The Negroes under the terrifying and debasing influence of slavery were able to improve their condition by that cheerful spirit which holds them together even in these days of dark clouds, with a silver lining. The cheerfulness of these sons of Africa has been their redeeming quality through all their privations and sufferings; their chants and songs, whether in the hearing of their masters or among themselves, were full of soul and feeling. They kept body and soul together after the arduous day’s labor under the torrid rays of the sun. Whereas the Indians gave way under the milder system of slavery, the Negroes grew stronger under its despotism. They were able in the production of sugar cane to become experts in the tempering of the cane juice for the various degrees of sugar, which today require analytical chemists to supervise its improved manufacture and Negroes were in charge of this delicate branch of the industry on many plantations. In the distillation of rum they were proficient and many were excellent mechanics. In the production of cocoa, in Venezuela, Suriname and Trinidad, the labor of Negroes gave it such an impetus and stability that the eminent Humboldt, in his travels through South America could not but speak in the highest terms of those plantations that devoted their time to the improvement of this industry. Since the bringing of the Mocha coffee into Santo Domingo as an experiment, with the brawny arm of the black son of toil the production of coffee has reached the incredible amount of 100 millions of pounds, and, in Brazil, where to balance the supply and demand the government provides an excellent system which permits the exportation of only the amount necessary for the world’s consumption each year. The pearl fisheries of America lost their commercial importance with the wave of Emancipation by the nations whose souls were steeped in ignominious sin. But in the earliest days it was one of the most lucrative industries. The work was done exclusively by Negroes who were expert swimmers and divers, capable of holding their breath a long time in ten or fifteen fathoms of briny water, while searching for pearl-bearing shells. There was always great danger from man-eating sharks and the octopus, which killed and mangled many expert divers. In numberless Spanish galleons were carried the riches which have been reported from time to time in official papers as having paid the fifths to the coffers of the state. For instance, Southey says that "a fleet that sailed from Hispaniola in 1526 carried to Spain 501,082 gold dollars, 350 marks of ordinary pearls, 183 Cubagua pearls and 5 gold stones."