no ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



narrow pathway, weakened by excessive rain, slip from 

 under him. His horse lost its footing ; the rider, 

 flinging himself off on the bank, just contrived to 

 save himself, while the unlucky steed fell sheer two 

 hundred feet, and then into the bed of a torrent lower 

 still. Negroes working in a coffee-patch near at hand 

 went down for the saddle and bridle, but the poor 

 horse had, of course, met its end. 



Again, on Mount Diablo, near Kingston, Mr. Turner 

 was riding on horseback, also during heavy rain, in 

 front of a carriage which was descending the mountain, 

 when suddenly he found himself shot forward as from 

 a catapult, horse and rider being both knocked down 

 by the horse and carriage behind rushing down the 

 smooth road, rendered slippery by wet, and cannoning 

 against them with irresistible force. 



On the other hand, he once experienced a pleasant 

 imprisonment in the Eectory of Hope Bay, as, owing 

 to the rising of the rivers between Hope Bay and Buff 

 Bay, he could neither get back nor go forwards. 

 The Rector made him his guest, and, until the 

 waters subsided, lavished on the Post-Office official 

 hospitality which has never failed in Jamaica, in 

 spite of the varied fortunes of that magnificent but, 

 since the abolition of slavery, not always prosperous 

 possession. 



Another steady friend of Southampton is the Union 

 Steamship Company, which has developed from small 

 things to great ones — from the Roman of eight 

 hundred tons to the Scot of seven thousand. 



