THE STORY OF THE BETTISCOMBE SKULL. 189 



" slave-dungeon " long disused, a little to one side below the 

 house ; whilst the old-fashioned entrance-hall has many 

 features of the " Chippendale period " in it, as shown by its 

 old mahogany cupboards on the walls. From here, through 

 the arch-way, may be seen the quaint old garden, now some- 

 what over-grown, perhaps, but restful and charming, in 

 which many rare and beautiful tropical trees and shrubs 

 are still growing in profusion, notably the " King " and 

 " Queen " of flowers, the blossoms of the former being pink, 

 and the latter a bluish-mauve colour, slightly darker, perhaps, 

 than our Dorset " corn-cockle." The all-spice trees, too, 

 with their dark green leaves, are beautiful to look upon, 

 so tall and straight ; whilst the kind-hearted old lady does 

 not forget to provide food in her garden for her and my 

 dear friends, the monkeys (the pretty West African " green 

 monkeys," Cercopithecus calletrichus, which must have 

 come there with the slaves in the old days, who make many 

 audacious trespasses from the neighbouring and wooded 

 " Peak " mountain* to feed upon the luscious plums which 

 grow there the "Trinidad" or "Governor" plum, and 

 the " Java " plum, which latter, I am told, disappeared 

 after the last hurricane to say nothing of the oranges, which 

 are here of a particularly sweet and delicious flavour. Near 

 the centre of the garden stands an old drip-stone, an obelisk 

 in shape, which formed and in many places does so still 

 the sole West Indian filter. 



Pleasanter quarters these than Dorchester gaol for an ex- 

 convict of the Monmouth rebellion, well may we exclaim ! 

 But was the Azariah Pinney mentioned by Hutchins and who 



* The " Peak " is the highest mountain in Nevis some 3,000ft. to 4,000ft. 

 in height, and on the top extends a huge extinct crater which looks quite 

 capable of repeating the disaster which its fellow, Mont Pele, brought upon 

 St. Pierre, in the adjacent island of Martinique, in May, 1902. The summit 

 is nearly always capped with light, fleecy clouds, which no doubt was the reason 

 for the name given to it by Columbus when he discovered these islands in 

 1493, 



