CHAPTER XXII 



JAMAICA ( Con tin ued) 



Cities and villages. Kingston. Spanish Town. Port Antonio. Montego 

 Bay. Rural life. The people. Excess of the black population. Color- 

 line and distinctions. Dress and habits of the blacks. Folk-lore of the 

 negroes. A peculiar alphabet. Dependencies of Jamaica. 



HP HE better classes of Jamaicans do not dwell in cities, 

 i which are few in number and the least attractive 

 features of the island. There are numerous small towns 

 and villages, local centers of trade. 



Kingston, the colonial and commercial capital and only 

 city of importance, is a most unattractive place, situated 

 on the south side, a little east of the middle of the island, 

 on a low, arid plain surrounded by mountains. It faces an 

 extensive harbor inclosed by a narrow spit of sand, some 

 four miles in length, called the Palisades, which projects 

 from the land like a crooked finger. Travelers landing at 

 Kingston are often so impressed by its unpleasant aspects 

 that they leave the island with no knowledge of the beau- 

 tiful interior, and afterward decry a land of which they 

 have really seen nothing. 



The city has a population of 46,542. It is a hot and 

 unpleasant town, in which the traveler does not care to 

 linger Longer than necessary for the transaction of busi- 

 ness. It has good and well-lighted streets and an excellent 

 water-supply and system of sew crage. The principal mer- 



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