XAYMACA; THE ISLAND OF MANY RIVERS 297 



the various "pens" in the neighborhood "to be 

 let." A " pen " in Jamaica means a country place 

 of more or less acreage. " Nightingale Grove " 

 had attractions. The grounds were ample, the 

 house of the prevailing type, two storied, with 

 broad, spreading roof and jalousied verandas, 

 answered our needs very well; but the "brown 

 lady" was only willing to take us as lodgers. 

 " The Retreat " was charmingly located about a 

 half-mile from the hotel, embowered in the shade 

 of the great silk-cotton trees, with bananas, bread- 

 fruit, palms, and fantastic creepers offering ideal 

 cover for birds. But here madam was obdurate; 

 we could have three bedrooms and "the run of 

 the drawing-room " for ^10 sterling a month, but 

 she could not consent to give up the entire house 

 to us; and this notwithstanding the place was 

 advertised for rent. 



We soon learned that it was almost impossible 

 to make any bargain with the average Jamaican, 

 who is wholly unwilling to be held by his own 

 terms. Exhausting the lists of near-by places, 

 and finding none available, we drove one after- 

 noon to Stony Hill. 



Groves of bananas, beds of ferns, carpets of 

 lycopodium, clusters of orchids, are the fore- 

 ground of the wooded hills through which winds 

 the road. Built in the far-away days of slave 

 labor, it is still a model of excellence, firm, and of 



