TEIXIDAD. 
72 
and lie has pretty much all he needs to carry on his 
plantation. 
On a fine day when the sun is shining, it is agreeable 
to walk through a cacao estate, sheltered hy the shade of 
the trees ; but when you have walked through it you have- 
not seen very much, and altogether a cacao estate is ^'ery 
(piiet and tame after a sugar estate. The one is calm 
and reflective, as it were, while the other is stirring and 
energetic in its character. Both, however, have their 
jflace, and their products alike minister to- the comforts 
of man. 
Coffee . — The cottee-tree is a small shrub from ten to 
fifteen feet high. It is covered with a dark, smooth, 
shining foliage, bearing a white blossom, which falls 
oft' and leaves a green berry, which when ripe turns 
to bright red or scarlet. Each berry contains two 
grains. Like cacao, the coffee-plant thrives best in 
Trinidad under the shade of the cacao tree, or 
immortd ; though, I understand, that in Ceylon, where 
some of the finest coffee is grown, no shade is needed. 
The amount of coffee exported from Trinidad is cpiite 
inconsiderable, most that is grown being consumed in 
the island. It is sold from 7l cents. (3|d.) to 121 cents. 
(G:^d.) per lb. The cultivation of coffee may be carried 
on without much expense, but a large number of hands 
become necessary for the gathering in of the Ijerries and 
their preparation. The berries are first slightly bruised, 
so as to separate the seed from the soft outer husk. They 
are afterwards washed, and then dried, vlien it becomes 
necessary to pass them throiigh a mill, to be winnowed 
from the inner husk or parchment, before being packed 
for exportation. There are operations too numerous and 
expensive to Ibave a hope for the extension of coffee 
cultivation in Trinidad — at least with its present scanty 
population. The Asiatic islands and Brazil will, there- 
fore, probably long enjoy the privilege they have gained 
of supplying the markets of the world with coffee. 
Cotton . — Cotton was once extensively cultivated in 
