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JAFFNAPATAM. 



JAMAICA. 



313 



city ; for aa to its claims to be a haven, few places could have less. 

 European consuls reside in Jaffa. The adjacent country produces 

 excellent melons, oranges, citrons, and other fruits ; some oil and 

 soap are exported ; wheat, rice, linen, and piece-goods are imported 

 from Egypt and Beyrut. Coral is found along the coast. 



Jaffa is a European corruption of the Arabic Y&fa, which preserves 

 the Hebrew name Japho, the representative of the Phcenician name 

 Joppa, which is descriptive, and means 'an eminence.' Ancient 

 legends give Joppa an antediluvian existence, and near it Andromeda 

 was said to be rescued from the monster by Perseus. In the distri- 

 bution of Canaan, Joppa fell to the tribe of Dan, and it was the only 

 port (soK»lled ) which the Jews possessed on the Levant, till Herod 

 constructed the harbour of C.bsareia. Timber from Lebanon for 

 the building of the first and second temple was landed at Joppa, and 

 here Jonah embarked for Tarshish. The town suffered much, and 

 was often taken in the Maccabsean wars. It was annexed to the Roman 

 province of Syria by Pompey, and was afterwards given by Julius 

 Caesar to Herod. In the New Testament it is celebrated by Tabitha's 

 restoration to life by St. Peter. During and after the Jewish war 

 Joppa became a receptacle for pirates, was taken by Cestius, who put 

 8400 of the inhabitants to death, and it was totally demolished by 

 Vespasian. The town gave title to a bishop from an early age of the 

 church ; a bishop resided here in the time of Constantine the Great, 

 and also when the city was taken by the Arabs in A.D. 636. In the 

 time of the Crusades when the name Jaffa came into vogue, the town 

 was alternately held by Christians and infidels. After its sack by 

 Maiek Adel, it was rebuilt by Frederick 11. and St. Louis. It was 

 finally taken from the Christians by the Sultan Bibars in the 13th 

 century. In 1799 the French, under Bonaparte, took Jaffa, and 

 miffered terribly here from an attack of the plague. 



(Pomponiiis Mela ; Pliny; Strabo; Josephus; Wilken, Die JTriTuz ; 

 Qioffrajihie UnivertelU ; Dictionary of Gred: and Soman Qeographj/.) 

 JAFFNAPATAM. [Ceylon.] 

 JAICZA. [BoBSiA.] 

 JALAPA. [Mexico.] 

 JALIGNY. [Allier.] 

 JALISCO. [ME.XICO.] 

 JALPUCH, RIVER. [BEasAliABiA.] 



JAMAICA, one of the Greater Antilles, and the most important 

 poaaession of the British in the West Indies, extends from 76° 15' to 

 78° 2S' W. long., and from 17° 40' to 16° 80' N. lat. Ita length from 

 east to west is nearly 150 miles, and its width may on an average be 40 

 miles. It contains 2,724,262 acres, or 4256square miles. About two- 

 fifths of the soil is under cultivation. 



The surface of this island is very uneven, but it is only the eastern 

 part that can properly be called mountainous. This part is almost 

 entirely filled up by the Blue Mountains, whose principal ridge varies 

 from 5000 to 6000 feet in elevation. One peak has an elevation of 

 7150 feet above the sea. The western boundary of this mountain- 

 region is formed by a ridge which runs across the whole island from 

 south-east to north-west, beginning on the south at Tallab Point, and 

 terminating to the north-east of the mouth of the Agua Alta, or 

 Wagwater. It rises in several parts to 2500 and 3000 fret ; and St- 

 Catberine'a Peak, at the point where it is united to the range of the 

 Blue Mountains, is 4500 feet above the sea-leveL The declivities of 

 the Blue Mountains are only partially wooded, but the level summits 

 are generally overgrown with trees. The principal level ground is 

 the Vale of Bath, which extends about 8 miles from the town of 

 Bath to the mouth of the Plantain Garden River, near the promontory 

 of Morant Point, the most eastern cape of the island. This vale is 

 about one mile and a half wide, and is covered w^ith sugar plantations. 



West of the range in which St. Catherine's Peak stan<ls the moun- 

 tains subside, and are divided from those farther west by a depression 

 which extends across the island over the plain of Liguanea and the 

 hilly country which incloses the banks of the Wagwater. The plain 

 of Liguanea begins a few miles east of Kingston, and extends west- 

 ward to a point west of Old Harbour, a distance of about 30 miles ; 

 its average breath is about 5 miles. A part of this plain consists of 

 Mvannahs, or natural pasture ground, covered with grass. West of 

 Fort Henderson a range of low hills called Healthsbire Hills lies 

 between the plain and the sea. 



The plain of Liguanea is divided from the plain of Vere by a 

 narrow ranea of low hills, which approach the sea west of Old Har- 

 botir, near Salt River Bay. The plain of Vere extends from south- 

 east to north-west about 18 miles, with an average breadth of 7 or 8 

 miles. On the south-east of tliis plain is the Portland Ridge, which 

 termihates in Portland Point, the most i>outhem cape nf Jamaica. 

 On the north-west it is joined by the Mile Gully, a picturesque valley, 

 several miles in length, traversed by the upper course of the Rio 

 Minho. The soil of the plain of Vere is of moderate fertility, and 

 mostly used as pssture ground. The mountains which inclose the 

 plains on the north rise with a st«ep and abrupt ascent, but they do 

 not attain a great elevation. They inclose valleys of considerable 

 extent and fertility, especially that of St Thomas-in-the-Vale, about 

 9 milea long and 2^ miles across, which is covered with sugar planta- 

 tions, and is very fertile. Towards the northern coast the mountains 

 sink down into low and well-wooded hills. 



The mountains which cover nearly the whole of the island west of 



St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, have their highest summit in the peak near 

 Blewfields, not far from the southern coast, which rises to 2560 feet. 

 Near the central line of the island, the hills present the characteristics 

 of the limestone formation, of which they consist. Caverns occur in 

 several places, and some of them are very extensive. Except during 

 the rains, running water is scarce, and the inhabitants collect the rain 

 in tanks. In the western part of the island the largest plains are the 

 Pedro Plains, near OreatPedro Point, and the Savannah la Mar, towards 

 South Negril Point, the most western cape of the island. A consider- 

 able portion of these plains is covered with swamps. The country 

 between Montego Bay on the west and St. Anu'a Bay on the east 

 consists only of low though abrupt and precipitous hills ; the valleys 

 between them are covered with high forest-trees, which exhibit a very 

 luxuriant vegetation. 



Except in the districts which lie within the limestone formation 

 above mentioned, Jamaica has the benefit of numerous rivers, rivulets, 

 and springs. The Black River, north-west of Great Pedro Point is 

 navigable, and goods are conveyed by it about 30 miles in flat- 

 bottomed boats and canoes. The other rivers are of importance for 

 the irrigation of plantations, the service of numerous mills, and the 

 beauty and interest they impart to the aspect of the country. Some 

 of them form beautiful cascades. 



Jamaica has a coast-line of more than 500 miles, hardly any place 

 is more than 30 miles from the sea, and along its shores are about 30 

 harbours for shipping, besides more than double that number of bays, 

 creeks, and coves, capable of affording more or less shelter to vessels. 

 The safest and most capacious of the harbours are those of Port 

 Morant, Kingston, and Old Harbour on the southern coast, and those 

 of Lucia and St. Antonio on the northern coast. 



The climate is exceedingly hot in the lower plains along the southern 

 coast of Jamaica. For the whole island the mean heat of the summer 

 months (from June to November) is about 80°, whilst the mean heat 

 of the other six months does not exceed 75°. In summer the ther- 

 mometer sometimes rises to 96°, and occasionally, though rarely, to 

 100*. In winter it sinks to 60°. But the changes of tlic temperature 

 are very slow and gradual; the difference between noon and midnight 

 rarely exceeds 5 or 6 degrees. Snow has never been observed, even on 

 the most elevated peaks : hail sometimes falls, but it melts sa soon as it 

 reaches the ground. The climate is cooler and more salubrious on 

 the north side of the island than on the south. The heat of the low 

 coast is considerably diminished by the daily sea-breeze, which sets in 

 generally about nine o'clock in the morning and ceases only towards 

 sunset. Its salubrious effects have obtained for it from the seamen 

 the name of the 'Doctor.' During the hottest part of the day, and 

 in the most sultry months, a succession of light flying clouds con- 

 tinually pass over the stu, and have the effect of moderating the heat 

 of ita rays. 



In Jamaica there are two rainy and two dry seasons. The spring 

 rains, which are generally partial and light, begin in the middle of 

 April or beginning of May. The heavy rains commence in June or 

 even later, and last about two months ; at this time the air is intoler- 

 ably sultry, presaging approaching torrents, which frequently come 

 on with little previous warning. In such cases, while the riin pours 

 down in torrents, there are incessant peals of thunder, and quick and 

 vivid flashes of lightning. The rains set in regularly every day, and 

 continue from two to three hours, sometimes for the space of several 

 weeks. Occasionally very heavy rain descends for several days and 

 nights with little intermission. The autumnal rains come in October 

 and November : they are not so heavy as those already referred to, 

 nor are they usually accompanied by thunder and lightning, but they 

 are often attended by heavy gusts of wind from the north. Jamaica 

 is from time to time visited by hurricanes, which generally set in 

 from the north or north-west. Tney occur however only in the summer 

 mouths between the two rainy seasons, which months are therefore 

 called the hurricane months in the West Indies. 



The low tracts along the coast are unhealthy, but the hilly and 

 mountainous country is much less so. The most common diseases 

 are the yellow fever, common bilious fever, and the typhus fever ; the 

 first is by far the most destructive, especially to new comers. From 

 October 1850 till the early part of 1852 cholera carried off about 

 30,000 of the inhabitants, or nearly one in twelve of the whole 

 population. It was followed by small-pox which also proved fatal in 

 numerous instances. 



Sugar, rum, and molasses form the most important articles of 

 export from the island. The sugar plantations are numerous and 

 extensive, especially in the lower and warmer tracts of the island. 

 On the hills and their declivities coffee is cultivated U> a great extent. 

 Next to these in importance are the pimento plantations. Arrow- 

 root, indigo, ginger, turmeric, and cacao are also cultivated. A con- 

 siderable quantity of castor-oil is produced. Tobacco is cultivated by 

 the negroes for their own use ; maize is universally cultivated, and 

 yields an abundant produce ; two and even three crops of it can be 

 raised within the year. Guinea-corn is raised extensively in some 

 districts on the south side of the island. A variety of nutritious 

 roots cultivated in this island are called by the name of ' Ground 

 provisions ; ' such as the yam (IHotcorea alata), cassava (Jatropha 

 Manihot), the sweet potato (ConvolviUut Hatatat), and some other 

 roots. 



