﻿•M 



JAMAICA. 



JAJIAICA. 



no 



Koa* of Uie Euro|>ran fiuiU «rriva at perfection except grape*. 

 Applet are of very iufeiiur quality, and ttcadiia raroly produce fruit 

 The pine apple, tbe orange, tke abaddock, the pumrgraiiate, tlie fig, 

 the gFanwIilln, the npodilU, the ttar«pple, the aweet«op, the aweet- 

 ieaon, the citron, the avocado-pear, to., are ruared in great rariety 

 •od •bimdaoo*. Sararal exotic* have bean iotruduccd, a* the mango, 

 the eherimoyer, the bread-fruit, &0. ; the lumt important is the 

 pUntain, or banana, which is extensively cultivated on every 

 plantation. 



The forests of Jamaica abound with a gr»t variety of the most 

 valuable woods. The most beautiful woods for cabinet-work are the 

 mahogany, the bread-nut tree, and the satin-wood. The cedar-tree 

 attains a great sixa, but it is not of so fine a grain as that of the 

 Levant Uther trre* produce dye-woods, as fustic, logwood, kc The 

 ootton-trae is the largest of all ; its wood ia usud for making conoea, 

 which are hollowed out from the trunks : its cotton is employed for 

 stuffing beds. The bamboo grows wild, and ia also cultivated. The 

 cabbage-palm (Artca oleracea) and the cocoa-nut tree are the moat 

 useful trees of the palm tribe. Notwithstanding this abundance of 

 useful trees white oak is imported for rum-puncheons, and a consider- 

 able quantity of pine of all dimensions from the United Statu), this 

 wood being sold at a lower price than the native timber. 



The homed cattle are very numerous, oxen being employed in the 

 waggons which bring down the produce to the wharfs, and also in 

 carta and in the plough. The horses are of a middle size, hardy and 

 active, but only 6tted for the saddle and harness. Mules are nume- 

 rous, and employed in the sugar-mills and in conveying the sugar-canes 

 to the works. Sheep and goats abound ; manv of the sheep liave no 

 fleece, and are covered with hair like goats. Hogs are vei-y plentiful : 

 they ore of a smaller size than the Englixh hog, but their fieiih is 

 superior in delicacy to the British or American pork. All kinds of 

 poultry, except geese and the common duck, are raised in great 

 abundance. The Muscovy-duck, the turkey, the Quinea-fowl, and the 

 common fowl thrive very well. Domestic pigeons likewise abotmd. 

 Itats exist in incredible numbers, and commit extensive ravage* on 

 the sugar-canes. 



No metal except lead Is known to exist in the island. There are 

 some aalt-springs. 



Jamaica is politically divided into three counties, Surrey, Middlesex, 

 and Cornwall, and contains one city, Kin!;ston, and 33 towns and 

 villages. The counties are 8ubdivide<l into 21 parishes. 



The county of Suii-ey extends over the ea"tem portion of the 

 island, comprehending the whole of the region of the Blue Mountains 

 and th« eastern [wrtion of the plain of Ligu.ineo. In this division 

 are I'ort Antonio, Morant Bay, and the harbour of Kingston. Kingston 

 is a considerable city and a place of great trade, with a population of 

 more than 35,000. It is regularly built, and contains many good 

 houses, two churches, five schools, and some charitible institutions. 

 The harbour is protected by the narrow slip of land on whose western 

 extremity Port Royal is built The greatest part of the produce of 

 the southern districts is sent to Kingston, and thence exported to 

 Europe or America. Port Royal, once the capital of the island, has 

 been repeatedly destroyed by earthquakes, hurricanes, and fire, but is 

 atill a considerable pluce, as its harbour is the sLition for the shi]>8 of 

 war, and it contains the naval arsenal and good fortifications. The 

 bulk of itii inhabitants are pojple of colour. Morant Bay, nearly at 

 an equal distance between Port Royal and Morant Point, carries on a 

 considerable tra<le and is a thriving place. The population is 

 between GOOD and 7000. AtUonio possesses a good harbour, bat has 

 little trade. 



The county of Middletejc occupies the central part of the island, 

 comprehending on the south the western portion of the plain of 

 Liguanea. On its southern coast are Port Henderson and Old 

 Harbour ; but they are only visited by small vessels, which carry the 

 produce of the country to Kingxton. On the uortberu shores ore 

 Annotto Bay, Maria, and St Ann's Bay, which carry on some com- 

 merce by ses. On the shore of Annotto Iky is a Kmall but thriving 

 town. On St Catherine's Plain is built the town of San Jwjo dt la 

 Vtga, commonly called Spanish Tovn, which is usually considend tUu 

 ca|>ital of the island. It ia a small town with about 6000 inhabitants, 

 but cmbellislioil by the king's house (a residence of the governor), and 

 the public oCBces. The superior court hIu here. It has a Free school 

 and some charitable institutions. A railway from Kingston to Spanish 

 Town was opened in 1815. 



The county of CumwaU extends over the western part of the 

 island, comprehending the plains of Pedro and Savannah la Mar, aud 

 the hilly country lying between them and north of them. The two 

 most frequented harbours on the southern shores, BUck River and 

 Savannah la Mar, have little tnule ; but on the northern coast are three 

 thriTiiig towns, &in Lueia, Monltyo Bay, and Falmouth, each containing 

 a population of between 5000 and 8000, Montego Bay is the chirf 

 town of the county, and the assize courts are held here. The harbour 

 is expoaed to a heavy swell ; but a breakwater has been erected at a 

 protection againat the lea. Fifty years ago Falmouth was on incon- 

 (iderable vilhige, but it is now nearly as large and populous as Montego 

 Ilay, and has a conxiderable commerce. A handsome suspension- 

 bridge has been lately erected wsrota the Martha Bine River, 2 miles 

 E. from Falmouth. 



TbepopuUtion of Jamaica was 877,432 in 18<4 ; in 1849 Oovemor 

 Sir C, Orey estimat«l it at more than 400,000, probably not mora 

 than 15,000 or 10,000 being Europeans, or of unmixed EuropMui 

 descent ; about 70,000 of the mixed or coloured race, and the rett 

 negroe* and coolie*. In 1834 there were 297,186 negro slava*, all of 

 whom were made free in 1838, by aepaimt« act* of the legUatoie* 

 of Great Britain and of Jamaica, 



. The Maroons were originally runaway slaves, partly from Jamaica 

 itself, partljr from Cuba, who' lived in tlie forests on the northern 

 side of the island. In 1738 a tract of land was granted to them in 

 those parta, which they cultivated, and on which they built two 

 small towns ; and though a portion of them forfeited their privilf^ea 

 by a rebellion, others have preserved them to this day. The other 

 inhabitants are either whites or people of colour. The people of 

 colour ore the ofTuprlng of Europeans and negro women. They ar« 

 subdivided into ' muluttoe*,' the ofi°spring of a white and a black ; 

 ' samboes,' the offspring of a bhick and a mulatto ; ' quadroon*,' the 

 ofi'spring of a white and a muUtto ; and ' mesteea,' the ofiispring of 

 a white and a quadroon. No traces of a native population of the 

 island existoil when it woa taken by the English from the Spaniuds. 



Somo trade iu British manufactures is carried on with Mexico, 

 Central America, New Qranadu, and Venezuela. Dyewoods, hard- 

 woods, indigo, and other articles are sent to Jamaica in return. From 

 the United States and the British North American colonies lumber aud 

 provisions are obtained. The most important commerce of Jamaica 

 however is that with the mother-country. Ships arrive from Great 

 Britain from October to May, and they continue to depart as they get 

 freighted, from April to the 1st day of August, after which and until 

 the hurricane mouths are over, ships ami their cargoes railins for 

 Great Britaiu pay double insurance. The estimated value of the 

 imports into Jamaica in the year 1850 was 1,287,297/1, being mortt 

 than one-third of the value of imports into all the British West 

 Indies for that year. The amount of the imports has considenibly 

 fallen off during the last two or three yours. The estimated value of 

 the exports from Jamaica in the year 1850 was 1,211,915/.; iu 1852 

 it was 818,757/. The quantities of sugar, rum, cotton, cofiise, pimento, 

 and arrow-root exported in the years ending October 10th, 1851, 

 1852, and 1853, ore shown in the following table : — 



1851 

 18S2 

 )85S 



Tears. Sugar. Bum. i Cotton. Coffee, i Pimento. Ano«.rooi, 



bhds. punohni. 



40.270 18,481 



34,449 I 13,/OS 



29,199 I 10,484 



lbs. 

 Siie 

 767S 

 2968 



Ilia. I lbs. 



S,S9i,27S I 4,$24,072 



7,127,780 I S,447,20S 



i,OI7,S89 4,«79,10S 



lbs. 

 299,862 

 19i,999 

 146,718 



The financial position of the island has been for some time past in 

 a very unsatisfactory condition. The pecuniary embarrassments of 

 proprietors of estates, on the one hand, and the difi°erinces between 

 the legislative and executive authorities on the other, together with 

 the increased expenses occasioned by the visitation of cholera and ita 

 extensive ravages, have tended to paralyse the resources of the 

 public revenue. It is expected that some measures which have been 

 recently adopted will help to relieve the undue pressure, and 

 stimulate agricultural improvement and general prosperity. The 

 revenue for the year ending October 10th 1851 was 299,546/. 6*. lOd.; 

 the expenditure for the some period was 282,161/, 8s. 6^. 



Shipping. — The number of vessels registered as belonging to the 

 island on December 3lBt 1853 was 84, namely : — 75 under 60 tons, 

 tonnage 1798, and 9 above 50 tons, tonnage 1054. The amount of 

 tonua^e which entere<l inwiuxls during nine mouthn, from October 5th 

 1850 till July 5th 1851 was 81,550; during the period from October 

 5th 1851 to July 5th 1852, the amount was 82,075 tons. 



Religion and Education. — There is a bishop of Jamaica, whose see 

 comprises the Bahamas and British Honduras, and includes llOclei^, 

 of whom about 100 hold appointments to parishes or districts in 

 Jamaica, The see is divided into the archdeaconriea of Surrey, 

 Cornwall, and Middlesex, in Jamaica, and the archdeaconry of 

 Bahamas or Nassau. The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland 

 has upwards of 20 ministers and catechisu, and there ore miniHt<-rs 

 of the Wesleyan Methodist, Baptist, and Moravian connexions. A 

 Theological Academy, intended for the training of natives for the 

 oflice of the ministry is supported by the United Presbyterian Church. 

 At Wallin on the north side of the island is an Endowed school, 

 which afiTords a classical education to about 60 pupils. Several educa- 

 tional endowment* in many of the parishes have atifilered much from 

 mismanagement From returns fumi'hed to the governor in 1853, 

 it appears that besides Presbyterian, Baptist, and London Missionary 

 schools, and some Church of England schools, from which returns 

 were not received, there were then at Church of England schools 

 6709 scholar* ; at Moravian schools 3054 ; at Wesleyan schools 1874 ; 

 at Hebrew school* 63; and at Free and other schools 1102, Tho 

 amount of the grant to the Board of Education in 1851 was 2388/. 



Jlitlory and OoiKmmaU. — Jamaica was discovered by Christopher 

 Columbus on hi* seoond voyage, the 3r<l of May 1494, but was not 

 settled by the Spaniards before 1510, In 1655 it was token from the 

 Spaniards by the English, who for some time did not appreciate its 

 value. Since 1666 it ha* remained in the undiaputed possession of 



