upper extremities. The valuable portion of the plant is its bulbous
root, which frequently weighs two or three pounds, and supplies the place
of corn throughout the Brazils. It is washed, peeled, and held against
the rough edge of a mill-stone, until it is completely ground into flour.
This flour is collected in a basket, steeped thoroughly in water, and
afterwards pressed quite dry by means of a press. Lastly, it is
scattered upon large iron plates, and slowly dried over a gentle fire. At
this stage it resembles a very coarse kind of flour, and is eaten in two
ways;--either mixed with hot water, until it forms a kind of porridge; or
baked in the form of coarse flour, which is handed round at table in
little baskets.

She also saw a coffee plantation. The coffee-trees stand in rows upon
tolerably steep hillocks. Their height ranges from six feet to twelve;
and they begin to bear sometimes as early as the second, but in no case
later than the third year. They are productive for at least ten years.
The leaf is long and slightly serrated, and the flower white; while the
fruit hangs down like a cluster of grapes, and resembles a large cherry,
which varies from green to red, then to brown, and almost black. While
red, the outer shell is soft; but eventually it becomes perfectly hard,
until it may be compared to a wooden capsule. Blossoms and ripe fruit
are found on the same tree at the same time; so that a crop may be
gathered at almost any season of the year. After the berries are
plucked, they are spread out in spacious areas enclosed by a wall about
twelve feet high, with small drains to carry off the rain-water. Here
the coffee is allowed to dry in the heat of the sun, and it is then
shaken into large stone mortars, where it is lightly pounded with wooden
hammers, set in motion by water power. The whole mass falls into wooden
boxes attached to a long table, at which sit the negro workers, who
separate the coffee from the husk, and put it into flat copper pans. In