw it except at the cafes. It is a delicious drink when properly prepared, and 

 one soon loses relish for that nasty compound known in the States as chocolate, 

 whose main ingredients are damaged rice and soap fat. The cacao trees yield 

 two crops annually, and, excepting in harvest time, the proprietors have nothing 

 to do but lounge in their hammocks. Most of these people are in debt to traders 

 in Santarem, who trust them to an unlimited extent, taking a lien upon their 

 crops. Sometimes the plantations are of vast extent, and one can walk foi- 

 miles along the river, from one to another, as freely as through an orchard. Xo 

 doubt a scientific cultivator might make the raising of cacao very profitable, 

 and elevace its cpiality to that of Guyaquil." 



Cacoa shipped from Erazil to the United Kingdom, for nine 

 years, ending 1835 :- 



lbs. 



1832 .... 2.198,709 



lbs. 



1827 .... 3,992,449 



1828 .... 1,174,168 



1829 .... 2,442:456 



1830 .... 1,308,694 



1831 .... 1,716,614 



1833 .... 2,402.803 



1834 .... 1,591,600 



1835 .... 1,673,769 



Cultivation in the West India IslancU. — The only English colo- 

 nies where this nutritions and wholesome substance is now culti- 

 vated to any extent, are Trinidad, St. Lncia, Grenada, and St. 

 Vincent. 



In Jamaica and British Gniana it has given place to the pro- 

 duction of sugar, and thongh it forms such an important article 

 in the imports and consumption of the United Kingdom, the 

 quantity introduced from British plantations is barely equal to the 

 demand. The imports from Jamaica in 1831 were 6,634: lbs , 

 and in 1888, 16,561 lbs. ; while the imports since have been merely 

 nominal. Of 5,014,681 lbs. imported m 1811, 2,920,298 lbs. were 

 furnished by the British "West Indian colonies, 1,802,517 lbs. came 

 from the Colombian republics, and 269,791 lbs. Avere brought from 

 Brazil. Trinidad fiu^nishes by far the largest proportion of the 

 West Indian supplies, the imports from thence in 1811 having 

 been 2,500,000 lbs., while the imports from all the other islands 

 were but 427,000 lbs. In 1850, 4,750,000 lbs. were shipped from 

 Trinidad, whilst in 1851 the quantity was nearly as much. 



Tei^'Idad. — Although this tree is indigenous to many, if not 

 most of the tropical parts of America, it was first extensively 

 cultivated in ^Mexico ; and it is remarkable that the words cac a"o 

 and chocolate are both of Mexican origin. Prom Mexico tie 

 variety called Creole cacao it is supposed v^-as transplanted to the 

 West India colonies ; that variety called Eorastero (stranger) 

 came from the Brazils. The latter tree is llie most productive, 

 but the former gives the best fruit, insomuch that lew p^ersons 



