was after,
for the Nariva Cocal, with its thirteen-mile long coco-nut grove on the
shore of the ocean, is famous. The boy knew, too, that this section was
very difficult of access, the Nariva River forming a mixture of river,
tidal creek, lagoon, mangrove swamp and marsh, hard to cross.

For some little distance out of Port-of-Spain the train passed through
true tropical forests of a verdure not to be outrivaled in any part of
the New World. "Here," says Treves, "is a very revel of green, a hoard,
a pyramid, a piled-up cairn of green, rising aloft from an iris-blue
sea. Here are the dull green of wet moss, the clear green of the
parrot's wing, the green tints of old copper, of malachite, of the wild
apple, the bronze-green of the beetle's back, the dead green of the
autumn Nile." And these are expressed, not in plants, but in trees. The
moss is waist-high, the ferns wave twenty feet overhead, the bamboo
drapes a feathery fringe by every stream, the cocoa trees grow right up
to the road or railroad which sweeps along as on an avenue between them,
while at every crossing the white roadway is lined by the majestic
sentinels of plantain, coco-nut palm and breadfruit tree.

Beyond St. Joseph, the ground became a low plain, level and monotonous,
and given over to sugar-cane. Near d'Abadie, this crop gave place to
cocoa, the staple of the center of the island, and this extended through
Arima to Sangre Grande, the terminus of the railroad. During the trip
Stuart's host had enlightened him by an exact and painstaking
description of the growing of these various crops and the methods of
their preparation for market.

At Sangre Grande, the railroad ended and a two-wheeled buggy was
waiting. The planter ordered the East Indian driver to follow in the
motor-bus which conveys passengers to Manzanilla, and took the reins
himself, so as to give a place to Stuart. The road had left the level,
and passed over low hills and valleys all given over to cocoa trees.

"See those bottles!" commented Mr. James, pointing to bottles daubed
with paint, bunches of white feathers and similar objects hung on trees
at various points of the road.

"Yes," answered Stuart, "what are they for?"

"Those are our police!" the planter explained. "This colony is well
governed, but planters have had a good deal of trouble keeping the
negroes from stealing. We used to engage a number of watchmen, and the
police force in this part of the island was increased.