- 



CHA. I.] CLIMATE, SEASONS, &fc. 11 



divided into townships. And, the ihunicipal 

 government of Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, 

 Constables, &c. is in nearly the English way, 

 with such differences as I shall notice in the 

 second part of this work. 



14. There is a ridge of kills, which runs froM 

 one end of the Island to the other. The two 

 sides are flats, or, rather, very easy and imper 

 ceptible slopes towards the sea. There are no 

 rivers, or rivulets, except here and there a little 

 run into a bottom which lets in the sea-water 

 for a mile or two as it were to meet the springs. 

 Dryness is, therefore, a great characteristic 

 of this Island. At the place where 1 live, 

 which is in Queen's county, and very nearly 

 the middle of the Island, crosswise, we have 

 no water, except in a well seventy feet deep^ 

 and from the clouds ; yet, we never experience 

 a want of water. A large rain-Water cistern td 

 take the run from the house, and duck-pond 

 to take that from the barn, afford an ample 

 supply ; and I can truly say, that as to the arti 

 cle of water, I never was situated to please me 

 so well in my life before. The rains come about 

 once in fifteen days; they come in abundance^ 

 for about twenty-four hours ; and theti ail is fair 

 and all is dry again immediately : yet here and 

 there, especially on the hills , there are ponds, as 

 they call them here; but, in England, they 

 would be called lakes, from their extent as well 



