Many a young man, reading in some delightful book of travel, has longed to go to the tropics and see the wonders for himself. There can be no doubt that a sojourn in equatorial regions is one of the most educative of experiences. In support of this I cannot do better than quote Grant Allen, who regarded the tropics as the best of all universities. "But above all in educational importance I rank the advantage of seeing human nature in its primitive surroundings, far from the squalid and chilly influences of the tail-end of the Glacial epoch." ... "We must forget all this formal modern life; we must break away from this cramped, cold, northern world; we must find ourselves face to face at last, in Pacific isles or African forests, with the underlying truths of simple naked nature." [Illustration: GROUP OF WORKERS ON CACAO ESTATE. Some 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?"