1 



LEAVES FROM A LOG. 35 



himself in the Gulf of Paria, at which Jonathan pretended so 

 much sorrow that he kept a New England Lent ; that is to say, he 

 lived for six weeks on salt pork and molasses. This he pretended 

 was out of remorse for his having caused the death of his country- 

 man, but those who knew him said it was out of grief for his having 

 lost thirty dollars. Such was the person whom I heard pronounce 

 the song an " almighty good one/' and to this person I unhappily 

 was in debt for Bolivar, the very Spanish horse I that day rode. I 

 wheeled the animal round regardless of the hospitality I stood so 

 much in need of, and galloped off like another Tarn O'Shanter, as 

 though I was pursued by a hellish legion ; yet amid the thunders of 

 * the gallop methought I heard the deep nasal voice of Jonathan Long- 

 lick calling after me, " I say, Mr. Tropic, you've come to pay me 

 that there small account of your's, I calculate." My horse being 

 blown, I was fain to slacken his pace, as by this time I fancied myself 

 secure. 



I had arrived at a most beautiful part of the island : twenty sugar 

 plantations now lay in view with their square cane pieces, some cut 

 .but mostly standing, divided by hedges of limes and other species of 

 the citron. Here and there cattle reposed under the shade of thick 

 tufts of elegant bamboos or more elegant palms of various kinds 

 around the estates' mansions. In full bloom grew the yellow orange, 

 the large shaddock, the shady tamarind, the beautiful mango, the 

 rapid papaw trees, and a hundred other inter-tropical fruits, while 

 villages of palm-thatched negro-houses were irregularly but pic- 

 turesquely placed amid the shade of plantain, banana, bread-fruit, 

 and cocoa-nut trees. The land was neither flat nor mountainous, but 

 undulating like that of the county of Kent ; here and there might be 

 seen pieces of the original forest of the island. In the middle of the 

 pastures, and beside the road stood gigantic silk cotton trees, or noble 

 cedars, whose venerable and grand appearance had saved them from 

 the axe, when the forest sunk beneath the efforts of the woodmen. 

 On the right the scene was bounded by dark virgin woods, on which 

 the works of man had not yet encroached, while to the left at intervals 

 might be seen the Gulf of Paria, whose tranquil bosom was just ruffled 

 by the afternoon breeze, and glittered with the reflection of .the de- 

 clining sun ; every feature in the landscape contributed to its beauty : 

 amongst these were two ships and a brig at anchor in the gulf, two 

 or three fishing-boats barely visible, a shallow river winding across 

 the road in ten places, a large windmill whose arms were gently 

 turning round, and, not the least interesting, eight or ten sugar boil- 

 ing houses in full work, their smoke curling upwards into the blue 

 and almost cloudless sky. The air was perfumed with the agreeable 

 odour of boiling cane-juice, and two or three hundred negroes on 

 different estates were singing merry choruses, the notes of which 

 were softened and rendered agreeable by distance ; in short, all 

 seemed mirthful, happy and contented, save myself -for I had not 

 dined ! 



I crossed the afore-mentioned river, which was so shallow that 

 when viewed in the dry season by a native of a flat country, he would 

 wonder at its being called any thing but a brook ; and yet when its 



