nt position it held a hundred years ago. It is in this enchanted
country (it was at La Guayra in Caracas, as readers of _Westward Ho!_
will remember, that Amyas found his long-sought Rose) that the finest
cacao in the world is produced: the criollo, the bean with the
golden-brown break. The tree which produces this is as delicate as the
cacao is fine, and there is some danger that this superb cacao may die
out--a tragedy which every connoisseur would wish to avert.

The _Gordian_ estimates that Venezuela sent out from her three principal
ports in 1919 some 16,226 tons of cacao.

_THE WEST INDIES._

In the map of South America the principal West Indian islands producing
cacao are marked. Their production in 1918 was as follows:

CACAO BEANS EXPORTED. Percentage of
Metric Tons. World's production.
Trinidad (British) 26,177 9.7
San Domingo 18,839 7.0
Grenada (British) 6,704 2.5
Jamaica (British) 3,000 1.1
Haiti 2,272 0.8
St. Lucia (British) 500 0.2
Dominica (British) 300 0.1
St. Vincent (British) 70 0.02
----------- ---------------
West Indies Total 57,862 tons 21.42 per cent.
----------- ---------------
Br. West Indies 36,751 tons 13.6 per cent.

TRINIDAD AND GRENADA.[3]

[3] Cacao production in 1919: Trinidad 27,185 tons; Grenada
4,020 tons.

Cacao was grown in the West Indies in the seventeenth century, and the
inhabitants, after the destructive "blast," which utterly destroyed the
plantations in 1727, bravely replanted cacao, which has flourished there
ever since. The cacaos of Trinidad and Grenada have long been known for
their excellence, and it is mainly from Trinidad that the knowledge of
methods of scientific cultivation and preparation has been spread to
planters all round the equator. The cacao from Trinidad (famous alike
for its cacao and its pitch lake) has always held a high place in the
markets of the world, although a year or two ago the inclusion of
inferior cacao and the practice of claying was abused by a few growers
and merchants. With the object of stopping these abuses and of producing
a uniform caca