93° 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[June i, 1885 



experience in tropical products ; he has studied the sub- 

 ject and takes pleasure in it. Who then could be more 

 suitable for the post than lie ? lie is an old Ova planter 

 too, which fact ought to add to the chance of his getting 

 the berth. I hope he will excuse the quotation from 

 Carlyle which 1 have written in a spirit of friendliness 

 to H. 0., to whom we in Ceylon have frequently been 

 indebted for much valuable and interesting information 

 certaining to countries other than this. 



THE WEST 



INDIES AND 

 NO. 0. 



I'ANAMA. 



PORT AHTONiO— STOBES AND BUM SHOPS— TUB FIEE — ON ME 

 HILL — POUT ANTONIO FOET — BEAUTIFUL VIEW FROM THE 

 POET — NAVY ISLAND — ANCHORING PLACE 01 MKN-OF-WAft— 

 THE WAK WITH THE MABOON8 — MAROON MOUNTAIN1I I 

 DOMESTIC ABBANGEMENTS— CHEAP LIVING— REGUI All SUP- 

 PLY of Fresh fish — THE fkui trade and loading 



STEAMERS BY NIGHT — NO KEST FOB THE WICKED — MOS- 

 QUITOES FEO.M THE MANGROVE SWAMP — BOUGH TIME.OF IT 

 — SAND FLIES— PLANTING COMBINED WITS STOEEKEEP1NG 

 — RUM LICENSE — SPANISH GUNBOATS— TROUBLES IN CUBA. 



Iter Boreale Sugar Estate, Annatto Bay, Jamaica, 

 5th November, 18S4. 

 Port Antonio on the east coast of Jamaica, and in the 

 parish of Portland, is the prettiest little place I have seen 

 in Jamaica up to date : on a fine sunshiny day, the Blue 

 Mountains in the background of the land-locked harbour 

 are grandly picturesque. There are two harbours: vessels com- 

 ing from the north round Navy Island, and cuter a channel 

 made by Navy Island and a narrow peninsula of Port 

 Antonio. At the extremity of this projected piece of land 

 the Fort stands, large guns pointing seaward. 



On the south side the little harbour is nearly land-locked, 

 and from some points of view appears to the observer to 

 be a pretty little lake, but men-of-war come in sometimes 

 and stonish the natives by banging off a royal salute. 

 The water is deep and clear, over thirty feet, with abund- 

 ance of fish, snapper, buttertisb, and drummers. All-around 

 one are to be seen comfortable villas and cottages sur- 

 rounded byfruit trees including mango, breadfruit, orange^ 

 avocado pear, aekies, roseapple, coconut, cashewnut, fig, 

 aherimoyer, custardnpple, jak, jambu, plum, &c, &c, Xc. 

 Small banana plantations in bearing and clearings being 

 opened up. 



On entering the town of Port Antonio, one is struck by tin; 

 smallness of the shops and the extraordinary. names gi i 

 to some of the dimunitive establishments. For iustance, 

 I entered " Beaconsfield House," the property of a re- 

 spectable cigar manufacturer. His stock in trade amounted 

 to a bundle of leaf tobacco. He made his cigars and 

 found a ready sale for them at 4 for u'd. Every second house 

 in the main street of Port Antonio seemed to be a rum- 

 shop, " licensed to be drunk on the premi-es." A rum 

 license costs £10, and £12 for retail trade, and £25 for whole- 

 sale. So I fancy the amount of mixing must be necessary 

 to clear off the license. It littlo matters in the long run 

 whether tho rum-dealer puts in the water or whether his 

 customer does : anyhow, they both put in a little. 

 In Port Antonio the rum-shops are well patronized by 

 the men, and the liuendrapers' shops by the women : the 

 latter make a show on marketday and plenty of noisy 

 bargaining. 



Stores there are in plenty, and the prices are verv rea- 

 sonable. My housekeeper made most of my purchases: a 

 perfect work of art in the form of a looking-glass for 

 ninepence, a washing-basin for one shilling, water-jug for 

 one shilling, knives and forks for one shilling the pair, hand- 

 towels for sevenpence-halfpenny, calico for fourpence- 

 halfpenny to sixpence a yard, and rnuslin sbtpi : 



Many of the large stores were destroyed by the large 

 fire about a year ago, which like Kingston threatened to 

 destroy the whole town. There is an amusing local son» 

 about the great fire, of how a man passing a binning 

 house entered it for the purpose of looking for a sucking 

 pig which he imagined to be well roasted, and he came 

 upon a little roast dog (pronounced " darg " in Jamaican) 

 and commenced to " wire in " not finding out his mistake 

 until too late. A clever fiddler composed the verses to 

 suit a lively tune on his violin, and now every little boy 

 and girl siugs it in the street, 



There are some nice houses on the hill, in one of 

 which I stayed for nearly a week, Mrs. McBlain's boarding 

 establishment. The views of the sea, the town, and the 

 mountains from the verandahs of some of these houses 

 are very beautiful, and makes anyone like Port Antonio, 

 although if bananas were removed the place would sink 

 immediately into oblivion. The Fort reminds one of the 

 dark days of Spanish rule, when the British took the 

 place. In those cruel days bloodhounds were used to 

 track the absconding negro slave, and the maroons, the 

 descendants of the Spanish slaves, live in the mountains 

 close by Port Antonio. I was fond of walking through 

 the Fort and thinking of the ancient history of the old 

 place, breathing tho seaair, sitting on the ramparts aud 

 enjoying the magnificent tropical scenery around me. 

 Navy Island is inhabited, and there seems to be a con- 

 venient place for beaching wrecks and repairing vessels. 

 There is a coral reef running out a great way from Navy 

 Island, and I have seen more than one banana cutter 

 come to utter grief on that reef. 



Men-of-war prefer the quiet harbour to the outer 

 one where steamers are coming iu at all hours of the 

 day and night for cargoes of fruit, the " small craft," 

 schooners cutters, luggers, &c, bringing fruit from the 

 agents and buyers on different parts of the coast to 

 store it ready for the mail boats. 



I suppose the object of the men-of-war's visit is a 

 kind of reminder that no more trouble like that of St 

 Thomas in the East and Morant Bay in Governor Eyre's 

 time (18G5) should be contemplated by the inhabitants, 

 who are on the whole a very peaceful and contented 

 lot of people. 



Another reason for British men-of-war avoiding the 

 outer harbour of Tort Antonio is the fact of a steamer 

 sunk in the middle of "the entrance, with only the black 

 funnel and masts appearing above the water to warn 

 vessels coming in. 



A firm undertook to raise the ill fated steamer after she 

 had been submerged for over a year, aud one fine morn- 

 ing, when I was going to the weeders, lo, and behold ! 

 what do we see? both a brig and schooDer wrecked 

 alongside the steamer, three wrecks instead of one: it is 

 true they raised the steamer, but she went down again, 

 aud took the brig with her, schooner falling on the top 

 of all, bottom upwards ! 



I remember reading- a lot about the maroons, but did not 

 know I should ever come in contact with them and have 

 to work them as field labourers. Both men and women 

 come down from the hills aud offer their services; they do 

 not, however, like to work with the Jamaica Creole or 

 negro, or with coolies from India, but prefer "job work" 

 felling heavy timber. They are good axemen, and with 

 their cutlasses bill down the weeds cleaner than other 

 labourers. They are very quiet workers, though the first to 

 " strike " work if thero is any fault to find with tho estate 

 or pay in arrear. 



In the long war with tho maroons, they gave our troops 

 considerable trouble in their mountain home. Even to this 

 day I am informed that the maroon mountaineers are 

 jealous of strangers being amongst them, and that it is 

 extremely unsafe to venture alone into the forest of tho 

 maroon country without a mfiroon guide. 



Mrs. Watsou's nursery maid is a pretty maroon girl 

 " Rebecca," and my washerwoman is another maroon, 

 "Mary Ann King." The boss of my maroon gang was 

 Mr. Bourke, and a very civil fellow he was. Referring to 

 my diary, I find, during the past three months, May, 

 June and July 1884, the Creole men and women workiug 

 on "Bound Brook" seem to have taken a great fancy to 

 me, and are generlly very respectful and work well. 

 Old Moor, the captaaof the "Lime Kiln," is a fine old man 

 and sometimes vei amiing. His grandfather was a : 

 maroon ofSpanishrny JAfr blood, and his father a slavo 

 owned by some sugar planter : Moor was born a slave and 

 in 1S33 was seven years of age when liberated. The Jamaica 

 negroes celebrate every August by striking work for a 

 whole month in commemoration of emancipation. 



I never feel lonely, for the young ladies passing 

 aud repassing always have a kind word for their " book- 

 keeper," "Busha," "Buekra" aud "Massa." Everything 

 I require is brought to the door for sale, and, if we are out 

 of money, they would wait until payday on Friday night 

 for the balance. Mrs. Parsley who lived iu the next cot- 



