food. Travellers, therefore, who are obliged to depend upon the chase for their support, will consider the dangers and inconvenience of lions, to be more than counterbalanced by the advantage of abundance of game. -soon as twilight began to advance, we heard the lions roaring at a distance, and commencing their nightly prowl. - - :

As

"In the early part of the night, the jackals at a little distance were yelping around us; and, although they might not have filled the office of lion's provider,' vulgarly assigned to them, yet I had no doubt of their having attentively performed the duties of clearing their royal master's table. To prevent him making his supper-room in the midst of our oxen, we kept several fires burning all night."

On the 25th of February, Mr. B. remarks:

"I now looked in vain for that rosy wild flower-garden which decorated these plains on our former visit to the Asbestos Mountains. It had totally disappeared; and so astonishingly, and almost incredibly rapid, is the progress of vegetation in these regions, with respect to bulbous flowers, that in the short space of ten days the beautiful lilies, then observed just coming into bloom, had completed their flowering, and ripened their seed; the flower-stems were dried up, had parted from the roots, and were nearly all blown away."

At a small kraal of Bushmen, which lay on Mr. B.'s route

"Their chief, or captain, was distinguished in a manner so singular, that my Hottentots were highly diverted at the ridiculous

insignia of his rank; and, as they could not clearly understand his proper name, gave him that of Oud Kraai-kop (Old Crow-head), as he wore the head of a crow fixed upon the top of his hair.

"It will be immediately perceived that this mode of ornamenting the head corresponds with the ancient custom of distinguishing men in armour, by some figure placed as the crest of their helmet. Should therefore the science of heraldry ever be introduced among the Bushmen, the family of the Kraaikops would hereafter be distinguished by the crow-head as their crest; but what should be emblazoned on their shield, or whether the field should be gules, or vert, or sable, can only be determined by the learned men of their own tribe.

"The captain of this kraal, having heard of our killing the two rhinoceroses for Kaabi, requested me to stop a day longer, and hunt for him also. But fearing to establish a custom which would hereafter prove extremely inconvenient to us, as it might lead every kraal to expect that we should do the same for them, I thought it most prudent at once to refuse Old Crowhead; though at the same time I promised him a share of whatever we might chance to kill on the road, if he would allow some of his people to accompany us for the purpose of carrying it back. On which he ordered an old man and his son to attend us.

"Both these people being excessively thin, and apparently reduced to that state by want of food, they immediately received from my Hottentots the names of

Oud

The hog is occasionally hunted for his flesh, and is large and fierce; but the more diminutive animal next mentioned, occupies a more important place.

"In no country is there a creature so destructive of property as the rat is in Jamaica; their ravages are inconceivable. One year with another, it is supposed that they destroy at least about a twentieth part of the sugar-canes throughout the island, amounting to little short of 200,000l. currency per annum. The sugar-cane is their favourite food; but they also prey upon the Indian corn, on all the fruits that are accessible to them, and on many of the roots. Some idea will be formed of the immense swarms of those destructive animals that infest this island, from the fact, that on a single plantation thirty thousand were destroyed in one year. Traps of various kinds are set to catch them, poison is resorted to, and terriers, and sometimes ferrets are employed to explore their haunts and root them out; still, however, their numbers remain undiminished, as far at least as can be judged by the ravages they commit. They are of a much larger size than the European rat, especially that kind of them called by the negroes racoons. On the experiment being tried of putting one of these and a cat together, the latter declined attacking it." The musquitos are torments also in their way. "When very numerous, a smoke is made in the houses, by which they are

driven away. To guard against their annoyance in the night, the beds are hung with what are called musquito-nets, made of thin gauze. It is remarkable that the negroes, who cannot always afford this nocturnal defence, get into a mechanical habit of driving away these troublesome visitors, even while apparently wrapt in a profound sleep; the quick feeling of pain seemingly occasioning this unconscious movement of the hands."

"Nearly a hundred different species of sea and river fish might be enumerated that are caught and used by the inhabitants. There are times, however, when it is dangerous to eat of two or three kinds; the baracoota and the sprat, in particular, are sometimes highly deleterious, owing, it is supposed, to their feeding on some poisonous substance in the ocean, of the nature of copperas. To guard against this danger, a silver spoon is put into the vessel in which the fish is boiled; if it comes out of a dusky greenish colour, the fish is unsound; if not, it may be safely ate

-

"The conger-eel is both voracious and venomous in its bite; it is from five to seven feet in length, and of proportionable thickness: it may well be termed a sea-snake; for, in its head, eyes, and teeth, it much resembles that reptile. It attacks persons in the water, and though the wound it inflicts is seldom deep, it is exceedingly difficult of cure.

currency.

--

"There

"There are three species of snake in Jamaica, viz. the yellow, the black, and the brown snake, the last being the smallest of the three. None of these are venomous in their bite, at least to a serious degree; instances having happened of negroes having been bitten by them without suffering any other consequence than a temporary pain, inflammation, and swelling of the part, and sometimes a slight degree of fever; to remove which, all that is necessary is a fomentation of the part with sweet oil, or warm lime-juice, and extracting the tooth of the animal if it has been left in the flesh. It is alleged by some that the bite of the brown snake is mortal; but no instance ever happened of its bite having produced death. Some of the yellow snakes are from ten to twelve feet long, but the general length is from six to eight. The animal is at times exceedingly indolent and inoffensive; when gorged with its periodical quantum of food, and when coiled up and reposing itself, it will permit a person to come up and touch it, without making an effort to move. Nay, some of the African negroes have the boldness to stand upon them for a short time while in this supine state they have a strange notion that this operation is a sovereign remedy for the bone-ache -a painful disease to which they are subject. The animal, under the pain of this extraordinary pressure, writhes itself round, and soon dislodges the intruder, but without any active exertion of resentment, and, on the removal of the annoyance, it recomposes itself to rest. But, when hungry and in search of prey, and during the season of pairing, it is more active and

irascible; but particularly at the latter time, when it is not safe to disturb it. The strength of this animal is incredible; the united exertions of four or five able-bodied negroes cannot draw one of large size from a place where it has got any hold; so that one can. not, from this, altogether discredit what is told of the monstrous serpents of thirty feet long in India. and Africa, which, it is said, have been known to strangle the buffalo and the tiger. There is something in the very sight of a snake revolting to all other animals. We are startled if one unexpectedly comes in our way, though we may be aware there is no danger in his bite: horses and oxen start and snort if they see one near them, and dogs bark at them, but carefully keep aloof while they are in an attitude of defence. The black snake, when assailed by a dog, generally darts at his eyes; by which means the terriers, which never come in view of them without showing their antipathy, very frequently become blind. The domestic cat is terrified at the sight of the smallest-sized snake, and will not face it; though the wild cat, more fierce and daring, will probably not shun the encounter. A gentleman, a surveyor by profession, in traversing the woods, one day found the skeleton of a snake entwined round that of a cat; they had probably been fighting, and perished together in the

conflict."

"The white inhabitants of Jamaica consist of creoles, or natives of the country, and Europeans. There may be about three of the former to two of the latter. Formerly there was a marked difference in the habits, manners, and

mode

"There are obstacles, however, in this country, which must necessarily operate to keep down the state of society far below that improvement of which it would otherwise be capable. These partly grow out of and are inseparably connected with a state of slavery, but more especially arise from the gross immorality which too generally prevails among all ranks."

"Even if slavery and its attendant abuses did not exist here, no great additional improvement in the state of society could be expected, while the most gross and open licentiousness continues, as at present, to prevail among all ranks of the whites. - Every unmarried white man, and of every class, has his black or his brown mistress, with whom he lives openly; and of so little consequence is this thought, that his white female friends and relations think it no breach of decorum to visit his house, partake of his hospitality, fondle his children, and converse with his housekeeper — as if that conduct, which they regarded as disgraceful in their own class, was not so in the female of colour. But the most striking proof of the low estimate of moral and religious obligation here is the fact, that the man who lives in open adultery,-that is, who keeps his brown or black mistress, in the very face of his wife and family and of the com

munity, has generally as much outward respect shown him, and is as much countenanced, visited, and received into company, especially if he be a man of some weight and influence in the community, as if he had been guilty of no breach of decency or dereliction of moral duty! This profligacy is, however, less common than it was formerly; for among the old creoles, a brown or sable favourite, and sometimes even a harem of these ladies, was considered as an indispensable appendage to the establishment of a married man. -

"If a gentleman pays his addresses to a lady, it is not thought necessary, as a homage to her delicacy, to get rid, à priori, of his illicit establishment, nor is the lady so unreasonable as to expect such a sacrifice; the brown lady remains in the house till within a few days of the marriage, and, if she is of an accommodating disposition, even assists in making preparations for the reception of the bride; in which case there may be a tolerable good understanding between them, and the wife may even condescend to take in good part the occasional calls, inquiries, and proffered services of the ex-favourite, and make suitable returns of kindness to her and her children. Nothing is more common than for the brown mistress of a white man to apply to a respectable married lady to become godmother to her female infant,-a request which is not often refused, though the sponsor must be well aware that this child is destined, from the way in which she is brought up, to follow the footsteps of her mother. But it is thought to be only a form, and the kindhearted white lady could hardly

refuse