e are standing on the Drying Platform, which is the roof of the
Fermentary.]

Many will recall how Charles Kingsley's longing to see the tropics was
ultimately satisfied. In his book, in which he describes how he "At
Last" visited the West Indies, we read that he encountered a happy
Scotchman living a quiet life in the dear little island of Monos. "I
looked at the natural beauty and repose; at the human vigour and
happiness; and I said to myself, and said it often afterwards in the
West Indies: 'Why do not other people copy this wise Scot? Why should
not many a young couple, who have education, refinement, resources in
themselves, but are, happily or unhappily for them, unable to keep a
brougham and go to London balls, retreat to some such paradise as this
(and there are hundreds like it to be found in the West Indies),
leaving behind them false civilisation, and vain desires, and useless
show; and there live in simplicity and content 'The Gentle Life'?"

_The Planter's Life._

Few who go to the tropics escape their fascination, and of those that
are young, few return to colder climes. Some become overseers, others,
more fortunate, own the estates they manage. It is inadvisable for the
inexperienced to start on the enterprise of buying and planting an
estate with less capital than two or three thousand pounds; but, once
established, a cacao plantation may be looked upon as a permanent
investment, which will continue to bear and give a good yield as long as
it receives proper attention.

In the recently published _Letters of Anthony Farley_ the writer tells
how Farley encounters in South America an old college friend of his, who
in his early days was on the high road to a brilliant political career.
Here he is, a planter. He explains:

"My mother was Spanish; her brother owned this place. When he
died it came to me."

"How did your uncle hold it through the various revolutions?"

"Nothing simpler. He became an American citizen. When trouble
threatened he made a bee-line for the United States
Consulate. I'm British, of course. Well, just when I had
decided upon a political life, I found it necessary to come
here to straighten things out. One month lengthened itself
into a year. I grew fascinated. Here I felt a sense of
immense usefulness. On the mountain side my coffee-trees
flourished; down in the valley grew cacao."

"I grow mine on undulations."

"You