CHAPTER XXI 



JAMAICA {Continued) 



A model British colony. Respect for law and order. Early history and 

 administration. Agriculture. Rise of the fruit industry. Commerce. 

 Railways. Excellent highways. 



THE universal aspect of order and the respect for law 

 that everywhere prevail in Jamaica are no less con- 

 spicuous than the natural beauties of the island, and are 

 noted by any one who has traveled in the more unruly 

 places of the tropics. The dread of unconscious violation 

 of some trivial law which haunts one in Cuba, the feeling 

 of being watched as in Porto Rico, the suspicion of some 

 other person's hand in your pocket as in Mexico, the fear 

 of brushing against prevailing contagion at every step as 

 in Martinique, Santo Domingo, and Haiti, are sensations 

 which do not worry the traveler here. The stranger is 

 welcomed with a sincere hospitality and courteous greet- 

 ing ; the island is clean, and the laws are for the protection 

 of the visitor as well as of the resident not the robbery of 

 the individual or the enrichment of the official. Thieves 

 are confined in prison ; those infected with loathsome dis- 

 eases are isolated together; rigid quarantine keeps con- 

 tagion out, and health-officials attend to public sanitation. 

 Neatly uniformed constabulary of respectful mien and 

 open eyes see that the laws are obeyed, and the poorest 



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