Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from Getty Research Institute https://archive.org/details/starksjamaicagui00star_1 STARK’S JAMAICA GUIDE (ILLUSTRATED) CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF EVERYTHING RELATING TO JAMAICA OF WHICH THE VISITOR OR RESI- DENT MAY DESIRE INFORMATION INCLUDING ITS HISTORY, INHABITANTS, GOVERNMENT, RESOURCES, AND PLACES OF INTEREST TO TRAVELLERS jFuIIg Illustrate!) WITH MAPS , ENGRAVINGS , AND PHOTO-PRINTS BY JAMES H. STARK BOSTON JAMES H. STARK, PUBLISHER Equitable Building LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY, Limited Copyright, 1898, By JAMES H. STARK Typography by C. J Peters & Son, Boston. Plimpton ^rfss H. M. PUMFT ON 4 CO., PRINTERS & BINDERS, NORWOOD, MASS., U.S.A. PREFACE. The purpose of the writer in presenting this book to the public is to bring to the notice of those unac- quainted with Jamaica some of the many attractions to be found there, and a brief history and descrip- tion of the same. It may be truthfully said that there are few spots on the globe more beautiful than some parts of this island. The wonderfully blue water that washes its shores ; the stretches of grass land, alternating with the tropical foliage of a vivid green never seen in a northern climate ; the background of mountains, whose tops are lost in the clouds ; and, over all, a tropical sky with its peculiarly soft and voluptuous coloring, — all these combine to form a picture of such exquisite loveli- ness that they are a revelation to the traveller. In compiling this work the author is indebted to such works as “ Bryan Edwards’s History of the West Indies,” “ Government Handbook of Ja- maica,” “The New Jamaica,” “Jamaica at the Columbian Exposition,” “ Tourist Guide to the iii IV PREFACE. Island of Jamaica.” Also numerous magazines and other articles too numerous to mention. The author has also, by the aid of maps and numerous reproductions of photographs and rare prints, been enabled to present the best illustrated work on Jamaica ever published. CONTENTS CHAPTER. PAGE. I. The Voyage i II. Discovery and Settlement by the Spaniards . 7 III. Conquered and Settled by the English ... 16 IV. Recent History 31 V. Communication and Transportation 41 VI. Kingston 50 VII. Library and Museum 60 VIII. Places of Interest in the Vicinity of Kings- ton, Castleton Gardens 69 IX. Newcastle, Gordon Town, and Blue Mountain Peak 77 X. Port Royal 83 XI. Cane River, Yallahs,- Morant Bay, Bath and Manchioneal 92 XII. Spanish Town 103 XIII. Mandeville and Montpelier 111 XIV. Montego Bay 121 XV. Moneague, Ocho Rios, Roaring River, and St. Ann’s Bay 131 XVI. Port Antonio 139 XVII. Agriculture and Climate 152 XVIII. The Maroons 165 XIX. Inhabitants and Government 180 v I L L U S T R A TIONS. Port Royal Travellers’ Palm Map of West Indies Map of Jamaica Llandovey Falls Portrait of Sir Henry Morgan . Mango-Tree Bog-Walk Road Tom Cringle’s Cotton-Tree Market Women, Kingston Market . Rio Coble River Duke Street Theatre Royal Myrtle Bank Hotel Myrtle Bank Garden Jubilee Market, Kingston Map of Kingston Lawes Street Harbor Street St. Ann’s Church. and Halfway Tree King’s House Road to Castleton Castleton Gardens Road to Newcastle King’s House Garden Earthquake at Port Royal Sugar-cane Cutters Interior of a Sugar Factory Banana Women Shipping Bananas, Port Antonio vii . Frontispiece facing page io “ “ 4 “ “ IS “ “ 20 “ “ 22 “ “ 26 “ “ 34 “ “ 42 “ “ 46 “ “ 48 “ “ 50 “ “ 52 “ “ 54 “ “ 56 “ “ 58 “ “ 60 “ “ 62 “ “ 66 “ “ 70 “ “ 72 “ “ 74 “ “ 76 “ “ 78 “ “ 84 “ “ 90 “ “ 94 “ “ 96 “ “ 98 “ “ 100 ILL USTRA TIONS. viii Rodney’s Monument, Spanish Town facing page 104 Bog Walk “ “ 106 Rio Cobre Hotel .... “ “ 108 Mandeville “ “ 112 Market, Mandeville “ “ 114 Brooks Hotel, Mandeville “ “ 116 Montpelier Hotel “ “ 118 Montego Bay “ “ 122 Lucea “ “ 128 Moneague Hotel “ “ 132 Falls of Roaring River “ “ 134 Port Maria “ “ 136 Cocoanut Palms “ “ 140 Washing Clothes in the River “ “ 142 Port Antonio “ “ 144 Harbor of Port Antonio “ “ 148 Golden Vale “ “ 150 Husking Cocoanuts, Port Antonio “ “ 154 River Head “ “ 158 Matha Brae “ “ 162 Attack on Trelavvney Town “ “ 168 Surrender of the Maroons “ “ 174 Maroon Town “ “ 176 Ford “ “ 182 Stewarts Town “ “ 186 Newly arrived Coolies “ “ 190 STARK’S ILLUSTRATED JAMAICA GUIDE. CHAPTER I. THE VOYAGE. Trips to the Tropics during the winter season are being so generally recommended by physi- cians, both European and American, and are such an attractive and pleasant means of escaping our bleak and inclement winters, that the writer has been induced to issue this book for travellers wish- ing to visit and enjoy the genial climate and superb scenery of the fairest of the West India Islands, “Jamaica, the Gem of the Antilles.” - Nowhere else so accessible to Americans can be found such a delightful tropical winter resort with a summer climate. Unquestionably it is the most picturesque and attractive island of the West Indian group. Lying as it does within the zone of perpetual sum- mer, it possesses a climate unsurpassed for genial- ity and charm as a winter resort, at a time when the icy north bears its most blustering and chilly aspect. Jamaica also has a varied and at the same time a very equable climate. In the low 2 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED lands it is tropical, but on the higher lands and mountains it is much cooler, almost temperate, changing from an average of 78° on the seacoast to between 50° and 70° in the mountains ; but it differs from our climate in this — there are none of those sudden changes which are so trying in a northern winter. No other island in the West Indies possesses such frequent communications with the United States and Canada, and at such a moderate cost, as Jamaica, on an average one steamer a day leaving Jamaica for the American continent. The oldest and best line from New York to Kingston is the Atlas line, and from Boston to Port Antonio the steamers of the Boston Fruit Company. From England the principal line is the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. The restorative effect of a sea voyage is recog- nized so universally that it is not necessary to further emphasize it. The drawback to most sea voyages is that they are either so short as to lose half their salutary effect, or so long as to become monotonous and tedious. A trip to Jamaica strikes a happy medium. It is also entirely free from fog, and the traveller is exempt from the suffering so frequently attending voyages upon the storm- tossed North Atlantic. The West India trip is truly “ a voyage upon a summer sea.” Leaving the snow-clad hills and the icy blasts of a coming rigorous winter, the traveller hastens away to the home of sunshine and flowers. Like dreams seem the last farewell, as he sees over the taffrail be- JAMAICA GUIDE. 3 neath the chill December sun, the fading form of the well-beloved shores, and turns his head due south to chase the health-giving sunbeams of the Tropics. In two days we are traversing summer seas, and begin to look up our light summer cloth- ing. So far we have probably experienced no rough weather, unless we happen to start during a northwester ; before us we have the more tranquil waters of the South Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. Flying-fish begin now to be a source of interest and amusement, as they skim from sea to sea, dipping their wings ever and anon to plume themselves for farther flight. Then we pass through large masses of gulf-weed, and think of the memorable day when Columbus's ship first plunged her bows into the tan- gled ocean meadow now known as the Saragossa Sea, and the sailors were ready to mutiny, fearing hidden shoals. This gulf-weed probably has its ori- gin on the great Bahama banks, and by the great ocean river that flows across them is thrust away to the northeast, where it lies in a vast eddy or central pool ; here it revolves continually, carrying with it floating wrecks and debris of every description, at- tached to which are whole families of fish, — crabs, cuttlefish, and mollusks. The first land sighted is Watlings Island, which was the first land discovered by Columbus on this continent. On a headland, about two hundred yards from the beach on which Columbus is sup- posed to have landed, a monument has been erected to commemorate this great event. It was built by the Chicago Herald at the time of the World’s 4 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED Fair, held in Chicago to celebrate the four hun- dredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus. A few hours more bring us to “ Bird Rock ” with its picturesque lighthouse. It is con- nected with Crooked Island by a low coral reef. This island is one of an extensive group of islands, of which Acklin and Fortune Islands are the largest. Many of the Loyalists from the Southern colonies settled here after the American Revolution. In the course of fifteen years after their arrival here there were forty plantations, with about three thousand acres of cotton and one thousand negroes. Large quantities of cotton were raised here ; but the lands gradually wearing out in the absence of proper fertilizer, the planters finally abandoned its cultivation . 1 We next come to a low lying island on our left; this is Fortune Island. It is separated from Crooked Island by a small channel. The Atlas line steam- ers stop here to leave the mails, and to embark negroes to assist in discharging cargoes in Central American ports. Castle Island, with its lighthouse and flourishing cocoanut plantation, presents a very picturesque appearance. As mariners pass through Crooked Island passage and by the lighthouses, they are thankful that the Bahama Islands belong to Great Britain, for no other country, except the United States, would think of erecting such costly structures as these lighthouses are in such a remote locality. 1 For further information concerning these islands see “ Stark’s History and Guide to the Bahamas.” 6 STARK S ILLUSTRATED We do not see land again till we sight Cuba, which is about a half a day’s run from the Ba- hama Islands. The steamer runs quite close to Cape Maysi as we round the eastern end of Cuba. The lighthouse stands on a low, flat point of land, behind which rise the bold, precipitous shores of Cuba, rising in a series of terraces and beetling cliffs to the mountains, which rear their lofty peaks in the background until lost in the fleecy clouds that drift about their summits. Then we see in the distance on our left the splendid mountains of Hayti, the famed turbulent negro republic. We are now steaming through Spanish waters, the scene of the halting of numerous steamers by the Span- ish gunboats that patrol this end of the island, on the lookout for filibustering expeditions, and ship- ments of arms and supplies to the insurgents. For half a day we steam along close to the Cuban shore, so near that we can see the trees and plantations without the aid of a glass. The mountains of Ja- maica now loom up directly ahead, clothed with luxuriant verdure from foot to crest, the latter showing many sharp outlines and peaks. Viewed from any point, Jamaica, as regards scenery and verdure, is a magnificent island, and surpassed by no island in the world. Its volcanic origin gives grandeur and sharpness to the outline of the moun- tains which is quite unique. Mountains rise one above another, clothed here with the banana and cabbage palm, rent there by the fissures caused by the floods of the tropical rains ; here rises a bold crag, there a wooded hill ; they extend from the JAMAICA GUIDE. 7 seashore to the lofty summits of the Blue Moun- tains. The breeze blowing from the land brings with it a spicy and aromatic odor as we approach the island, and our voyage, so pleasant and won- derful, is at an end ; and it is not without a pang of regret that we hear the rattle of the chain as it spins through the hawse-hole as the anchor plunges to the bottom. 8 STAA’/T'S ILL USER A TED CHAPTER II. DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT BY THE SPANIARDS. The island of Jamaica was discovered by Co- lumbus in 1494. On the 25th of September, 1493, Columbus left the Bay of Cadiz on his second voy- age of discovery; and on the 3d of May, 1494, while sailing in a southerly direction from Cuba, he came in sight of “ the blue summit of a vast and lofty island at a great distance, which began to arise like clouds above the horizon.” Two days later he anchored in the harbor off the town, now known as Port Maria, on the northern coast of Ja- maica. Some slight resistance was threatened by the Indians who flocked in their canoes around the strange Spanish ship ; but they were soon appeased, and Columbus anchored in the harbor, which he thought the most beautiful of all he had seen, and to which he gave the name of “ Santa Gloria.” Leaving his anchorage to seek more sheltered waters, he put out to sea, and sailed a few miles in a westerly direction to Ora Cabecca, now written Oracabessa. The landing was not effected with- out opposition and protest on the part of the natives, who were treated to a shower of arrows from the Spanish crossbows, and terrified into confused flight by a huge bloodhound keen to scent human blood. JAMAICA GUIDE. 9 On reaching the shore, Columbus, in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella, took formal possession of his new discovery, which he named Santiago, though it has always been known by its Indian name of Xaymaca, modernized in spelling and pro- nunciation into Jamaica. A few days sufficed to repair his ships and to establish friendly intercourse with the Indians, and again the voyage was contin- ued as far as Montego Bay. Two months later he sailed leisurely along the southern coast of Jamaica, receiving kindness and hospitality from the natives, but making no attempt to explore the country. At Old Harbor Bay the chief, or cacique, boarded his ship, accompanied by many members of his family and staff, and in the course of an interesting interview, proposed that he himself and all his family should return with Columbus to Spain. The offer was courteously declined ; and the journey was continued till, on the 19th of August, Columbus passed out of sight of Jamaica to the southeastern extremity of what is now known as Morant Point, to which he gave the name of Cape Farol. Thus ended the first visit of Columbus to Jamaica. On the 9th of May, 1502, Columbus started on his fourth and last voyage, with a fleet of four ships, and crews of a hundred and fifty men. He was then sixty-six years of age, and his body bore traces of the toil and trouble of a hard life. But more trouble was to come, and Jamaica was to be the scene of its patient endurance. With the details of the earlier portion of the voyage we are IO STARK'S ILLUSTRATED not here concerned, and pass on to the 23d of June, 1503, when, as he himself wrote, with “ his people dismayed and down-hearted, almost all his anchors lost, and his vessels bored as full of holes as a honeycomb,” driven by opposing winds and currents, Columbus put into Puerto Bueno (Dry Harbor). On the following day, failing to find either sufficient food or fresh water, he sailed east- ward to another harbor, since known as Don Chris- topher’s Cove. His forlorn and desperate condition is thus described by his greatest historian: “ His ships, reduced to mere wrecks, could no longer keep the sea, and were ready to sink even in port. He ordered them therefore to be run aground within a bow-shot of the shore, and fastened to- gether side by side. They soon filled with water to the decks. Thatched cabins were then erected at the prow and stern for the accommodation of the crews, and the wreck was placed in the best possi- ble state of defence. Thus castled in the sea, he wished to be able to repel any sudden attack of the natives, and at the same time to keep his men from roving about the neighborhood and indulging in their usual excesses. No one was allowed to go on shore without especial license, and the utmost precaution was taken to prevent any offence being given to the Indians. Any exasperation of them might be fatal to the Spaniards in their present forlorn situation. A firebrand thrown into their wooden fortress might wrap it in flames, and leave them defenceless amidst hostile thousands.” Fortunately the natives turned out to be well dis- Sad ,i IdAv d'| , JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 1 posed to their visitors ; and for a time there was little difficulty in obtaining, by exchange of orna- ments and other trifles of European manufacture, sufficient food to support the shipwrecked crews. But the supply was not inexhaustible. The country indeed was fertile ; but on the other hand, the popu- lation was large, and Columbus’s men were both hungry and fastidious. Dreading the time when the supplies of the district should be exhausted and his followers reduced to famine, Columbus deter- mined on what we may consider the first explora- tion of Jamaica. Diego Mendez, one of the bravest and most loyal of his officers, was sent on a foraging expedition with three other men. They travelled along the coast, and a few miles inland, through the present parishes of St. Ann, Trelawny, St. James, and Hanover. Friendly terms were made with dif- ferent chiefs, — the names of two of these, Huarco and Ameyro, are preserved ; and a regular sup- ply of food was guaranteed in exchange for fish- hooks, knives, beads, combs, and such like articles. The food to be obtained would largely consist of cassava bread, fish, birds, and small animals some- what resembling rabbits. Mendez returned from his mission only to be called upon for more important services. The sup- ply of provisions was of course an immediate ne- cessity ; but the greatest need was that of means to get back to Spain, or at any rate to get into com- munication with Spaniards who could send ships to the rescue of the wrecked mariners. Accord- ingly, with a small mixed crew of Spaniards and 12 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED Indians, Mendez was sent in a canoe to Hispaniola, to seek assistance from Ovando, and to continue his journey to Spain with despatches from Columbus. The first attempt to accomplish his hazardous un- dertaking was a failure. Mendez was captured by Indians, and barely escaped with his life, his com- panions being put to death. The second attempt was successful, but many weary weeks elapsed be- fore Columbus heard of its success. In the mean- time his troubles rapidly increased. In addition to the ordinary infirmities of old age and the effects of a life of peril and exposure, he lay helplessly crippled with gout on board his stranded ship. His men lost faith in him. He had been banished, they said, from Spain. His ships had been forbidden to anchor in the harbors of Hispaniola. Mendez, it was true, had gone ; but he had been sent on a secret mission to procure pardon for Columbus, who was otherwise exiled for life to Jamaica. If he were willing to attempt to escape, his age and sickness incapacitated him from risking a voyage in an Indian canoe, the only available vessel of trans- port. They must take the matters into their own hands, and at any rate secure their own personal safety. They were beyond doubt ungrateful and unreasonable, but men contemplating mutiny take little account either of gratitude or of reason. The mutiny was headed bv two brothers, Francisco and Diego de Porras, the former of whom was captain of one of the caravels, and the latter occupied the position of purser and accountant-general of the expedition. It is useless to argue with determined JAMAICA GUIDE. 13 men. Columbus was for a moment in personal clanger, but his life was saved by the intervention of his brother. The mutineers were permitted to embark in ten canoes, which had been purchased from the Indians. They coasted the north of Ja- maica, sailing in a westerly direction, landing here and there, pillaging, and outraging, representing themselves as acting under the orders of Columbus. Two attempts to cross to Hispaniola failed ; and the mutineers “wandered from village to village, a dissolute and lawless gang, supporting themselves by fair means or foul, according as they met with kindness or hostility, and passing like a pestilence Trough the island.” To return to Columbus, the weight of his troubles was daily increasing. No news came of or from Mendez ; the supplies of provisions began gradually to decrease, until actual starvation was within easy reach. Under these cir- cumstances it was that Columbus had resort to what has since become in fiction, if not in fact, a hack- neyed and familiar trick. His knowledge of as- tronomy enabled him to predict that an eclipse of the moon would take place at a certain hour. This eclipse, he represented, was to be a sign that his great Deity was angry with the people for not continuing to supply him with food. The eclipse came ; the Indians were amazed, alarmed, terri- fied. Later on, apparently in reply to the prayers of Columbus, the moon resumed her wonted func- tions, and a plentiful supply of provisions was se- cured for the future. Months passed before news came from Mendez. 14 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED At last a ship anchored some distance from the shore, and put off a boat. It promised badly for Columbus when, as the boat approached his wreck, he caught sight of the ill-omened features of Diego de Escobar, whom years ago he had condemned to death, who had been pardoned by Bobadilla, and partly in consequence of whose false and vin- dictive evidence Columbus had been displaced from his command in 1500. The ill omen proved true; for Escobar’s relief consisted of a cask of wine, a flitch of bacon, and a letter containing vague prom- ises of future succor. The wine and bacon were finished long before the promises were kept. Es- cobar’s functions, in fact, had been those of a spy, not of a friend. Columbus took advantage of this reopening of communications with the outer world to bring back into allegiance his rebel followers, who were dis- heartened and worn out by the miseries and toils of a lawless and predatory life. Most of them would long before have willingly returned, but they were prevented from doing so by the elder Porras. A sort of conference was held at the Indian vil- lage of Maima, now known as Mammee Bay, — a conference which ended in a free fight, in which the rebels were defeated, and Francisco de Porras was taken prisoner. At last suspense was at an end, as two vessels were seen entering the harbor, — one sent from Spain by the faithful Mendez, and the other from Hispaniola by the treacherous Ovando, whose neg- JAMAICA GUIDE. IS lect of Columbus had so roused public feeling against him that he was driven to assume a virtue, if he had it not, and to send genuine help to the unfortunate discoverer. Thus on the 28th of June, 1504, after a visit which was almost an imprisonment of upwards of twelve months, Columbus left Jamaica. There is much that is pathetic about this twelve months’ stay in Jamaica. It is extremely doubtful whether Co- lumbus ever left the shelter of his stranded ships. He was an old man when he came; toil, injustice, anxiety, disappointment, had intensified the natural infirmities of old age ; gout kept him crippled in his cabin; and, leaving Jamaica, he went home to die. Coldly received by the people for the pride of whose nationality he had done so much, almost friendless, poverty-stricken, his health ruined, and his spirits crushed, he lingered for two years be- fore death mercifully set him free to embark on the last and greatest of his voyages. Columbus died at Seville on the 20th of May, 1506, in the seventieth year of his age, not know- ing, even to the last, that he was the discoverer of a new and vast continent, which was to take its name not from him, but from one of his companions. 5 TALK 'S ILL USTRA TED 16 CHAPTER III. CONQUERED AND SETTLED BY THE ENGLISH. Jamaica, thus discovered and acquired, remained in the possession of Spain for upwards of a century and a half. It has been said that the transactions of the Spaniards during this period, as far as Ja- maica is concerned, have scarcely obtained any notice in history ; to this may be added, that, when the island was added to the British possessions in the west, there were few traces that any solid and reasonable effort had been made by the first con- querors of Jamaica to utilize their opportunity for the good of the conquered province. This period is mainly memorable for the complete annihilation, often by methods pitilessly cruel and revoltingly ruthless, of the aboriginal inhabitants of Jamaica, of which more will be said in another chapter. Turning now from the original inhabitants to the first conquerors of Jamaica, the actual remains at the present day of the Spanish occupation are almost entirely confined to a few names and a few stones. The site of the first capital of the island, Sevilla Nueva, founded by Diego Columbus, son of the discoverer, is marked only by a few stones on the estate of Seville, near St. Ann’s Bay. In the town of Porus we have perpetuated the name of the two JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 7 brothers Porras, who headed the mutiny against Co- lumbus. In the Pedro Plains and the Pedro River survives the name of Don Pedro de Esquimel, one of the most brutal and cruel of the oppressors of the Indians ; and many other names, both of Span- ish and of Indian origin, remain, among the latter being the name Jamaica itself. The abandonment of Sevilla Nueva, for reasons which can only be conjectured, led to the settlement and building of Spanish Town, or, as it was then called, of St. Jago de la Vega; but the Spanish Town which we now know contains few traces, if any, of its original buildings. The Spaniards themselves seem to have been happy and contented. The climate was pleasant and unoppressive ; the soil was rich, and yielded delicious fruits in abundance. If the Spaniards in Jamaica did not make the huge fortunes acquired by their countrymen in Cuba or Hayti, or by those who settled in the mining districts of Mexico and South America, at any rate they were satisfied to live a lazy, luxurious, lotos-eatiug existence, far away from the home troubles and turmoils, looking on Jamaica rather as their actual than as their adopted home. In 1590 Sir Anthony Shirley, an Englishman, attacked the island and burned St. Jago, the capi- tal, but did not choose to follow up his conquest. Upon the retirement of the English, the Spaniards repaired Spanish Town, and were then unmolested by foreign foe till 1635. That year Colonel Jackson sailed with a small fleet to the Windward Islands, l8 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED and thence to Jamaica, where, with five hundred men, he attacked a garrison of two thousand Span- iards at Passage Fort, and after a hot fight, in which seven hundred Spaniards are said to have been killed, utterly routed the settlers. Having visited Spanish Town and extorted ran- som, Jackson followed Shirley’s example and re- tired. But a few years later Jamaica was again taken, and this time to remain in possession of the English. To inquire minutely into all the causes which led to the acquisition of Jamaica by Great Britain, would necessitate a close review of the relations between England and Spain during the first half century of the Stuart dynasty. It is enough here to state, that James I. and Charles I. had both given way too tamely and too timidly to Spanish claims and pretensions, and that the honor of England, the protection of her commerce, and the safety of her subjects, made it imperative on Cromwell’s govern- ment to protect British interests and lives in the West Indies. Accordingly an expedition was equipped and armed, and left England in the fall of 1654. The general instructions given to the leaders of this expedition were “ to obtain establishment in that part of the West Indies which is possessed by the Spaniards.” A fine fleet was fitted, aboard of which were “two thousand old Cavaliers and as many of Oli- ver’s army." The commanders were Colonel Ven- ables and Admiral Penn, the father of William Penn, who got one thousand three hundred more JAMAICA GUIDE. 19 * •xjfijBBE'nrar ■■ /jiiiiuBsm C-.. ■ . /•' ■ 1 *£• ' ’i -4 04 AS V^VSS> '^vNv^v - ) vm* i .)t teoli+ .J *J ■ wfc«() v * A -O'A > *cid)mafl/ \ wlW: / Hill 10(1/ AM A i\A>'5 V>»wV ■ >)- /U-JTIMI j\G , ' idlK \ *, jiot\>lq#al ) • iVN v- V. * . Wv>W.»\V\ 'U'- < .. ’•'•••y ,v .v* „ wa ! .\Vv.,\ -mb’. 2 3 f -; M A ! 'r >Yu>\f, • . . 1 -xnvV^iv nooriit/ n o iv. 1 , A';. W ' \.W >• \ *>\A>vuV i\;. * ; '•A..--— / • A J -7"" U ^ G 1 5%/ m /vJIllO illt/y-C - 1 ■ v A n . ■ ~ *. ’ 1 »V. - > - ' V/ v >-• \ v.M. liv/n{ u uT't ,w. ; . H ! 3,-8 A S !.J 3 ’ V t + iVii'llH'’.' "' r ' l aprr -jac Tl aa STARK'S ILLUSTRATED °8i" :?ar.3KHHasL - z ■ JAMAICA GUIDE. *9 adventurers at Barbadoes and the Windward Is- lands. With such an army, good ships, and able officers, they attacked St. Jago, after an unsuccess- ful expedition against Hispaniola. In May, 1655, St. Jago capitulated to this force, its forts and de- fences proving all inadequate against the munitions of the invaders. But while parleying and amusing the English with fair speeches and presents, the Spaniards contrived to remove much of their treas- ure from St. Jago; and the same is supposed by treasure seekers and other romantic people to be hid to this day in wells and other safe places in the neighborhood. After the English had gained the city, they were afraid of the foe, who still retained possession of the country, and greatly harassed them by sudden sor- ties and skirmishes. At length, however, the con- quest was complete. The last Spanish governor fled to Cuba from a point on the north side of Ja- maica still known as Runaway Bay. From this time British rule was permanently established. When Admiral Penn and Colonel Venables re- turned to England, they left in charge of the colony Colonel D’Oyley, whose command included nearly three thousand men and twenty war vessels. D’Oy- ley was a brave and excellent leader. It was through him that the last remnant of the Spaniards was driven from the island. But they left behind them a number of slaves, probably of mixed Indian and African blood, who, being fierce and warlike, took to the mountain fastnesses, and became bandits, preying upon the fields, and endangering the per- 20 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED sons of the new settlers. D’Oyley succeeded in subduing them for a time ; but he left a few individ- uals, who in later years grew to be powerful, and greatly harassed the colony. A remnant of them is still left, peacefully enjoying the privileges and immunities which they formerly wrested from the government. They are known as the Maroons. Cromwell fitted a second squadron, and sent Major Sedjwick to relieve Colonel D’Oyley. Before Sedj- wick’s arrival, D’Oyley suppressed a mutiny among his men, shooting the ringleaders. The new governor lived but a few days after his arrival, and the popular Cavalier again resumed the direction of affairs. Cromwell then appointed Colonel Brayne of Scot- land, with orders to colonize one thousand Round- heads from Port Patrick to balance the Royalists of D'Oyley’s party. But Colonel Brayne followed Sedjwick, and for the third time D’Oyley ruled. He was a wise and energetic leader, governing with forethought and prudence. Having been twice supplanted by Cromwell because he was a Royal- ist, he was finally removed by Charles II. upon his accession to the throne to make place for the royal favorite, Lord Windsor ; leaving so good a reputa- tion, however, that he was long looked upon as the best of the governors. The new governor did little ; but to quote Charles Leslie’s venerable history, “ In my Lord Windsor’s government the Island was in a very flourishing condition, for by this time the buccaneers had be- gun their trade of pyrating and made money -pi en- LLANDQVEY FALLS. JAMAICA GUIDE. 21 tiful About this time, too, there were many wealthy men who came from other islands to settle in Jamaica. Among these was Sir Thomas Mod- diford, afterwards governor. Sir Charles Littleton followed Windsor, the latter being removed finally at the earnest protest of the Spaniards, who complained bitterly of the part he took in protecting the pirates. Under Littleton the first concessions were made to the Maroons, grants of land and magisterial power being given to Juan de Lolas, their leader. The governor also issued writs for the first general assembly held upon the island. Members were returned from twelve districts, and met at Santiago de la Vega (now Spanish Town), where they indulged in great conviviality, if we may trust the older histories. This first assembly was dissolved by Deputy Gov- ernor Sir Edward Morgan. Following him came Moddiford, whose rule, says one of the chronicles, “brought the Island to its greatest perfection.” The population was then 17,298 inhabitants. Money was plenty, immigration increased, and affairs were generally in a prosperous condition. Writs were issued for a new council, which proved to be rather combative in its temper than deliberative. One of its members murdered another at a state dinner. While the assembly were quarrelling, the gover- nor, on his own responsibility, was amusing him- self by granting commissions and letters of marque to the pirates who already swarmed the Spanish Main. These were to annoy the fleets of Spain. 22 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED No chapter in the world’s annals presents more appropriate material for modern melodrama than the lives of the buccaneers. Bartholomew, a Portuguese, was the first bucca- neer of note, and achieved some brilliant successes, but was soon overshadowed by others. Brafiliano, a Dutchman, took some valuable prizes, and greatly harassed the Spaniards. Lewis Scott was the first to land a force on Spanish territory, and engage in terrestrial warfare, one of his acts being the sack of Campeche. Mansvelt took the Island of St. Catharine, and wanted to hold it under colonial protection as a pirate rendezvous. He extorted a great ransom. The redoubtable John Davis carried fire and sword into Nicaragua and St. Augustine, retiring with immense booty. But the greatest of all the buccaneers was Henry Morgan. The son of a poor Welsh farmer, sold into servitude in Bar- badoes, and serving his term of slavery as a laborer, he impressed upon his time a romantic enthusiasm for his deeds and personality. Although greatly admired and copied by other privateers, Morgan is said by his biographers to have been unlike them, though in what the dissimilarity consisted we of a later day may be too dull to discover. By his followers were committed cruelties unex- ampled ; yet he is spoken of as being on a moral plane far above such men as Mansvelt, with whom, by the way, he sailed as vice-admiral in the latter’s successful expedition against St. Catharine. Mor- gan, upon the death of Mansvelt, became the great pirate leader. He never sailed without a commis- This portrait was reproduced from a work published in London in 1C84, by John Esquemeling, one of the Buccaneers. 24 ST A RK 'S ILL US TRA TED sion, however ; and so over his colossal barbarities was thrown the cloak of authority, and expeditions for pillage and rapine were dignified as naval en- counters and invasions. In 1670, with an army of twelve hundred men and a numerous fleet, he attacked the town of Pan- ama, then very rich, was victorious over the army that was sent against him, and secured one hun- dred and seventy-five mule loads of precious metal. Of this plunder his crew received only two hundred pieces of eight each, and mutinied ; whereupon this intrepid leader stole away with treasure to the value of £25,000. The immense wealth at this period brought into Port Royal, the thousands of freebooters whose money, bought with blood, was spent in crime, the cargoes of merchant fleets brought to its stalls, and the ransom of provinces paid into its coffers, made this city enormously wealth}-. Its state was bar- baric, but splendid. No form of vice was wanting, no indulgence too extravagant for its lawless popu- lation. One of the curious contradictions of history oc- curred about here. Sir Thomas Moddiford was relieved, and sailed for England as a prisoner, to answer for the offence of exceeding his authority in commissioning Morgan. About the same time Morgan was knighted for his victory at Panama, and was thereafter known as Sir Henry Morgan, the wealthy planter, the foe of the pirates, and the friend to law and order. Six years later Morgan, as lieutenant-governor, JAMAICA GUIDE. 25 assumed control of Jamaica’s affairs, and was ex- ceedingly popular. Over a thousand Dutchmen immigrated from Surinam in South America to the island in 1672. They were of industrious habits, and added to the colony’s prosperity. A general awakening to in- dustry resulted in the first shipment of sugar to England, the beginning of a trade which was for years the fruitful source of wealth to the colony, and which a century later brought Jamaica to the zenith of her prosperity. The final crushing of the pirates, and the un- popularity consequent upon the financial depression which followed, belonged to Lord Vaughn, who recalled the buccaneers’ commissions, and hung a great many of these marauders, thus effectually suppressing the dreadful business. It was at that time that the Royal African Company gained their charter, which gave them every advantage upon the high seas, so that the Jamaica slave-trade was seri- ously interfered with, and the price of human flesh rose enormously. In 1678 the Earl of Carlisle summoned a new assembly. Both he and his successors were per- petually in hot water, standing often between the colony and the mother country on questions of financial policy principally. When the Duke of Albemarle came, he estab- lished a claim to historic mention by bringing with him a great man, Sir Hans Sloane, the naturalist. The work of this extraordinary person, though accomplished before the discovery of our modern 26 STARK ’S ILLUSTRATED system of classification in natural history, was of immense benefit to science, and stands to-day a monument and a landmark in the history of moral degradation, intellectual barrenness, political errors, and mercantile obliquity. The flight of James II., and the accession of William and Mary to the throne of England, in- tensified for a time the political differences, which never were allowed to die. Certain acts, inimical it was claimed to the interests of Jamaica, were repealed, and the constitution restored, which had been changed in Albemarle’s time. To give the details of the perpetual wrangling which agitated Jamaica’s rulers year after year would be neither interesting nor instructive. The Earl of Inchequin, who took charge in 1690, varied the usual order of quarrel by sending the war-ships Severn and Guernsey to retaliate upon the French, who had been annoying the seacoast inhabitants of the island. These vessels took val- uable prizes in Hispaniola. But Inchequin did not live to enjoy the prestige which such success usu- ally brings. We now come to one of the most memorable events in Jamaican annals. On the 7th of June, 1692, a great earthquake shook the island, and al- most totally destroyed the metropolis. Mountains were riven ; earth and rock fell upon the valleys, burying the people ; hamlets were ingulfed ; planta- tions obliterated ; and rivers turned into new chan- nels. The terrible retribution that overtook Port Royal JAMAICA GUIDE. 27 in three or four brief minutes of time can be only compared in magnitude to the unexampled record of her debauchery. It was a disaster which in a moment transformed the richest spot on earth to the poorest. Even Lisbon’s fate could not com- pare with the complete overthrow of the Jamaican capital. Leslie says: “At the Time when the Island was full of Gay Hopes, Wallowing in Riches, and Abandoned to Wickedness, the most dreadful Calamity befel it that ever happened to a people, and which many look upon as a tremen- dous judgment of the Almighty. On the 7th of June, 1692, one of the most violent earthquakes happened that perhaps was ever felt. It began be- tween 11 and 12 o’clock at noon, shook down and drowned nine-tenths of Port Royal in two minutes time ; all the wharves of Port Royal sunk at once. There were soon several Fathoms of Water where the Streets stood ; and that one which suffered the least Damage was so overflowed that the Water swelled as high as the Upper Rooms of the Houses.” Added to all the other horrors, the unburied dead which lay in heaps upon the land or floated in shoals in the harbor became in a little while, under the tropic sun, horrible masses of putrefaction ; generat- ing a pestilence from which thousands of those who had survived the earthquake died. The overthrow of Port Royal led to the estab- lishment of the city of Kingston, on the Liguanea Plain, upon property belonging to Colonel, after- wards Sir William, Beeston. The city was laid out by Sir Christian Lilly, of the Royal Engineers. 28 STARK 'S ILLUSTRA TED Shortly after these events Beeston assumed the government ( in 1693 ) . It was then that the French were peculiarly active and annoying. They had burned plantations in Jamaica, and taken away slaves to the value of £65 ,000. The colonial militia finally succeeded in defeating these invaders on the land, driving them back to their ships with loss ; but on the water the French were victorious, and the great English Admiral, Benbow, was defeated, dying from his wounds in Kingston shortly after- wards. During several administrations the usual succes- sion of legislative Doubles engaged the attention of the governors. The picaroons from Cuba created a diversion in the time of Sir Nicholas Lawes, by committing many depredations ; and the embarrass- ment thus caused to agriculture was further aug- mented by a hurricane, which destroyed both lives and property. Yet the government could hardly leave its wrangling over the question of a perma- nent revenue-bill long enough to take proper meas- ures for the relief of the sufferers. Then followed a ruler whose course of conduct, being in marked contrast to those who had pre- ceded him, demands recognition. Major-General Robert Hunter, learning that he was about to re- ceive the appointment to Jamaica, actually took pains to inform himself of the condition of the country and people to which he was going ; and so effectually presented their case and cause to their Majesties’ ministers as to win certain concessions for them. The Jamaica assembly, feeling that the JAMAICA GUIDE. 2 9 country had a friend in the new governor, promptly passed the much discussed bill, granting a perma- nent revenue of £8,000 per annum to the crown ; receiving in return the confirmation of their laws for which they had been fighting. Besides this, the governor’s salary was increased from £5,000 to £6,000 as a token of gratitude for his services, at which sum it has remained to the present time. In 1739 the war between England and Spain called out a volunteer force from Jamaica to assist against the South American ports. The expedition in which they engaged led to the surrender of the Spanish American towns of Chagres and Porto Bello. During Trelawney’s administration in 1744, an- other earthquake shook Port Royal, and a great hur- ricane and tidal wave swept Savana la Mar, so that the place, people, houses, and cattle were utterly destroyed. Governor Knowls, in 1751, was burned in effigy for some differences with the House. In 1760 a slave insurrection broke out in the parish of St. Mary ; whole families of white planters were butch- ered by the insurgents ; and it was only after a bat- tle in which four hundred of them were killed, that peace was restored. The ringleaders were shot or hung in chains, and many of the others transported. In 1762 Governor Lyttleton brought news of an- other war between Spain and England. An expe- dition sent against Havana was successful, and the city capitulated. Besides this victory, the capture of twelve ships of the line and a fleet of merchant- men swelled the amount of booty to £2,000,000, and made Jamaica rich once more. 30 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED In the time of Elletson, who succeeded Lyttleton, another negro outbreak occurred in Hanover and Westmoreland ; it was stamped out, and thirty ring- leaders were hanged. Soon after this the political world was agitated over the American War for In- dependence, the recognition of the United States by France, and the consequent war between that coun- try and Great Britain. Martial law was proclaimed in Jamaica, and the principal ports of the island were fortified. Nelson, who was then commander of Fort Charles, volunteered in an expedition against Nicaragua, and nearly lost his life. Admiral Rod- ney, Jamaica’s best loved hero, won a great victory over the French Admiral, De Grasse ; saving the island from a troublesome foe, and winning for himself the thanks of his sovereign and his eleva- 5 Bill ; Misses’! oespiMts ore Lodge :::::;!^'.-TkoS. HakMSOH I PARADE: CARDEN ■ |r -~g= /i~~s - r Paradise:: House ;i GflDPAI LLEl i GrtiAiiAR BAPTJS3 :p □ «m lara Bel Air ([ r Thos OuCHTON J E 1 SIMMER’S ■ villa $ 1 — r — i-r-i J"»S Brown V Malvern ViLla ■Bridcl : ~i r \rnoldMalabae ■ _ _JVt££ A.R.FaCEy W. L MUDON THE Gfneral Penitentiary Da Costa Burke Andrews MaksuTS harbour ftp* Y T) 0 3H r rl #1f f£ f j| no} b 9V6-ij?n3 jDqma yrotziH ?')lflAT2 AO JAMAL — ~’CP8f- 7 ' a ,.^c-bnu o; ts ll < 'ftT ■ A V :^T'\ y ' \ L- ft .\ ft 7 ‘ r v.^A\ 'V? v;: ilwj mm JAMAICA GUIDE. 6l Germans, naturalized citizens of the United States. Three years before she had been captured by a French privateer and carried into Guadeloupe, and there condemned as American property. The Nancy cleared at Baltimore for Curagoa, and on the way put into Aruba, which port afforded a retreat to ships of all nations, and supplied them with arms and ammunition in time of war. Hence Briggs went to Curagoa, distant about fifty miles, in a droger, and returned with a German named Schultze, an agent of the owners. After leaving Aruba, she was, on the 28th of August, 1799, cap- tured by H. M. S. Sparrow, a cutter commanded by Hugh Wylie. When taken she was near the island of L. Vache, off the south coast of Hayti, and was taken into Port Royal with another prize, a Spanish schooner. Suit was brought in the Court of Vice-Admiralty at Kingston on Sept. 9, 1799, in accordance with the Royal Proclamation of the 18th of February, 1793, and November, 1796. It was declared that the Nancy was a lawful prize, seized on the high seas as the property of persons being enemies of the realm. A claim for dismissal of the suit with costs was put in on the 14th of September, which would probably have prevailed but for the fact that Lieutenant Fitton produced, on Sept. 14, certain papers, which he found in a shark caught off Jacmel, while cruising in the tender of H. M. S. Abergavenny. These papers, together with others of an incriminating nature found on the Nancy some time after her capture, concealed in the cap- tain’s cabin, “ so hard drove in that it was with 62 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED difficulty they could be taken out,” and some in a cask of salt pork, led to her condemnation on Nov. 25, 1799. The actual packet of paper with the affidavit of Lieutenant Fitton can be seen in a glass frame in the Institute of Jamaica. The following is a copy of the affidavit that testifies to the authen- ticity of the same : — Jamaica, SS. IN THE COURT OF VICE ADMIRALTY. The Adv. Gen. ex . ret . Wylie, et al ., vs . The Brig Nancy. Michael Fitton, Esquire, being duly sworn, maketh oath and saith that the tender of His Majesty’s ship of war Abergavenny, then under the command of this deponent, being on a cruise off Jacmel in the island of San Domingo, on the thirteenth day of August last, discovered a dead bullock surrounded by sharks, which he had towed along- side the said tender for the purpose of catching the said sharks, and this deponent saith that having caught one of the said sharks and hoisted it on board the said tender, he ordered some of the seamen to separate its jaws and clean them, as the said shark was larger than common, which the said seamen did, whilst others opened its maw, and therein discovered in the presence of this deponent a parcel of papers tied up with a string. And this depo- nent saith that on perusing the said paper he discovered a letter of a recent date from Curricoa, and as it occurred to this deponent they might relate to some vessel detained by some of His Majesty’s cruisers, he had them dried on deck ; and this deponent saith that having been informed that His Majesty’s cutter Sparrow has sent down to this island as prize a certain brig, a vessel called the Nancy, JAMAICA GUIDE. 63 and supposing the papers so found as aforesaid might be useful at the trial of the said vessel called the Nancy, hath caused the same to be sealed up, and delivered them to one of the surrogates of this honorable court without any fraud, alteration, addition, subduction, or embezzle- ment whatsoever. „ _ , T . Mich l Fitton. Taken and the truth thereof sworn to before me this 24 th day of Septem- ber, 1799. J. Fraser, Surrogate. These papers were delivered to me by Lieut. Fitton at the time of his swearing to his affidavit in the cause, Adv. Genl. Wylie, et a/., vs. the brig Nancy. J. Fraser, Surrogate. 2\th September, 1799. In the United Service Museum, London, is the head of the shark which swallowed the papers, ac- companied by a box containing certain papers found on the Nancy, which probably were not needed in evidence in the case. The next article of interest in the library is the — BELL OF THE CHURCH OF PORT ROYAL. The church of Port Royal, which fell during the earthquake, had been erected only ten years, on which occasion a prophetic text was the subject of the consecration sermon, and the tremendous judg- ments under which the unfortunate town soon la- bored could not but recall the words, “ Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” The sermon was printed 64 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED at the request of Sir Henry Morgan and others, whose liberal contributions supplied the funds to build the church ; in fact, it was built with the fruits of piracy. This bell, which was hung in it, prob- ably belonged to the old Spanish church which this church replaced. Tradition says that the bell was given to the old church of Cagua (Port Royal) by a convent in Spain ; but it is possible that it is the bell that hung in the great church of St. Jago de la Vega (Spanish Town) when the English took possession, which we are informed was cast of cop- per produced in the island. This bell was recovered after the earthquake, and was hung in the new church, built in 1720, which occupied the site of the old one destroyed by the earthquake. Either during the ordinary course of events, by the continual beating of the clapper, through a flaw in the metal, or through its fall at the time of the earthquake, the bell was cracked ; but after its recovery the crack was stayed by a drill-hole. In 1855, as the crack had extended in two directions and rendered the bell useless, the churchwardens sold it for old metal. During the administration of Sir John Peter Grant it was brought to his notice that it was lying in an old curiosity shop in Kingston, in imminent danger of being melted down ; and it was purchased by the Government, and deposited at the Ordinance wharf, whence it found its way to the Institute of Jamaica, where it is now on exhibition. JAMAICA GUIDE. 65 THE MACES. There are shown in a case two maces ; one was once used at the meetings of the House of As- sembly, and the other at those of the Legislative Council. The older of the two maces is surmounted by a royal crown, on the base of which are the British coat-of-arms as used from 1714 to 1801, and the letters G. R. Around the head, in panels divided by caryatides, are the emblems of England, Scot- land, Ireland, France, and Jamaica. It bears the London Hall mark and date of 1753, and the initials M. F. of the maker, Mordecai Fox of London. The other mace is similar in appearance, but of a little later date, 1787, and bears the initials H. G. of the maker, Henry Green of London. The library contains many rare old books and pamphlets upon the natural history, botany, geog- raphy, and history of Jamaica; and the obliging custodians of these treasures are very ready to as- sist the delver-in after old records. Here we go back to the days of Spanish rule, piratic atrocity, of English ascendency, of slave insurrections, and tyranny of the masters. The museum, which is in a separate building from the library, contains many objects of interest which will well repay inspection. Among them is a collection illustrative of the geol- ogy of the island made by officers of the Geologi- cal Survey between the years i860 and 1866. The collection is rich in tertiary fossils, etc., and its value 66 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED is greatly enhanced by the carefully prepared maps showing the geological formation of the different parishes. The herbarium contains complete sets of ferns, grasses, sedges, and orchids of Jamaica. There are also well-preserved specimens of the various shells, fishes, birds, reptiles, and insects of the island. A map of Jamaica, modelled in relief by Mr. Thomas Harrison, late surveyor-general, shows the conformation of the surface of the island. There is also a fine collection of polished speci- mens of native woods, and of the natural products of the island, such as fibres in the raw and pre- pared states. One article with a grim and grew- some interest is an iron cage or gibbet. It was unearthed in Sandy Gully, in St. Andrews, some years ago, and in it was enclosed the bones of a woman. This cage of strap-iron is so constructed as to fit the human body with bands around the neck, breast, and loins ; bars and stirrups for the legs and feet ; the latter having sharp spikes to press into the soles of the occupant’s feet, and a ring at the top of the structure to suspend it by. The use to which this awful instrument of death was applied is described by Bryan Edwards . 1 He says, — “ The circumstances which distinguish the Koroman- tyn, or Gold Coast negroes from all others, are firmness both of body and mind, a ferociousness of disposition, but withal, activity, courage, and stubbornness, which prompt them to enterprises of difficulty and danger, and 1 “ History of the West Indies,” by Bryan Edwards, vol. ii., Book iv. p. 74. awaavj-^ JAMAICA GUIDE. 67 enable them to meet death in its most horrible shape with fortitude or indifference. This was shown in the negro rebellion of 1760. It arose at the instigation of a Koromantyn negro, who had been a chief in Guinea, and broke out on the frontier plantation in St. Mary’s parish and the adjoining estate of Trinity, the property of my deceased relation and benefactor, Zachary Bayly. On these plantations were upward of one hundred Gold Coast negroes newly imported ; and I do not believe that an in- dividual amongst them had received the least shadow of ill-treatment from the time of their arrival. Having col- lected themselves into a body, about one o’clock in the morning they proceeded to the fort at Port Maria, killed the sentinel, and provided themselves with as great a quantity of arms and ammunition as they could conve- niently dispose of. Being by this time joined by a number of their countrymen from the neighboring plantation, they marched up the high road that led to the interior parts of the country, carrying death and desolation as they went. At Ballard’s Valley they surrounded the overseer's house about four in the morning, in which, finding all the white servants in bed, they butchered every one of them in the most savage manner, and literally drank their blood mixed with rum. At Esher and other estates they exhib- ited the same tragedy, and then set fire to the buildings and canes. In one morning they murdered between thirty and forty whites and mulattoes, not sparing even infants at the breast. Before their progress was stopped. Tacky the chief was killed in the woods by one of the parties that went in pursuit of them ; but some others of the ring- leaders being taken, and a general inclination to revolt appearing among all the Koromantyn negroes in the island, it was thought necessary to make a few terrible examples of some of the most guilty. Of three who were clearly proven to have been concerned in the murders of Ballard's Valley, one was condemned to be burnt, and the 68 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED other two to be hung up in irons and left to perish in that dreadful situation. The wretch that was burnt was made to sit on the ground, and his body being chained to an iron stake, the fire was applied to his feet. He uttered not a groan, and saw his legs reduced to ashes with the utmost composure ; after which one of his arms, by some means, getting loose, he snatched a brand from the fire that was consuming him, and flung it in the face of the executioner. The two that were hung up alive were indulged, at their own request, with a hearty meal immediately before they were suspended on the gibbet, which was erected in the parade of the town of Kingston. From that time until they expired they never uttered the least complaint except only on a cold night ; but diverted themselves all day long in discourse with their countrymen, who were permitted, very improperly, to surround the gibbet. On the seventh day a notion prevailed among the spectators, that one of them wished to communicate an important secret to his master, my near relation, who being in St. Mary’s parish, the commanding officer sent for me. I endeavored by means of an interpreter to let him know I was present ; but I could not understand what he said in return. I remem- ber that both he and his fellow-sufferers laughed immod- erately at something that occurred, I know not what. The next morning one of them silently expired, as did the others on the morning of the ninth day.” Such were the uses the iron cage was put to, that we now see before us, as described by an eye-wit- ness. In this nineteenth century it does not seem possible that such cruelties could ever have been practised ; yet burning negroes at the stake is no uncommon occurrence in some of the Southern States at the present time. JAMAICA GUIDE. 69 CHAPTER VIII. PLACES OF INTEREST IN THE VICINITY OF KINGSTON. CASTLETON GARDENS. The governor’s residence, or King’s House as it is called in Jamaica, is five miles from Kingston, on the slope which gradually ascends from the sea to the mountains. There are more objects of interest to be seen in a drive to King’s House than in any other direction outside of Kingston. The district through which the road passes is known as the Liguanea Plain. The first mile or two after leaving the town, the road passes houses fronting on the street, that are generally insignificant ; it then comes to the better sort, behind walls or overhung with trees, which make them imperfectly visible. The race-course is now reached ; and beyond it, on the northeast side, is the Up-park camp of about thirty acres in extent. One battalion of the West India regiment of negroes is always stationed here, in addition to a number of white troops. The place contains good barracks, parade-ground, swimming- bath, hospital, and everything to make life as endu- rable as possible. It is a cool, healthy location, and the views are fine. The highway upon which the street-cars run leads out to Halfway Tree; it is the beginning of the great highway that crosses the 70 STARK \S ILLUSTRA TED island, passing Constant Springs, over Stony Hill, across the mountains of the interior, following the Wag Water River, past Castleton Gardens, and joining the coast-road at Annotto Bay. At every part of the day the road is well travelled, especially on Tuesdays and Saturdays, which are market-days, when the passing peasantry become a multitude, — a tide that flows in the morning, and ebbs in the evening. The highway is dotted with residences of Kings- ton merchants, professional men, and higher grade of government officials, many of them occupying the site of former pens, the names of which they re- tain. Around the houses grow broad-leaved agave plants, segregated branches of palms, great blazing masses of scarlet or yellow bloom, flowering shrubs and trees, clusters of deep-hued mango foliage, and groups of tree-ferns, or beds of glowing blossoms. The only visible drawback to these residences is the clouds of dust that are apt to roll in from the road in the dry season. HALFWAY TREE. The village of Halfway Tree is three miles from Kingston. It is situated on the cross-road, where there is a cluster of houses, a court-house, market, and a beautifully restored parish church. Sir Nicholas Lawes, once governor of the island, is buried here. In the churchyard reposes all that is mortal of Robert Munroe Harrison, brother of Presi- dent William Henry Harrison, and great-uncle of 3 JAMAICA GUIDE. 7 1 Benjamin Harrison, late President of the United States. He was wounded while serving his country on the frigate “ Constitution,” in an engagement with a French vessel ; later he commanded an armed ship fitted out against the French; and in 1821 was sent by the United States on a confidential mis- sion to the British West Indies for the purpose of negotiating a treaty opening their ports to American commerce. In 1831 he became American consul at Jamaica, under appointment from President Jack- son, and so continued until his death in 1858. Mrs. Harrison had died the previous year. In this church, Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, is said to have been married. The street-cars continue to run to the north as far as Constant Spring, one of the oldest and most famous sugar estates on the island. It is now out of cultivation, and is occupied as a hotel site. This hotel is an imposing structure of four hundred feet frontage, and three stories in height. The site is six hundred feet above sea level ; and from the cool and shady piazzas which surround the seaward front, one of the most exquisite panoramic views in Jamaica can be had. The hotel is perfect from a hygienic point of view, but will never be a pecuni- ary success until it is connected with Kingston by electric cars. At a little distance from Halfway Tree are sev- eral fine residences, and among them the King’s House, the official residence of the governor of Jamaica. This is a fine residence, of the old West Indian type, with upper and lower verandas shaded STARK'S ILLUSTRATED 72 by jalousies entirely enclosing it ; attached to it is a magnificent ball-room, which was built at a cost of £5,000. The drive to the house through the shrubbery and handsome trees that shade it is very fine ; and the lawns and grounds attached to the res- idence are beautifully laid out, and contain some rare and unique specimens of flowering plants. Altogether it is a sumptuous sort of place, where a governor with £6,000 a year might spend his term of office with considerable comfort and ease. HOPE GARDENS. The Hope Road, leading from Halfway Tree, passes the Jamaica High School and University College ; it is an elegant structure of good dimen- sions. The High School and College are combined in one building. Near the college is the Govern- ment Botanical Garden, two hundred and twenty acres in extent, situated at the foot of the hills which bound the limits of the Liguanea Plain, five miles distant from Kingston. It has been decided to make Hope Garden the chief botanic garden of the island. New varieties of fruit, fibre plants, co- coanuts, cane, and rare flowering-plants for shade and ornamental purposes, are here propagated. It is largely through these experimental grounds and cultivation, often kept up at great cost, that Jamaica has become the garden spot it is to-day. Probably two-thirds of the fruits, nuts, choice woods, and economic or medicinal plants now grown in Jamaica were introduced from foreign countries. The an- JAMAICA GUIDE. 73 nual mean temperature in these gardens is 78° Far., and the rainfall 50.19 inches per annum. CASTLETON GARDEN. The Government Botanic Gardens at Castleton are nineteen miles from Kingston, on what is known as the Junction Road, previously referred to as the road crossing the island from Kingston to Annotto Bay. The drive from Kingston to Castleton Gar- dens is one of the most delightful excursions out of Kingston. It is an all-day trip, and the start should be made shortly after sunrise ; then the heat, glare, and dust which annoy travellers on the Halfway Tree section will be avoided. After passing Con- stant Spring, and Mona estates, with their disused chimneys and ruined buildings of old sugar-making works, the air becomes fresher, the fields and foli- age greener, the light pleasanter than on the lower ground. The limits of the plain are reached ; and in front rises the crumpled, irregular hills that slope back towards the Wag Water River, or rise fold and convolute fold on ridge and spur, till far in the dis- tance they reach the highest altitude on the island, a height of 7,423 feet, in the Blue Mountain Peak. The ride to Castleton is over one of the finest roads on the island. Forest trees make a roof overhead as the carriage ascends. Stony Hill, near the top of the hill, is a little settlement, — a few cabins and stores. A road to the left leads to the grounds of the Reformatory, a large building originally used as 74 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED barracks, but now the home of a little army of bad boys under the Government’s fostering care. The view from the top of the hill is magnificent. In the alluvial meadows on the river side are tobacco fields cleanly and carefully kept, belonging to a small colony of Cubans. There is sago, too, and ginger, tamarinds, cocoa, and coffee, groves of co- coanut, miles of plantain and banana, hillsides cov- ered with ferns, houses wattled and covered with clay, and red flowers of the orchid crlowino- like spots of flame from the cottonwood branches. Women are met striding along under their burdens, destined for the market in Kingston, their little ones with little baskets trudging by their side. Of the lords of creation, perhaps one to every one hundred women will be met, usually riding on mule or donkey, with pipe in mouth, and carrying nothing. The ntcro women in all the West Indies Islands do most of the work ; the men live in idleness. At several points are sharp curves where the road follows the dip of some vertical ravine. There is an ancient and massive look about the safeguard walls of these places ; but the most picturesque, quaint, and solid-looking piece of engineering on the road is where a well-buttressed bridge spans the Wag Water Loch at the head of the water-works system. From it the view of red-roofed houses nestled among the living green, the flashing waters, the never-ceasing variety of luxuriant bloom, com- bine to satisfy the sense and still to excite the imagination. Castleton is at last reached. It is situated in a Road to Castleton. JAMAICA GUIDE. 75 deep valley, entirely surrounded by lofty mountains, through which flows the Wag Water, which foams and tumbles through the valley like a true mountain stream. Nature has made a garden of it, with all the advantages of loveliness and fertility that a rich valley and a beautiful stream could combine to fur- nish. Its soil is rich and deep, its climate never cold, nor even uncomfortably hot, the mean temperature being 75 0 Far., and the rainfall 109 inches annually. In such a place of natural advantages and beauty the Government built wisely a garden, where all the strange and useful plants of other warm countries might be fostered and acclimated. Here bloom myriads of native and imported orchids. India and the isles of the sea have been called upon to contribute their valuable foliage, food-plants, medi- cinal trees, and herbs. There is a large industrial ground for novel economic plants. It contains about forty thousand plants, such as kolanuts, cacao, olive, sugar-cane, rubber-plants, nutmeg, clove, black pep- per, mango, vanilla, cardamon, pineapple, cinna- mon, tea, etc. Taste and skill have combined to arrange these beautiful trophies in a manner pleas- ing to the eye ; and good sense has dominated the arrangement so that the visitor may feel at his ease and find comfort on the benches that are placed along the well-kept pathway. Across the road, on the banks of the river, are cool arbors amid groups of bamboo-trees, where the visitor can enjoy a view of the river as it loiters in circled pools, or leaps by in eddying rapids. This is a favorite spot for pic- nic parties to eat their lunch and bathe. ;6 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED On the bank of the river is a bower formed of twisted vines, so thick that neither sun nor rain can penetrate the roof ; the floor is of shining shingle, and the air cool from off the water. It is a spot which a Nymph or Naiad might haunt. The Government has leased to the Boston Fruit Company, at a nominal price, eighteen acres of the gardens, on which they have erected a group of small cottages, and a dining-hall for the entertain- ment of visitors. Before the Port Antonio branch of the railroad was built, this was the most direct road between Kingston and Port Antonio. Castle- ton was used as a stopping-place by travellers between those places. It was, therefore, found necessary by the Boston Fruit Company to erect a place for their entertainment, as they were the par- . ties chiefly interested in the travel this way. Since the opening of the railroad the place is but little needed ; it has gone the way of the roadside inn of olden time. Castleton Gardens. JAMAICA GUIDE. 77 CHAPTER IX. NEWCASTLE, GORDON TOWN, AND BLUE MOUNTAIN PEAK. Every visitor to Jamaica should, if possible, visit Newcastle, the mountain camp of the white troops. Formerly it was necessary to take a carriage, or the stage which leaves Kingston daily, to Gordon Town ; and from there the rest of the journey up the mountain is done on horseback. Recently a carriage-road has been built from Newcastle, which connects with the Stony Hill road. The former is by far the more picturesque and interesting route. Leaving Kingston, the way to Gordon Town is along the side of the Hope River, which has cut its way out from the moun- tains through a narrow and deep ravine. The bed of the river is covered with large round bowlders, weighing hundreds of tons, and brought down by the floods during the rainy season ; at such times the river rises thirty feet above the winter level. Above the water line the tropical vegetation is seen in all its glory, — ferns and plantains waving in the moist air ; cedar, tamarinds, gum-trees, orange- and palm-trees striking their roots among the clefts of the crags, and hanging out over the abysses below them. Agave plants throw up their tall spiral 78 STARK 'S ILLUSTRATED stems ; flowering shrubs and creepers cover bank and slope with green, blue, white, and yellow ; and above and overhead, as you drive along, the great limestone cliffs stand out in bold relief. Farther up the hillsides, where the slopes are less precipitous, the forest has been burned off by the negroes, who use fire to clear the ground for their yam-gardens. The road leads through scenery of this kind for a distance of about three miles, when it is crossed by a bridge. About a mile farther on is Gordon Town, situated where the valley widens out, and where there are several cocoa and coffee plantations. Through an opening, Newcastle is seen far above ; the buildings look like specks of snow against the mountain side. Here, at a way- side inn, horses and refreshments are obtained ; for the carriage road ends here, and the rest of the journey must be done on horseback. For the first two miles the road is tolerably level, following the bank of the river under the shade of the forest. It then narrows into a horse-path, that zigzags up the side of a torrent ; then passes by deep pools of clear, cool mountain water ; then by the edges of uncomfortable precipices. Then again there is a level, with a village, coffee planta- tion, orange and banana groves. After this the vegetation changes and is not so tropical. Many plants are seen that- grow in temperate climates; the track becomes rough and narrow, and riders are obliged to ride in single file. After an hour’s ride, and usually passing through a cloud or two, the lowest range of houses is reached at an eleva- Road to Newcastle. JAMAICA GUIDE. 79 tion of four thousand feet above the sea level. From thence the houses rise tier above tier for live hundred feet more. The hillside is bare, and the slope so steep that there is no standing on it save where it has been flattened by the spade. The view from here is glorious. The Liguanea plain, Kingston, the Harbor, Port Royal, the Palisades, and the sea beyond, — all appear clear and distinct like a view from a balloon. Ships and steamers in the harbor and ocean ap- pear like toys ; then a passing cloud of drizzling rain will for a few minutes shut out the view ; for, fine and bright as the air may be below, the mois- ture in the air at this high altitude is being con- stantly condensed into clouds of fine rain. Here is stationed a regiment of British troops, for health’s sake only, and to be fit for work if wanted below. Continuing the way up, the track becomes, if anything, steeper, till the highest point of the camp is reached, where the officers' quarters are situated, — pretty cottages with creeping vines climbing over them. Around the houses are gardens in which English flowers and vegetables grow. The tempera- ture here never rises above 70° nor falls below 6o°. Fires are required to keep the damp out, and blankets to sleep under. The camp is very healthy, sickness of any kind being rare. Besides the novelty of going from a tropical to a temperate climate in such a short space of time, the view alone from Newcastle is well worth the trip up there, to say nothing of the beautiful mountain scenery through which the road passes. So STARK'S ILLUSTRATED Parties making this excursion should leave Kingston at sunrise, and take a hamper of sup- plies with them, as no refreshments of any kind can be purchased at Newcastle. Another line excursion from Kingston, via Gor- don Town, is to BLUE MOUNTAIN PEAK. Every visitor to Jamaica should visit Blue Moun- tain Peak, the highest point in Jamaica, 7,575 feet above sea level. It is best to take two days on the trip, sleeping one night in the hut on the peak, so as to witness the glorious effects of the sunrise in the morning. Such provision should be carried as may be deemed necessary for a two days’ outing ; and a supply of rugs and blankets should be taken to protect from the cold, as the thermometer fluctuates between 40° and 50° between sunset and sunrise. It will be well also to take a rubber coat along, for in pass- ing up through the clouds one is likely to get wet. The hut on the peak contains some crockery, glassware, and cooking utensils. The key to the hut can be obtained on the way up, at the Farm Hill estate, six miles from the summit. Ponies or mules accustomed to mountain work can be obtained at Gordon Town. The road to the peak was constructed some years ago by Sir Henry Norman at his own expense. Although at some points the road is narrow, rugged, and pre- cipitous, yet on the whole it is good, and perfectly JAMAICA GUIDE. 8l safe to a cool and cautious rider, and is easily traversed by any one possessed of average physical endurance. The scenery through the whole journey is mag- nificent and grand beyond description. For sub- limity combined with perfect loveliness, there is scarcely anything that can be compared with the Blue Mountain Peak. After leaving Gordon Town the road passes through Guava Ridge, distant four miles, 2,866 feet elevation ; then two miles beyond it crosses Yallahs River ; three miles more, and Farm Hill is passed. Newcastle is seen on the left, where the British eagle has made his lofty eyrie. Whitfield Hall and Abbey Green are next reached, at an elevation of 4,000 feet. The wind now blows cold and keen, although the sun is out bright and clear. At an elevation of 6,000 feet the last vestige of cultivation is seen, and then the primeval mountain forest is entered ; there is a wild, awe-inspiring love- liness and grandeur in this dark, sylvan solitude. One effort more and the highest point in Jamaica is reached. A wind, cool as the breeze which blows across a Highland moor in October, brings the blood tingling to the cheek. Ice is said to form occasionally on and near Blue Mountain Peak. Westward the whole fair island of Jamaica lies mapped beneath one’s feet ; purple hills rising be- hind purple hills, melting at last into the shadows of distance, and closed by a glorious crimson sun- set. Darker and darker grow the shadows on the 82 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED hillsides ; tiny snow-white clouds rest like feathery plumes on their crests, or rise like a fume of in- cense to greet the brightening stars. A cluster of lights in the south shows where Kingston lies. And so the gaze is riveted in reverent silence until dark- ness and mist shut out the view. Then, as repose is sought for the night, the necessity of bringing rugs and blankets will be fully appreciated. JAA1AICA GUIDE. 33 CHAPTER X. PORT ROYAL. Port Royal has had a most eventful history, and has occupied a very important part in West Indian affairs. But little now remains of the old town save parts of the fortifications and sea wall. It has in turn been devastated by fire, depopulated by pestilence, and destroyed by earthquake. Port Royal is situated at the entrance to Kingston Harbor, at the end of the Palisades, the coral bar- rier reef which forms the breakwater to the harbor of Kingston. Here is a harbor large enough to shelter the fleets of the world. Scarcely any body of water of equal size presents so much food for meditation as this old harbor. Here lay the fleets of the early Spanish explorers and navigators ; here were anchored the squadron of Penn and Venable, whose followers gave Jamaica to England in Crom- well’s day. Before the first house was built in Kingston, Port Royal was the rendezvous of all English ships which for spoil or commerce fre- quented the West Indian seas. It was here that the most noted pirates and buccaneers the world has ever known — Morgan, Bartholomew, and others of their kind — brought their booty, after the conquest of Spanish galleons and of South American cities, 8 4 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED sold their plunder, and squandered their gains in gambling and riot. Here were landed the spoils of Panama, the ransom of Maricabo, and the gold and jewels and silks taken from rich merchantmen bound for Hispaniola. But of all the grim stories that the night wind whispers, the weirdest is that of the lost city that went down instantly, with her young men and maidens, old men and children ; with the wine of the feaster half drunk, and the prayer of remorse half said ; with unfinished curse, uncompleted crime, arrested cruelty, in all its splen- dor and guilt. Here, in the later century of legiti- mate wars, whole fleets were gathered to take in stores, or relit when shattered by engagements. Here Nelson had been, and Collingwood and Jeiv vis, and other great naval heroes. In this spot more than any other beyond Great Britain herself the energy of the Empire once was throbbing. Leaving the market wharf at Kingston in the swift little steamer or sailboats that ply between Kingston and Port Royal, one is soon carried mer- rily over the placid waters of the harbor, which is protected by the famous beach of the Palisades from any unwelcome violence of the sea. Soon the dis- tant palisades are approached. They are so called because from the distant sea the tall cocoanut palms present the appearance of a palisaded fence. Then come the mangrove-covered mud-flats. This spe- cies of tree grows in the mud along the seashore and in marshy places, and is found only in tropi- cal or semi-tropical countries. The foliage is a dai'k green ; and from the branches shoots droop down Kings House JAMAICA GUIDE. 85 and take root in the mud, similar to the banyan- tree of India, presenting a most peculiar appearance. The mangroves jut out into a green prominence, which is known as — GALLOWS POINT. Here perished miserably the pirate and buccaneer. Two crews of Cuban pirates were the last executed. The following account of their capture and execu- tion may prove interesting to the reader : — In 1822 Captain Walcott of H. M. Frigate Tyne captured off Cuba a large pirate schooner with ten men ; these were executed on the 7th of February, 1823, on Gallows Point, where so many before had met their fate. During the trial, evidence showed the existence of a larger vessel, the Zaragonaza, commanded by Aragonez, and manned by eighty desperate outlaws. On the death of the ten at Gal- lows Point, solemn vengeance against all English was vowed by Aragonez ; and the oath was taken by the whole crew, and ratified by the torture and slaughter of their own black Jamaica cook, the nearest approach to an Englishman among them. The Tyne and Tharcian sought, viewed, and chased the Zaragonaza into a shallow inlet; the attack was made by boats from the frigates ; the banks were lined with marksmen landed from the pi- rate. This, however, weakened his main force ; and the boats, pulling in under fire with slight loss, cap- tured the schooner, and hauled up the Union Jack over their swallow-tailed black flag. About twenty 86 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED pirates were killed. Those ashore escaped into the bush, a few swam ashore, the sharks got their share, and the balance passed through Port Royal to their trial at Kingston, doubtless viewing the un- sated gallows, which had carried their ten fellows, as they passed. In May the gallows were extended to hold sixteen, and supported that burden, as de- tailed faithfully in “Tom Cringle’s Log.” This example struck terror to the pirates, and their Cuban haunts were broken up ; and thenceforward execu- tions of pirates ceased. THE CHURCH. On landing at Port Royal, there is but little in the poor fishermen’s huts, the boat-slip, and the turtle crawl, to recall the fabled wealth of the town in olden times. The fire of 1703 took much that the earthquake of 1692 had spared, and hurricane and tempest have added to the tale of destruction. It is usually first to the church that the footprints of modern pilgrims turn ; and after obtaining the key from the opposite row of hovels, entry is easily made, and acknowledged by a trifle for the repairs and restoration hoped for by the vicar and all friends of the place. The church has little in architecture to repay the visitor, but contains objects of some value and an- tiquity. There is an old, handsome, mahogany gallery, traced and carved in the somewhat heavy but intricate and graceful designs of the Spaniards ; while the chandelier is a pure and good example of eighteenth century work. JAMAICA GUIDE. 8 / The saddest and most fascinating things about the old church are the constantly recurring mural tablets. Sometimes sacred to the memory of one, sometimes of an entire crew ; this one erected by the affection of a sister, and that by the piety of a comrade ; four-fifths told of victims to that dread scourge, yellow fever. Judging by these records, it would seem that in the old days Port Royal was a graveyard for the British navy and army ; a very plague-spot, where the hardiest laid down his life ; some killed by fever, some by accident of war and sea, some decorated with the honors they had won in a hundred fights, and some carried off before they had gathered the first flowers of fame. The costli- ness of many of these memorials is an affecting indication how precious to their families those now resting there once had been. One in high relief is a characteristic specimen of Rubillac’s workman- ship. It is to a young lieutenant who had been killed by the bursting of a gun. Flame and vapor are rushing out of the breach. The youth himself is falling backwards with his arms spread out, and a vast preternatural face is glaring at him through the smoke. It is bad art, though the execution is remarkable. The ancient capital was undoubtedly the port where many of Great Britain’s sailors and soldiers were permanently discharged, were mus- tered out of the service by that grim officer — Death. But it is also true that for years Great Britain had no other marine hospital in that part of the world than the one at Port Royal ; so the officers and men from infected ports and vessels in South America, 88 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED Central America, and the Antilles were all brought to Jamaica to die. Vessels that had never been to Jamaica sent their crews thither by other vessels; and the result was an importation of disease that in most tropical countries would ha /e proved far more disastrous to the country at large ; still, these tablets shock the visitor. Though we know that things are changed now, and that the sanitary condition of Port Royal is so greatly improved that there is hardly a possibility of a return of the old scourge, yet one cannot avoid a feeling of chill and fear, almost, as he sees these dreadful reminders of the reign of the yellow death, — three and four deep, covering almost the entire wall space of this house of worship. In England the names of Port Royal and the Palisades have a terrible and significant meaning. They are better known there than any other places in Jamaica, and are inseparably connected with death. THE TOWN. Port Royal proper is a mere aggregation of small houses, not always in the best repair, inhabited by- employees of the dockyard, or fishermen who earn a precarious livelihood by supplying the wants of the garrison with the harvest of the deep. The town includes the Royal Naval Dockyard, which contains large and spacious repairing-shops and storerooms, and a fine hospital. The fortifica- tions of Port Royal have been almost entirly recon- structed or strengthened within recent years ; and a JAMAICA GUIDE. 89 new fort, called Fort Victoria, has been equipped and armed with breech-loading rifles and cannon. The fort has two heavy guns mounted en barbette , and a number of six-inch and quick-firing guns mounted in casemates. In addition to this primary armament, there is a secondary battery of quick- firing guns, which occupy every coign of vantage so as to guard against any attempt at counter- mining on the part of an enemy who might have the temerity to attempt to force the passage. There are also other batteries besides this, of minor account. The place is garrisoned by a body of West Indian troops, — infantry, engineers, and artillery. There are also stationed here a bat- tery of white troops and the various auxiliaries of a fortified place. THE EARTHQUAKE. There is in the British Museum a copy of an old broadside containing a rudely drawn representation of the scene, and a copy of a letter from Captain Crocket giving an account of that terrible disaster. A photographic reproduction of the cut, reduced in size, is printed on page 91 ; and following is the principal part of the captain's letter relating to that event : — Port Royal, in Jamaica, Sir _ June jo, 1792. This with my Respects to all our Friends, comes amidst an Inundation of the deepest Sorrow, to bring you the Dreadful Account of our Misery and Trouble, tho I presume that before this the unwelcome Tydings are ar- 90 STARK 'S ILL USTRA TED rived at your Ears, of the Dreadful and Terrible Earth- quake which happen’d here on Tuesday , the 7/// of this Month. About half an hour after Eleven a Clock in the Morning, the Earth suffer’d a Trepidation or Trembling, which in a Minute’s time was increased to that degree, that several Houses began to tumble down, and in a little time after the Church and Tower, the Ground Opening in several Places at once, Swallow’d up Multitudes of People together, whole Streets sinking under Water, with Men, Women and Children in them ; and those Houses which but just now appeared the Fairest and Loftiest in these Parts, and might vie with the finest Buildings, were in a Moment Sunk down into the Earth, and nothing to be seen of them ; such Crying, such Shrieking and Mourn- ing I never heard, nor could anything in my Opinion, appear more Terrible to the Eye of Man: Here a com- pany of People Swallow’d up at once ; there a whole Street Tumbling down ; and in another Place the trem- bling Earth opening her Ravenous Jaws, let in the Merci- less Sea, so that this Town is become a heap of Ruines ; Captain Ruden's House was one of the first that Sunk, with him, his Wife, and Family, and several others in it: We have an Account from St. Ann's , that above a Thou- sand Acres of Woodland are covered with the Sea, De- stroying many Plantations, tumbling down most of the Houses, Churches, Bridges, and Sugar-mills throughout this Country, so that those who have saved their Lives have lost all they had; I shall only Instance myself for one, who have lost my Ship, and very considerably other ways, but I am very well satisfied because it is the Lord’s Doings. 92 ST A RK A ILL USTRA TED CHAPTER XI. CANE RIVER, YALLAHS, MORANT BAY, BATH, AND MANCHIONEAL. One of the pleasantest drives out of Kingston is to the eastward, along the shore road. As the rail- road does not reach this part of the island, the only conveyance is by carriage, stage, or steamer. To properly make this trip will take two or three days’ time. The first part of the road is very level, and it follows the shore. Good views can be obtained of the harbor and the Palisades in the distance. CANE RIVER. ITe first place of interest after leaving Kingston is the magnificent ravine of the Cane River, nine miles distant from Kingston, and one and a half miles north of Seven Miles, a small village on the Windward, or shore road. Mules or donkeys may be hired at Seven Miles to carry the hamper or the visitor himself up the bed of the river to the cave at the falls. This is a journey that cannot be under- taken when the river is in flood, as it is then almost impossible to cross the rocky bed at the fordings in face of the swift-rushing torrents. But the river is only in this state, as a rule, during the rainy season, JAMAICA GUIDE. 93 when open-air excursions are out of the question. The track along the river-bed is thickly strewn with huge bowlders of limestone. Gradually the bed of the river narrows, and the mouth of the ravine bursts upon the view like a gigantic doorway, flanked by frowning precipices of limestone rock rising for hun- dreds of feet above the river-bed, the impregnable home of thousands of orchids, ferns, and innumer- able creepers. In the vent-holes in the limestone an infinite variety of birds find a safe habitat for their young ; not even the nimble mongoose could find a foothold on the sheer face of the cliff. The breeze which blows through this yawning canon possesses a considerable degree of cold as compared with the radiated heat of the sand and rocks of the valley approaching it. Even in the hottest days of sum- mer, the ravine is found delightfully cool ; as, how- ever hot the breeze may be when it enters, it is immediately cooled and tempered by the spray of the roaring cascade some distance on. Now the stream becomes more rapid as the channel becomes narrower and more rocky. After innumerable windings and turnings, the ascent to the falls is made by a solidly constructed pathway and parapet wall, which pass under and through “Three-fingered Jack's ’’cave immediately overlooking the falls. The huge basin underneath the principal cascade is an ideal place for a “ dip,” from whence it is possible to pass on a shelf of rock immediately behind the cascade, and see the stream falling over like a huge mass of green fringed with silver. The cave is sup- posed to have been the headquarters of the famous 94 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED Three-fingered Jack, a noted brigand, who used to hold up travellers on the road between Kingston and Morant Bay, and who committed such depre- dations that the government offered a reward for his body, either dead or alive. This was secured by Readu, a Maroon, who killed the robber in sin- gle fight, and, as a proof, brought the three-fingered hand to headquarters, and was granted a pension of £20 a year for life. These falls are one of the most dainty bits of Jamaican scenery, a spot to be enthusiastic over ; and yet few people in Kingston scarcely know of their existence. The falls can also be reached from Gordon Town in a four hours’ ride. The next object of interest worth seeing is the Albion sugar plantation, distant about eighteen miles from Kingston. It was considered for many years one of the best and richest in the island. It con- tains five thousand acres, only a portion of which are now under cultivation. All the latest improve- ments in sugar machinery are in use here, vacuum pans and centrifugal process ; and yet the owners find it difficult to compete with German and French bounty-fed sugar. There is a moist freshness and a greenness in these large cane-fields that are sought for in vain elsewhere in the tropics. At frequent intervals irrigating streams, so neces- sary for cane culture, flow through the broad acres of growing cane. Beyond these immense green fields are the long lines of barracks or quarters, painted white, and flanking the clustered stone and brick buildings of the plantation. Visitors are Sugar Cane Culture. JAMAICA GUIDE. 95 welcome to the estate, and every courtesy will be shown them by the owner or manager. YALLAHS RIVER. Leaving Albion with its living green behind, the Yallahs River is reached, a broad, shallow stream, too wide and too shifting to be successfully bridged, so the traveller will have to continue to ford it, and take the chances of sudden floods and the dangers attending them. When a storm occurs in the moun- tains, a vast volume of water rushes down to the coast, and what is usually a shallow stream becomes a raging torrent. Frequently people are drowned in crossing, and are caught for several days between the Hope and Yallahs Rivers, not being able to either go on or return, and that in a region where lodging-houses are unknown. Easington, the ancient capital of the parish of St. David’s, before the parish was merged into St. Thomas, lies inland on the Yallahs River. It has a fine suspension bridge, and is reached by a very fair road. The court meets here twice during the month. Easington is one of the five principal towns of St. Thomas. A notable spot on the bank of the Yallahs River is known as the “Judgment Cliff.” This cliff is the half of a mountain which was rent asunder in the great earthquake in 1692, that destroyed Port Royal. A contemporary writer says, regarding this spot, “A half of a mountain fell, and overwhelmed a plantation at its foot, at that time possessed by an 96 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED atrociously wicked Dutchman, who overtopped the licentious wickedness of the times by procreating with his own children.” The cliff rises bleak and bare fully one thousand feet. This spot is situated about two miles from Easington, along the Yallahs River. Beyond the river is the picturesque, straggling little town of Yallahs; and then the salt pond is passed. The country then is full of streams, which one must ford, the water often coming up to the wagon hubs. Finally Morant Bay is reached, a small place where there is little accommodation for the traveller, but much to interest one, both in the natural scenery and sea views, and in the large shipments of fruit made from here. Besides this, there is much that is interesting; to the student of history at Morant Bay. MORANT BAY. It was here that the first scene in the rebellion of 1865 was enacted, as described in another chapter of this book. The vestry of St. Thomas ye East met at the court-house at Morant Bay for the trans- action of parochial business. At three o’clock on the eleventh day of October, several hundred peo- ple, crying, “ Color for color,” closed in about the building, and began to stone the volunteers who were drawn up to guard the members of the vestry. The Riot Act was read, and the volunteers fired, but they were soon overpowered. A hand-to-hand struggle ensued, during which Captain Hitchins, INTERIOR OF A SUGAR FACTORY. JAMAICA GUIDE. 97 faint from the loss of blood, rested on the knee of a volunteer the rifle he had taken from a murdered comrade, and fired his two remaining rounds of ammunition. He was then surrounded, and hacked to death by the negroes with their machetes. All the officers and many of the members of the volun- teer corps nobly died at their post, gallantly doing their duty. All the custodes of the parish, the curate of Bath, the inspector of police, and a num- ber of magistrates and other personages, were also murdered. There is a riding-road along the Morant River to a place in the interior called Island Head, in the coffee region. From Island Head a bridle-path will take one by the course of an old road built by Governor Trelawney in the last century, but now gone to ruin, over the mountains into the old Maroon settlement of Nanny Town, named after the wife of their famous chief, Cudjoe. More will be said about this place in the chapter concerning the Maroons. On the way to Port Morant a charming view can be had from a turn in the road above “White Horses,” a cliff which makes a prominent coast- mark to mariners, and where a grand ocean view, with foreground of picturesque rock and enchant- ing verdure, entices travellers to linger there. The nearest approach to the shipping-place of Bowden is first through the village of Port Morant, a little cluster of houses and cabins, around a cross- road where some great trees throw their shade, beyond whose trunks are vistas of white road, 9 § STARK'S ILLUSTRATED thatched roofs, palm tops, and stream. After pass- ing through the mangroves, it takes a sharp turn, then follows the curve of the hill, passes a little settlement, and ends at the storehouse and wharf of the Boston Fruit Company. From here or from the hilltop the view is won- derfully fine, and the air all that could be desired. Bowden is one of a number of estates owned by the Boston Fruit Company, which, no longer valuable for sugar and rum producing, are now used for raising bananas and cocoanuts. Captain Baker, the originator of the Company, lives on the Bowden estate ; and visitors are always welcomed by the genial captain, who is a genuine specimen of a Yankee, and a Cape Codder at that. Great quantities of bananas are shipped from this port. Many people will be met bringing down bunches of bananas on their heads from their little patch of ground on the mountain side. They are put into the storehouse on the wharf in open slat crates or bins, and then transferred to the steamers. It is interesting to see the great steamers of the Atlas and Boston Companies come into this quiet enclosed harbor, and transform its repose into ac- tivity. BATH. The road, after leaving Port Morant, branches off in two directions. The one to the eastward leads to Holland Bay, passing by Golden Grove, another of the Boston Company’s banana planta- tions. In its golden days it was a magnificent Banana Women JAMAICA GUIDE. 99 estate, and fortunes have been made from it. The other road, which is by far the most interesting, leads to the Bath of St. Thomas the Apostle, situ- ated near the picturesque little village of Bath, where the first botanic garden in Jamaica was established, in 1774. Bath was formerly the chief of Jamaica spas, once fashionable, but now only occasionally visited. The road to Bath is solidly built, without a break or any unevenness, with stone culverts, bridges, rock terracing, and hill work all the way; it is as perfect as possible. The negroes who work upon the road are small con- tractors. The work is done for so much per yard, and the workers earn from one to two shillings per day. On leaving Port Morant the road makes a sharp turn to the north. The country is richer and more tropical as we leave the coast, and the impression of lavish expenditures of energy on the part of nature is heightened at every step. As we advance, we lose, however, the bits of marine views that added so much to the beauty of the Windward road. These views are replaced by no less enchanting glens and ravines, into which the rich deep pervading fulness of sylvan life floods like a tide, overshadowing the road, and rolling in billows of verdure up the hillsides. The baths, which are a mile and a half from the town, which owes its existence to their proximity, are at the end of a winding road bordered with vines and moss and fern-covered rocks, flowering shrubs, trees heavy with fruit, and an atmosphere charged with moisture and very fragrant, like that of some vast greenhouse. IOO STARK'S ILLUSTRATED At the bath is a building in charge of an attend- ant, who introduces visitors to the stone basins built to receive the hot and cold waters that flow from the hillside within a few feet of each other. The bath is a sulphurated sodio-calcic thermal spring, having a temperature of 130° F. It has been chiefly valued for its unquestionable influence on rheumatic and cutaneous disorders. From Bath a bridle road leads up to the weird and wonderful “ Cuna cuna ” Pass in the Blue Mountains, a ride of rare beauty and interest, and from thence descends through the region of the Rio Grande to Port Antonio, past the Maroon settle- ment at Moore Town ; or by following a road that skirts the Plantain Garden River, reaches Island Plead, and from there by way already described to Nanny Town. All this ridge and the country north and east of it are of great interest to one who enjoys a little hardship with his travel, for it is an unsettled and untravelled country MANCHIONEAL. From Bath to Manchioneal the way is more level, passing through bottomlands and meadows that are like those of Old England. Bath and Manchioneal were both scenes of the great atrocities of the insurrection of Governor Eyre’s time. On the beach in front of the little dingy lodging-house at Manchioneal, there are a large number of negroes interred that were exe- cuted at that time. To the right are the clean, SHIPPING BANANAS, PORT ANTONIO. JAMAICA GUIDE. 101 bright-looking buildings of the constabulary station and the church. To the left a high bluff hides the road that leads to Port Antonio, which winds with the turnings of the coast-line, and constantly affords surprises and scenes of rich beauty. Deep bays and inlets, beaches where the water breaks in a long surf, headlands crowned with foliage, — all afford satisfaction to the eye. Here is Innes’ Bay, a deep indentation in the coast; there Fairy Hill Bay, with its extensive outlook each way over the ocean ; then Priestman's River is crossed, deep at the mouth as it debouches into its little harbor; and the exquisite “ Blue Water,” whose turquoise shades into amethyst in the shadows over which the bend- ing trunks and swaying tops of a hundred cocoanut- trees cast their reflections. All through this region are scattered scenes of rare beauty. At intervals pens are passed where cattle are grazed, and what were formerly sugar estates are now converted into pasturage for horses and cattle. But in spite of its beauty, its natural fertility, its advantageous situation, its grazing pens, and vil- lages, Eastern Portland gives the impression of des- olation. Mile after mile of unused, unredeemed acres, once flourishing with cane, but now given over to wild growths, sadden even the most opti- mistic observer. In legal parlance, this whole section is in ruinate. As Port Antonio is approached, a great change comes over the scene. Everywhere one sees increasing evidence of prosperity ; a new life appears to animate the scene ; decay is arrested ; 102 6 - TA RI< 'S ILL USTRA TED the waste acres are taken up, and planted with fruit. We are coming now to the headquarters of the Boston Fruit Company, and the termination of the Port Antonio branch of the railway. The banana has taken the place of the sugar-cane ; the old order of things has changed for the new. Port Antonio has one of the finest harbors on the coast. It is so land-locked that navigators strange to die locality sometimes find it difficult to distin- guish the entrance to the harbor. The fort and barracks, now used for a school, are conspicuous objects from the offing. Vessels approaching from the eastward sometimes mistake the remains of some old sugar-works at Anchovy for them ; but, by running along the land, the place, when once opened, cannot be mistaken. A lighthouse, which was erected on Folly Point in 1888, has been a great aid to navigation. Port Antonio and its vicinity will be more fully described in another chapter in this work, giving a description of the approach to it by railway. JAMAICA GUIDE. 103 CHAPTER XII. SPANISH TOWN. The two most ancient and historical places in the vicinity of Kingston are Spanish Town and Port Royal. Spanish Town is distant from Kings- ton about thirteen miles, and is connected by rail- way. The town was founded by the Spaniards about 1523, and was called by them St. Jago de la Vega, which was anglicized into Spanish Town. As was usual, in Spanish Town a square, or plaza, was laid out, around which the public offices were grouped. On the west side of the square stands the old official residence of the governors of Jamaica, now un- occupied, but kept in repair. On the east is the Record Office, in which are deposited copies of all official records and land titles. In this building the old House of Assembly used to hold its sessions. On the north side of the square stands the elegant and artistic “Temple,” erected in honor of Rod- ney’s great victory off Dominica, April 12, 1782, where he defeated the French fleet under Count de Grasse. The French admiral, fresh from his victory at Yorktown, refitted at Martinique, then intended to join the Spaniards, capture Jamaica, and drive the English out of the West Indies. All the Antilles except St. Lucia were already his ; 104 S TANK 'S ILL [IS TLA TED there alone the English flag still flew, as Rodney lay in the harbor of Castries, watching for the de- parture of the French fleet. At last the welcome sign was given; the French fleet had sailed, and was becalmed under the high lands of Dominica. In number of ships the fleets were equal ; in size and complement of arms, the French were immensely superior. Moreover, they had twenty thousand sol- diers on board, to be used in the conquest of Jamaica. Defeat at this moment would have been England’s irreparable ruin ; and the English admiral was aware that his country’s fate was in his hands. It was one of those supreme moments which great men dare to use, and weak men tremble at. Rodney led in person on his flag-ship, the For- midable. He immediately engaged the Glorieux, a seventy-four, at close range. He shot away her masts and bowsprit, and left her a bare hull. He then went about, and came yard-arm to yard-arm with the superb Yille de Paris, the pride of France, and the largest ship in the world, on which De Grasse commanded in person. All day long the cannon roared; and one by one the French ships struck their flags, or fought on till they sank. The carnage on board them was terrible, crowded as they were with troops for Jamaica. Fourteen thou- sand were reckoned as killed, besides prisoners. The Ville de Paris surrendered last, fighting des- perately after all hope was gone. De Grasse gave up his sword to Rodney on the Formidable’s quar- ter-deck, and Yorktown was avenged. So on that memorable day Jamaica and the English empire JAMAICA GUIDE. 105 were saved. Peace followed, but it was with honor. The American colonies were lost, but England kept Gibraltar and her East and West Indian colonies. The hostile strength of Europe and her revolted colonies had failed to wrest Britannia’s ocean scep- tre from her. She sat down maimed and bleeding, but the wreath had not been torn from her brow ; she was, and still is, sovereign of the seas. Is it any wonder that Jamaica honors Rodney, and con- siders him her saviour? The Temple contains a splendid marble statue of the admiral by Bacon ; it is generally conceded to be a masterpiece of the sculp- tor’s art. The statue is flanked by two magnificent brass eighteen-pounders captured on the Ville de Paris. There are also two bomb mortars of bronze which were taken from the same vessel. For a century Rodney’s statue has kept watch and ward over the affairs of Spanish Town, till it grew to have a more than educational significance. Peo- ple spoke of it as a person, and regarded it as a tutelary deity. More than all, they had an affec- tion for it. Judge, then, what the feelings of the people must have been when Rodney was removed to Kingston, and set up in the market-place there, with his face to the sea. There was mourning ; houses were hung with black ; a mock funeral was held, and a coffin containing the effigy of the lost admiral was placed in the empty Temple. The authorities feared a riot. They had taken away the government, they had destroyed the prestige of the place, they had robbed it of its business, and now they added insult to injury by carrying off io6 STARK 'S ILLUSTRA TED Rodney. There Spanish Town drew the line. It refused to be parted from its idol ; and the admiral once more stands on his pedestal in the Temple, his captured cannon at his feet, and the plaza of Spanish Town under his eagle eye. On the south side of the square is a fine old building, which contains the court-room, town hall, savings-bank, and parochial board offices. The garden in the centre of the square is beauti- fully laid out with a profusion of tropical flowers and shrubs, which are watered by the fountain within the enclosure. THE CATHEDRAL. The Cathedral is a building rich in historic asso- ciations. It is supposed to stand on the foundations of the Spanish Church of the Red Cross, which, together with an abbey and another church called the White Cross, was destroyed by the English Puri- tan soldiers when the town was captured by Vena- bles in May, 1655. The present building takes the place of the earlier one, built in the reign of Queen Anne, which was destroyed by the hurricane of 1712. The church is built of brick, in the form of a Latin cross, and has a tower at the west end. Some of the monuments, tablets, and slabs are older than the church, and are extremely interest- ing. There is one to the memory of three of a family named Assam, who had for their crest three asses engraven on the stone. Another makes it appear that an eminent man, Colbeck of St. Doro- JAMAICA GUIDE. 10 / thy, died “ amid great applause.” The most inter- esting one to Americans is in the churchyard. It is a large white marble slab, and contains the fol- lowing inscription : — IN MEMORY OF GEORGE WASHINGTON REED Master Commander in the Navy of the United States. Born at Philadelphia, May 26th, 1780. Captured in the U. S. Brig of War Vixen, under his command, by H. B. M. Frigate Southampton. He died a prisoner of war at this place, JANUARY 4TH, 1813. Unwilling to forsake his companions in captivity, he declined a proffered parole, and sunk under a tropical fever. THIS STONE Is inscribed by the hand of affection as a memorial of his virtues, and records the gratitude of his friends for the kind offices which in the season of sickness and hour of death he received at the hands of a generous foe. The interior of the church presents a graceful aspect. It has a beautiful east window, and several admirably executed pieces of sculpture by Bacon ; the most striking of these being those erected to the memory of the Earl and Countess of Effingham, Sir Basil Keith, Major-General Selwyn and the Count- ess of Elgin, and Lady Williamson. Spanish Town possesses a good almshouse, hos- pital, market, record office, and constabulary depot. Its streets are well paved and clean, its houses io8 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED attractive, though not different from those of most other West Indian towns ; its population is about six thousand. It is situated six miles from the sea, on the banks of the Rio Cobre, a beautiful stream of considerable volume. Four miles from town the river is dammed for the purpose of irrigating the plains of St. Catherine ; here the water glides over a slope, making a most beautiful waterfall. The water of the canal finds its way by pleasant banks, under picturesque bridges, and beneath long, even rows of bending cocoannt-trees, to smaller channels, until at last its ramifications reach through grazing- pens, fruit-cultivating and sugar-estates, fertilizing and enriching all that section of country. A little way beyond the dam will be seen traces of an ancient avenue of tall trees, at the end of which is a ruin overgrowm with trees and under- brush. This ruin is said to be that of the residence of the last Spanish governor of the island, who fled from here when the island was taken by Admirals Penn and Venables in Cromwell’s time. Few places in Jamaica are more beautiful, and few will better repay a visit, than Bog Walk, one of the most pic- turesque spots on the island. The Bog Walk is a gorge through which the Rio Cobre flows towards the sea. In the drive along the banks of the Rio Cobre, through the Bog Walk, there is seen every- thing that makes scenery lovety, — wood, water, rocks, and the wildest luxuriance of tropical foli- age, mingled and arranged by the artistic hands of Nature in one of her happiest moods. All this is surrounded by lofty and abrupt precipices, with JAMAICA GUIDE. 109 a background of the most brilliant hue, illuminated by the brightest of suns, tempered usually by a gentle breeze, which ripples the surface of the water. As you pass out of the Bog Walk, the sides of the ravine become less precipitous, and are clothed with all kinds of tropical trees, such as bread-fruit, bamboos, and vast quantities of flower- ing orchids. Among other places of interest in the vicinity of Spanish Town are Port Henderson, with its mineral springs and bath ; and on the hill is Rodney’s look- out, from which the admiral ‘‘watched the adjacent sea;” the Vale Guanaboa, Old Harbor, the Great Salt Pond, Apostles’ Battery, Fort Augusta, Green Bay, and Passage Fort, where the English con- querors first landed. Near Spanish Town are situated some of the most scientifically worked sugar-plantations on the island, such as Ewing’s, Caymanas, and Busby Park. Near the railway station are the West Indian Chemical Works, where dyes are extracted from logwood, fustic, and other woods. This manufac- tory and the Rio Cobre Hotel were both established through the instrumentality of Mr. T. L. Harvey, solicitor, one of the most public-spirited men on the island and a great believer in the future of Jamaica. Mr. Harvey recognized the fact that good hotel accommodations are among the first requisites to make the island, with its many natural attractions and equable climate, a popular winter resort ; and the well-kept, comfortable Rio Cobre Hotel is al- ways appreciated by tourists. The house will ac- I IO STARK 'S ILLUSTRATED commodate about fifty guests, and aims to give West Indian comfort and care with American manage- ment. As this hotel was built under the Jamaica Hotel Law of 1890, the tariff will be found on page 57 of this work. Amongst other specialties, mention must be made of the excellence of the cuisine at this hotel, and its character, and also the good attendance. In the season, the visitor may enjoy in perfection the calipever (the Jamaica salmon), brought from the Great Salt Pond, and the celebrated “Salt Pond Mutton ” of the district, dressed in native fashion. The food put before the guests consists princi- pally of Jamaica dishes, which of course can only be prepared by native cooks. It is strange how little Jamaica preserves are thought of by persons catering for visitors. Ginger, pineapples, oranges, limes, guavas, cashews, mangoes, and other tropi- cal conserves are sought after by strangers. The manager of the Hotel Rio Cobre, understanding that visitors to the island wish to taste its good things, successfully makes it an object to gratify them. JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 1 1 CHAPTER XIII. MANBEVILLE AND MONTPELIER. After leaving Kingston, the railroad crosses the mangrove swamps at the mouth of the Rio Cobre, the trees growing in the water. Rising slowly, it passes through level grazing-ground studded with mangoes and cedars. Spanish Town is passed, of which only the roofs of the old govern- ment buildings are visible from the train. Sugar- estates follow, some of which are still in cultivation, while ruined mills and fallen aqueducts show where others once had been.- After passing May Pen, with its line iron bridge, and view of the dry bed of a river that has found a subterranean channel, the grade then rises to higher levels, the scenery becomes more broken, the forest stretches as far as eye can reach. The glens grow narrower and the trees grander as the train proceeds. After two hours’ ride the town of Porus is reached, named after one of the companions of Columbus, an inter- esting relic of the first Spanish occupation. A short distance beyond the small railway station of Wil- liamsfield is reached, the nearest town on the rail- way to Mandeville, although some persons prefer the longer drive from Porus. Buggies can be procured at either of these I 12 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED places. The drive to Mandeville is through a lovely hill country, and rich undulating plateau, long cleared and cultivated, green fields with cows feeding on them, with pretty houses standing in gardens. The red soil, derived from the coral rock, denotes the best of land for cultivation. Great silk- cotton trees tower up in lonely magnificence, the home of the dreaded Jumbi, so feared by the ne- groes. Almonds, cedars, mangoes, and gum-trees spread their shade over the road. Orange-trees are seen everywhere, sometimes in orchards, some- times growing at their own wild will in hedges and copse and thicket. As the town is approached, the houses become more numerous, the outskirts having every appearance of an English village. The similarity is even greater when the centre of the town is reached, which is built around a square containing several acres of grassy common in which the silk-cotton and the mango grow instead of the elm. In the centre of the square stands the court-house ; and facing it, on the other side of the green, is the parish church, with its low square tower, in which hangs an old peal of bells. On the left is the Brooks Hotel, recently enlarged and im- proved. Also several shops and a blacksmith forge and shed ; this latter, with the market-place, makes the resemblance to an English village complete. Mandeville, on its table-land, is at an elevation of 2,500 feel above sea level, and the mountain air is consequently at all seasons of the year of a cool and bracing character ; and is as charming a place to the eye as it is beneficial to the senses. It is an JAMAICA GUIDE. ”3 extremely pretty and picturesque little town, and its appearance is considerably enhanced by the general aspect of neatness and prosperity which pervades the place. Mandeville is the centre of a district famous for its cattle as well as for its fruit, and has excellent grazing-grounds. The pride of Mandeville is in its oranges; they are the best grown in Jamaica. Fortunes larger than were ever made by sugar wait for any man who will set himself to work growing oranges, and packing them with skill and science, in a place where heat will not wither them, nor frosts, as in Florida, kill the trees in a night. New York has already found out their merits, and thousands of boxes are shipped there from Mandeville annually. Besides oranges, Man- deville excels in the raising of coffee. Undoubt- edly coffee-growing is one of the safest and best industries to engage in, not only because coffee is non-perishable and therefore easily transported, but because there is every indication that the high prices which now rule will continue for many years. Moreover, on the high lands, which are best suited to coffee, the climate is cool and pleasant. As to the profits, the cost of producing a pound of coffee is from five to seven cents, while it readily sells at from sixteen to twenty-five cents. Mr. Wynne, an English gentleman who came to Mandeville a few years ago, has one of the largest coffee-plantations in Jamaica. As the method of growing coffee and preparing it for market is probably unfamiliar to most persons, a visit to STARK'S ILLUSTRATED 1 14 this plantation will prove both interesting and instructive. In starting a plantation, the young trees are usu- ally set eight feet apart both ways, though some planters prefer to plant wider. Two years after- ward there will be a sprinkling of coffee, and at the end of the third year a small crop, usually enough to pay running expenses. The fourth year brings a full crop ; and the trees continue thereafter to bear for thirty or forty years, according to the soil in which they are planted. The coffee-berry, when ripe, is of a bright purplish-red color, and is in appearance much like a cherry. The coffee- kernels, like the cherry-stones, are incased in the flesh of the fruit. Quite a process is necessary to prepare the coffee for the market ; but with the im- proved machinery now in use, it is not expensive. First, the berries are run through a “ pulper,” a machine which tears off most of the pulp from the kernel. They are then run into tanks filled with water, where they are frequently agitated to wash off what pulp may remain on them. Then they are removed from the tanks, and spread out in the sun on great platforms made of cement, and left there until thoroughly dry. The platforms are called “ patios,” or “ barbecues,” — the former word being Spanish for courtyard, and the latter a term applied by the aborigines to the smooth places on which they dried their fish and fruits. At one side of each patio is a tight shed, and into this the coffee is swept in case of rain. The coffee, being thoroughly dry, is removed JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 1 5 from the patios. Up to this point the two kernels which form the “ stone,” so to speak, of the berry, and which lie with their flat surfaces face to face, are surrounded by the horny covering. To remove this the coffee is run through a mill properly con- structed for the purpose. It is then ready for mar- ket ; though it is better to sort it before shipping, as a better price can thus be realized. This sorting, which grades the kernels according to size, is done by a very simple machine, quite similar to that in use by the wholesale dealers in our own country. Mandeville is a favorite resort for visitors and invalids, on account of the salubrity of its climate, the town being situated in the Manchester hills, on a plateau elevated high above the sea level. Some Jamaicans think it too cool ; the visitor from the north is not apt to find it so. There are sev- eral boarding-houses here, but only one hotel. This excellent house, formerly known as the Waverley, now called the Brooks Hotel, is under the lessee- ship, of Mr. A. A. Lindo, with Miss Jane Brooks as manager. It has seventeen rooms, and these are seldom empty. It is a well-conducted house, and has oftentimes very distinguished patronage. The rates are approximately the same as those estab- lished by the government for the hotels built under the hotels law, and are given on page 57. Continuing the journey on the railway, through the beautiful mountain estates of Manchester, which look like English parks with their closely cropped grass and their picturesquely planted trees, Kendal is soon reached after leaving Williamsfield ; as it i ; STARK’S ILLUSTRATED 1 16 approached, orange-groves will be seen on both sides of the line. Green Vale is the next station, and is the highest elevation on the line, 1,700 feet above sea level; and the delightful breezes are most invigorating after the more excessive heat of the plains. Green Vale has become the centre of the fustic trade, and the large yellow trunks lying around the station yard are fair specimens of one of the most valua- ble woods of the island. From Green Vale the line runs over the main ridge of the Jamaica mountains, through a rolling country occupied by grazing-pens. The wooded hills supply valuable dyewoods and hard-wood tim- ber. The railway now descends on steep grades towards the Oxford valley, which can be seen after the first tunnel is passed, and one mile back from Balaclava water is taken from a small stream called the Oxford River : from there on the train runs towards Balaclava, skirting the hills, and affording a beautiful view of the valley. Balaclava is a small market-town, and the centre of a considerable gin- ger and coffee trade ; the negroes for miles around come here Saturday mornings in order to sell their produce, and lay in their stock of salt fish and pro- visions for the coming week. From Balaclava, which is 800 feet above sea level, the line, still skirting the hills, descends to Union Plain, which is a large swampy valley, quite level and about three miles long. At the farther end is situated the famous Appleton sugar-estate. This estate, while very small in extent of sugar cultiva- JAMAICA GUIDE. ii 7 tion, produces what is considered the best quality of rum in the island. From Appleton the line skirts the Black River ; beautiful glades and tropical ver- dure delight the eye, then three bridges span this river. The Black River is the longest navigable river in Jamaica. Large quantities of logwood and other dye-woods are brought down the river in lighters ; these boats, owing to their light draught, are able to navigate the river for thirty miles into the interior of the island. From Appleton to Bread- nut Valley the river has a number of cascades and picturesque falls. The cascades on the river that rises at Ipswich are among the most beautiful on the island. The Black River abounds with alliga- tors, and excellent shooting can at times be had among them. After crossing the third bridge that spans the river, the engine once more starts under a full head of steam to ascend the mountains. The panting of the iron horse shows that it is beginning to ascend ; and soon the wildest region of Jamaica is reached, the Cockpit Country, the home of the Maroons. The country here consists of isolated peaks with deep, hollow valleys, at the bottom of which often may be seen a small cultivation of bananas. This section of country comprises an area of some ten by twenty miles in extent, and is one vast labyrinth of glades among rough cliffs, with here and there patches of smoother ground, and at other places, coming one after the other, a general collection of impassable sink-holes called cockpits. There are paths through these rocks where one can walk for miles, meeting i is STA RK \S ILL USTRA TED always the same things, — cliffs, sink-holes, rocks, more cliffs and sink-holes, and so on. It is difficult to tell one point from another ; and should the path be lost, the traveller could wander on for days and days, as some have done, without finding any means of egress. A large part of the Cockpit Country has never been explored, nor is it probable that it ever will be, because the land is useless ; and one can cross the district from north to south and from east to west, and go all around it sufficiently to show that there is nothing to compensate for the effort, and that one part is quite similar to all the others. In all this district there is very little water, the rain being carried off almost immediately by multi- tudes of crevices and along ways through the rocks leading no one knows where. At long distances apart there are springs, or rather places where un- derground water courses have come to the surface, and almost immediately pass out of sight again. The whole district is one of the waste places of the earth, of little if any use, but interesting in its formation, which seems to be a decomposed lime- stone, broken and easily disintegrated, intersected and surrounded by ridges and hills also of lime- stone, but of a different texture and more enduring. The bases of these hills are probably coral reefs, and the rough country lying between them forma- tions from their sediment, deposited by the action of the sea ; and after the upheaval of Jamaica these basins of limestone gradually found drainage under the surrounding mountains, and this through sue- JAMAICA GUIDE. II 9 cessive centuries of disintegration has brought these districts to their present rough, almost impassable structure. After passing through the Cockpit Coun- try the railroad follows the valley of the Great River, on the west of which, in the parish of West- moreland, is a section of country known as “ Suri- nam quarters.” Here, in 1672, over one thousand Dutchmen settled, who came from Surinam in South America, but who, unlike their countrymen who settled in South Africa, have mixed with the negroes during the past two hundred years. They were of an industrious habit, and added greatly to the colony’s prosperity. All of this section of coun- try is inhabited by their descendants. Montpelier station is on one of the two great estates owned by the Hon. Evelyn Ellis, a wealthy English gentleman who has built the Montpelier Hotel for the entertainment of his English guests and travellers generally. The house, which has only sixteen rooms, is lavishly furnished, and well conducted under the management of Mrs. Jane Stone. The business interests of this hotel, as well as the Rio Cobre at Spanish Town, are attended to by Mr. T. L. Harvey, solicitor. The rates are about the same as charged by the hotels built under the Hotels Law, as printed on page 57. At Shettlewood and Montpelier may be seen the silver-gray hides and quaint shapes of Zebu and Mysore cattle, imported from India at a great cost by Mr. Ellis. The offspring of these cattle, when crossed with the native animal, make about the most useful stock for draft purposes that can be 120 STARK 'S ILLUSTRATED desired. The acreage of these estates runs up into thousands, over which roam enormous herds of Indian cattle. Every visitor to this part of Jamaica should stop at Montpelier if only to see the cattle, the beautiful view from the top of the hill on which the hotel is situated, and also to be entertained in the most richly furnished hotel in Jamaica. JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 2 1 CHAPTER XIV. MONTEGO BAY. Montego Bay is ten miles distant from Mont- pelier. Jnst before coming to Montego Bay the view from the cars is the finest on the whole route. The panoramic view of the bay, town, and plain covered with great fields of sugar-cane, is magnifi- cent. The name of the town is derived from the Spanish manteca, meaning hog lard, owing to the fact that the principal trade of the town during the Spanish occupancy was lard, in which an ex- tensive business was carried on between Jamaica and Havana. Sir Hans Sloane states that the boiling of swine’s flesh into lard, which was sold in great quantities, constituted the early distinctive commerce of Manteca. Montego Bay is a com- mercial centre, and a place of increasing impor- tance. A general shipping business, principally with the United States, has been largely augmented by the increasing fruit-trade ; and it is said that many properties in the neighborhood which had been considered nearly valueless have become profitable as fruit-lands. Besides this, the people are more generally employed, and are more con- tented. The chief buildings in the town are the court- 122 STARK 'S ILL US TR A TED house, the Episcopal church and Trinity chapel, and the chapels belonging to the Baptist, Wesleyan, and the United Presbyterian denominations, the custom-house and old barracks. The church is the most interesting building, on account of the num- ber of fine monumental marbles and tablets, which testify to the wealth of the planters that resided here in slavery days. The most noted memorial among these is one to a lady named Mrs. Palmer, whom tradition makes out to have been a Jamaican Lu- cretia Borgia, who poisoned or otherwise removed a number of husbands, and was herself put to death by her last marital companion. The marble of the tablet, which was executed by the elder Bacon, shows some curious markings which it is alleged were not apparent when erected. Round the neck appears the mark of strangling, while the nostrils seem to exude blood. But time changes all things. One day some one discovered records which clearly proved that not this woman, but another of the same name, had committed the deed for which for years this marble has blushed ; and that this memorial was erected to a truly good and beautiful woman, good according to the inscription on the marble, and beautiful by tradition. Yet this gentle saint was pointed out to all comers for many years as an utterly depraved character, a murderess, whose hands had been dyed with the blood of her own husbands. About ten miles from Montego Ba}s on the main road leading to Kingston, stands what was once one of the most costly and magnificent residences in JAMAICA GUIDE. 123 Jamaica. This building was the residence of Mrs. Palmer, and is known as Rose Hail. It was erected in 1760, at a cost of £30,000 sterling, and was most beautifully and richly furnished. Ruin has put her iron hand upon the place, and the robber and plun- derer are fast completing what war and rebellion first began. A few years more and only a few scanty remains will be left to point out to the way- farer and visitor the site where once stood one of the most costly buildings in the island. Every visitor to Montego Bay should visit this famous mansion. The following description of the same, from the Journal of the Institute of Jamaica, as illustrative of one of the mansions erected in Jamaica during slavery times, will probably interest the reader : — “ A gap through the boundary walls leads to avenues of trees selected for their beauty and fragrance from the endless variety which luxuriates in a southern clime. There may still be seen the cocoa with its fringy leaves, always graceful and always beautiful ; the giant cotton, the king of the forest, from whose huge limbs countless streamers of parasitical plants hang pendent exposed to the breeze ; the palm, with its slender speckle of most delicate green ; the spreading mahogany, with its small leaves of the deepest die ; and there may be found the ever-bearing orange, with its golden fruit and flowers of rich perfume. Neglect, too, has been here; and the avenue once so trim and neat is now overgrown with weeds and bushes, so much so that the remainder of the ancient road can scarce now be seen. Passing about a half mile through the grove, you come suddenly in front of a stately large stone mansion, prettily situated on the top of a gentle slope. The first thing that strikes you is its size 124 STARK 'S ILLUSTRA TED and magnitude ; the next, the imposing appearance of the flight of steps leading to the main entrance of the man- sion. These are fourteen feet high, built of large square stones (hewn), and so arranged that the landing-place serves as a portico, twenty feet square. A few brass stanchions, curiously wrought and twisted, serve to show what the railing had been ; but the few remaining are tarnished with verdigris, and broken, bruised, and turned in every direction. Magnificent massive folding-doors of solid mahogany four inches thick, with panels formed by the carver’s chisel in many a scroll and many a device, are upheld by brazen hinges which, fashioned like sea- monsters, seem to bite the posts on which they hang. These doors are in front of the main hall, — a room of lofty dimensions and magnificent proportions, a hall forty feet long, thirty feet wide, and eighteen feet high, formed of the same costly materials as the doors, carved in the same manner out of solid planks, and fashioned in curious and antique forms, while the top is ornamented with a very deep cornice formed after the arabesque pattern. The floor is of the same expression, and highly polished wood. Three portraits in richly carved frames and painted by a master hand immediately attract attention; indeed, they are almost the sole occupants of this lofty room, for of furniture there is scarcely a vestige, and the fine dark colored woods of the floor, base, and doors, once so highly polished, are now damp and mouldy. The gilding which formerly adorned the frames is now tarnished and dull ; but the pictures themselves are fresh and fair, and the colors are as bright and vivid as the day they came from the painter’s easel. They form a strange contrast to the neglect and decay of all around, and carry the mind back to the time when their originals lived in the old mansion ; when that noble hall was filled with guests ; when the song and dance went gayly on ; when, instead of damp, mould, and decay, all was bright and gorgeous, and India’s riches JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 -5 glittered in profusion round the now bare and moulder- ing walls. One of these portraits represents a hard and stern-featured man, clothed in the scarlet and ermined robes of a judge. Another is of a mild, benevolent-looking, gentlemanly person, dressed in the fashion of the olden times, with powdered hair, lace cravat, ruffles and shirt bosom, silk stockings and buckles, small clothes, brocaded vest, and velvet coat. The third is a female of about live or six and twenty; and, if the painter has not flattered her, she must have been of exquisite beauty. Like the raven’s wing is her hair, the latter falling in thick cluster- ing ringlets, unconfined by comb, down over her alabaster neck and shoulders of purest white ; her brow high and commanding ; her eyes are dark and expressive ; a smile plays sweetly round her rosy lips ; and the expression of her countenance is pleasant, but at the same time her eye and brow show great determination of character. She is dressed in bridal robes ; a wreath of orange-flowers round that fair high brow contrasts well with her dark locks ; while her hand, that small fairylike hand, is in the act of putting aside the large bridal veil thrown loosely over her person. The frame of another picture is there, but the picture itself is gone. On the right side of this hall are two doors leading into bedrooms. In the farther one is an old-fashioned bedstead made of ebony, with tall posts and very low feet. The wood is quite black and old, but very elaborately carved. This is the only object of in- terest. The rest of the furniture is simple and modern. Examining closely the floor of the dressing-room, we find the remains of a door which led to a subterranean passage ; but the passage has long since been filled up, and the door is firmly closed. Directly opposite to the main door are two others fashioned in the same costly and expensive manner, which lead into another hall of rather smaller dimensions than the banqueting hall, one end of which is entirely occupied by a magnificent staircase, which still 1 26 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED remains, and, though neglected and mouldy, seems to show what the rest of the mansion must have been. Every- thing about it, rails, balustrades, and mouldings, is carved out of sandalwood. So highly polished and exquisitely designed is this piece of architecture, that a late governor- general offered a large sum (^500) for the staircase as it stood, to be taken down and sent to England. This stair- case leads to the upper rooms, eight in number ; but these, though well proportioned, seem small in comparison with the rooms below. From each end of the portico, which extends the whole length of the back part of the house, ran in semicircular shape two suites of rooms, each three in number. Those on the right side have all decayed and tumbled to ruin, and you can only trace their founda- tions ; those on the left are still entire, though supported by many a prop, while the yawning walls and gaping floors show the time of their fall is not far distant. The first of these rooms was a billiard-room, the second was devoted to music, and the third, and farther from the house, was a bedroom. These rooms were fitted up in the European style, with hangings, and plastered ; and consequently exhibit in a greater degree, by the broken plaster and fluttering paper, the desolation and ruin of the whole place, than the other apartments, that are all ceiled with wood. The bedchamber still has some of its furni- ture remaining, — a handsome bedstead, old-fashioned, low, quaintly carved, with ebony inlaid with other woods, still remains tottering in one corner; this, with a few broken chairs, serve to show that time, not the robber, has been the spoiler here.” By the records, in 1767, Miss Rosa Witter was married to the Hon. John Palmer, who named this mansion after his wife. This is the Mrs. Palmer to whom Bacon's monument is erected. The fol- JAMAICA GUIDE. 12 7 lowing account of the second Mrs. Palmer, whose character and conduct are the subject of this sketch, has been collected from the most authentic sources, and is probably as near a correct statement of the facts of the case, which occurred over one hundred years ago, as it is now possible to obtain. Mr. Palmer, after the death of his wife, became infatuated with a handsome Irish immigrant girl, who had successively become the wife of three husbands whom she had secretly got rid of. It is stated she poisoned her first husband, aided by her paramour, a negro, whom she flogged to death to close his lips ; again married, poisoned her second husband, whose death she hastened by stabbing him with a knife ; married her second paramour, a me- chanic, “ a rude and unlettered man, with whom she had constant quarrels,” and who disappeared mysteriously. Mr. Palmer became her fourth hus- band ; and she is said to have worn, with her wed- ding-ring, a ring with the inscription, “ If I survive, I will have five.” The history of this woman is a narration of licentious cruelty; it is related that she tortured her slave girls who served her by mak- ing them wear shoes, the wooden soles of which were charged with blunted pegs on which they were obliged to stand ; that she punished them with a perforated platter that drew blood ; that, becoming- jealous of a beautiful colored girl, the mistress of John Rosa Palmer, her step-son, she had the slave girl sentenced to death under the law of those times that gave plantation courts the power of inflicting death and bodily mutilation. This girl, like Abra- 128 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED ham’s Hagar, displeased her mistress, but was not thrust into a desert to perish. From the planta- tion dungeon she was led out to be strangled in the plantation yard, and to have her head struck off in the presence of the plantation gangs, and deliv- ered into the hands of Mrs. Palmer for preservation as a malignant trophy. She put it in spirits, and exhibited it to her friends who might visit her, say- ing, “Look at the pretty creature.” Mr. Palmer found by the humiliations he suffered by her secret licentiousness and by her ceaseless cruelties to her slaves, that she could kill by breaking hearts as well as by the administration of poison. He settled Palmyra, the adjoining estate, upon her, and left her there to end her dissolute life, which soon came to an end by her being killed by her slaves, who were alternately the companions of her orgies and the victims of her morning remorse. On the floor of Palmyra Hall the stains of her blood existed for years. Mr. Palmer on his death-bed disclosed to the Rev. Mr. Record his complicity in his wife's murder, — that during his absence from the estate, he caused his slaves to rid him of the woman whose life of secret profligacy and open cruelty were an unendurable infliction. There are many pleasant drives and interesting places to visit in and around Montego Bay. Lucea is reached by the shore road ; it is a beautifully sit- uated town of nearly two thousand inhabitants. Its harbor is deep, almost a circular basin, much nar- rower at the entrance than inside. The business JAMAICA GUIDE. 129 buildings are near the shore, while above them on the hills are pleasant residences and picturesque grounds. Here also is a tine old church, and old Fort Charlotte, at the entrance to the harbor, now converted into a police-station. There are several lodging-houses in Lucea where travellers can he accommodated. The mountains around Montego Bay were the scene of a long and bloody struggle with the Maroons, who were eventually subdued by the importation of bloodhounds from Cuba to hunt them down. Ruins of line old barracks in a delightfully healthy situation are still to be seen at Maroon Town, about fourteen miles from Montego Bay. The empty window frames and crumbling walls surround the level, green parade-ground that once resounded with the clatter of hoofs, the clash of accoutrements, and the hoarse word of com- mand, all calling up the ghastly tragedies which were once enacted within the detiles of these hills, now so silent and peaceful. There are several good lodging and boarding houses at Montego Bay. The two best are the Harrison Hotel on Union Street, and Miss Emily Payne’s. The fare here is good, and the houses quiet and homelike. Miss Emily Payne’s is one of the best lodging-houses on the island, and is the oldest in Montego Bay ; the house is pleasantly situated in the centre of the town. Both of these houses are frequented by the best people that visit this part of the island. The rates are 65. to 8s. per day, and £1 105. to £2 per week. Dr. McCatty’s sanatorium for invalids is one of 130 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED the pleasantest and best in Jamaica. It is situated on high land on the shore, and its windows over- look the harbor ; and from its vantage above heat or the night dampness of the lower lands, and its excellent bathing facilities, together with the attend- ance of Dr. McCatty, one of the most noted phy- sicians on the island, it is truly an ideal place for invalids. Patients suffering from Bright’s disease, dyspepsia, and nervous prostration will especially receive great benefit here. JAMAICA GUIDE. 131 CHAPTER XV. MONEAGUE, OCHO RIOS, ROARING RIVER, AND st. Ann’s bay. St. Ann is the most lovely and fertile parish on the island. It is known as the “ garden of Jamaica.” A recent writer describing it says, “ Earth has nothing more lovely than the pastures and pimento groves of St. Ann ; nothing more enchanting than its hills and vales, delicious in verdure and redolent with the fragrance of spices ; embellished with wood and water from the deep forests from whence the streams descend to the ocean in falls ; the blue haze of the air blends and harmonizes all into beauty.” St. Ann is all it is here described, and much more than it is possible for the writer to delineate. The best way to reach St. Ann from Kingston is to take the train for Ewarton. At Bog Walk the train leaves the main line, and proceeds in a northerly direction; before reaching Ewarton another branch proceeds in a northeasterly direc- tion to Port Antonio. Ewarton is the terminus of the Ewarton branch. From here the traveller will go by buggy to Moneague, over Mount Diabolo, a distance of nine miles. The drive is a delightful one for the entire distance. The mountain road is splendid, all that could be desired ; parapet walls 132 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED protect it at the most dangerous parts, and it is hard and smooth all the way. Nearing Charlemont a magnificent prospect opens to the eye ; on the right- hand side of the road is stretched out, hundreds of feet below, the valley of St. Thomas ye Vale, dotted here and there with the residences of the rich plan- ters and penkeepers of the district. All along the road, which for a considerable part of the way winds around the steep side of the hill, orchids, ferns, and wild flowers of every variety, may be seen growing in the richest profusion. Nearing Moneague the country has a park-like appearance ; the town itself is a pretty hamlet surrounded by some of the richest pasture-land on the island. There are very few places in Jamaica where the climate and scenery are superior to Moneague. A few gentlemen of the parish, availing themselves of the provisions of Law 27 of 1890, formed themselves into a company, and purchased in that year the greater part of a property called Rose Hall, lying just beyond the village, on which they have built a fine hotel. The building stands on an eminence commanding charming views in every direction. This is the only hotel of those built under the Hotels Laws of 1890 which is not placed in the lowlands, being 950 feet above the sea. For rates, see page 57 of this work. Visitors should make this hotel their headquarters while visiting St. Ann. The chief attraction here, besides its cool climate, are the magnificent drives, which include in their circuit Fern Gully, Ocho Rios, Roaring River Falls, St. Ann’s Bay, and Moneague Hotel. JAMAICA GUIDE. 133 Claremont. No visitor should forego a trip through the Fern Gully. It is distant from Moneague about nine miles, and is four miles in length. The scen- ery through this ravine is unique, and can be sur- passed by but few other places in the world. It is from forty to fifty feet in width, just wide enough for a good road ; the sides rise perpendicular to a height of hundreds of feet ; only the noonday sun penetrates to the road. The steep rocks on each side are literally covered with the loveliest of ferns, which grow in the richest profusion. Tree-ferns of magnificent proportion, as well as the tiniest and most delicate specimens, are seen. The forest trees, too, are laden with orchids and with long creepers, which descend from the branches thirty feet or more to the surface below. Less than a mile beyond this romantic spot is the pretty little village of Ocho Rios, or eight rivers ; Chereras, the Spaniards called it, the Bay of the Waterfalls, a name certainly as de- scriptive as it is poetic. The harbor is considered a good one, and the trade of the place as a shipping- port is said to be on the increase. The coast road passes through the village, and here fresh scenes arrest the attention of the traveller. By following the seacoast for a distance of four miles the famous Roaring River cascades are reached. The road for the greater part of the distance is nothing more than a shelf cut out of the rocky sides of the hills, shaded by magnificent trees on one side, and many feet below is seen the transparent water of the ocean. Several of the eight rivers are passed as they rush foaming down to the sea ; the principal 134 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED one, Roaring River, is crossed near its mouth, where a grove of cabbage palms, banyans, and other trees grow beside or in the dozen or more little rills which are united both above and below the bridge. The falls are approached through a heavy wood, and are framed like a picture by the green branches. The stream is here nearly a hundred feet wide, and it falls in exquisite shapes down the rocky wall, which rises nearly as high. Here are seen as many forms of cascades as a fantastic waterway is capable of assuming in such a tumultuous tumble. This river rises, or rather appears, about two miles from the sea. The flow of water at the head shows clearly that it is not a spring, but a large stream, already formed and flowing in an unob- structed channel beneath the surface ; and it is a singular fact that the volume of water is seldom affected by either floods or drought. It is never dry, indicating a drainage of a large area of limestone, probably the Cockpit Country and Dry Harbor Dis- trict ; for all the water in that section passes into sink-holes, and from thence into some subterranean river. The water is full of lime and silica in solu- tion ; and these it deposits in walls or layers, which invariably check and deflect its own flow, turning it to the right or left, where it industriously begins to build fresh dams, and seek new channels. This building up of lime deposits is what forms the waterfalls. Sticks or other matter left in the water are soon coated many inches in thickness with limestone. The roaring of the river can be heard for a long JAMAICA GUIDE. 135 distance before it is reached. The great fall is over a mile from the main road, and is reached by a new road recently cut through the woods. A small fee is charged for the purpose of keeping the road in repair, as it passes through private grounds. The falls are probably 150 feet in height and 175 in breadth, and are the largest in the island. There is not one continuous sheet of water, but a myriad of small cascades, feathery and brilliant, massed together, clustered, glancing at a hundred different angles, breaking into a thousand foam-jets, each curtained with an iridescent veil of falling water, which almost seems to drip from the branches of the trees that form the foreground, growing up in midstream. The habit that this eccentric stream has of throw- ing out terraces, ridges, and dams, instead of cut- ting away the soil or rock as other streams do, is the cause of the bold promontory from which it falls. It has been built inch by inch, and is still building, a living monument to nature’s originality. Roaring River has created for itself a veritable fairyland, and it can truly be said it is one of the loveliest objects in this land of beautiful things. Every visitor before leaving the river should enjoy the luxury of a bath in its cool waters. Th ree miles beyond Roaring River is the busy little town of St. Ann’s Bay, the seat of government for the parish. It has a population of about 2,000, with a harbor open to the north, and a number of wharves, a street parallel to the harbor, connected by cross streets with another farther away, in which 136 STARK 'S ILLUSTRATED lie the principal dry-goods and hardware stores. There is a neat little church, and the public offices are striking buildings. Cocoanut palms and trop- ical vegetation are seen everywhere. About a mile to the west of St. Ann’s Bay is the site of the Spanish capital of the island, “ Sevilla d' Oro ” (Golden Seville), founded by Don Juan d’ Esquivel, the first Spanish governor of Jamaica. It seems almost incredible that in the early days there should have sprung up here, in what was an unknown wilderness, a city of which we read that the pavements of its cathedral extended two miles ; that its theatres and palaces were splendid, and its monastery world-renowned, within whose walls the name of Peter Martyr was potent. In 1554 the city was attacked and completely sacked by French pirates, and most of its splendid edifices razed to the ground. Little or no trace now remains of this wealthy city save a few sculp- tured stones and ruined walls. About ten miles farther along the coast is Run- away Bay, where Sasi, the last of the Spanish gov- ernors, after a desperate struggle with Cromwell’s troops, managed to make his escape to Cuba. The next place of interest is Dry Harbor, the Puerto Bueno of Columbus, where he beached his leakv and sea-worn ships. Near here, at a place called Cave Hall Pen, is a remarkable cavern. This cave is very long, and contains two galleries, which branch into grottos and side aisles, in which there are stalagmites and stalactites of strange beauty. Port Maria. JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 37 To the east of Ocho Rios is Rio Nuevo,. It was here that the Spaniards made their last attempt to regain the island in 1657. Don Sasi landed with a force of 1,000 men from Spain, and fortified himself on a rocky eminence near the sea, which he con- sidered an impregnable fortress. Here he was attacked in the following year, 1658, by Colonel D'Oyley with 500 selected soldiers ; and after a des- perate fight the Spaniards were defeated with terri- ble loss of life. Beyond Rio Nuevo is Oracabessa Bay, where Columbus first landed on the 5th of May, 1494. This interesting little village has a good reputation as a health resort. Its principal productions are nuts, fruit, and ground provisions. The most star- tling effect in foliage probably that ever greeted the eye is that sea of cocoanut tops interspersed with bananas that is seen on approaching this village. Six miles farther east is Port Maria. This town has a fairly good harbor, and was formerly guarded by Fort Haldane, from which a magnificent view of the surrounding country is obtained. The fort is now the home of Gray’s Charity, an institution established by the generosity of Mr. John W. Gray, who in 1854 left by will £5’°°°’ which sum has now increased to upwards of £11,000. Each in- mate receives a weekly allowance of five shillings, together with wood, water, and furnished apart- ments. Sixteen miles to the eastward is Annotto Bay, through which the railroad passes on the way to Port Antonio. STARK \S ILLUSTRA TED 133 Unfortunately there are no hotels for the accom- modation of visitors at any of the places mentioned in this excursion, except at Moneague ; therefore, to see all the places described, it will be necessary to make two trips. One can be made to Ocho Rios and the places to the eastward, and another from Ocho Rios to Dry Harbor ; in either case the return trip should be made from St. Ann's Bay, over Bolt Hill, through the pimento groves and the village of Claremont. Some of the finest estates and pens in St. Ann are passed in going over this road to Mo- neague. The country is highly cultivated, and has all the outward, visible signs or prosperity in its rolling fields and tire green of its perfect verdure. The land is moderately hilly, and is abundantly watered by streams of exquisite beauty. JAMAICA GUIDE. 139 CHAPTER XVI. PORT ANTONIO. Tiie Port Antonio branch of the Jamaica railway is the latest extension of the line. It begins at a point nine miles from Bog Walk, and runs to Port Antonio via Annotto Bay, a distance of forty-six miles. The line passes through the fruit region of Jamaica, and the carrying of that produce will con- stitute much of the traffic of the line. The ride to Bog Walk from Kingston requires no comment, as it has been previously described. Be- tween Bog Walk and Richmond some beautiful glimpses are caught of the mountains, with their sides clothed with vegetation, and the fruitful val- leys lying at their feet ; but one of the chief features of this part of the line is the number of tunnels. In no other part of the world, except in crossing the Apennines, has the writer seen so many tunnels in such a short distance. No sooner are you out of one than you are into another ; there are upwards of thirty on this extension. The whole line is full of sharp curves ; and even the inside of the tunnels is quite serpentine in their windings, and the travel- ler must often wonder how the train manages to keep the rails. As the engine and cars rush through, it is curious to note the number of moths and bats 140 STARK 'S ILLUSTRA TED that are disturbed, and flutter to the ground. By the time the train arrives at Richmond the majority of the tunnels have been passed. After leaving Richmond the village of Ilighgate, standing out prominently on the brow of the hill, is reached. The streams are now seen to be running in a northerly direction ; and the line passes through several fine banana groves, while here and there coffee- and cocoa-trees are seen. All along the route, however, there is abundant evidence that much of the land is still uncleared, and waits to be opened. No doubt the advent of the railway will hasten that process. Soon Annotto Bay is reached, and the view from the cars is one that delights the eye. The blue ocean, its waters rippled by a soft breeze, sparkling in the sunlight, and bearing on its bosom several small craft with sails spread, and the fine sweep of coast-line that encircles the bay, make up a picture that serves as a sample of what there is to come before reaching Port Antonio. There are portions of the Montego Bay section deservedly noted for their interesting character, for example, the Cockpit Country and the scene looking down upon the town, with tne numerous small islands dotting the bay ; but for a succession of sights that charm the eye, the line connecting Annotto Bay with Port Antonio is beyond all question the most continuous stretch of beautiful scenery in Jamaica. Leaving Annotto Bay, the line runs for a distance parallel with the sea-beach, and then branches off slightly, passing through some fine banana land. Scenes of surpassing beauty are presented by a Cocoanut Palms. JAMAICA GUIDE. 141 small river-course, over which the train passes, its sides bordered with thousands of wild canes, their handsome arrow-heads swaying in the breeze, and surmounting the grasses and vegetation that grow in such rich profusion. Away to the south stretches a range of mountains, their tops tipped with fleecy clouds. Next comes a tract of country full of swaying rushes that have the appearance of a huge wheat-field ripening for harvest. On their farther edge an occasional glimpse of die bright blue sea is had, and near at hand are some fine groves of mango-trees. At another time the train passes through a dense thicket. The trees grow to a great height ; but from their topmost branches to the very ground they are literally covered with a mantle of creepers and other parasitic plants, which gives the visitor an excellent idea of what a tropical primeval forest is like. Buff Bay is the first station after leaving Annotto Bay ; and as at the previous town, there is marked evidence of the Boston Fruit Company in the shape of stores and wharves. From here on to Port An- tonio the line follows closely to the seashore ; at one point, however, it runs through a morass for a considerable distance. Great difficulty was experi- enced here in building the line on account of its continually sinking. As the train spins on, the ozone-kulen breeze sweeps in through the open windows, giving a delicious feeling of exhilaration. At times the train is but a few yards from the sea- beach, and the very sight of the waves as they lap the shore serves to produce a sense of cool repose. 142 STARK 'S ILL USTRA TED The water is beautifully translucent ; and the stones and coral, worn by the waves into smooth circular shapes, are seen lying beneath the surface, and suggest the idea of a huge swimming-bath with a tessellated pavement. Orange Bay, Hope Bay, and St. Margaret’s Bay are passed, the railway running through groves of cocoanuts and skirting plantations of bananas, and all the time remaining near the sea-coast. The es- tuaries of several rivers are crossed, notably that of the Rio Grande, which is spanned by a magnificent bridge. The view as one crosses, looking down upon its deep, dark waters as they meet those of the ocean, or following its windings southward until lost to sight among the mountains, is one of im- pressive grandeur. St. Margaret’s Bay is charmingly situated ; and the view from the cars shortly after leaving the station, and taking in the sweep of the coast-line, is one that cannot easily be equalled. In places the track is cut in the side of the cliff; and the train runs for some distance along the edge of a preci- pice, below which the waves are seen beating them- selves into foam. During heavy weather the salt spray must be blown over the passing train, and passengers with weak nerves may not care for this part of the journey. Having overcome the strange sensation of being suspended midway, as it were, between earth and sea, one is filled with glowing admiration at the rugged rocks and coral cliffs, some worn smooth by the waves, others all jagged and torn, but their harshness toned by the ferns and JAMAICA GUIDE. 143 plants peeping from crevices, and clinging tena- ciously to the side of the precipice. Nor is the element of human interest absent ; frequently men are seen in canoes, fishing, while others in the shallow waters near the shore are throwing cast-nets. WASHING CLOTHES IN THE RIVER. Negro huts, with wattled sides and roofs of rushes, and white-washed coolie barracks are passed. In crossing the numerous rivers, women are seen in the water washing clothes. After dipping their soapy clothes into the water, they lay them upon a 144 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED smooth rock, and beat them with a paddle. After they are thoroughly cleansed they are spread out to dry upon the rocks. The women have their skirts caught up about their hips ; and their round, well- shaped limbs, wet with river water, shine like pol- ished mahogany. After a four hours’ run, the train arrives at Port Antonio. The town is some few minutes’ walk from the station. It is the chief town in the parish of Portland, and as a shipping-port ranks next to Kingston in the whole island. It is the great centre and emporium of the fruit-trade, which is now the staple industry of this part of Jamaica. It is also the headquarters of the Boston Fruit Company, whose wharves and buildings are passed after leav- ing the railway station, on the road leading to the town. At no other place in Jamaica has there been so great a change during the last few years as in the village of Port Antonio. The northeastern end of the island comprised within the parish of Port- land was virtually abandoned by the whites, and the negroes were rapidly relapsing into a state of savagery again. All the great sugar estates had been abandoned, and were, in the quaint, terse lan- guage of the courts, “ in ruinate,” and given over to pasturage for cattle ; buildings, walls, chimneys, and aqueducts were all going to ruin, and the on-coming tide of foliage, like a green wave, was ingulfing them. Even now in Eastern Portland, in the vicinity of Manchioneal, the traveller is im- pressed with a feeling of desolation. Mile after Port Antonio. JAMAICA GUIDE. 145 mile of unused, unredeemed acres, once flourishing with cane, but now given over to wild growths, sadden even the most optimistic observer. Here has been a dreadful loss ; the cause of this desertion of estates will be noticed elsewhere in this work. But there comes a point where this decay is ar- rested, and a new life appears to animate the scene. The population is larger and thriftier; the waste acres are taken up, and planted with fruit. Every- where one sees evidence of greater prosperity ; the old order of things has changed ; the banana has succeeded in supplanting the sugar-cane. This remarkable change commenced in 1868, when the initial effort was first made in fruit shipment, which has resulted so beneficially, not only for Port An- tonio, but the whole island of Jamaica. In a work published a few years ago on Jamaica, 1 the author refers to the pioneer banana shipper in the following; terms : — “ About fifteen years ago a Yankee skipper, knocking about with his schooner, had occasion to call at some ports on the easterly part of the island. His keen eye looked with interest on the bananas that were so plentifully offered him ; and knowing the taste the Americans were fast acquiring for this delicious fruit, but which was rarely found in the American markets, set himself the task of devising means to convey the fruit in a sound condition to those markets. The success which has followed is shown by the fact that the shipment of bananas to America has become one of the leading industries of the island.” 1 “Picturesque Jamaica. 1 146 STARK \S ILL USTRA TED In 1S87 a copartnership was formed by several Boston gentlemen, known as the Boston Fruit Com- pany. The management was invested in Captain Jesse H. Freeman as general manager, A. W. Preston as assistant manager, and Captain L. D. Baker as manager of the tropical division. In 1890, after the death of Captain Jesse FI. Free- man, the copartnership was changed into a Massa- chusetts corporation under the same name. Captain Baker — the skipper previously referred to — was the leading spirit in the new enterprise, and has stood at its head ever since, being its president and the manager of its tropical division, in which duties he is ably assisted by Mr. J. A. Jones as assistant manager and director in the company, while Mr. Preston manages the Boston division. The com- pany has now a capital of $500,000, with a surplus of $1,750,000; owns and leases 60,000 acres of land ; employs sixteen steamships to carry the fruit to the United States; and annually ships 5,000,000 bunches of bananas and 10,000,000 cocoanuts, be- sides quantities of pimento, coffee, and cocoa. The labor on the plantation is done by both negroes and East Indian coolies ; some six hundred of the latter being employed, and more coming, for the negroes cannot be depended upon. Upwards of six hun- dred mules are daily in harness to carry the fruit from the plantations to the ships ; eight hundred head of working oxen are used for ploughing and - other work, and a large additional number of cattle are kept on the grazing-lands of the company. Sixteen steamships of the company ply between JAMAICA GUIDE. 147 Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. One steamer a day is despatched on an average to some one of these ports. They are all iron vessels, and are built for speed, which is a very necessary point in transporting fruit. Until recently the car- rying of passengers was a side issue ; but now four new steamers, the Beverly, Belvedere, Brookline, and Barnstable, have just been added to the fleet, each possessing large and elegant passenger accom- modations, with all the appointments of a private yacht. There are some forty banana and cocoanut plan- tations in cultivation ; each of these has its superin- tendent, while a general superintendent has charge of the whole. Private telephone lines connect each plantation with the president’s office in Port Antonio, so that the whole business is practically always under his eye. There is the most perfect order and organization with everything connected with the business of this company. The growth of the banana business in the United States has increased to immense proportions. Formerly a few bunches brought by sugar-vessels to the principal ports were considered a rare delicacy : now they are as plenti- ful in all large cities as the native fruits, and just as cheap ; every New England country grocery-store has its bunch of bananas. This growth is due to the substitution of steamers for sailing-vessels, and the improved methods of handling and dis- tributing the fruit. The Boston Fruit Company found it necessary to provide a hotel for the constantly increasing number 148 STARK 'S ILLUSTRATED of passengers coming to Port Antonio by their steam- ers. They accordingly bought the Titchtield prop- erty, situated on a commanding hill which overlooks the town and harbor, one of the finest sites imagi- nable. Here they have established a novel style of hotel, which is admirably adapted to a hot climate. There is a group of cottages on the top of the hill which constitute the sleeping-rooms ; entirely dis- tinct from these is a capacious dining-room, with convenient kitchen, while the laundry is in another building. A central cottage contains a parlor, read- ing-room, and baths. The table is thoroughly ex- cellent, the best on the island, being liberally supplied with northern products, which are brought in cold storage by the steamers of the company that arrive almost daily. The viands are daintily served by New England waitresses, the same as at the Hamil- ton in Bermuda. The rates at this hotel are from 105. to 125. per day. The harbor of Port Antonio is divided into two parts by a jutting promontory of coral rock, carpeted with green turf. On this peninsula stand the re- mains of a picturesque ancient fort, and behind it the old barracks. From the farther margin of each harbor the hills rise step by step, profusely covered with tropical vegetation, and plumed with many a tall cocoanut, among which the green blinds and the red roofs of the houses look out seaward. Be- hind these again mount ridge upon ridge of the Blue Mountain Range, right up into the clouds that hang about the peaks. Outside the mouth of the harbor white-crested waves break against the iron rock on Harbor Port Antonio. JAMAICA GUIDE. 149 which the red lighthouse is perched. The visitor who arrives here by vessel will never forget the entrance to Port Antonio, especially if he should chance to arrive at early morning or towards sunset. The vessel comes bounding in on the swell, rushing apparently to certain destruction, when suddenly swinging under the lee of the island that guards the mouth of the west harbor, she glides along past the hotel on even keel over the unruffled surface of the harbor, till she anchors alongside one of the wharves. Port Antonio contains a population of about 2,000 ; but outside of the American colony connected with the Fruit Company, there are not a half-dozen white people in the town. There are many places of interest in the vicin- ity worth visiting, among them the magnificent ba- nana plantation of Golden Vale. The road leading to the plantation from Port Antonio is through a mountainous country, encumbered with some rocks and inequalities, and beautified by many windings. The country through which it passes is rich and fer- tile, well cultivated, and abounding with picturesque views. The road descends into the valley of the Rio Grande. This river, rising near Bath, twenty- five miles from the sea, flows through the heart of the banana country. It is the second river in size in Jamaica, and one of the swiftest of those erratic streams that flow pleasantly within narrow limits one day, and the next sweep down, full and ter- rific torrents, angry and swollen by a storm in the surrounding mountains. 150 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED All about Jamaica the waters of the rivers rise, or, as the negroes say, “ come down,” from the moun- tains very suddenly ; and often travellers have been imprisoned for days between two torrents, on a strip of country where there can be found neither town nor lodging-house nor any shelter whatever. Cross- ing the river by a ford, from which a most delight- ful view of mountains, wooded point, and level mirroring pools may be enjoyed, we soon enter the property known as “ Golden Vale,” once a great sugar estate, but now converted to banana cultiva- tion. It is one of the finest estates of the Boston Fruit Company, and has an output of upwards of thirty thousand bunches annually. There are large herds of oxen and droves of mules, and fields of cane grown as fodder for the cattle used upon the plantation. The whole landscape is one of rich and perfect cultivation. Beyond the cane-fields are hundreds of acres green with bananas. Near the boundary of the old estate are the great stone build- ings formerly used in the crushing of cane, the manufacture of sugar and rum, storage and prep- aration of indigo. These are now converted into shops, depots, and schoolhouses. Most of the chil- dren in the vicinity of Golden Vale attend the free school, which is kept up by the bounty of the owners of the plantation. Upon the ruins of very extensive buildings near the top of the hill, once the great house of the Golden Vale sugar plantation, now moss-covered and crumbling, stands the house where the busher, or overseer, lives and directs. Near by, across a JAMAICA GUIDE. 15 I small valley, is a settlement of coolies, of whom there are a hundred or more employed on the plan- tation. Golden Vale is about half-way to the Maroon town known as Moortown ; it is reached by follow- ing the same road. These Maroons have lived here a great many years unmolested in the hills, enjoying certain privileges and immunities long ago wrested from the government, as described in another chapter. The Maroons have nothing in common with the ordinary negro, on whom they look down with the supremest contempt. In the rising of 1865 these Maroons supported the govern- ment, and were of great service in hunting, killing, and capturing the rebels ; they showed less mercy than the whites to the negroes that fell into their hands. Probably in time, with growing intelligence and prosperity, these people will become gradually merged in the common population. Farther up the road the wild and beautiful Cuna Cuna Pass is reached. Only on horseback can one advance as far as the pass. Having crossed it, and enjoyed its coolness, and perhaps a shower as well, the traveller descends by the bridle-road previously described to Bath. 152 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED CHAPTER XVII. AGRICULTURE AND CLIMATE. Jamaica is essentially an agricultural country. Rum and unrefined sugar are the only articles of any importance that are manufactured ; and the latter industry is on the wane, as the profits are so small, owing to competition with the bounty-fed beet sugar. But on coffee- banana- and cocoanut- growing, the profit is large, and they are all pro- duced in immense quantities. In the early part of this century sugar was king ; and he reigned till the freeing of the slaves, and then came beet-sugar competition to complete his downfall. During the reign of prosperity, fine roads were built, new houses were erected, and the land was all cultivated ; even the rough mountain lands of the interior were brought into requisition, and an almost unbroken belt of sugar plantations encircled the island. The owner of a large sugar estate lived like a prince, for he had a princely in- come ; then the very acme of prosperity was reached. Then came a change. In 1838 the negroes of Jamaica, through the exertions of the venerated Wilberforce and other philanthropists in England, became freedmen. In the early years of the great- est reign England has known, an attempt was made JAMAICA GUIDE. 153 to right a great wrong, and to set an example to the whole world. This brought about a most bitter feeling on the part of the planters. They denied the right of the Imperial Government to legislate for Jamaica, and threatened to unite with the United States, where they would be protected in the owner- ship of their slaves. Emancipation found the planters in a pitiable condition financially. The majority were debtors ; and the £5,853,975 sterling, awarded as compen- sation for the loss of their human property, was insufficient, as the sum went for the most part into the hands of creditors. They were left with a scarcity of labor, antiquated machinery, a poor market, and without resources. The sudden emancipation of slaves, in whatever country, has always been followed by a period of depression similar to that which Jamaica has passed ; but if the country be naturally a good one, it will eventually recover. There is no question now that a period of great prosperity has begun in Jamaica. Land has appreciated in value. The opening up of the country by the railway has given to the inte- rior districts the advantages of transportation, which were formerly enjoyed only by the dwellers on the coast. The coffee and fruit industries have in- creased very rapidly within the last fifteen years. Coffee-growing is the best of all these industries, not only because coffee is non-perishable, and therefore easily transported, but because there is every indication that the high prices which now rule will continue for many years. Moreover, on 154 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED the high lands, which are best suited to coffee, the climate is cool and pleasant. As to profits, the cost of producing a pound of coffee is from five to seven cents, while it sells readily at from sixteen to twenty- five cents ; and strange as it may seem, the supply of coffee has never been equal to the demand. The natural requirements of the banana plant are totally different from the coffee-tree ; for while the latter flourishes in the cool mountain country, the former requires a hot climate, and, being an ex- tremely heavy feeder, will only grow in perfection on the rich, plain land. It is true that bananas can grow in any part of the island, and the small patches of the negroes are often seen on steep hill- sides and far in the interior. But this fruit is generally small and inferior, and the plant does not attain its proper proportions. The large plan- tations of the white men are always on the flat lands. It may be interesting to the reader to know how bananas are grown. After the land has been ploughed, which is done with a very large plough drawn by eight or ten oxen, the plants are set in straight rows, ten to fifteen feet apart, and about eight feet apart in the row. The plants attain a height of ten or fifteen feet, according to soil and cultivation. At the end of a year the first crop is ready for gathering. Each plant produces one bunch, after which it is worthless, and is cut down and left on the ground to rot. But new plants or suckers are constantly coming up from the root, and three or four of these are allowed to grow. HUSKING COCOANUTS, PORT ANTONIO. I JAMAICA GUIDE. 155 Thus when the first plant is cut down, another is nearly ready to bear, while one or two others are in different stages of growth. This process can be continued for about seven years, by which time the ground is so full of roots that it is necessary to plough it up and replant. The coolie banana cut- ter is very expert at his work ; he passes around among the plants, selects a bunch of fruit which is perfectly filled out and fully developed. As it hangs from the plant, it is far above the reach of the cutter, and to bring it to the ground without injury requires long practice. With his machete he slashes the stem, cutting it about half through. The weight of the bunch of bananas at once causes the plant to bend down ; and as it droops slowly downwards, the coolie quickly catches hold of the stem, which grows from the lower end of the bunch, at the same moment clipping the stem at the other end of the bunch from the plant with one blow of his machete. With another sweep of the machete he clips off the great maroon-colored plummet that he holds in his hand ; and as the bunch touches the ground, it is ready to be carted to the wharf, the whole opera- tion occupying only a few seconds. Banana-growing, if carried on on a large scale, pays handsomely. But as the price fluctuates much more than that of coffee, it has not the element of certainty that the latter possesses. There are many fine cocoanut groves on the island ; but owing to the long time necessary to wait for the first crop, not as much has been done in cocoanut-growing as in other industries. The trees 156 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED seldom bear until seven years old ; but once in bear- ing they continue for a hundred years, and are a veritable mine of wealth to their owners. A single tree produces on an average a hundred nuts a year. There is no fixed season for blossoming and fruit- ing. On the same tree blossoms, green fruit, and ripe fruit can always be seen. Cocoanut-trees like sea air, and do not do well if planted too far from the coast ; but they flourish either on the hillsides or on the plains, and though, like nearly all plants, they do best on good land, they do not require so rich a soil as bananas. After the first few years they need no cultivation ; and as soon as their tops are out of reach, the land on which they grow can be put into grass and pasturage. Oranges grow in perfection on the higher lands, and since the great Florida freeze good prices have been realized for them in the United States. Lem- ons, limes, grape-fruit, shaddocks, and all kinds of citrus fruit, grow well in Jamaica. With more care in the gathering and packing, there is no question but that there is a great future for this class of fruit in the markets of the United States and Great Britain. Most excellent vegetables can be grown so as to be ready for market between December and March. Jamaica is thus capable of being made the market- garden of the United States during a season of the year in which it would have a monopoly. The keeping of live stock plays an important part in the agriculture of Jamaica. All the horses, mules, working-oxen, and fresh meats used there JAMAICA GUIDE. 157 are produced on the island. The stock-farms, or pens as they are commonly called in Jamaica, usually comprise from five hundred to one thousand acres of grass land, with perhaps as much more of woodland or ruinate, — abandoned land covered with bushes and small trees. The grass land is sub- divided into large fields, and comprises pimento grass on the highlands, and Bahama grass if on the lowlands or coast. Guinea grass, which flour- ishes in either locality, is by far the most valuable, and grows so luxuriantly that a field of it will keep double the number of cattle that the field would in any other kind of grass. It is perennial, coarse and rank in appearance, but very rich and fatten- ing ; and all kinds of stock except sheep are very fond of it. The horses of Jamaica are generally small, but clean and wiry in appearance, of wonderful endu- rance, and show plainly their thorough blood. It costs about £7 to raise a three-year-old horse, while such sells readily at from £15 to £30 per head, according to size and appearance. Mules sell at about the same price as horses, and the demands for them are constant. Of cattle there are many breeds, Herefords, Ayrshires, Devons, Shorthorns, and East Indian all being well represented. They are bred for work- ing-oxen and for beef, milking qualities being little considered. Four-year-old steers broken to the yoke bring from £20 to £30 per pair, while the cost of raising is about £7 per head. The East Indian or Hindu cattle, however, bring a much higher 153 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED price ; as from their quickness, endurance, and ability to stand the heat, they are the best of all breeds for a hot country. These cattle were first brought to Jamaica from Bombay by the Hon. Evelyn Ellis, whose magnificent grazing-farms of Shettlewood and Montpelier are one of the show places of the island. There are two distinct strains, or families, — the Mysore and the Kattewar. These two breeds are crossed ; and the result is a class of working-oxen as near perfect as can be found for the tropics, — active, enduring, and adapted to the climate. Many of these cattle are used on the Boston Fruit Com- pany estates. Not much attention is paid to sheep husbandry in Jamaica, and the sheep of the island do not com- pare favorably with the other live stock. Still, the price of dressed mutton is about twice as high as in the United States or England, and with better stock and attention there is no reason why sheep-raising should not pay as well as cattle or horses. Jamaica consumes a great deal of material pro- duced and manufactured in other countries. She receives most from Great Britain, and sends most to the United States. The import duties, however, are the same on goods brought from the United States as they are on goods imported from Great Britain. This rule will hold good in all British colonies except Canada, which has recently discriminated against the United States in favor of England on account of the hostile tariff legislation aimed against her in the Dingley bill. River Head JAMAICA GUIDE. I 59 All of the necessaries and most of the luxuries of modern life, American as well as English, are to be found in all of the principal towns at moderate prices. The food supply is ample and cheap, fruit being especially so. In general, prices compare favorably with those of northern countries, even for imported goods. The working-day for outdoor la- borers is supposed to be ten hours in the vicinity of Kingston, and eight hours in the country. Mechan- ics get from 2 5. 3d. to 55. 6d. a day; male laborers, 15 . 6d. to 25. ; and women, 9 d. to 15. A team of two mules with driver costs 7 5. per day. Much of the work, especially in the country, is done by what is known as “task-work,” a survival of the slave days ; the prices of which are generally low. There is a great scarcity of skilled labor ; and although there is such a large population, the sugar estates and other occupations requiring a large amount of help find common laborers scarce, so much so that the government has been obliged to send to India for coolies, otherwise many more of the plantations would have long since been abandoned. CLIMATE. Probably there is no other place in the world of the same size as Jamaica that possesses such a wonderful variety of climate, or offers so many advantages for a pleasant and salubrious residence suited to invalids, as this island. The varied surface of Jamaica, with altitudes ranging from the levels along the sea, up through i6o STARK'S ILLUSTRATED the plateaus of the western end of the island to the 7,360 feet of the Blue Mountain Peaks, affords a range of climate which leaves little to be desired, provided the ability to move from one elevation to the other is taken for granted. It is true that in the months of June, July, August, and September the heat is great in Kingston; but residence there in those months is rendered bear- able and even pleasant by the constant blowing of the sea-breeze, called by the early Spanish settlers “ El Medico,” during the day, and the north winds from the hills during the night. Even at the hot- test season of the year the hot and sultry nights of the “ bleak northland ” are unknown in Jamaica. Persons resident in the island for many years have never experienced a time when during a whole night through sleep was uncomfortable by reason of the heat. Rather is it likely to be disturbed by the necessity of procuring an extra blanket between the hours of two and five a.m. The daily aver- age during the hot season is 8o° and the maximum 87°, and the atmosphere is remarkably dry. Dur- ing the night the mercury goes down to 63°, and seldom remains over 70°. The temperature varies with the altitude. When a change is necessary to the dweller on the lower levels, a few weeks or days in the bracing and invigorating mountain air of the hills is a great recuperator. While the general average of temperature is re- markably uniform throughout the island, the aver- age rainfall presents phenomena which seem to be quite beyond the present understanding of the stu- JAMAICA GUIDE. 1 6 1 dents of meteorology. While rain may not fall for weeks in Kingston during the winter season, yet it can be seen raining on the Blue Mountain Peaks nearly every hour in the day. A visitor to the Dry Harbor mountains of St. Ann may find the inhab- itants of Brownstown and vicinity actually suffering for water ; and yet after a brief journey into the adjoining parishes, both to the south and west, he will come to regions where the red clay and con- trasting deep green will tell him of the almost daily heavy showers which render these plateaus at times rather too damp for comfort. May and October are the two great rainy seasons, in which months at the new or full moon it begins to rain, and continues day and night for a whole fortnight with great violence, so that the earth in all level places is laid under water for some inches. Jamaica in the past, as well as in the present, has suffered much from misrepresentation. To many people Jamaica has been considered the “ grave of Europeans,” and a passage to this lovely “ Isle of Summer ” is almost synonymous with ordering a coffin. The yellow fever, earthquakes, and hurri- canes form a slight epitome of prevalent notions regarding Jamaica. For people of temperate habits Jamaica is as healthy a place for residence as any in the United States or England. Dr. Phillippo, a physician of high standing, in his valuable treatise on the climate of Jamaica, says, “ It cannot be denied that fevers do arise sponta- neously in certain localities among unacclimatized i 62 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED Europeans, who have most probably exposed them- selves to several, and generally to the whole, of the following conditions ; namely, exposure to the mid- day heat, wet clothes, wet feet, fatigue, exposure at night to the chills and malaria arising from lagoons and swamps after sunset, and, above all, intemperance in drink. Let him avoid these con- ditions, and the European will avoid fatal fevers.” Nothing is more dangerous to health in this climate than an excessive indulgence in alcoholic stimulants. Many young men, coming out from the colder north, usually in the winter months when the con- trast in temperature is very great, find here a social condition among the better class of men which is famous for its hospitality and good fellowship ; and while his host, though sometimes the happier, is sel- dom indeed the worse for his glass, the stranger, on the other hand, though the last person to indulge in such freedom, too often attempts to vie with and outdo his hospitable acquaintance. The result is frequently an attack of “ pernicious” fever, so called here, — a form of fever which, though not by any means the dreaded “yellow jack,” has no doubt often been called upon to bear that fatal malady’s burden. A concensus of opinion, taken from numbers of the medical men throughout the island, bears out the statement that fully one-half the deaths of visitors or temporary residents from febrile causes can readily be traced to excess in liquor, or those ex- posures which intoxication so generally leads to. From the foregoing, however, it should not be understood that the death rate from these causes Matha Brae JAMAICA GUIDE. 163 is common. It is only the case of a low death rate somewhat increased by these breaches of the laws of hygiene. This fact is now so well recognized, that the leading life-insurance companies in the United States allow their policies to cover residence in the island without restrictions or the increase of rates. Dr. James Henry Clark, a medical man in large practice in the Santa Cruz mountains of Jamaica, writes thus of the island as a health resort: “To any anxious to avoid a winter, or suffering from a tendency to bronchitis, inflammation of the lungs, pleurisy, rheumatism, or dyspepia, must in a vari- able and chilly climate, though not laboring under advanced disease, be confined to the house during a large portion of the year to avoid the almost ‘ cer- tainty of catching cold’— to all such persons I do most conscientiously recommend this climate. Here the invalid can get out every day to enjoy these most powerful of all tonics, — fresh air and exercise ; and thereby promoting appetite and digestion, im- part vigor and tone to the general system.” There are several medicinal springs in Jamaica, some thermal and others cold, which possess ther- apeutic properties of no little value, and which are deserving of more attention than they have hitherto received. The most important of these, or at least the best known, and the only ones at which pass- able accommodations for visitors are yet provided, are the Bath at St. Thomas the Apostle, about a mile from the town of Bath, the Jamaica Spa at Silver Hill, and the Milk River Bath at Vere. 164 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED The first of these is a thermal sulphur, the second a chalybeate, and the third a thermal saline water. The waters of one or the other of the springs are of value taken internally and applied in the form of a bath. The government has made grants from time to time for the improvement and care of the buildings at these baths; but there is yet much to be desired in the matter of cuisine, bathing facilities, attendance, and other things that contribute to the comfort and entertainment of the invalid. JAMAICA GUIDE. 165 CHAPTER XVIII. THE MAROONS. When Jamaica was conquered from the Span- iards in 1655, the Spanish inhabitants are said to have possessed fifteen hundred slaves, composed of native Africans, and a mixture of African and the native Indians, whom the Spaniards had enslaved when they settled the island. On the surrender of their masters they retreated to the mountains, from whence they made frequent excursions to harass the English. Major-General Sedgewick, one of the British officers, in a letter to Secretary Thurloe in 1656, predicts that they would prove a thorn in the side of the English. He adds that they gave no quarter to his men, and that scarce a week passed without murdering one or more of them ; and as the soldiers became more confident and careless, the Maroons grew more enterprising. He stated that they must either be destroyed, or brought in on some terms or other, or else they will prove a great discouragement to the settling of the country. What he foretold soon came to pass ; for in the same year the army gained some trifling success against them, but this was immediately severely retaliated by the slaughter of forty soldiers, cut off as they were carelessly rambling from their quarters. STARK ’S ILLUSTRA TED 1 66 In the course of time their numbers were not only augmented by natural increase, but by run- away slaves from the English planters. At length they grew confident enough of their force to under- take descents upon the planters in die interior of the island, many of whom they murdered without the least provocation, and by their barbarities and outrages intimidated the whites from venturing to any considerable distance from the coast. The name maroon is said to be derived from the Spanish word marrano, signifying young pig. The woods abounded with the wild boar ; and the pur- suit of them constituting the chief employment of fugitive negroes, they were consequently called Maroons. Their language was a barbarous mixture of the African dialects with Spanish and English. In common with all African tribes they believed in Obi, and recognized the authority of such of their old men as had the reputation of being Obeah men, who were sometimes very successfully employed in keeping the Maroons in subjection to their chiefs. The labors of the field, such as they were, and every other species of drudgery, were performed by the women ; for the Maroons, like all other savage nations, regarded their wives as so many beasts of burden. Polygamy, too, with their other African customs, prevailed among the Maroons universally. Some of the principal men claimed from two to six wives. For forty years the Maroons continued to distress the island, during which time forty-four Acts of Assembly were passed, and at least £240,000 expended for their suppression. In 1734 Captain JAMAICA GUIDE. 167 Stoddart projected and executed with great success an attack on Nanny Town, situated in the Blue Mountain range at the windward end of the island. Having provided some portable swivel guns, he silently approached, and reached within a short distance of their quarters undiscovered. After halt- ing for some time, he began to ascend by the only path leading to the town. lie found it steep and rocky and difficult, and not wide enough to admit the passage of two persons abreast. However, he surmounted these obstacles ; and having gained a small eminence commanding the huts in which the negroes were asleep, he fixed his little train of artillery to the best advantage, and fired upon them with so great an effect that many were killed in their habitations, and several threw themselves headlong down the precipice. Captain Stoddart followed up the advantage, killed a great number, took many prisoners, and so completely destroyed or routed the whole body that they were unable afterwards to effect any enterprise of any account in this part of the island. This affair, however, only proved a temporary success ; for in 1736 the Maroons had grown so for- midable, under a very able leader named Cudjoe, that it was found necessary to send from England two regiments of troops, which were formed into independent companies, and employed with the mi- litia in defending blockhouses, which they erected as near as possible to the enemy’s most favorite haunts. Their general plan of duty, as directed by law, was to make excursions from their block- i68 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED houses, scour the woods and mountains, and de- stroy the provision gardens and haunts of the Maroons. Each garrison was also furnished with a pack of dogs, provided by the church-wardens of the respective parishes. These animals proved ex- tremely serviceable, not only in guarding against surprise at night, but in tracking the enemy. The next year, 1737, some sloops were despatched to the Mosquito coast, and brought from there two hundred Indians. They were formed into com- panies under their own officers. White guides con- ducted them to the enemy's country. When they discovered a trail they were sure to track the en- emy to his quarters. They proved very effective, and were well rewarded for their services, and after the war was over were sent back to their own country. The Maroons never dared to make a stand, or take the risk of a pitched battle ; they skulked about remote plantations, murdering the whites by two or three at a time. By night they came into the settlements, set fire to the cane-fields and out-buildings, killed the cattle, and carried the slaves into captivity. They knew every secret avenue of the country, so they could either conceal themselves from pursuit or shift their ravages from place to place. Such were the foes the English had to deal with, who could not be reached by any plan of attack, who possessed no plunder to allure or reward the assailants, nor had anything to lose except life and a wild and savage freedom. The arrangements made for their neduction, as previously stated, proved very successful ; for so Attack on Trelawney Town. I/O STARK'S ILLUSTRATED many fortresses stationed in the very centre of their usual retreats, well supplied with every necessary, gave the Maroons a constant and vigorous annoy- ance, and in the end brought the war to a close ; for in 1738 Governor Trelawney, by the advice of the principal gentlemen of the island, proposed overtures of peace with the Maroon chiefs. Both parties had grown weary of the contest. The white inhabitants wished relief from the horrors of continued alarms, the hardships of military duty, and the burden of maintaining an army. The Ma- roons were not less anxious. They were hemmed in and closely beset on all sides, their provisions destroyed, and themselves reduced to so miserable a condition by famine and incessant attacks, that Cudjoe afterwards declared that if peace had not been offered to them, they had no choice left but either to starve, la}r violent hands on themselves, or surrender at discretion. 1 By the treaty which was ratified by the Maroon chiefs, the Trelawney Town Maroons were to have fifteen hundred acres of land, and the other bands, of Accompong Town, Crawford Town, and Nanny Town, one thousand acres between them, which the Legislature secured to them and their posterity forever. Their land was free from taxation, and they were allowed to govern themselves without interference from the whites. The Maroons agreed, on their part, to deliver up any runaway slaves, “and in case Cap- tain Cudjoe, or any of his people, shall do any 1 The two cuts shown in this chapter are reproduced from Bryan Edwards’s History of the Maroons,” published in 1808. JAMAICA GUIDE. 171 injury to any white person, he shall submit, or de- liver up such offenders, to justice.” By this treaty an end was put to this tedious and ruinous contest. The clause in the treaty by which these people were compelled to reside within certain boundaries in the interior of the island, apart from all other negroes, was probably founded on the apprehension that by suffering them to intermix with negroes in slavery, the example which they would continually present of successful hostility might prove con- tagious, and create in the minds of the slaves an impatience of subordination, and a disposition to revolt ; but the future proved that it was a mistake. The Maroons, instead of being established into sepa- rate tribes or communities in the strongest part of the country, should have been encouraged by all possible means to frequent the towns, and to intermix with the negroes at large. All distinction between the Maroons and the free blacks would have been lost, for the greater number would have prevailed over the lesser ; whereas the policy of keeping them a distinct people continually inured to arms intro- duced among them an esprit dc corps, and conceal- ing from them the powers and resources of the whites taught them to feel, and at the same time to overvalue, their own relative strength and im- portance. Over fifty years elapsed before there was any serious outbreak again of the Maroons. In the month of July, 1795, two Maroons from Trelawney Town, having been caught stealing some pigs, were 172 STARK'S ILLUSTRATED tried by a jury at Montego Bay and found guilty. They were sentenced by the court to receive thirty- nine lashes on the bare back. The sentence was executed by the black overseer in the workhouse, whose office it was to inflict punishment on such occasions. The offenders were then discharged, and went off with their companions, abusing and insulting every white person they met on the road. On their return to Trelawney Town, and giving an account of what had passed, there was an im- mediate uprising of the whole body of Maroons. They complained, not of the injustice or severity of the punishment inflicted on their companions, but of the disgrace which had been put upon the whole body by the punishment having been in- flicted by the black overseer in the workhouse, and in the presence of fugitive and felon negro slaves, many of whom they had themselves apprehended. They sent a written defiance to the magistrates of Montego Bay, declaring their intention to meet the white people in arms, and threatening to attack the town on July 20. They concluded by demanding reparation for the indignity cast upon them by an addition to their lands, and the dismission of Cap- tain Craskell and the appointment of Mr. James their former ag;ent. 194 . Fairy Plill Bay, 101. Fares, 41-44. Fern Gully, 133. Ferns, 93, 133. First General Assembly, 21. Flying Fish, 3. Food-Supply and prices, 59, 159. Fort Augustus, 109. Fort Charlotte, 129. Fort Haldane, 137. Fortune Island, 4. Free-Trade, 33. Freedom of the Slaves, 32, 184. Fruits, 59. Fruit shipment, 35, 98, 146. Fustic, 1 16. Gallows Point, 85. Gamble, Major General, Govern- or, 39. “ Garden of Jamaica,” 131. Gas, introduction of, 37. Geological Survey, 65. Golden Vale, 149, 150. Golden Grove, 98. Gordon, George William, 194. Gordon Town, 77. Government and Inhabitants, 180- 199. Governor’s Residence, 69. Grant, Sir Peter, Governor, 35. Grape Fruit, 156. Grass, 157. Gray’s Charity, 137. Gray, Sir William, Governor, 36 . Great Highway, 69, 70. Great River Valley, 119. Great Salt Pond, 109. Green Bay, 109. Green Vale, 1 16. Guava Ridge, 81. Guinea Grass, 157. Halfway Tree, 70-72. Harrison Hotel, 129. Harrison, Robert Munroe, 70. Hayti, 5. Herbarium, 66. Plighest Point, 81. Highgate, 140. High School and University Col- lege, 72. Holland Bay, 98. Hope Bay, 142. Plope Gardens, 72. Hope River, 77. Hope Road, 72. Horses, 157. Hotel Tariff, 57, 58. 204 INDEX. Hotels and Boarding-Houses, 55- 58, 71, 76, 109, 1 15, 1 19, 129, 132, 148. How to Reach, 2. Hunter, Robert, Major-General, 28. Ice manufacture, 52. Illegitimacy, 192. Imports, 52, 158. Import duties, 158. Inchequin, Earl of, Governor, 26. Indians, 7, 186. Inhabitants and Government, 180-199. Innis’ Bay, 101. Institute of Jamaica, 60. Insurrection of the Slaves, 29-34. Ipswich, 1 1 7. Irish settlers, 183. Iron Cage, 66-68. Irrigation, 36. Island Head, 97. Jackson, Colonel, 17. Jamaica Club, 59. Jamaica Railway Company, 44- 48. Jewish Synagogue, 54. Juan de Bolas, 21. Jubilee Market, 58, 59. “Judgment Cliff,” 95. Junction Road, 73. Kendal, 115. King’s House, 69, 71, 72. Kingston, 27, 50-59. Kingston Fires, 38, 51. Kingston Harbor, 50, 83. Kingston, places of interest in vicinity of, 69—76. Kingston Station, 46. Knowls, Governor, 29. Labor and laborers, 159. Labor problem, 185. Lawes, Sir Nicholas, Governor, 70. Legislative Council, 198. Lemons, 156. Leyland Steamship Line, 42. Library and Museum, 60-65. Lighthouses, 4, 5. Liguanea Plain, 69. Lilly, Sir Christian, 27. Limes, 156. Livestock, 156. Loyalists, American, 4. Lucea, 128. Lyttleton, Sir Charles, Governor, 21, 29. Maces, The, 65. Mail, 41. Mail Coaches, 48. Manchester Hills, 1 1 5. Manchester, William, Duke of, Governor, 32. Manchioneal, 100-102. Mandeville, m-120. Mango-Trees, 141. Mangroves, 84. Marine Gardens, 56, 57. Markets, 58, 59. Market Days, 70. Maroons, 21, 1 1 7, 129, 151, 1 65— 179, 182. Maroon Settlement, 100. Maroons, Transportation of, 178, 179 - Maroons, Treaty with, 170. INDEX. 205 Marriage Law, 38. Martial Law, 30, 32. May Pen, 1 1 1. Medicinal Springs and Baths, 99, 100, 163. Mendez, Diego, 10. Metcalfe, Sir Charles, Governor, 33 . 34 - Metcalfe, Sir Charles, statue, 51. Military, 69, 77, 79. Moddiford, Sir Thomas, Gover- nor, 21, 24. Moneague, 131. Montego Bay, 1 21-130. Montpelier, m-120. Montpelier Hotel, 119. Moore Town, 100. Morant Bay, 96-98. Morant River, 97. Morgan, Sir Edward, Deputy Governor, 21. Morgan, Sir Henry, 22, 24. Mount Diabolo, 131. Mules, 159. Museum and Library, 60-65. Musgrave, Earl of, Governor, 32, 37 - Myrtle Bank Plotel, 55, 56. Nanny Town, 97. Negroes, 185. Negro Characteristics, 74, 185. Negro Outbreaks, 29, 30, 32, 34, 96, 97, 194. Negro Soldiers, 69. Negro Women, 74. Newcastle, 77. Newspapers, English and Ameri- can, 59. Norman, Sir Henry, 80. Norman, Sir Henry Wylie, Gov- ernor, 39. Obeah, 189. Obi, 166. Ocho Rios, 133. Old Harbor, 109. Oracabessa, 7. Oracabessa Bay, 137. Oranges, 113, 156. Orange Bay, 142. Orchids, 74, 75, 93, 132. Oxford River, 116. Oxford Valley, 116. Palisades, 50, 84. Palmer, Mrs., 122-128. Palmer Monument, 122. Parade Ground, 50. Parochial Board, 199. Passage Fort, 109. Payne’s Hotels, 129. Payne, Miss Emily, Hotel, 129. Penn, Admiral, 18, 19. Pens, 47, ill, 136. Philips, Samuel, 55. Picaroons, 28. Pickford and Black’s West India Steamship Line, 44. Pirates, 83-86. Pimento grass, 157. Police and Constabulary, 193. Polygamy, 166. Population, 186, 187. Porras, Francisco and Diego de, 11. Porus, III. Port Morant, 97. Port Royal, 83-90. Portrait Gallery, 60. 206 INDEX. Port Antonio, ioi, 102 139- 1 5 1 - Port Henderson, 109. Port Maria, 137. Postal Union, 37. Presbyterian Church, 54. Priestman’s River, 101. Prince Line, 42. Privy Council, 199. Race Problem, 187-189. Railroad Tunnels, 139. Railway Opened, 34. Railways, 38, 39, 44-46, 139. Rainfall, 161. Rebellion of 1865, 194. Recent History, 31-40. Record Office, 103. Reed, George Washington, 107. Reformatory, 73, 74. Removal of Seat of Government, 36 - Residences, 53. Richmond, 140. Rio Cobre Hotel, 109. Rio Cobre River, 108. Rio Grande River, 142, 149. Rio Nuevo, 137. Roaring River, 133. Rodney, Admiral, 103-106. Rodney’s Lookout, 109. Rodney’s Statue, 30. Roman Catholic Church, 54. Rose Hall, 123. Rowe, Sir Joshua, 52. Royal African Company, 25. Royal Jamaica Yacht Club, 59. Royal Mail Company, 41. Royal Mail Steam Packet Com- pany, 41. Runaway Bay, 136. Rushworth, Lieutenant-Governor, 37 - Saint Thomas ye Vale, 132. St. Ann, 1 3 1 . St. Ann’s Bay, 135. St. Margaret’s Bay, 142. Sanitarium, Dr. McCatty’s, 129. Santa Gloria, 7. Saragossa Sea, 3. Schools, free, 150. Seat of Government, 36. Second Maroon Outbreak, 1 7 1 — 177. Sedjwick, Major, Governor, 20. Seven Miles, 92. “Sevilla d’Oro,” 136. Sevilla Nueva, 16. Shaddocks, 156. Shark Papers, 60-63. Sheep, 158. Shirley, Sir Anthony, 1 7. Slaves, 19, 25, 31-33, 165, 182, 183 - Slaves, Emancipation of, 32, 152, 153, 184. Slave Insurrections, 29-34. Slave Trading, 31, 32. Sligo, Lord, Governor, 33. Sloane, Sir Hans, 25. Society of Agriculture and Com- merce, 59. Spanish Town, 109, 103-110. Spanish Town “Temple,” 103. Steamship Companies, 2, 42, 43. Stock Yards, 47. Stony Hill, 70, 73. Street cars, establishment of, at Kingston, 36. INDEX. 207 Sugar Plantations, 109. “ Surinam Quarters,” 119. Telegraphs, 38. Temperature, 75, 79, 80, Si, S2. Theatres, 52, 59. Theatre Royal, 52. “Three-fingered Jack’s” Cave, 93 - Tichfield Hotel, 14S. Tram-cars, 49. Transportation and Communica- tion, 41, 49. Travelling in Jamaica, 44, 48. Trelawney, Governor, 170. Tweedie Trading Company, 44. University College and High School, 72. Union Plain, 116. Vale Guanaboa, 109. Vaughn, Lord, 25. Vegetables, 156. Venables, Colonel, 18, 19. Victoria Institute, 38. Victoria Market, 58, 59. Voodooism, 1S9. Voyage, The, 1-6. Wag Water Loch, 74. Wag Water River, 51, 70. Wages, 59. War between Spain and England, 29. Washing clothes, 143. Water Supply, 51. Watlings Island, 3. Wesleyan Chapel, 54. West IndianChemical Works, 109. West India and Pacific Steamship Company, 42. Westmoreland, 119. “White Horses,” 97. Whitfield Hall, 81. Wilberforce, 32. Williamsfield, ill. Windsor, Lord, Governor, 20. Windward Road, 92. Yacht Clubs, 59. Yachting and Boating, 56, 57. Yallahs, 96. Yallahs River, 81, 95, 96. CONDUCTED ON THE AMERICAN PLAN. ^,his Hotel is the largest and most elegant in the city of Kingston, and its grounds are well laid out and filled with beautiful tropical plants. From its position on the shore it commands extensive views of the Harbor and Port Royal in the distance, with cool delightful breezes blowing from off the water constantly during the hottest part of the day. It is provided with all modern conveniences, Electric Lights and Bells in all the rooms, Fresh Water Baths, Billiard Tables, Fine Bar, Reading Room, Ball Room, Livery and other conveniences. The tables are supplied with all the delicacies of the season, the cooking is the best on the island and the attendance excellent. For terms, circulars and any further information address ISIDORE DePASS, Myrtle Bank, Kingston, Jamaica. Streadwick’s Marine Gardens Hotel, KINGSTON. THE BRIGHTON OF JAMAICA. Streadwick's Hill Gardens Hotel, SAINT ANDREW, THE CATSKILLS OF JAMAICA. HOTELS IN DETACHED COTTAGES, WITH CENTRAL DINING AND BILLIARD ROOM, ETC. The Detached Cottage Plan for a tropical climate is admitted THE BEST for pure air in bedrooms, privacy and quiet. Both these Hotels are run on the American and European Plan. Hotel Rio Cobre, SPANISH TOWN, JAMAICA. ^HE HOTEL RIO COBRE offers to visitors to the Island a spacious, cool, and agreeable resort, where ladies and gentlemen can be comfortably accommodated. It stands on sixteen acres of its own land, on the bank of the Rio Cobre, and belongs to a company estab- lished under the Hotel Law of 1890. The Hotel is noted for the excellence of its cuisine and good attendance. Its motto has been : “ Tranquil and comfortable, with creole fare and fruit.’" The front verandas are twelve feet wide, and are always open to the fresh air and the delightful sea breezes which come throughout the day over four or five miles of dry, healthy plains. All communications and telegrams addressed to i( RIO COBRE,” Jamaica, will receive immediate attention. MOWTpiLIE^ HOTEL. ^ ^ ^ his Hotel is situated in the parish of St. James near Montego Bay. It has lately been completed, and it is fitted up in the most luxurious style. Position of the hotel is unequalled, being situated on the top of a mount with an unobstructed view, and open to the breezes from all quarters. This Hotel has at present no more than sixteen bedrooms as the proprietor has preferred to provide for the perfect comfort of a limited number of guests, rather than put up a large number in comparative dis- comfort. For terms and for further particulars address The Manager, MONTPILIER HOTEL, JAMAICA. (Hfie Moneague eHofef. nil HIS HOTEL was built by a few gentlemen of the parish of St. Ann, who availed themselves of the Hotel Law of 1890, and formed a company. The situation, climate, scenery, internal arrangements, cuisine and management of this Hotel combine to make it one of the most delightful Resorts for Tourists in the West Indies. Visitors never need find time hang heavily on their hands ; the many charming drives to places of world wide interest in the neighborhood, the Tennis Lawn and Golf Link, afford varied opportunities of passing the hours of the day pleasantly out doors, while a fine Piano and Billiard Table afford similar opportunities to those pre- ferring to remain indoors. The Board of Directors is composed of gentlemen residing in the District, who make it their aim, by close and frequent supervision, to ensure the comfort and enjoy- ment of visitors. There are many beautiful drives in the district, the Roaring River Falls, the famous Gully Road, Ocho Rios and other places noted for their picturesque beauty are within easy reach. Vehicles can be had at all times at the Moneague, The Hotel is nine miles from the Rail- way Terminus at Ewarton. The Tariff approved by the Governor and Privy Council, in accordance with the Hotel Laws, is to be found on page 57 of this work. For further information please apply to the Secretary, to whom all orders for apartments, conveyances, etc., should be addressed. A. W. SUTHERLAND, Secretary. Brooks’ Hotel, Mandeville, 2, 06/ J/cct above Sea jCevel, e /7fanc/iesior, JAMAICA. O^ITUATED in the Hills of Manchester, among its w famous Orange Groves and Coffee Plantations, in one of the finest climates in the world. Temperature from 50 to 80 degrees. The table is supplied with fresh food and meat, a variety of fruit, the Orange, Grape Fruit, Shaddock, Sapodillas and all tropi- cal fruits that can be procured. Beautiful drives through the plateau district of Man- chester offer to the tourist an infinite variety of tropical hill scenery. In the vicinity are Golf Links, a Golf Club, a Tennis Club and Court, Billiards at the Manchester Club and at the Hotel Billiard Room. The Hotel is five miles from Williamsfield Railway Station, and may be reached by the Hotel Coach, which meets every train, or by carriage which may be specially ordered from the extensive Livery in connection with the Hotel. For terms, circulars and any other information, address A. S. UNDO, Lessee, (Uefecjrapft. ef\c|c}re