15% 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [May t, 1890. 
may yield and the pit is then abandoned. No 
attempts are made to follow the ruby sand below by 
tunnels or adits even when the earth above is firm 
and the ruby sand itself is free from water. The 
small quantity of ruby sand so obtained appears to 
be in most instances quite rich enough amply to 
repay the six or seven days labour necessary to 
obtain it, and the fact that so little outlay is 
required for each operation, recommends it no doubt 
to the majority of miners." From this it will be 
seen that so far, all the ruby collecting in Burma 
has been conduoted precisely on the same lines as 
in Ceylon and is still so conducted on the concession 
at Mogok. One more statement coming direct from 
the mines and we shall close our remarks on this 
point. "Do you know how the rubies are got ? Why, 
the licensee has a bit of a hole cut near a stream, 
five or six feet wide, and then you see a woman 
standing in the water, scraping up gravel in a basket 
and picking out the stones, whilst half a dozen 
constables sit round the hole smoking and talking, 
supposed to be watching that the woman does not 
steal any of the stones, that 's how its done." 
— ♦ 
BEITISH HONDURAS 
is the subject of a contribution to the Field of 21st 
Deo. 1889 by J. B., who paints in glowing colours 
the advantages of this hitherto neglected colony to 
young men seeking " fresh woods and pasture s 
new." In fact, barring the existence of some 
unhealthy localities on the coast, the place seems 
to be a veritable paradise. The writer terms it 
A country of hills and valleys, of running brooks 
and rapid rivers, a land of primtsval forest, almost un- 
inhabited, of which less is known comparatively than 
of Central Africa, a land compared with which the 
boomed and vaunted Florida is but a wilderness. Here 
is a country in which land is still cheap, the best 
being only $2 per acre. True, some of the low-lying 
parts of the coast may not be healthy ; but there are 
many places, even on the coast, which are remarkably 
so. On fine open beaches, well exposed to the constant 
south-east trade winds, are famous sites for coconut 
plantations, whilst a little farther back almost all the 
tropical fruits may he grown in perfection, especially 
all of the Citrus family, oranges and limes, within 
a few yards of the sea, the latter laden with fruit at 
three years. Of all the colonies which I have visited, I 
know of none in which a new comer is so well received, 
where the officials, from the highest to the lowest, show 
so much attention, and where the governor himself takes 
a direct interest in the welfare of every new settler. 
Again he says : — 
A more beautifully watered country I have never seen 
in the tropics or out of them. There are no less than 
fifteen rivers between Old River and Sarstoon, besides 
numerous small streams; on these, but for the occasional 
view of a palm, one might fancy oneself on one of our 
Welsh or Devonshire rivers, such asthe Dart, winding 
between wooded hills over a fine gravel bed, with 
boulders of quartz and granite forming rapids and 
cataracts, the land on either side the alluvial deposit 
of ages, of great richness, and suitable for the culti- 
vation of almost all the tropical produots of commercial 
value, and much of it well adapted for cattle and horses. 
Many valuable timbers are to be found, and large 
quantities of rubber and cacao, and doubtless many 
medicinal plants, and gum and balsam yielding trees, 
as in Brazil, hitherto unknown because unlooked for. 
Of the mineral wealth of the country also there can 
ho little doubt, the formation of the main mountain 
rungo being identical with tint of Guatemala and 
Spanish Honduras, where, the precious metals are found 
in abundance. In many placeslarge quaitz reefs may 
bo seen, well exposod, easy of access, and close to good 
wator-powor. 
That planters have every prospect of success may 
be judged from the following: — 
Formerly sugar was successfully cultivated on 
several estates ; but since the depression in that trade, 
these have been allowed to fall out of cultivation, 
and up to now there has been nothing done in what 
usually comes under the term of planting— for the 
way in which bananas are grown cannot honestly be 
called cultivation. Apart from these are the old origi- 
nal industries of mahogany an ! logwood cutting, both 
most precarious, depending entirely on the seasons, 
there being no means of transport but by the rivers 
when in flood. 
The groat want of the colony, the writer says, i3 
roads to open up the land. The ubiquitous Ceylon 
planter has already established himself in British 
Honduras, for we are told : — 
Twenty-eight miles from Belize is the mouth of 
Mullins River, with its old and considerable Creole 
settlement. The river is noted for the good land on 
its banks, and it is here that the cultivation of ban- 
anas as an article of trade was first introduced. In 
addition to the small Creole plantations, there are 
several large estates owned by Englishmen, notably 
those of Mr. Walter Bennett, 0. C. Price, and J. Q. 
Swayne. Mr. Bennett, who is a planter of several 
yeara' experience in Ceylon, says that the hill country 
to the westward is far richer, and as well suited for 
the cultivation of e ffee and tea as that of OeyloD. 
The natives grow small quantities of very good coffee 
even on the river banks, and at a comparatively low 
elevation, but they are quite ignorant of its cultiva- 
tion. Guatemala exports a large quantity of coffee, 
which commands a good price, and it is impossible 
to say where our colony ends and Guatemala begins, 
the vegetation and geological formation being similar. 
Theobrsma cacao of excellent quality is found wild, 
and, if cultivated, would yield a handsome return, 
the demand over Central America alone being in ex- 
cess of the supply. Tiue, it takes some years to arrive 
at maturity ; but still, anyone engaging m the fruit 
trade, which is enough to keep the pot boiling, should 
be always planting a tree, say, of coffee, cacao, or 
rubber, and in ten years' time he would find himself 
ju a good position. 
Good shooting is also to be had. The writer gives 
his own experience with regard to the healthiness 
of the colony, and concludes as follows : — 
1 only trust that I may be the means of inducing 
others who may be in search of a new place in which 
to settle, or pass a winter, to look up a country 
where they may remain under their own flag; and 
after an experience extending almost all over the world, 
I can assure them that there are many worse places' 
than British Honduras. 
No one who is not either a labourer or a mechanio 
must suppose that he can do there, or anywhere else, 
without a certain amount of capital; but i believe 
there is no place in which a man may start with so 
little, and yet derive a certain income at the end of 
at most eighteen months. 
English and American moneys are at a high pre- 
mium—say, at the lowest 30 per cent.; and it is 
probable that the Government may see their way to 
offer greater inducements to settlers by still farther 
lowering the price of land, or by introducing a Home- 
stead and Pre-emption Act, and by assisting in the 
importation of labour, which is much required. 
Although I am acquainted with its details, the 
subject of banana-growing has been so well treated in 
Mr. D. Morris's " The Colony of British Honduras : 
its Eesources and Prospects," and in an excellent 
article by Mr. Walter Bennett in "The Handbook 
to British Honduras," which I have already Mentioned, 
that it would savour of plagiarifm were I to en- 
deavour to give further advice or estimates.. But this 
much I may say, that a steady man with not less 
than £500 ought to be able to make a very good 
start iu British Honduras. 
