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.
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