natives take a quantity of these, and pass a piece of slender cane
through them, and roast them, when they have the delicate flavour of
the cacao.

There are several cacao plantations in Surinam. The trees are left to
grow their natural height, which is about that of a cherry-tree; their
leaves resemble those of the broad-leaved laurel, and are of a dark
green colour. The fruit in shape resembles a lemon, but is rather more
oval; it is at first green, and, when ripe, yellow. It is said that
there are some trees which produce above two hundred, each containing
about twenty beans or nuts. The fruit not only proceeds from the
branches, but even from the stem; and though there is always ripe and
unripe fruit, it is only gathered twice a year. The chocolate is in
that colony in general of an inferior quality, known by its dark brown
color and rough taste, but the superiority of the cacao depends
principally on the soil where the trees are planted.--(Baron Von
Sack's "Surinam.")

My friend, Sir R. Schomburgk, in his "Description of British Guiana,"
says--"While we crossed from the river Berbice to the Essequibo, we
met a number of chocolate nut trees, near the abandoned Caribi
settlement of Primoss. It is not to be doubted that the trees were
originally planted by the Indians, but from their number and the
distance from the river, I judged they were propagated by nature.
Though they were overshadowed by larger trees, and had for many years
been neglected, they had reached nevertheless a height of from thirty
to forty feet, and the luxuriant growth and the abundance of fruit,
proved that the plant was satisfied with the soil. The forests at the
banks of the Rio Branco, in the vicinity of Santa Maria and Carno,
abound in wild cacao trees, the fruits of which are collected by the