HARBOR LAWS AND SIGNALS. 295 



at our fore royal truck, which was our certificate of 

 health, and guaranteed to us permission to transact 

 business with the city. Those vessels that are con- 

 demned by the port physician as unfit to enter into 

 communication with the inhabitants of the island, 

 are removed to the quarantine ground, about a mile 

 below our anchorage, where, at present, some dozen 

 vessels lie, guarded by the police boat, that prevents 

 any interchange of goods that may lead to the intro- 

 duction of infection into the port. 



The port ofiicer, who accompanied the physician, 

 left with us a small book containing the harbor laws 

 and regulations, for the government of vessels of all 

 nations which anchor within its precincts. These laws 

 are printed both in French and English, and purport 

 to emanate from Sir John Higginson, lieutenant- 

 governor; they are comprised mostly of stringent 

 quarantine restrictions, which led me to suppose that 

 at some earlier period they had suffered severely by 

 the importation of dreadful contagious diseases, 

 which I can easily imagine would find abundant food 

 amid the miscellaneous population, assisted as it 

 naturally would be by the extreme heat of the 

 climate. 



Beside these, there are a series of signals for the 

 preservation of vessels in the roadstead during the 

 months which are most liable to typhoons or hurri- 

 canes. This period extends from the 1st of December 

 to the 1st of April ; at the first signal the captains 

 of all vessels lying in the roadstead are compelled by 

 law to resort to their respective ships ; other signals 

 are for the increase of ground- tackle, shifting of 



