NOTES OF A NATURALIST. 



Being somewhat prepared, I was not altogether sur- 

 prised to find that this first view of a tropical island 

 forcibly reminded me of the last land I had beheld 

 at home — the northern shores of the Isle of Wight. 

 Long swelling hills, on which well-grown trees inter- 

 vene between tracts of tillage, present much the same 

 general outline, and at this distance the only marked 

 difference was the intense dark-green colour of the 

 large trees that embower the town and nearly conceal 

 all but a few of the chief buildings. The appearance 

 of things as the morning advanced quite confirmed 

 the reputation of this small island as the most pros- 

 perous, and, in proportion to its extent, the most 

 productive of the West Indian Islands. With an 

 area not greater than that of the Isle of Wight, and 

 a population of about sixty thousand whites and 

 rather more than a hundred thousand negroes, the 

 value of the exports and imports surpasses a million 

 sterling under each head ; and, besides this, it is the 

 centre of a considerable transit trade with the other 

 islands. Under local representative institutions, which 

 have subsisted since the island was first occupied by 

 the English early in the seventeenth century, the 

 finances are flourishing, and the colonial government 

 is free from debt. The average annual produce of 

 sugar is reckoned at forty-four thousand hogsheads, 

 but varies with the amount of rainfall. This averages 

 from fifty-eight to fifty-nine inches annually, but any 

 considerable deficiency, such as occurred in the year 

 1873, leads to a proportionate diminution in the sugar 

 crop. 



Among other tokens of civilization, the harbour 



