BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 27 
the fruits are agreeable and allay thirst. A few sheep are 
the only domestic animals that exist here, and they are kept 
alive and in tolerable condition during the long droughts, 
which Captain Carey informs me have this time continued 
for nine months without a shower, by the Melocactus com- 
munis. This Melocactus is simply slit open with an hoe or 
spade, when the sheep eagerly eat it, carefully avoiding the 
spines. My man Edward, having no shoes, kept up a 
constant grumbling at the spines of the different Cacti, as 
we threaded our way from rock to rock, any mistake in our 
footing would, as a matter of course, have been attended 
with painful consequences. In a deep cavern, Captain Carey 
shot a fine Guano, the first I had ever seen; this animal is 
not unlike a small Alligator, and lives in holes and rocks; 
Wild Goats are also abundant, we saw a flock of about fifty, 
but they were too shy to get near them. They certainly veri- 
fied their proverbial activity, for we no sooner beheld them, 
than they were out of sight. Gossypium Barbadense is abun- 
dant among the Cacti, casting its delicate produce to the winds, 
in considerable quantities. The day being advanced and a 
great sameness existing in the plants, we commenced our re- 
treat by the same route, securing some good specimens of Me- 
locactus communis, and Cactus Peruvianus, a species, I believe, 
not in our collections, and reached the Battery by 5 o'clock, 
just half an hour too late for the steamer. The Captain had 
succeeded in killingtwo Guinea Fowl, which, with the Guano, 
made us an excellent dinner ; the latter was very tender, but 
I must confess, among so many good things, I could not 
give it the preference. It appears sharp work to kill and 
eat poultry on the same day, but there is no keeping provi- 
sions in the tropics; it is no uncommon thing at times in 
Jamaica, to catch the fowls, after the traveller arrives, and 
have them on the table in half an hour. The land-breeze 
setting in, made the atmosphere cool and pleasant, for the 
day had been intensely hot; the radiation from the rocks 
was sometimes overpowering, thermometer 96° in the shade 
at mid-day. NE 
(To be continued.) 
