d--that is, a leafy plant,
growing to the height of eight or nine feet, the leaves of which,
continually falling, decay and fertilize the soil. After two years the
plants are rooted out, and the ground is once more occupied by a sugar
plantation.

When the canes are ripe and the harvest begins, every day as many canes
are cut down as can be pressed and boiled at once. The cane is
introduced between two rollers, set in motion by steam-power, and pressed
until it is quite flat and dry: in this state it is used for fuel. The
juice is strained successively into six pans, of which the first is
exposed to the greatest heat--the force of the fire being diminished
gradually under each of the others. In the last pan the sugar is found
half crystallized. It is then deposited on great wooden tables to cool,
and granulate into complete crystals of about the size of a pin's head.
Lastly, it is poured into wooden colanders, to filter it thoroughly of
the molasses it still contains. The whole process occupies eight or ten
days. Before the sugar is packed, it is spread out on the open terraces
to dry for some hours in the sun.

* * * * *

An excursion was made to Mount Orgueil, in order to obtain a panoramic
view of the island-scenery. On one side the lofty ridge of the Morne
Brabant, connected with the mainland only by a narrow neck of earth,
stretches far out into the sapphire sea; near at hand rises the Piton de
la Riviere Noire, the loftiest summit in the island, two thousand five
hundred and sixty-four feet. In another direction are visible the green
tops of the Tamarin and the Rempart; and in a fourth, the three-headed
mountain called the Trois Mamelles. Contiguous to these opens a deep
caldron, two of the sides of which have broken down in ruin, while the
others remain erect and steep. Besides these mountains, the traveller
sees the Corps de Garde du Port Loris de Mocca; Le Pouce, with its narrow
peak projecting above the plateau like a thumb; and the precipitous Peter
Botte.

The last-named mountain recalls the memory of the daring Hollander who
first reached its summit, long regarded as impracticable. He succeeded
in what seemed a hopeless effort by shooting an arrow, to which a strong
cord was attached, over the top. The arrow fell on the other side of the
mountain, at a point which could be attained without much difficulty. A
stout rope was then fastened to the cord, drawn over the mountain, and
secured on