THE HURRICANE SEASON. 1 69 



riviere. By different names do the residents of these 

 islands call these gatherings in the open air, which 

 in other places are denominated picnics. Partie 

 riviere^ the French name, has a suggestivenesa 



about it that picnic has not ; and to go on a " maroon 

 party/' as they sometimes style it, transports one in 

 imagination at once to the wild forests. 



In the afternoon we were all gathered at the upper 

 end of the valley, beneath a great mango ; cloths were 

 spread on the ground, and upon them were placed 

 our eatables : roast pig, chickens, and vegetables, 

 with ale, claret, and sherry. The pere and myself 

 were the only members of the party who were not, in 

 a manner more or less remote, connected with the im- 

 mortal Ham ; but that did not mar our enjoyment of 

 the festivities. Before the spread had been well dis- 

 cussed, a sudden shower came down with fury — as 

 showers are apt to do in the summer season — sus- 

 pending operations and driving us to shelter. As we 

 were on the upper bank of the river, and the stepping- 

 stones were covered a foot deep in fifteen minutes, we 

 were all obliged to wade the turbid stream, in great 

 discomfort. 



These June showers, though lacking the force of 

 those of the later months of the year, are nevertheless 

 of frequent occurrence. They w r arned me away from 

 an island so mountainous, and but a week passed be- 

 fore I w r as speeding north to an island of lesser eleva- 

 tion, and consequently less rainfall. 



Furnished with letters of introduction from the presi- 

 dent of Dominica, Mr. Eldredge, I visited the islands 

 of Barbuda and Antigua, spending there two months, 

 shooting deer, pigeons, doves, and wild guinea-fowl. 



