"It is a hard life," continued the guide, "and many of the people die in consequence of the fatigue and exposure. They must tramp through the forest, and bring in heavy loads of nuts; they have scanty food; and the swamps and forests are full of malaria. They suffer from fevers and rheumatism, and are without medicines; they receive very low wages, and are constantly in debt to their employers; they lose their way, and starve to death; and sometimes their canoes laden with nuts are overturned, and the occupants drowned. But all these dangers combined are less than the peril from the falling nuts, and not a year passes without the death of nut-gatherers from this cause. "The trade is conducted on the credit system, very much like that of the rubber-collecting industry. The annual shipment of Brazil nuts from Para is about eleven million pounds; and the nut trade is the third in importance among foreign exports, rubber and cacao being the first and second." "Who eats the nuts?" was the next interrogatory. "I don't exactly know," answered Manuel, "but am told that more than half of the nuts sent from Brazil are eaten by schoolboys in England, France, and the United States." "Yes, I remember now," said Frank, "but had forgotten for the moment the hard, black, triangular nuts we used to buy in our school-days. They are favorites with boys, but the taste for them seems to disappear as we grow older. Now, please tell me about cacao." "Cacao is cultivated in Brazil and other lowland countries of South America," replied Manuel, "but I can't tell you much about it. You must ask Dr. Bronson." At this moment the Doctor happened along, and Frank repeated his question. "Cacao is the substance from which chocolate is made," he explained, "and it is the same as the French '_chocolat_' or '_coco_.' It is cultivated in tropical countries, twenty-five degrees each way from the equator, and sometimes the forests of cacao are miles and miles in extent. It grows to a height of twenty-five or thirty feet, and resembles a black-heart cherry-tree in size and shape. It is an evergreen, and has a smooth, oblong leaf, terminating in a sharp point. The fruit resembles a short, thick cucumber; it is from five to nine inches long, and contains from twenty to forty, or even fifty, beans which resemble the pit of an almond. From these beans the chocolate of commerce is made." "Do they make it here or export the bean to other countries?" Frank inquired.