A NATURALIST'S EXCURSION IN DOMINICA. 679 



wine-merchant ; therefore he quoted fifty-four shillings, and both 

 buyer and seller were perfectly satisfied : the wine-merchant made a 

 large profit, and the customer obtained what he demanded — a good 

 wine at a "respectable price." He could not insult his friends by 

 putting cheap twelve-shilling trash on his table ! 



Here arises an ethical question. Was the wine-merchant justified 

 in making this charge under the circumstances ; or, otherwise stated, 

 who was to blame for the crookedness of the transaction ? I say the 

 customer ; my verdict is, " Sarve him right ! " 



In reference to wines, and still more to cigars, and some other use- 

 less luxuries, the typical Englishman is a victim to a prevalent com- 

 mercial superstition. He blindly assumes that price must necessarily 

 represent quality, and therefore shuts his eyes and opens his mouth to 

 swallow anything with complete satisfaction, provided that he pays 

 a good price for it at a respectable establishment, i. e., one where only 

 high-priced articles are sold. 



If any reader thinks I speak too strongly, let him ascertain the 

 market price per pound of the best Havana tobacco-leaves where they 

 are grown, also the cost of twisting them into cigar-shape (a skillful 

 workman can make a thousand in a day), then add to the sum of these 

 the cost of packing, carriage, and duty. He will be rather astonished 

 at the result of this arithmetical problem. 



If these things were necessaries of life^ or contributed in any de- 

 gree or manner to human welfare, I should protest indignantly ; but 

 seeing what they are, and what they do, I rather rejoice at the limita- 

 tion of consumption effected by their fancy prices. 



■»«» 



A NATUEALIST'S EXCUKSION IN DOMINICA. 



By De. FK. JOHOW. 



THE British Island of Dominica, although it forms only an insignifi- 

 cant colony, takes a rank among the first of the West Indies, 

 when considered in regard to the richness of its scenery. Built up 

 of lofty volcanic masses, which interpose almost insurmountable rocky 

 barriers to the entrance of civilization into the interior, it still conceals 

 among its hills and ravines a life of animals and plants rejoicing in the 

 wildest freedom, and which is developed under the moist, tropical 

 climate into extreme luxuriance. If one desires to make himself ac- 

 quainted in the shortest possible time with the life of the island, he 

 can do no better than make an excursion to the "Boiling Lake," that 

 wonderful hot water-crater in the interior, which is one of the most 

 curious geological phenomena of the earth. The road of about fifteen 

 miles, but which it takes two or three days to traverse, so rugged is it, 



