ST. THOMAS. 11 



snout. After a time the fish becomes wiser and departs, no 

 doubt thinking it has got hold of a very stupid shark, and 

 hungrily wondering why its large companion does not seize some 

 food and drop it some morsels. The " Suckers " often make the 

 same mistake and cling to a ship for days when they have lost 

 their shark. I fancy that porpoises and whales, when they 

 accompany a ship for several days, think they are attending a 

 large whale. A Hump-back whale followed the "Challenger" for 

 several days in the South Pacific. 



Island of St. Thomas, March 16th to 24th, 1813. — The island 



of St. Thomas, one of the Virgin Islands, or Danish West Indies, 

 was reached on March 16th. As the ship steamed in towards 

 the harbour, Frigate birds soared high over-head with their long 

 tail feathers stretched widely out. A number of brown pelicans 

 (Pelicanus fuscus) were flying at a moderate height near the shore, 

 and every now and then dashing down with closed wings into 

 the water on their prey like gannets, their close allies. Often 

 several of the birds dashed down together at the same instant. 



The island of St. Thomas itself, as well as its outliers, is 

 covered with a wild bush growth, which at first sight might 

 perhaps be taken for original vegetation, but which is composed 

 of plants which have overrun deserted sugar plantations. It is 

 only in a few remote parts of the island that any original forest 

 exists and in small streaks of broken ground bordering the 

 watercourses. The whole of the country in the island of 

 St. Thomas and in all the immediately adjoining islands was 

 cropped with sugar-cane until the emancipation of the slaves in 

 1848. Since that time the ground has been allowed to run wild. 

 There was only one estate partly under cultivation at the time 

 of the ship's visit, and the owner of it, Mr. Wyman, told me 

 that he made no sugar, but found sufficient sale for his canes in 

 the raw state to be cut up and sold for chewing. Mr. Wyman 

 was nearly ruined by the emancipation, and said that the 

 planters received only 50 dollars per head compensation for the 

 loss of their slaves, and that after the lapse of three years' time. 



All about the shores in every small bay were to be seen 

 wrecks of vessels of all kinds, and in various stages of dilapida- 

 tion, which had been wrecked by the hurricanes, for which 



