A^aJn°T,'i8?3RM'}  Cochineal  Production  in  Cent.  America.  33 
the  plant  ;  and  as  the  rainy  season  often  commences  in  the  beginning 
of  May,  a  great  part  of  the  crop  is  frequently  lost  by  being  washed 
off  by  the  rains  before  it  is  fit  for  gathering.  In  Amatitlan  the  sec- 
ond crop  is  ready  for  getting  in  eighty  days  after  the  first  has  been 
gathered,  and  is  therefore  always  got  in  before  the  rains  commence, 
which  certainly  gives  it  great  advantages  over  Old  Guatemala  ;  but 
the  second  crop  is  always  much  smaller  grained  and  worth  considera- 
bly less  than  the  first.  Labor  is  also  much  dearer  in  Amatitlan 
than  Old  Guatemala,  and  an  estate  of  equal  extent  costs  at  least  twice 
as  much  to  keep  it  in  order — the  wages  in  the  former  place  being  2J 
to  3  reals  (equal  to  Is.  3d.  to  Is.  6d.)  per  day,  and  in  the  latter,  1J 
reals  (equal  to  9d).  Beside  this,  the  cactus  and  cochineal  insect  have 
a  number  of  enemies  in  Amatitlan  which  do  not  exist  in  Old  Guate- 
mala. The  principal  injury  to  the  former  is  sustained  from  a  species 
of  large  ant,  called  senpope,  which  eats  all  the  young  shoots  of  the 
cactus,  so  as  to  prevent  its  increasing.  The  nests  of  this  insect  are 
very  large,  and  sometimes  extend  to  a  depth  of  twenty  feet  in  the 
ground,  along  which  they  run  for  some  fifteen  or  twenty  yards,  and 
the  insects  are  often  so  numerous,  that  if  let  alone  they  will  entirely 
destroy  a  cochineal  estate.  The  natives  have  no  means  of  destroying 
them,  except  digging  them  out  of  the  ground;  and  though  I  discovered 
a  means  of  poisoning  them  by  pouring  into  their  holes  water  in 
which  a  small  quantity  of  corrosive  sublimate  had  been  dissolved,  I 
do  not  suppose  that  the  discovery  will  generally  be  made  use  of  by 
the  inhabitants,  who  are  too  stupid  and  ignorant  to  understand  any- 
thing not  palpable  to  the  eye. 
The  principal  enemies  of  the  cochineal  insect  are  three  sorts  cf  cat  - 
erpillars,  called  by  the  natives  "  gusanos"  (worms);  the  most  common 
resembles  an  ordinary  caterpillar,  and  is  produced  from  the  egg  of  a 
small  fly,  in  shape  like  a  wasp,  but  without  a  sting.  These  are  some- 
times so  numerous  that  two  or  three  may  be  seen  on  each  leaf  of  the 
•cactus,  and  if  not  speedily  taken  off,  will,  in  a  month — the  period  of 
their  existence — eat  up  nearly  all  the  cochineal  insects.  Another 
sort  spin  a  web,  with  which,  they  entangle  the  insect  and  destroy  it ; 
and  the  third,  called  "  anguilla"  (the  eel),  which  is  by  far  the  most 
destructive,  moves  over  the  leaf  like  an  earthworm,  eating  all  the  in- 
sects, when  small,  with  surprising  rapidity,  and  transferring  itself  to 
another  leaf,  proceeds  as  before.  Luckily  this  last  mentioned  species 
only  makes  its  appearance  in  soma  years,  and  is  never  nearly  so  nu- 
merous as  the  first  named.    No  means  have  yet  been  found  of  de- 
3 
