146 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



hospitable. A number of small schooners have 

 been built on Grand Cayman, and are used for 

 trading between the islands of the group and 

 Jamaica. The principal trade is in turtles, which 

 are for the most part caught on the coasts of the 

 mainland, and brought to Grand Cayman, where, 

 until required for shipment, they are kept in an 

 enclosed portion of the Sound. 



We arrived off George Town too late in the 

 afternoon to go ashore the same day, but early 

 the following morning we landed and called on 

 the Governor, His Honour F. Sheddon Sanguinetti, 

 who most kindly gave us a special permit to collect 

 birds. The time of our visit corresponded with 

 the close time for wild birds, and a law for their 

 protection is very properly enforced. 



Having been provided with a guide in the 

 shape of a small native boy, one of my companions 

 and I started off for a long walk into the interior. 

 Before we had gone far from the settlement we 

 became greatly struck by the abundance of bird 

 life. In no other island in the West Indies did I 

 see such numbers of so many different kinds of 

 birds as on Grand Cayman. In each patch of 

 vegetation we came upon fresh species, and we 

 were very soon busily engaged in observing and 

 collecting them. 



Most of the land-birds are peculiar to the 

 island, though there are a considerable number 

 of immigrants from America which spend the 



