ns out of the pod, but at present the extraction is done almost
universally by hand, either by men or women. A knife which would cut the
husk of the pod and was so constructed that it could not injure the
beans within, would be a useful invention. The human extractor has the
advantage that he or she can distinguish the diseased, unripe or
germinated beans and separate them from the good ones. Picture the men
sitting round the heap of pods and, farther out, in a larger circle,
twice as many girls with baskets. The man breaks the pod and the girls
extract the beans. The man takes the pod in his left hand and gives it a
sharp slash with a small cutlass, just cutting through the tough shell
of the pod, but not into the beans inside; and then gives the blade,
which he has embedded in the shell, a twisting jerk, so that the pod
breaks in two with a crisp crack. The girls take the broken pods and
scoop out the snow-like beans with a flat wooden spoon or a piece of
rib-bone, the beans being pulled off the stringy core (or placenta)
which holds them together. The beans are put preferably into baskets or,
failing these, on to broad banana leaves, which are used as trays.

Practice renders these processes cheerful and easy work, often performed
to an accompaniment of laughing and chattering.

[Illustration: MEN BREAKING PODS, GIRLS SCOOPING OUT BEANS, AND MULES
WAITING WITH BASKETS TO CONVEY THE CACAO TO THE FERMENTARY.]

_Fermenting._

I allow myself the pleasure of thinking that I am causing some of my
readers a little surprise when I tell them that cacao is fermented, and
that the fermentation produces alcohol. As I mentioned above, the cacao
bean is covered with a fruity pulp. The bean as it comes from the pod is
moist, whilst the pulp is full of juice. It would be impossible to
convey it to Europe in this condition; it would decompose, and, when it
reached its destination, would be worthless. In order that a product can
be handled commercially it is desirable to have it in such a condition
that it does not change, and thus with cacao it becomes necessary to get
rid of the pulp, and, whilst this may be done by washing or simply by
drying, experience has shown that the finest and driest product is
obtained when the drying is preceded by fermentation. Just as broken
grapes will ferment, so will the fruity pulp of the cacao bean. Present
day fermentaries are simply convenient places for storing the cacao
whilst the process