792 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[May I, 1886. 



sunshine. Beyond that lies Old Harbour, and the view 

 is closed by the quaint landmark of the Round Hill in 

 Vere, hazy in the western distance. Il w.ik difficult U> 

 to believe, in the almost Iceen mountain air, that, even 

 as we looked, the yellow fever wa.^ doing its deadly 

 work in l*ort K^-yal fnr hrlow. On one memorable 

 ooca.sion (lust New Year's Kve) I saw Cuba from this 

 yap, floatinj^ like St. Krandon's blfssed isle in the distauee. 

 Tho road here descends ruund the north slope, if slope 

 it e;in be failed, of Cathei ine's I't^ak. Li-l me for a 

 moment explain that the " road " is a bridU' path cut iu 

 the face of the hill, with a -sheer ilescont on one hand. 

 and a steep ascent on the other. Fre([ueiitly the outer 

 slope is precipitous, but is in most cases so c tvered with 

 bush that the real steepness is obscured, and the danger 

 of falling "down thegulley," as it is called, is nut brought 

 too prominently before one. The heavy lains cause the 

 roads to ne^ed constant repair; it is a most Cuminou 

 occurrence to find a landslip of loose earth covering the 

 road, or occasiona ly a large boulder blocking the patli ; 

 and, on tht' other hand, the road will become caved by 

 rain on the inferior slope, and leave but a narrow thread 

 of footholil overhanging h scooped out recess. The way 

 is rarely level, antl it is absolutely necessary to wear a 

 crupper, or a back girth, which is simply one girth 

 brought back in rear of the pony's belly, ami pulleii so 

 tight as not to slip forward over the stoutest part of the 

 animal. 



They are mostly deficient in shoulders, but are wonder- 

 fully sure-looted game iittle beasts, up to any weight. 

 They are too sensible, as a rule, to play the fool on these 

 narrow roads, as a c^itastrophe nuist be the inevitable 

 result, A pony tliat will be troublesome in a roomy 

 road in the plains, will often, in his own interest, behave 

 with the greatest care and decorum on these narrow 

 l>ridle roads. 



To return to my journey, the road descends along the 

 northern slope, paht stattly and graceful groups of tree 

 ferns, and masses of climbing fern on either side, and 

 iitfording views of hill, dale, and sea that wouhl del'ght 

 the artist at every step. We then reich Silver Hill Gap, 

 which unites Catherine's Peak with the main ridge, and 

 here, leaving the road to J5utf Bay on our left, we turn 

 down to the Yallahs river by a blossoming hedge of 

 Cherokee lose. At uur feet lies the Silver Hill Coffee 

 Works, distinguished by an enormous cabbage palm, 

 with the Yallahs lirawling below the barbecue; while on 

 the further bank (dimbs a long stretch of exquisite 

 feathery bamboos of a giMce not tobt; expressed. 



AVe ford tlie Yallahs up to our girths i..i water, and a 

 U'lsty crossing it most be when the rivers are down (i.e. 

 in spate), and ascend a steep slope over a shaly landslip, 

 with broken cUff on tlie left, and on the right a sheer 

 ilrop of '(1 ft. into a gloomy iiujl. Here the road, to 

 our delight, displays stretches of level, and as we put 

 our ponies into a canterl we glance at a curiously striated 

 bluff ot rock on the further bank of the river, which 

 appears to have be' 11 b'U'ut to a cinder by volcanic action 

 and then wrather worn into a rotten state by rain ami 

 stream. Wiiiding along the liill side :.t a brisk pace, 

 here and there a mongoose scntiers under the pony's 

 hoofs as we pass along. These little animals were intro- 

 duced to externiiuale rats, but having dotie that, bid lair 

 to exterminate all other animal life. Eggs aud young 

 birds are their favourite food, and ('(jnsequently (|uail, 

 partridges, and pigeons have vanished in the hills, and 

 save in the unwholesome swamps there is n-t sport to be 

 had. The poultry, too, suffer grievously from their 

 foraging. Mow we come to a cfTee estate known as 

 C'lydesdale, where the negroes are sitting at their nrd- 

 day meal, and liave enough of old time courtesy left lo 

 salute *' massa,*' and the wonnui to bob an ungr^if Md 

 curtsey with a smile of welcome. Now we wind npw-v 's, 

 up steep clayey zigzags, past the ruiiieil C'tjfee wui ks; 

 known by the inappropriate name of '* Industry," with 

 its barbecue grass grown, and one tall spectral palm 

 hiyh against tlu' sky. njnv ual siill through bush, with 

 wild tangle of rt)s<'s, the renniaut of some dead-and-gone 

 garden, and. turni?ig sluirp to the right, we rouml the 

 hill ami arrive at tho C'inchona. The Cinchona T can 

 <mly deveribi' as a little earthly para.'ise. (i.OdO ft. abov.- 

 tlie Sea, beautifully kept, and, in a layman's opinion, of 

 immense scientific value. To see a well-kept homelike 



tenuis lawn was indeed a treat iu the midst of the 

 tropical luxuriance in the valley below, aud the wild 

 mountain ranges above. The director was not there that 

 day, but the lady of the house with the utmost kinduess 

 did the honours, of the place and showed us the nur- 

 series, the fern houses, and the orchid houses. "We saw 

 the careful maimer of rearing the cinchona; we saw the 

 tea plants flouiishing, and the collection of ferns to a 

 botanist must have been unmixed joy. A grand yellow 

 hybiscus stood out with prominent grace among the 

 infant plants of the nursery, those quaint orchids taking 

 apparently their nutriment from a bit of rotten wood, 

 and smiling out in strange, almost grotesque, beauty, 

 nut easily be forgotten. The temperature was 60^ by 

 the thermometer, and our courteous hostess informed 

 us that there had been two degrees of frost on the grass 

 that morning. The view is beyond my poor powers to 

 describe. Above slept peacefully Blue Mountain Peak, 

 giving an impression of calm repose, though at times 

 he looks sullen enough. Through a great river gorge to 

 the north Hows the Green River (arm of Yallahs), and 

 away on the east we see Yallahs flowing through a 

 small muddy delta into the sea by the Albion Sugar 

 Estate, which he nourishes. Then, again, a gorge to the 

 east, on the far side of which vises the ridge ot Newton, 

 culminating iu Catherine's Peak, with a most striking 

 feature of two great red rifts in the clayey hill-side, aud 

 the smiling Port Ko^ al visible, belying by its appearance 

 the curs" of disease that seems now to brood over it. 



The director. I understand, is about to leave Cinchona 

 for an important and honourable post at Kew. I, as a 

 uewcomer to these tropic scenes, could hardly think of 

 Kew and its Distriiit Railway, counecting it with London, 

 as a favourable change from this mountain garden of 

 beauty. 



Suddeidy there whirls up a mass of cloud and vapour 

 beyond Catherine's Peak, aud we see that Woodcutttr's 

 Gap nnist be in its nornnd state of cloud. In tliis strange 

 climate we tremble for the dryness of our homeward 

 riile. AVhat if these clouds dissolve, aud the Yallahs 

 shows hi.s forcer* But the alarm proves groundless, aud 

 the mists vanish as they came. 



The beaut) of Jamaica, and the charm of its hill 

 elinuite, are 'beyond realisation till experienced. Your 

 readers may care to know that to anyone with an eye 

 f(n- scenerv the country is a constant delight, and, 

 living being cheap, the 'ordinary imhvidual can afford 

 wnat the necro wouhl rail '* p'.enty ponies" to carry him 

 about to enjoy it. 



\Vc had to tear ourselves away, and bid adieu witli 

 many expressions of gratitude to our kind and courteous 

 hostess, and start for the homeward ride. We returned 

 by like route to that by which we came, save that we 

 pa.ssed out from Cinchona by another road leading 

 through St. Helen's Gap— a mere saddle or rib. with 

 sheer des<-ent on either side into a steep gully, and 

 conneeMng the hill of Cinchona with the main ri-'ge 

 peak. These gaps are naturally the place of passage for 

 the roads, an.l atfnnl the most striking views of the two 

 valleys which they dividi'. U is impressive, afler toiling 

 up a long ascent to a gap, to find not only the view in 

 rear, which has been gradually developing as the height 

 increases, spread out to its full extent, but a new view 

 opened out in on.- moment on the farther side. On the 

 return journey, the whole sea to the north was obscured 

 by cloud, so rapid arc the changes here. "We n'ache<l 

 (Strange for .lamaica) the cluster of white huts stragg- 

 ling ui> the motiutain, without a drop of rain, liaving 

 fhoroughh enjoyed our little expedition. _ _ 



New Castle. 1 may adii. is five miles from the hinit 

 which any wheeled 'vehicle can rench, hence we live 

 much \.\ the saddle, and our health gains in conse- 

 quence — DUPPV. — Fiihl 



Ants (Keriniea .sanguinea) are occasionally very 

 troublesome pests, being vi-ry dL'tm-mined and iucessaiit 

 iu their attacks, generally eating into the tlower buds, 

 and thereby rendering tl'i< in jjerfectlv u-eUss. A little 

 arsenic mixed with moist sugar, and placed in theii" runs, 

 wi I ^oon destroy them. — Lidian G-wdener. 



