313 



for a period of twenty years, after whiclu tlie 

 trees from age become exhausted, and produce 

 nothing but sapless leaves which ar^ consequent- 

 ly unfit for the manufafture ofgambier It is 

 estimated that one plantation of '22,500 square 

 roods, will contain 129,600 plants, which will 

 yield the first year frum five and twenty to thir- 

 ty picufs, and, for the eight successive years, up- 

 wards of a hundred picals, after which the pro- 

 duce giadually decreases, until it wholly ceases. 



In every gambier plantation there is a larg^e 

 building erected in which the gambier is dressed 

 and the laborerji residei this is .constructed either 

 kadjans, or plauks, the roof being made of a/- 

 taps. I will now describe the method of manu- 

 facluring the gambier. 



The cuttings from the plants are made in the 

 morning and evening, and are carried to the afore- 

 faid shed, where, beino^ laid upon a table* the 

 leaves are stripped oft', and thrown into an irrm 

 pan which is sunk into the ground, and filled 

 with water, the sides of the hole being lined with 

 ma.<onry, and the intervening space pil«d with 

 bark, vrhich is used for fuel. An intense heat 

 is maintained for three or four hours, and, whilst 

 the leaves are boiling-, they are repeatedly stirred 

 with a fork which may be either a double or tre- 

 ble p' ooged one. The leaves are then taken out 

 of the kettle by means of a sieve, and placed in 

 a wooden trough, hewn out of a tree* and three 

 and a half feet wide and ten long, having a gen- 

 tle slope towards a pan, destined to receive the 

 sap as it drops from them. 



a 1 



