JAMAICA

Jamaica. An island lying off the Bay of Honduras, between the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, within N. Lat. 17. 40. and 18. 30., and W. Long. 76. 10. and 78. 30., about 4000 miles S.W. of England, 80 miles S. of Cuba, 90 miles W. of St Domingo, and 515 miles N. of Chagres, the Atlantic port of the Isthmus of Panama. It is the most southern of that group, which is called by some the Greater Antilles, by others the Leeward Islands. The latter name, however, is now generally applied to the smaller islands on the N.E., and sometimes to those on the S. of the Caribbean Sea. It is the largest, and was formerly the most valuable of the British West Indies, being 140 geographical miles in length, by 50 in extreme breadth, and containing about 4,080,000 acres, or 6400 square miles. Within its government are comprised, besides the three small islands called the Caymanas, Belize, or British Honduras, on the mainland of Central America, with Ruatan and other islands in the Bay of Honduras. These places, though distant respectively 600 and 460 miles, have been called the dependencies of Jamaica, and are ruled by superintendents appointed by the governor. The title of Britain was disputed by Spain in the early part of the last century, and the Bay Islands were given up to that power by the treaty of London in 1786, but were reoccupied by the British during the subsequent war. Having, with the Mosquito Territory, formed the subject of dispute between Great Britain and the United States, arising out of the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, they have (1856) been constituted as free territory under the republic of Honduras, with provisos against alienation, the erection of forts, and the introduction of slavery.

Jamaica was discovered by Columbus on the 3d of May 1494, while coasting along the S. of Cuba, during his second voyage. He called it St Jago, after the patron saint of Spain, but it is now generally known by its Indian name Jamaica, a word signifying the Isle of Springs, according to the best authorities, though Long derives it from a kind of fruit. It is sometimes written Xaymaca by the Spaniards.

On approaching the shore, Columbus called the nearest land after his first ship, Santa Maria, a name still preserved in Port Maria. He effected a landing a little to the westward, at Ora Cabessa, where, after a slight opposition from the natives, he took possession of the country, with the usual formalities, for the king of Spain.

The inhabitants were the same mild, inoffensive race as those of Cuba and Hayti. Like the Arowaks of Trinidad and Guiana, they were probably offshoots of the great Mexican stock, and very different from the fierce Caribs of the Windward Islands. After a short stay, Columbus quitted Jamaica, which remained undisturbed for nine years. In June 1503, on his fourth and last voyage, he was driven by a tempest, in which he lost two ships, to a bay on the N. side of the island, which he named Sta. Gloria (now St Ann's Bay), where he ran his remaining vessels ashore in a small inlet still called Don Christopher's Cove. The shipwrecked mariners were received with the greatest kindness by the Indians, and here Columbus remained upwards of a year awaiting the return of messengers he had dispatched to Ovando, governor of Hispaniola, as Cuba was then called. During this time he suffered much from disease, as well as from the mutiny of his followers, whose gross misconduct alienated the Indians, and provoked them to withhold their accustomed supplies, until he dexterously worked upon their superstition by prognosticating an eclipse.

After the second departure of Columbus, Jamaica seems to have remained unvisited until 1509, three years after his death, when his son Diego, having established his right in the council of the Indies to the governorship of Hispaniola,

which included Jamaica, sent Don Juan d'Esquivel to take possession of the island in opposition to Alonzo d'Ojeda, who claimed it under a royal grant.

By Esquivel the natives were treated, according to Herrera, with unusual humanity. That his successors did not imitate him in this respect is proved by the astounding fact that of the Indian population, at this time estimated at from 60,000 to 100,000 souls, not a descendant of either sex existed in 1655, when the island fell into the hands of the English, nor, it is supposed, for nearly a century before. After a short stay, Esquivel died in Sevilla d'Oro, a town founded by himself on St Ann's Bay, which is supposed by some to have been deserted on account of the ravages of ants, by others to have been destroyed during an insurrection of the Indians. Its premature fall was, however, most probably owing to the attacks of French filibusters, or pirates, who for a long period infested these coasts. The site of the town may still be traced by mounds of earth, as well as in the names of certain fields belonging to the Seville sugar plantation. Melilla, near Port Maria, or, according to another opinion, at Martha Brae, near Falmouth, shared the same fate.

About the year 1523, Diego Columbus, visiting Jamaica from Hispaniola, founded, on the River Cobre, inland to the S. of the mountain range, St Jago de la Vega, St James of the Plain, which gave the title of Marquis to his descendants, and is still the official capital, under the name of Spanish Town. At some distance westward, on the coast, was built Oristan, which is now called Bluefields. Down to 1596 the history of Jamaica is only a record of the rapid disappearance of the Indians, under the Spanish yoke, and of intrigues at the court of Spain, having for their object the dispossession of the descendants of Columbus, whose rights were, however, successfully defended, and eventually centred in an heiress, through whom they passed by marriage to the house of Braganza, reverting afterwards to the Spanish crown, in consequence of the revolution of 1640, which placed John, duke of Braganza on the throne of Portugal. Long anterior to this last event, the union of the crowns of Spain and Portugal, under Philip II., in 1580 occasioned an influx of Portuguese colonists into Jamaica, who contributed much to its strength and prosperity, but were usually on indifferent terms with the Spanish settlers. Attention had at an early period been paid to agriculture, the cotton-plant was extensively cultivated, and the sugarcane, vine, and various kinds of corn and grass had been introduced; and whereas a small species of dog, called the alca, was the only domestic quadruped known to the aborigines, horses, horned cattle, and swine had been imported from Hispaniola, which multiplied amazingly, and a flourishing trade sprang up in lard and hides, as well as tobacco, sugar, and ginger. In 1596, during the alliance of Queen Elizabeth with the Low Countries, and the consequent war with Spain, Sir Anthony Shirley, a British admiral, invaded Jamaica with a large fleet, and landing at Passage Fort, plundered St Jago and the neighbouring territory, but made no attempt at occupation. After thirty-nine years' tranquillity, during which, under the government of Don Arnoldo de Sasi, the island rose to a high pitch of prosperity, it was again invaded in the reign of Charles I. by Colonel Jackson, who defeated the inhabitants in a severe engagement at Passage Fort, and did not retire till he had ravaged the whole country, and laid the capital under heavy contributions. The Spanish colonists never recovered from this attack. At the termination of the next twenty years we find the whole island divided into eight districts, and in the nominal possession of eight noble families, whilst the

Jamaica. rest of the population is said, but the statement seems scarcely credible, to have consisted only of 1500 Spaniards and Portuguese (though the Portuguese had, according to some accounts, been expelled by the Spaniards), and about the same number of blacks and mulattoes.

The preposterous claim by Spain to the exclusive right of navigating the American seas, and the outrages committed upon British subjects in these parts, provoked Cromwell to send an expedition, consisting of 6500 men, under Admirals Penn and Venables, against Hispaniola. Failing in their attempt, for which they were afterwards committed to the Tower, they attacked Jamaica, which capitulated, after a trifling resistance, on the 3d of May 1655, after having been 161 years in possession of the Spaniards.

After the capture of the island, until the restoration of Charles II., Jamaica remained under military jurisdiction. Great exertions were made by Cromwell to establish a firm and peaceable government, as well as to people the island from Scotland and Ireland, from the Windward Islands, and from the English colonies in North America; but these efforts were for some time neutralized by the incessant attacks of the Spaniards and their negroes, who had retreated to the mountains, by the disaffection of the troops, and rapid mortality among the settlers. A better state of affairs was at length established by Colonel D'Oyley, a man of courage and capacity. A formidable armament from Hispaniola was totally defeated at Rio Nuevo, on the 8th of May 1658, and the remnant of the Spaniards was soon after driven from the island. Their slaves, however, for the most part, remained, and maintained themselves in the mountains, where, being constantly augmented by runaway negroes, they afterwards became formidable, under the name of Maroons. The troubles in England after Cromwell's death caused a considerable accession to the number of colonists, and in 1661, soon after the Restoration, the first establishment of a regular civil government in Jamaica was made by Charles II., who appointed D'Oyley governor-in-chief, with an elective council. Lord Windsor, who succeeded him the following year, was instructed to summon a popular assembly, with power to pass such laws for the internal regulation of the country as should not be subversive of dependence on the parent state. At this date negro slaves began to be imported in large numbers, and even Indians from Yucatan, though this latter traffic was soon prohibited. Jamaica became also about this time the resort of the buccaniers, a band of freebooters composed of adventurers and outlaws of all nations, whom the war with Spain enabled to carry on their trade of piracy under the British flag. Their ill-gotten wealth was recklessly squandered in Port-Royal, and their barbarous outrages applauded by the inhabitants, who shared their gains, and, it has been said, connived at for the same reason by the king himself.

In 1670 peace was made with Spain; the title of England to Jamaica was recognized by the treaty of Madrid, and it became necessary to put down the buccaniers. This was effectually done by their own former leader, Sir Henry Morgan, who had been knighted for the capture of Panama, and was lieutenant-governor of Jamaica in 1675. He was succeeded by Lord Vaughan, during whose administration was formed in England the 4th, or Royal African Company, which established a monopoly in the slave-trade. In 1678, under Lord Carlisle, an attempt was made to saddle the island with a yearly tribute to the crown, and to take away the legislative power of the House of Assembly, which was to be in future a mere instrument for voting supplies and passing those laws which, after being prepared by the governor and council, were approved at home. In consequence of the strenuous resistance of the colonists, the privileges of the Assembly were restored under Sir Thomas Lynch in 1682, but the tribute

question was not settled till 1728, when L.8000 a-year (currency) was settled on the crown, on condition, among other things, that all the laws and statutes of England should equally apply to Jamaica: this bill, which was considered the Magna Charta of Jamaica, was passed under the administration of the Duke of Portland. This L.8000 currency, afterwards commuted to L.6000 sterling, was at the disposal of the governor. Out of it he provided for certain allowances and salaries, as well as for the repairs of certain forts. It was called the Council Fund, and from it seems to have arisen the erroneous idea, repeated even in the latest publications, that the crown draws a revenue of L.10,000 a-year from Jamaica. This council fund was in 1854 merged in the civil list.

Before this event many calamities had happened. In 1692 occurred the great earthquake, when the chief part of the town of Port-Royal, built on a shelving bank of sand, slipped into the sea, and was destroyed. Two years after, a powerful French armament from St Domingo, commanded by the governor, Ducasse, committed the greatest cruelties and devastations on the S. and E. coasts, but was at length driven back by the gallantry of the militia. In 1712, and again on the same day in 1722, there were dreadful hurricanes, the anniversary of which, as well as that of the great earthquake, was by Act of Assembly set apart as a fast. This last hurricane was so destructive to Port-Royal, that the seat of commerce was transferred to Kingston. In 1744 there was another hurricane, and no less than five in 1780 and the six following years, at which time the distress occasioned by these visitations was much aggravated by a decree of the Imperial Parliament, virtually prohibiting trade with the United States, and confining the colony, for her American supplies, to the inadequate markets of Canada and Nova Scotia. The next hurricane seems to have occurred in 1812. There was a slight one in the next year, another more severe in 1815, others again in 1819 and 1846.

In 1738, under Governor Trelawny, a pacification took place with the Maroons, after a contest of nearly forty years, during which a body of Mosquito Indians was employed against them. The Maroons were henceforth confined to certain specified localities—an ill-judged policy, which perpetuated the distinction of race and separation of interest. They proved in consequence, from time to time, very troublesome; and, in 1795, during the administration of the Earl of Balcarra, a serious rebellion broke out, chiefly confined to the Trelawny Town Maroons, which was quelled the next year, after great loss of life, when 600 of the insurgents were transported to Nova Scotia. There are now three Maroon settlements in Jamaica, which have, however, no longer any separate political existence, viz., Accompong Town, Charles Town, and Moore Town. The Maroons are perhaps even more averse to labour than the ordinary creole negro, and certainly more thievish and dissolute; but the wild life they have led for so many generations has made them taller, and more active and vigorous. In 1760, a dangerous revolt of the Koromantyn slaves was speedily repressed, and punished by the most barbarous executions. In 1765 the Assembly expressed a wish to limit the importation of slaves, but the governor, by instruction, refused his consent. In 1774 a bill passed the Assembly for the same object, but was disallowed by the Board of Trade in England. From 1700 to 1786, the number of slaves imported into the island was 610,000, of whom about one-fifth was re-exported.

In 1782 Jamaica was threatened with an invasion by the combined fleets of France and Spain under De Grasse. It was saved by the victory of Rodney and Hood, off Dominica, in commemoration of which a statue of Lord Rodney, by Bacon, has been erected in Spanish Town. The chief events of the following years were,—a fire which con-

sumed nearly the whole town of Montego Bay—the Maroon war above mentioned,—an apprehended invasion of the French from St Domingo—a conspiracy among the slaves in Kingston—disputes with the Imperial Government on the introduction of black troops, and the excessive taxation of the island staples.

In 1806 Admiral Duckworth defeated the French squadron destined to invade Jamaica. In 1807 the slave-trade was abolished, at which time there were 323,827 slaves in Jamaica. During the last eight years of the trade, 86,821 slaves were imported, of whom about one-tenth was re-exported. At this period Jamaica had reached the highest pitch of prosperity. Its fields teemed with sugar, coffee, cacao, cotton, pimento, ginger, and indigo; and it was the depot of a lucrative transit-trade between Europe and the Spanish main, employing, in the year 1816, no less than 199,894 tons of shipping; in 1828, 254,590 tons; in 1830, 130,747 tons.

In 1823 the agitation in England against slavery had reached such a height that Lord Bathurst, in a despatch to the Colonial Legislature, recommended the adoption of certain measures for ameliorating the condition of the slaves. This moderate suggestion was unfortunately rejected, and, during the following year, a proposal for the emancipation of children of a certain age shared the same fate. From this period, till the moment of emancipation, we find in Jamaica ill-advised and indefensible proceedings by the colonists, and unwarrantable interference on the part of the dissenting missionaries; in England violent and unscrupulous agitation. An examination of the history of these events proves that a measure, the success of which depended upon the anxious and cordial co-operation of both parties, became at length, on all sides, with few exceptions, a mere party, and too often a mere personal question.

In 1831, a recommendation by Lord Goderich, of the same nature as the one previously mentioned, seems to have excited the colonists, in spite of the efforts of the Earl of Mulgrave, the governor, to acts of intemperate folly against the crown, as well as of scandalous violence against the missionaries; and the negroes, led by the latter to believe that England had decreed their emancipation, rose in 1832 in a revolt, which was not subdued till many hundred lives had been sacrificed, property to the amount of upwards of a million destroyed, and the atrocities usually attending a servile war perpetrated on both sides. These events created great excitement in England, and that class of philanthropists, which is ready to be generous at the expense of others, clamoured for instant and unconditional emancipation. The English government, however, with more justice, passed, on the 14th May 1833, "An Act to Abolish Slavery," but fixing an apprenticeship of twelve years, reduced afterwards to six, and eventually to four; and granting to the owners a compensation of twenty millions sterling, of which £6,161,927, 5s. 10d. was awarded to Jamaica, being rather more than £1.19 a-head on a slave population of 309,338. This sum, though much less than the assessment of the government commissioners themselves, was a noble sacrifice by a nation in the cause of freedom, and one which a better and more statesmanlike measure might have rendered unnecessary; but as Earl Grey remarks in his Colonial Policy, it was a measure which "is now generally admitted to have been most unhappily defective."

All parties were determined that the apprenticeship should be a failure. The magistrates sent to protect the negroes were prejudiced against the employers, who, on their part, could not give up their power without a struggle. Their manner was more overbearing and tyrannical than in the days of slavery; and they frequently displayed the bitterness of their feelings, by turning the negroes out of their houses, destroying their provision grounds, and subjecting them to every kind of annoyance. The Marquis of Sligo who had

succeeded Lord Mulgrave in July 1834, was recalled in 1836, having incurred unpopularity, in consequence of the interference of the British government with the House of Assembly, relative to the "Act in Aid of the Abolition of Slavery." He was succeeded by Sir Lionel Smith, during whose administration, on the 1st of August 1838, the apprenticeship was terminated by an act of the Assembly itself, and entire emancipation took place; and early in the ensuing year the House of Assembly having refused to transact business in consequence of renewed interference by the British legislature in the case of the "Prisons' Act," a bill was introduced by Mr Labouchere into the House of Commons to suspend the constitution of Jamaica, the rejection of which measure occasioned the resignation of Lord Melbourne's ministry. On resuming office, in consequence of Sir Robert Peel's failure to form an administration, they passed an act to compromise the Jamaica dispute, and Sir Lionel Smith having become unpopular in consequence of these events, was superseded in October 1839 by Sir Charles Metcalfe, whose wise and conciliatory policy restored tranquillity to the colony. He brought about a better understanding between the labourers and employers, and took measures to provide religious instruction and the due administration of justice. The number of the island curates was doubled. Acts were passed for the selection of the two puisne judges from barristers of a certain standing, and for the appointment of nine chairmen of quarter sessions, also barristers. These changes were readily granted, though involving an increased expenditure of £30,000 a-year. He turned his attention also to substitutes for the laborious cultivation of sugar. Agricultural societies were formed, and attempts made to develop the resources of the colony in silk, cotton, fibrous materials, tobacco, arrowroot, and copper. Silk works were established on a grand scale in St Ann's, mines were opened, and a new prosperity seemed about to dawn upon Jamaica. None of these schemes, however, rewarded the enterprise of the promoters. They failed in succession, and from the same cause, the want of cheap and continuous labour. Fully alive to this deficiency, Sir Charles was a zealous advocate of immigration, which commenced in 1839, from Sierra Leone and the Kru Coast; and in 1840 the first Jamaica Immigration Act was passed. Groundless fears, however, on the part of the mother country, of a renewal of slavery under another name, led the Imperial Government to impose restrictions on immigration, not yet entirely removed, which, by enhancing the difficulty and expense, have prevented such a comprehensive scheme as could alone be permanently beneficial. Meanwhile, the planter, compelled to waste his capital on unproductive labour, has seen the superabundant population of other countries swept off by his rivals, though the condition of the immigrant is nowhere to be compared with that which humane policy has secured for him in a British colony. Sir Charles Metcalfe resigned in 1842, to the extreme regret of the colonists, who commemorated his administration, by forming a new parish called after his name, out of portions of St George and St Mary. He was succeeded by the Earl of Elgin, who adopted the same policy, and under whose auspices a railway, 12 miles in length, was opened, connecting the two capitals, Kingston and Spanish Town. On his advancement to Canada, he was succeeded by Sir Charles Grey at the commencement of troubled times. The act of 1846 had passed, admitting slave-grown sugar into the English markets, and the most sanguine began to despair.

The proverbial luxury of a Jamaica plantation had been exchanged before this for an almost equally remarkable frugality. The hoe had given way to the plough, and other implements of the most improved construction; and the hereditary estates of many absentee proprietors had passed for a mere trifle into the hands of the practical planter; but

Jamaica. neither improved agriculture, nor strict economy, nor the residence of the proprietor, availed against the superior advantages of the slave-owner; and though the prospects of copper mining, which was resumed with vigour, seemed promising, the necessity of retrenching the island expenditure became evident. The first bill for carrying this into effect was rejected by the Council as inadequate in its general effect, but at the same time bearing unjustly upon individuals, by making in some instances a reduction of more than 30 per cent. on the salaries of permanent offices, without compensation to the holders. The second was disallowed by the Imperial Government for similar reasons. Again the Assembly resented interference, and refused to perform its functions. The result was most disastrous. In 1849 the rum duties were allowed to expire, by which L.50,000 were lost; and in 1853 taxes and import duties were uncollected for six months, causing a sacrifice of more than L.177,000, and adding L.130,000 to the permanent debt of the island. Public functionaries remained unpaid except by an issue of inconvertible paper called island cheques. In the midst of these troubles came the cholera, which is supposed to have decimated the population. During this crisis party feeling ran high. There was open hostility between the Council and Assembly, and among many disgraceful scenes the imprisonment of one of the judges for an alleged libel on the House of Assembly was perhaps the most remarkable. Many non-resident proprietors urged the suspension of the constitution. On the other hand, delegates were sent from Jamaica to lay the case of the colonists before the English government, which eventually decided to recommend—that permanent provision should be made for the salaries of permanent offices; that the initiation of all money grants should be left to the crown; that certain members of the legislature should be responsible for the expenditure of the public money. Conditional on the acceptance of these suggestions was made the imperial guarantee to that part of the Jamaica debt which bore 6 per cent. interest, amounting to L.500,000, as well as to an additional loan of L.50,000 for compensation to the holders of those permanent offices which were to be reduced, and an absolute grant of L.3500 for three years towards the governor's salary. The despatch containing these recommendations was carried out by Sir Henry Barkly, who had successfully guided the colony of British Guiana through a similar crisis. He succeeded Sir Charles Grey in the autumn of 1853, and found the colonists wearied of the unequal contest, and anxious for peace. In the next year was passed, in England, the "Encumbered Estates (West Indies) Bill," in relation to which the Duke of Newcastle said, on the 22d June 1854, "That in Jamaica nine-tenths of the estates were under heavy incumbrances, a large portion of which was for sums in excess of the value of the estates, so that it was utterly impossible for the proprietors to obtain any further advances." This remedial measure became a dead letter, partly on account of the jealousy of the island government, but chiefly because, in the case of most of these estates, it was less difficult to make a title than to find a purchaser. During the last few years Jamaica has been tranquil, but it has been the tranquillity of prostration. Sir Henry Barkly, who induced the Assembly to consent to many salutary changes during this period, has been replaced by C. H. Darling, Esq., late governor of Newfoundland. The island has also suffered severe loss in the retirement of the chief-justice, Sir Joshua Rowe, who for twenty-three years presided over the Supreme Court with integrity and ability, stamping its judicial proceedings with a character far above the ordinary colonial standard.

The constitution of Jamaica has been modified, in many important particulars, by several acts passed in the island in the years 1854 and 1856. The ruling body now consists of a governor or captain-general, advised by a privy coun-

cil, of a legislative council, and of an elective legislative assembly. The governor, who is styled "His Excellency," is commander-in-chief and vice-admiral, and has the disposal of several appointments, is nominated by the crown through the secretary of state for the colonies. He receives from the Imperial Government a salary of L.3500 a-year, and from the colony, including the salary of his secretary, L.2746, besides sundry allowances. His privy council is appointed by himself during pleasure, without limitation of number or qualification; and its president, or senior member, administers the government during the absence of the governor, should no lieutenant-governor be appointed, though the commission is usually given to the commander of the forces. The Legislative Council is also appointed by the crown, through the governor, for life, subject to certain disqualifications, such as crime, absence without leave, loss of property, &c. It consists of seventeen members, five of whom may be office-holders without other qualification; the remaining twelve must be in possession of a freehold estate in the island of the annual value of L.300, or must pay taxes on freehold property to the amount of L.30. The president receives a salary of L.600 a-year. The Legislative Council forms the upper chamber, and may initiate any measures not involving imposition of taxes, or appropriation of money. The House of Assembly consists of forty-seven members, being two for each parish, and an additional one for the towns of Spanish Town, Kingston, and Port-Royal. These are elected by holders of freeholds of the annual value of L.6, a qualification which it has been in contemplation to alter for the payment of L.1 taxes, the present constituency amounting only to 3000, as stated by Lord John Russell in 1853. The qualification of members of the Assembly consists of the payment of L.10 taxes, and they become disqualified by crime, insolvency, fraud, &c. The House of Assembly is summoned by the governor in council; it may be adjourned, prorogued, or dissolved by the governor alone—unless so dissolved, its duration is for seven years. It forms the lower chamber, and, in conjunction with the council, and with the consent of the governor, may pass laws for the colony, provided they be not repugnant to the spirit of the English law; but all laws so passed are subject to the approval of the Imperial Government. The House of Assembly had formerly the power of originating and appropriating grants of money, a privilege manifestly open to the greatest abuse. But by the act of 1854 this was abolished, and no grant is to originate in the Assembly except by message from the governor, or through the executive committee. This last body is an innovation, and forms the ministry of the crown. It consists of one member of the Legislative Council, and three members of the Assembly, not office-holders, chosen and changed at pleasure by the governor, who are to act as his medium of communication with the Council and Assembly, and to assist him in preparing estimates, levying and disbursing money, and in the general administration of the affairs of the colony. They each receive a salary of L.800 a-year, and allowances.

The parishes are under the government of a chief magistrate appointed for life by the governor, termed the custos rotulorum, who is styled "Honourable," and presides over the vestry, a body consisting of the rector and churchwardens, justices of the peace, and ten vestrymen, who must be freeholders, tax-payers, electors, and be able to read and write; they must be of good repute, and not have been insolvent within two years. The churchwardens must be also members of the Established Church. The vestries meet quarterly. They raise and appropriate local taxes, by authority of an annual act of Assembly, for the relief of the poor, and repair of churches and public buildings; they regulate markets, and generally the affairs of the parish; and it is their duty to prepare yearly an account of the taxable

Jamaica. and real property in the parish for the executive committee. A committee of the vestry, elected by ballot, decides upon applications for relief from taxes, a return of which is made to the executive committee and receiver-general, and may be carried by appeal before the circuit judge, who has the power of inflicting punishment for perjury.

Such is the existing constitution, and though the alterations in the management of its finance, and the check to the practice of reliefs in the vestries, have removed the most flagrant evils of the former system, it may be doubted whether Jamaica is not daily becoming more unfitted even for this modified form of popular government. It is generally agreed that it would have been better to have suspended the constitution at the period of emancipation, and to have entrusted the introduction of the new arrangements rendered necessary by that important measure to a prudent and able governor; for as the late Mr C. Buller said, in 1839, "It was not possible for any similarly constituted colony to furnish persons competent to execute so great a task;" and the refusal of the legislature in 1853 to pass the Customs Duties Acts, a measure ruinous to the country at large, but if report speak truly, highly profitable to certain members of the ruling body, is one of the most remarkable instances on record of the perversion of representative institutions. If such has been the past, there is little ground for hope of amelioration in future. Wealth and intelligence are leaving the country; even now it is impossible to fill up the number of the Legislative Council.

The white and mulatto races are inimical to each other, and though Sir Henry Barkly, by dexterously enlisting the more moderate of each in the cause of order, managed to carry on the government, it is to be feared they will not long act harmoniously together. The blacks, ignorant and impulsive, incline first to one side, then to the other. Meanwhile, the thinned ranks of the whites are very poorly recruited—for capital seeks a better and more certain return; and there is little prospect of lucrative employment to divert the enterprising emigrant from Australia or Canada. The judicial system has been entirely remodelled by the act of 1855-56. The chief-justice, and assistant-judges, and chairmen of quarter sessions, having retired with pensions, the following take the place of the former arrangements: The chief-justice, who must be a barrister of five years' standing, discharges also the duties of vice-chancellor, and sits with the ordinary as surrogate; his salary is fixed at L.1800 a-year. Associated with him are three assistant-judges, barristers of three years' standing, with salaries of L.1200 a-year. None of these judges are eligible to seats in the Assembly. The attorney-general discharges, in future, the duty of advocate of the admiralty, with an additional salary of L.500 a-year. The supreme court, presided over by the bench of judges, holds sittings in Spanish Town three times a-year. It has an appellate jurisdiction, and out of it all process is to issue. The island is divided into four circuits,—the Home, the Cornwall, the Surrey, and the Middlesex,—in the first of which the chief-justice presides, and sits three times a-year in Kingston, and three in Spanish Town. The assistant-judges preside over the others three times a-year. They take cognizance of crimes, insolvencies, and civil causes, and hear appeals formerly heard by chairmen of quarter sessions. These changes have been made for the sake of economy, and to bring inexpensive justice within the reach of every man. The courts of common pleas and quarter sessions are replaced by the circuit courts. Almost all fees are replaced by fixed salaries. Summary jurisdiction is given in small amounts to two justices of the peace. Besides the unpaid magistracy of the country there still remain (in 1856) seventeen stipendiary justices, with salaries and allowances amounting to L.450 each, paid by the English government. As these posts become vacant, no fresh appointments are

made. The common, and much of the statute law of England, is in force in Jamaica, but the latter must be re-enacted in the island. The bankruptcy laws have not been adopted; but by the Insolvent Debtors Act, a debtor making oath that he is possessed of nothing besides bare necessities, and delivering his books into the hands of the deputy-marshal, is, after remaining three months in prison, released from all claims. For the protection of creditors, it was formerly requisite to give three weeks' notice, and obtain a passport before leaving the island. Civil cases are decided by a majority of five in a jury of seven. The same number tries criminal cases, but the verdict must be unanimous. A special jury consists of twenty-one, of which each side may strike off seven. The law of capital punishment is by this act assimilated to that of England.

The great abuse of patent offices, the holders of which, living in England, received at one time L.30,000 a-year from Jamaica for duties performed by deputy, has long been suppressed, and the last sinecure of this kind has now expired. The ecclesiastical establishment consists of a bishop, whose diocese includes the Bahamas and Honduras, with L.3000 a-year, first appointed in 1825, previously to which the bishop of London was diocesan. This salary is paid by England, which also allows L.2000 a-year for archdeacons, and L.2000 a-year for assistants, and L.400 for a commissary. The present bishop, Dr Spencer, having resigned, receives a pension of L.1400 a-year out of his former salary, the rest of which is paid to his co-adjutor, Dr Courtenay, who is styled Bishop of Kingston and who receives, in addition, L.400 a-year as archdeacon and commissary of Middlesex,—making in all, L.2000 a-year. There are two other archdeacons, those of Cornwall and Surrey; the last being vicar-general. There are 22 rectors, corresponding to the number of parishes, and 50 island or perpetual curates, whose salaries are secured under an act which expires in 1859; but by the recent act of 1856 it is proposed to make an immediate reduction to the extent of about twelve and a half per cent., holding out the inducement of continuing this scale for fourteen years, and the threat of a larger reduction to those who will not agree. The rates under the bill are as follow:—

By these means the church establishment which, in the year 1855, cost L.36,777, 7s. 10d., is estimated for the year 1856 at L.29,398.

There are in addition seventeen Presbyterian, sixteen Moravian, three American, forty-four Baptist, twenty-two Wesleyan, ten Independent ministers, besides Roman Catholics and Jews.

The schools of these different denominations are calculated to contain 13,641 pupils. There are ten endowed schools under private charities, such as the Mico, Wolmer's, Munro and Dickenson's, Vere, &c., capable of instructing 1710 children; there are private schools educating 500; making a provision for the education of 15,841 children free of expense to the public. To these must be added 5733 belonging to the established church, making a total of 21,584 out of a population of about 380,000, or between five and six per cent. who are nominally receiving education, but the desultory attendance of the negro children makes these advantages more apparent than real. There has been no state provision for education independently of that for the ecclesiastical establishment for some years; in 1856 a vote of L.6000 for this purpose was negatived. As nearly connected with education the island press may properly be noticed here. There are in Kingston four daily papers—the Morning Journal, Colonial Standard, Daily Adver-

Jamaica, tiser, and Banner of the People; an advertising sheet and a Gazette appear occasionally. In Spanish Town there is the Watchman; in Falmouth, the Falmouth Post and Trelawny weekly; and in Montego Bay, the Cornwall Chronicle, and County Union weekly. They are not liable to stamp duty.

The population, according to the return of 1855, consists of 181,633 males, and 195,800 females; but this is based upon the last census, that of 1844, when the population was returned at 380,000, of whom 16,000 were white, 68,000 coloured, and the rest black, of whom about 1200 were maroons. Since then upwards of 40,000 people have died from cholera and small-pox, and about 2000 have emigrated to Navy Bay to work on the railway over the Isthmus of Panama, a portion of whom only have returned. The careless treatment of children by the negroes, and their almost invincible repugnance to pay doctors' fees, which has necessarily reduced the number of medical practitioners, prevent the natural rate of increase; and the waste of public money during the protracted dispute between the Council and House of Assembly, has caused the number of immigrants imported to fall very short of other colonies. We find, in consequence, that while 49,000 arrived in British Guiana between the years 1840 and 1852, only 14,000 were brought to Jamaica. The following returns have been made by the Emigration Commissioners of Immigrants introduced into Jamaica from 1848 to 1855, both inclusive:—

Besides which there were still in the island 1684 coolies who had arrived before 1847, and a considerable number of recaptured Africans. The criminal returns of this population are remarkably favourable; the number in prison throughout the island on the 31st December 1855 was only 583; and Sir H. Barkly reports that the numbers convicted of crimes in Jamaica when compared with British Guiana were as 18 to 33.

The feeling of security arising from the orderly behaviour of the lower classes, as well as of economy motives, have led to the disestablishment of the militia, who in 1816 numbered about 8000 foot, and 900 horse, and in 1830 were increased to 18,000 men, including artillery. There is still a nominal staff at head-quarters, and though the expenditure in 1852 was only L2, 14s., it had reached L297 in 1855, and was set down at L300 in the budget of 1856. The garrison of Jamaica has also been much reduced; in 1816 it consisted of about 5000 men. It is now generally composed of about 1400, of whom 600 are white, and the remainder Africans. The head-quarters of the white troops are at Newcastle, a cantonment originated by Sir W. Gomm in the Blue Mountains, about 4000 feet above the sea. A detachment is quartered at Maroon Town, formerly Trelawny, about 2000 feet above the sea in the Mountains of St James. The climate of these stations is so good that the troops are said to be less injured to heat at the end of a year there than when first landed. The head-quarters of the black troops belonging to one of the three West India Regiments are at Up Park Camp, near Kingston. This corps was formerly recruited entirely from the coast of Africa, but creole negroes, and even coolies, are now enlisted in its ranks. There are white and black artillerymen at Port-Royal, and a few men at Port-Henderson; at Lucea, the extreme E. of the island; and at Port-Antonio on the N. side. The whole of these troops are commanded by a major-general, whose official residence is at Kingston, and

are paid entirely by the Imperial Government, the island allowance having been for some time withdrawn. A small sum from the island civil list is expended annually upon the fortifications, which are, however, scarcely defensible. The naval department is under a commodore, whose flag-ship lies off Port-Royal, where the naval yards and hospital are situated. It is occasionally visited by the admiral and squadron of the North American station, which embraces the West India Islands. The police force has been reorganized by an act passed in 1856. It is now to consist of 41 sergeants, and 406 privates; and the custos of each parish is empowered, in case of emergency, to raise a constabulary consisting of one in every hundred of the inhabitants as an auxiliary force. The police are composed almost entirely of black and coloured people.

We now come to the revenue, and the property and commerce from which it arises.

The revenue of Jamaica was estimated, in a calculation made in 1830, on an average of ten years, at L490,000 currency, or about L327,000 sterling. This was independent of that raised by the vestries for parochial purposes, which amounted to about L300,000 currency, or L200,000 sterling. The public revenue of 1841 was L226,959, 18s. 3d.; the parochial, L177,491, 12s. 10d. sterling. The public expenditure, L291,415, 16s. 8d.; the parochial, L150,357, 16s. 8d. In the year 1854, owing to the suspension of the import and rum duties, and consequent large accumulation of taxable articles which had paid nothing to the treasury, the revenue fell to L96,624 sterling, while the expenditure was L197,633. In 1855 the following return was made:—

In the same year the local or parochial taxes amounted to about L80,000.

In the budget for 1856, the following estimates of the revenue and expenditure for the current year were presented to the Jamaica legislature:—

By an act of Assembly in 1854, the Council Fund of L.6000 a-year, originally granted in 1728, ceased, and it was provided that L.25,000 should be raised annually as a permanent civil list, for the purposes of the government of the island, and a further sum of L.30,000 for the interest on, and repayment of the guaranteed debt.

It is difficult to fix the value of the moveable and immoveable property in Jamaica, once estimated at 50 millions. The latter, however, that is, the land with the buildings on it, is periodically valued for taxation, and the hereditament tax is raised upon a sum equal to six per cent. on such valuation—that being, according to an arbitrary assumption, the net revenue of the land. Though the tax is paid upon many properties on which the cultivation has been given up, and which produce no revenue at all, this sum was fixed in 1850 at L.693,382, 4s. 3d., on an estimated value of about 11 millions and a half. Since then the decline has been rapid; and when it is remembered that the fall in rateable property in the next year exceeded 2 millions, there can be little doubt that the difference in value since the prosperous days of Jamaica amounts to at least 80 per cent. For many once valuable estates no purchaser could now be found on any terms. It is on record that 231 sugar estates have been abandoned, besides 243 coffee plantations, and 132 grass pens. It is notorious that the paper circulation, which amounted to L.258,816 in 1844, has dwindled to L.70,000 in 1855. It is clear, therefore, that though the public and parochial taxation has been reduced from about L.800,000 currency to less than L.300,000 sterling, it is much more burdensome to the tax payer now. Indeed, when it is considered that the value of articles exported, expensive as they are to produce, does not reach one million, it is evident that the estates in the aggregate yield no rental at all, but are maintained by non-resident proprietors possessed of other means, who are unwilling to abandon the hope of future improvement. Even supposing the whole money expended in raising these articles of export amounted to little more than double the public revenue of the country, a proportion, highly taxed as the island is admitted to be, quite beyond belief, it would follow that after payment of production, expenses, and taxes, little or no surplus would remain for the proprietor; but such expenses must in reality far exceed L.600,000, and can only be provided, as before observed, by those proprietors who have other funds at their disposal.

It is necessary to explain the two forms of calculation to which reference has been made—currency and sterling. The former was an arbitrary mode of reckoning, unrepresented by any coinage, employed until the year 1840, by which L.140 currency equalled nominally L.100 sterling; but a premium of about 18 per cent. was paid in addition to place this sum in England, so that upwards of L.166 in Jamaica were needed to pay L.100 in England. In 1840, an act passed, establishing the English computation, fixing the pound sterling at 5 dollars, or L.1, 13s. 4d. currency, and making English money the legal tender. Spanish and Portuguese coins are still current, the highest being the doubloon, or ounce, worth about L.3, 6s. 8d. Before this date, a "fivepenny," worth 3d. sterling, was the lowest coin. There is still no copper, and the lowest coin is the silver three-halfpence, coined especially for Jamaica, and called a predial, as intended for the payment of agricultural labourers. In former days, the only paper currency consisted of island cheques issued by the treasury. There are now two

banks of issue, a branch of the Colonial Bank, and the Bank of Jamaica. A third, the Planters' Bank, has been given up since the trade of the colony declined. The present issue is usually from L.70,000 to L.80,000. Savings banks have also been established in the island.

The commerce of Jamaica depends almost entirely on its agriculture. It has gradually lost the greater portion of the transit trade in consequence of the revolt, and subsequent disorganization of the Spanish colonies on the mainland, the establishment of St. Thomas as a free port, and the rapidity of steam communication between Europe and the American coast, which diminished the advantages of an emporium in the West Indies. Its agricultural prosperity has declined in equal proportion, though, from different causes, the value of its staple having been depreciated by successive acts of the Imperial Government, whereby the differential duties, under the protection of which the scheme of emancipation was originally intended to be carried out, were discontinued. In 1840, East India sugar was admitted on equal terms into the British market. Four years afterwards the same advantage was conceded to foreign sugar, the produce of free labour; and in 1846 to slave-grown sugar. Protection has also been removed from molasses, coffee, and cocoa. Under these circumstances, the want of adequate labour has prevented Jamaica competing with those countries in which, from slavery or other causes, there is a sufficient supply.

The following tables illustrate these observations:—

The exports consist of her own products only, the imports include those intended for re-exportation, as well as those taken for home consumption, which explains why, in the flourishing era of the transit trade, the balance should be apparently so much against Jamaica. The exports, too, are entered at their value in the place of growth, while to imports are added charges for freight, &c. The small imports of 1854 were partly owing to the goods imported in anticipation the year before, when the duties were not levied. The same cause accounts for the small quantity of rum exported in 1853, and the excess of the two following years, enough for two years' home consumption having been entered in the same year duty free. The following table gives the trade and navigation report for 1855:—

Arrivals in Jamaica in 1855.

Departures from Jamaica in 1855.

Of the ships in this list 40 were ships of war, 44 steamers, and 38 colliers.

Jamaica. Imports into the United Kingdom from Jamaica, of the principal articles of Native Produce in 1817 and 1855, showing, as far as possible, the Increase or Decrease in each at the latter date.

The largest sugar crop was in 1805, which exceeded 150,000 hhd.; that of 1855 did not reach 30,000 hhd., that of 1856 had fallen to 20,000 hhd. The largest coffee crop was in 1814, and exceeded 34 million pounds. The great increase of pimento is unfortunately accounted for by the rapid spread of the tree, which grows wild in Jamaica, over lands formerly under cultivation. Since 1852 a small quantity of copper ore has been exported, amounting in 1854 to 37 tons. Besides these principal articles, there is exported a small quantity of tamarinds, cocoa nuts, succades, shrub, ebony, lignum vitæ, and lancewood. There are five mining companies in Jamaica, all in their infancy—the Clarendon Consols, and Wheal Jamaica, in Clarendon; the Port-Royal and St Andrews, and the Ellerslie and Bardowie, in St Andrew; the Portland Mining Company in Portland. Of these the first two are at present the most promising. The principal imports into Jamaica are salt pork and beef, salt fish and oil, butter, lard, cheese, corn, corn-meal, oatmeal, flour, biscuits, rice, tobacco, wine, and beer; hardware cutlery and ironmongery; ready-made clothes, boots and shoes, and dry goods of all sorts; soap, candles, saddlery and harness; shingles, lumber, wood-hoops and coals.

There is a steam communication between England and Jamaica, and rice versa, twice a month, in 19 days. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's ships leave Southampton on the 2d and 17th of each month, calling at St Thomas, Porto Rico, and Jacmel, in Hayti, and reach Kingston on the 21st and 6th. They leave again for England on the 27th and 12th, making the course of post about 44 days. They also sail once a month between Jamaica and Honduras; course of post 10 days. There are frequent opportunities between Jamaica and Havana, and the United States. In the island there is a post twice a-day between Kingston and Spanish Town, and a communication twice a-week between these capitals and the country districts; besides expresses, the arrival and departure of the mail packets. Jamaica being on the direct route from England to Nicaragua, can scarcely fail to share in the growing importance of the states of Central America.

Hitherto its history, since emancipation, has been discouraging to the friends of liberty. The negro, on whom the cultivation of the island depends, has gradually retired from labour, and retrograded in the social scale. This does not arise from any hostile feeling towards the whites, with whom he usually lives on the most amicable terms; it is the natural result of removing all restraint from a people low in civilization, and consequently with few artificial wants, in a country where land is superabundant. The Jamaica negro can earn enough in a sugar plantation in a few weeks to buy a small patch of freehold land. The wood upon it forms his cottage; the vegetables which grow almost spontaneously support him in tolerable comfort. When his little property does not require his care, he works from time to time for hire; but as plantation after plantation is abandoned, and the country returns to its primeval forest, he is confined more and more to the society of his own race; and though not more addicted to crime, is rapidly re-

ceding into a savage state. During slavery the dissenting ministers possessed great influence over him; he now prefers the established church, because it costs him nothing, but he cares little for either. Not feeling the want of education, he does not seek it for his children, whom he prefers employing in his own service. Hence, neither churches nor schools are wanted in Jamaica, but congregations and scholars. These observations are confirmed by the last returns, which fix the diminution of children in the schools in 1854, as compared with the previous year, at 2000, and show this decrease to be less conspicuous in those belonging to the established church of England and Scotland, than in those of the Baptists and Independents. We can scarcely blame the negro for following the bent of his inclination; but it is evident that under these circumstances, unless there is a large and immediate supply of immigrants, to meet the expense of whose introduction, averaging at least £1.10 a head, there are no available funds, all society will come to a speedy end, and the island become a second Hayti. Already the enormous depreciation of property has caused the ruin of so many, that the name of Jamaica proprietor, once used proverbially to indicate wealth, is now associated with poverty and distress.

Jamaica is of a long oval shape, and has been compared to a seal with the head pointed to the west. Its surface is beautifully diversified with hills and valleys. An elevated range, called, in the eastern or highest part, the Blue Mountains, and terminating in Dolphin Head, to the W., runs longitudinally through the island, and other high ridges intersect this chain. On the S. the mountains are generally steep, with gigantic spines or buttresses rising from the plain at an average distance of 12 miles from the sea. Though difficult of access they are traversed by bridge roads in various directions to the height of nearly 6000 feet; and several passes, or gaps, as they are called, of great altitude, connect the two sides of the island. On these elevated ranges the coffee attains the greatest perfection, and above, dense forests ascend to the highest peak, composed chiefly of beef-wood, as it is called from its colour, and satin-wood. Under their shade the tree-fern grows to the height of 15 feet, and the flute-like note is heard of the solitaire, a bird only found in these wildernesses. On the N. side the mountains approach the sea closely, but more gradually, their conical forms are gently rounded, and in St Ann and Trelawny the lower slopes are shaded by pimento woods, the indigenous growth of the island, and elsewhere by orange groves, mango, and cedar forests, above which frequently towers the gigantic silk-cotton tree. The shady valleys between were once occupied by cacao walks, now destroyed; and on the lowlands, near the sea, were formerly the indigo works, long since abandoned. Here are now the sugar estates, in which the dark green of the cane is varied by the golden tint of the guinea grass, and the cabbage and cocoa-nut palms shoot up in long lines close to the water's edge, from which they are separated by a fringe of mangroves, growing below high-water mark, and the beautiful but poisonous manchineel. The waving

field of canes is broken at intervals by the white cluster of buildings composing the sugar works. The mill, the boiling-house, with its tall chimneys, and the stables, stores, and bookkeepers' houses surround a large court-yard. Above, on an eminence, is usually the proprietor's mansion, and close by, though completely buried in the broad foliage of the plantain and banana, the negro village. On these plantations during crop the scene is most animated. Bands of negroes, with cutlasses, attack the rows of canes which tower above their heads; wagons, drawn by oxen or mules, in endless succession, carry the canes to the mill; women and children hurry with the dry stalks to feed the fires; and the shouts, without which a negro seldom does any thing, announce afar off, in this clear atmosphere, the neighbourhood of a sugar estate. It is here, too, that the traveller sees most clearly the decline of the country. At each end of the island, in the parishes of Hanover and Portland, he may journey for miles through deserted plantations. Ridges, overgrown with guava bushes, mark the site of the corn fields; rank vegetation fills the court-yard, and even bursts through the once hospitable roof. A curse seems to have fallen upon the land, as if this generation were atoning for the sins of the past. For while we lament the ruin of the present proprietors, we cannot forget the unrequited toil which in times gone by created the wealth they have lost, nor that hapless race, the original owners of the soil, whose fate saddens the darkest page of history.

The sugar estates resemble generally those of the other islands, but Jamaica has a feature peculiar to itself. In the centre of the island, and towards the S. and W., are large plains, or table-lands, at an elevation of about 1000 feet, covered with a luxuriant growth of guinea grass, dotted with groves of tall trees, and, at greater intervals, with white houses and villages. From an eminence the whole country resembles a series of English parks. These are the pens, or grazing farms, where horses and cattle of most excellent quality are bred. They are chiefly in St Ann, Manchester, St Elizabeth, St James, and Hanover. The climate, at this elevation, is well suited to an European population, who cannot work on the sugar plantations, but may with safety be employed on the light and healthy duties of the farm. From one of the many points of view on the mountain range the country presents an aspect of beauty and grandeur scarcely to be surpassed. Above tower the lofty peaks, with clouds resting on their summits—around are magnificent forests—beneath are the peculiar hollow basins, called cock-pits—below them deep ravines, or wider valleys; through these flow rivers or mountain torrents, occasionally falling from the rocky ledges in cascades which would attract notice in any part of the world. At a greater distance the wide plains are spread out like a map, chequered with towns and villages; and the deeply indented coast, terminating to the east in lofty cliffs, is washed by the glittering waters of the Caribbean Sea. The view of the island from the sea has long been celebrated. Soon after leaving Cape Tiburon, the western point of Hayti, the Blue Mountains are in sight, and along the S. coast of Jamaica, from Point Morant to Kingston, the inhabited plains, sloping gradually up, till cultivation terminates in forest, present an aspect of no common beauty. From Fort Nugent, which is conspicuous under a steep hill to Port-Royal, runs a narrow sandy promontory, called the Palisades. Here is the great cemetery where so many victims to yellow fever lie buried that the name has become proverbial; and this neck of land incloses the harbour of Kingston, which is entered by a most intricate channel between Port-Royal and Port-Henderson, and beyond which the capital is seen stretching northwards towards the amphitheatre of the Liguana Hills, and protected by the loftiest range of the Blue Mountains. The heights of the principal peaks have been computed as follows:—Blue Mountain Peak, 7770 feet; Portland Gap

ridge, 6501 feet; Portland Gap, 5640 feet; and St Catherine's Peak, 4970 feet. It is stated, however, by some authorities that the three highest peaks on the grand ridge of the Blue Mountains, called Coldridge, have their respective summits 8184, 7656, and 7576 feet above the level of the sea.

Jamaica is, as its name imports, abundantly supplied with water. Upwards of two hundred rivers have been enumerated, few of which are navigable for vessels of any burden. Black River, the largest and least rapid of these, flows through a level country, and is accessible to small craft for about 30 miles. Salt River, and the Cabarita, both also on the S. side, are navigable by barges. The others on the S. are the Yallahs, Cobre, and Rio Minbo; on the N., Martha Brae, the White River at Buff Bay, the great Spanish River, and Rio Grande. Many of these are perfectly dry for six months in the year, leaving a stony channel, many hundred feet across, and twelve feet deep. These channels, which are commonly used as roads, are liable to be filled in an instant by an impetuous torrent, which comes down without warning, in consequence of a storm or waterspout bursting far away in the mountains, and many fatal accidents have been the result. The writer once saw the streets of Kingston laid suddenly two feet under water from a similar cause, with a perfectly clear sky overhead. Many of these rivers are of great value in turning mills and irrigating the plantations. The springs and rivulets are very numerous but unequally distributed; and from the uncertain supply of water, most estates are obliged to keep up large tanks or ponds at a great expense. Several of these springs are medicinal, the most remarkable of which are a hot salt spring near the mouth of the Milk River, in Vere, and a sulphureous spring, of the temperature of 123° Fahrenheit, near the beautiful village of Bath, in St Thomas in the East. Jamaica has sixteen secure harbours, the chief of which are Port Morant, Kingston, Old Harbour, Green Island, Montego Bay, Falmouth, Port Maria, and Port Antonio, besides thirty bays, roadsteads, or shipping stations, which afford tolerable anchorage. Those on the N. side are, however, exposed to the N. wind, or norther, which often sweeps over these seas with little warning, and irresistible force.

Jamaica is divided into three counties—Surrey, Cornwall, and Middlesex; and these are subdivided into twenty-two parishes, many of which are as large as English counties. The towns are not remarkable for architecture, drainage, or cleanliness. The official capital, Spanish Town, or St Jago de la Vega, as it is still called in official documents, is a small town of 7000 inhabitants, on the Cobre, about six miles from the sea. The governor's palace, called the King's House, is a large building occupying one side of a square, on the other sides of which are the public buildings of various kinds. Spanish Town is the residence of the judges, barristers, and other officials, and contains the cathedral; near it, on the way to St Ann's, is the beautiful road on the banks of the Cobre, called the Bog Walk. Kingston, the commercial capital, is considerably larger, with a population of 30,000: it is also hotter, and more unhealthy. In 1803 it was incorporated as a city, and is governed by a mayor, aldermen, and common council-men. There is a good theatre here, and a large English and Scotch church, besides other places of worship. It is on the sea, and the quays are very commodious, and well constructed. On the point of land which forms Kingston Harbour is the naval station of Port-Royal. Independently of the dockyards and barracks, the town is a wretched place, inhabited chiefly by people of colour. Savanna la Mar, a hot unhealthy town, destroyed by the sea in 1780, is the chief place of the county of Cornwall; and Falmouth and Montego Bay are the principal towns on the N. of the island. None of them contain any remarkable buildings, public or private. All who can, prefer living a little way in

Jamaica. the country, in the usual one-storied house of the tropics, with its green jalouses and deep verandah.

The soil is in most places deep and fertile, and for the growth of sugar, pimento, and ginger, and, as some think, of coffee, has never been surpassed. On the N. there is a reddish yellow soil. The brick mould, reckoned the best in the West Indies for the cane, is a deep warm hazel mould, easily laboured, and requiring little manure. The black-shell mould owes its fertility to the mineral salts and exuviae which it contains. On the S. side are large natural salt ponds, which of late years have been neglected. The principal soils in the interior are a red clay, a yellowish clay, a red grit, a loose conchaceous mould, a black mould or clay or marl, a loose vegetable mould on rock, a fine sand. The red sandstone of the lower mountains resembles much the porphyrite conglomerate of the higher, and both produce coffee; but while that grown on the former has been driven out of the market by the cheaply grown coffee of Ceylon, the latter retains its value, being considered by many superior to the Mocha which springs from a similar soil. Among minerals are—argillaceous dark purple schist; gneiss; steatite, and even serpentine; sienites, highly micaceous; and the hard lamellated amianthus, resembling petrified wood; white freestone; quartz of different kinds; limestone, and a kind of marble. Rich lead ore, impregnated with silver is found in St Andrew; radiated antimony and rich copper ores, abounding in malachite, are found chiefly in Clarendon, Portland, and St George; magnetic iron and cobalt in St George and Metcalf; anthracite coal in Portland and St George; but neither gold nor pure silver have been found, though the Indians possessed ornaments of both when discovered by the Spaniards. A species of marl, common in Jamaica, was eaten by the negroes during slavery, so much to the detriment of their health and value that the practice was made penal. The honeycomb limestone rock, of which a great part of the island is composed, contains no minerals, but is hollowed into innumerable caverns and fissures. Many of these are beautifully ornamented with stalactites, particularly one on the Roaring River estate, near Savanna la Mar. In some of these fissures called "sinks," rivers suddenly disappear to rise again at a considerable distance. On the Sweet River estate several springs rise like fountains with great force in one field. On the road from Falmouth to Maroon Town, a considerable stream pours from an opening in the solid rock several feet above the ground, and the Rio Bueno streams at once from the foot of a perpendicular rock in St Ann. There are fewer traces of fire in Jamaica than in the other islands; but the Burnt Hill, near Hope Bay, seems to be an extinct volcano. There is great variety of climate; the medium heat at Kingston is about 80°, and the minimum 70° Fahrenheit, throughout the year. At an elevation of from 4000 to 5000 feet, the average range is from 55° to 65°; the minimum in winter being 44°. On the Blue Mountain peak, in August, the writer found the temperature 44° at sunrise, and ice of some thickness has been formed there in March. Snow has never been known to fall. The alternation of temperature is from 8° to 10° on the S. side, and more on the N., but the transitions are not so sudden and detrimental as in many parts of the continent of North America. The grand compensation for excess of temperature is afforded by the breezes which regularly every morning set in from the sea, to the land, and every evening from the land to the sea, to preserve the equilibrium which the noontide sun has disturbed; when these are sometimes interrupted the heat is intense, the thermometer rising to 100° Fahrenheit, and the island becomes unhealthy. There is no striking variety in the length of the day, or in the seasons, except the alternations of wet and dry. Storms of thunder and lightning are prevalent, and sometimes very mischievous in autumn. The

hurricane season ranges from July to October. The periodical rains, which last ordinarily for six weeks, are called the May and October seasons, but there is great irregularity in the time of their falling. The N. side usually suffers less from drought than the S., but even there the rains are sometimes very capricious, following the course of a river, or being stopped by a ridge of hills. The parishes of Vere and St Dorothy, on the S. side, have sometimes been more than a year without rain, to the destruction of vegetation and cattle.

Some parts of Jamaica, particularly near morasses, are extremely unhealthy, and there few escape intermittent fevers, or "fever and ague," as it is called, but in general the climate is favourable to those who live carefully, though when the yellow fever comes as an epidemic, which happens every seven or eight years, it carries off all alike. It is, however, rarely known at an elevation of 1000 feet, and in some of the hilly districts, especially the Santa Cruz Mountains and Pedro Plains, there are remarkable instances of longevity among the English settlers. The annual mortality among the white troops for twenty years ending 1837 was 130 in the 1000, or a seventh of the entire force. Since they have been fed on fresh provisions, and more especially since they have been encamped on high ground, this has been reduced to 34 per 1000. Of late years the cholera has made its appearance, and committed extraordinary havoc; and since emancipation smallpox has been more prevalent, on account of the negroes neglecting the vaccination of their children. The vegetable productions of Jamaica are far too numerous to be described. There are forest trees fit for every purpose, from shipbuilding to cabinet-making, among which the ballata, rosewood, satinwood, mahogany, lignum vitae, lancewood, and ebony, are conspicuous; but the scarcity of labour makes it cheaper to import planks ready sawn from America. The logwood, the trunk of which resembles the clustered columns of Gothic architecture, and the fustic, are largely exported for dyeing. The Jamaica cedar (Cedrela odorata), with ash-like leaves, is valuable for the interior of houses, as its scented wood keeps off insects. The silk-cotton tree (Ceiba Bombax or Eriodendron) is one of the largest in Jamaica; its silky pods are used to stuff pillows, but, from want of adhesion in the fibres is useless for manufacture. The pimento is indigenous, and furnishes the allspice. The bamboo, the coffee, the cacao or chocolate tree, are well known productions; the last, however, is disappearing, and the export has ceased. Several species of palm abound, the macca, the fan palm, and screw palm, but the noblest is the palmetto royal (Areca oleracea), the green top of which is called the mountain cabbage, and eaten as a vegetable. The cocoanut is the most valuable of all this tribe. The mango, which overspreads the island, forming a splendid forest tree, and affording food for man and beast, was introduced by Rodney, who took it from a French ship; the breadfruit by the famous Bligh in 1793. The papaw has the peculiar property of rendering meat tender. The lace-bark tree, found near Maroon Town, has an inner bark of so delicate a texture that ladies' dresses have been made of it. The guava, from which the delicious preserve is made, is a weed of the country, and the fruit when raw scarcely eatable. The palma christi, from which castor oil is made, is a very abundant annual. A new species of silkworm (the Bombyx Cynthia), which feeds on its leaf, has lately been introduced from India, by the Jamaica Society of Arts, founded by Sir C. Grey. The sunflower is sometimes cultivated for oil. A variety of the Cactus Opuntia, on which the cochineal feeds, is common, and from which, as well as from the insect, recent experiments have proved that a dye may be obtained. English vegetables grow in the hills; while the plains produce the plantain, cocoa, yam, cassava, ochra, beans and peas of various sorts, ginger, and arrowroot. Maize

and guinea corn are generally cultivated, and the guinea grass, accidentally introduced in 1750, has overspread the whole island, and forms the most wholesome and strengthening food for horses and cattle. The principal fruits are the orange, the shaddock, the lime, the grape or cluster fruit, the pineapple, neseberry, granadilla, star-apple, custard-apple, mamee sapota, mango, bananas, grapes, melons, the avocado pear, the breadfruit, and tamarind, though the last three would be more correctly ranked among vegetables. There is a botanic garden near Kingston, and a finer one at Bath, where many now naturalized exotics were first planted. The sarsaparilla is erroneously supposed to grow in Jamaica, though it is classed in the customs' returns there among the imports. It is brought from the Spanish main, and re-exported by the Jamaica Jews, in whose hands the trade is; hence it is called Jamaica sarsaparilla. The sugar-cane was cultivated at an early period in Jamaica by the Spaniards, and was so much extended by the English that, in 1671, we read of sugar works scattered over the whole island. There are several varieties, the most valuable being the one brought from Bourbon in 1799, which is of a bright yellow; and the Mont Blanc, of three sorts, white, violet, and blue. Besides which is the ribbon-cane, beautifully striped with various colours, which is coarse and dry, but more hardy than the other sorts. The statistics of the sugar and coffee cultivation have been given elsewhere. There are many beautiful flowers in the island, the most remarkable of which are the aloe, the yucca, the datura, the mountain pride, the portlandia; the cactus and cereus tribe, the various kinds of convolvulus and ipomoea, and two beautiful descriptions of plumeria, called the tree jasmine. Innumerable varieties of ferns grow in the mountains, and orchids in the woods. The pastures are infested by that interesting mimosa, the sensitive plant. It is eaten by sheep, but is armed with minute thorns, which make troublesome wounds in their feet. There are many beautiful insects, among which the fire-flies are most remarkable. There are fourteen sorts of Lampyridæ or fire-flies, besides the Elateridæ or lantern beetles, which are larger and more luminous; but neither in flowers nor insects is Jamaica so rich as more southern islands. To compensate for this it has no venomous serpents, though abounding in harmless snakes and lizards. A large lizard, the iguana, is considered a delicacy, as are the land-crab and tortoise. The scorpion and centipede are poisonous, but not very common or dangerous. Ants, mosquitoes, and sandflies, swarm in the lowlands. Bees, among which is a stingless variety, are numerous in the woods, and produce excellent honey. It is a popular error that in the tropics flowers have no scent and birds no song. The datura and orange are among many instances to the contrary in the former case; and as to the latter, Goss enumerates some twenty different song birds in Jamaica, among which may be mentioned the Jamaica nightingale, a kind of mocking-bird (Merula Jamaicensis), and a species of humming-bird (Mellisuga humilis). Parrots and pigeons are common, and the wild Guinea fowl; also a species of goatsucker, called the mosquito hawk, and a great variety of water-birds, among which is the pelican and a sort of albatross. The crane, heron, plover, snipe, ortolan (or rice-bird of Carolina), and quail, are migratory. The aura vulture, or Turkey buzzard, called the John Crow, is numerous, and valuable as a scavenger. By its instinct the concealed body of a murdered man has more than once been traced in Jamaica. The sea and rivers swarm with fish; among the larger ones are the shark, the nurse shark, the bonito, the sword and saw fish; besides the snapper, mullet, king-fish, Spanish mackerel, the flying-fish, &c. The cachalot is found. Turtles abound; and the seal and manatee, or river cow, are sometimes found, and the crocodile (called erroneously alligator). Jamaica, when dis-

covered, contained but few species of animals. Besides Jamaica, the alco, there was the utia or Indian cony, the musk-rat, the armadillo, monkey, agouti, peccary, opossum, and racoon. At present the only wild animals are the wild hog (an African variety, introduced from the Canaries), a kind of deer (the cariacon), goats, rats, and mice. The rats commit serious ravages among the canes, and those which feed only in the cane-fields are by some esteemed a delicacy. This species, called the Charles Price rat, was introduced to destroy a smaller kind; but the remedy seems to have proved worse than the evil. The breed of oxen has been much improved by judicious crossing, and can scarcely be surpassed. The horses have much of the Arab blood. They are small but fleet, and at the island races have often beaten English racers, particularly some taken out by the Marquis of Normanby, when governor. The Cleveland bay has lately been introduced from England, with a view to size and bone. The mules are large, hardy, and sagacious, and much used for mountain-riding, as well as for carrying baggage and working on the estates. The sheep and pigs are of excellent quality, and the pork of Jamaica is considered much more wholesome than that of England, being frequently recommended to invalids. Goats are much reared by the negroes, but they are very mischievous in sugar and coffee plantations. The Cuba bloodhound is used as a watchdog, being the species which thrives best in a hot climate; the English hound and terrier, which have frequently been introduced, soon degenerate and die. Poultry succeeds well, particularly the turkey, the Guinea fowl, and Muscovy duck.

The principal publications relating to Jamaica are—Long's History, 1774; Bryon Edwards' History, 1809, with an Appendix, 1819; Renny's History, 1807; Mathison, 1811; Howard's Laes of Jamaica, 1827; Beckford's History; Dallas' Maroon War; Stewart's Jamaica; Monk Lewis' Tour; Madden's Jamaica; Montgomery Martin, 1836; Philippo's Past and Present State of Jamaica, 1843. The earlier histories are scarcely applicable to the present day, while many of the later publications are mere vehicles for conveying the author's views for or against slavery. By far the best and most reliable information is contained in the despatches of successive governors, published in the parliamentary Blue Books; many of which, and particularly those of Sir Charles Grey, contain admirable expositions of the state of the country, and causes of its decline. The natural history of Jamaica has also been the theme of many writers—Sloane, in 1692; Brown, 1754; Barham, 1794; Lunan, 1814. These authors have a most able and enthusiastic successor in Gosse, whose Journal of a Naturalist in Jamaica, 1851, and Birds of Jamaica, 1847, are delightful books. For vivid pictures of scenery and life in Jamaica, Tom Cringle's Log, and The Cruise of the Midge, by Michael Scott, a Kingston merchant, are unrivalled.

Before concluding this article it is necessary to refer to a dependency called the Caymanas, or Cayman Isles. These are three small coral islands or keys, in N. Lat. 19. to 19. 20., and 30 to 40 leagues W.N.W. from Point Negril, Jamaica, and about the same distance S. of Cuba. Grand Cayman lies off the centre of the Yucatan Passage; Cayman-Braque or Brac, and Little Cayman are near each other, and about 34 miles N.E. from Grand Cayman. They were discovered by Columbus, but no settlement was ever made by the Spaniards. Grand Cayman, the only one occupied, is about a mile and a half long by a mile broad, and contains about 1000 acres. It is very low, entirely without springs, and overgrown with low stunted shrubs. These islands are favourite breeding-places for turtles, immense shoals of which animals frequent the low sandy shore for the purpose of depositing their eggs. The present race of inhabitants are entirely coloured people, whose ostensible