Irialifacc, "past the SOO klets of Bermuda, like emeralds 

 8ot in a purple &ea; past the salt islands of tlie Turks and 

 Caicos group ; past Haiti and Cuba, their outlines being dis- 

 cerned in the gre}' dawn which in a fev/ hours breaks into 

 golden day, pouinng a flood of glorious light on the ap- 

 proaching mountains of sun-crowned Jamaica." 



■ "A grea.t rough fragment dropped from the stars 

 In the depths of a tropical eea!" 



Eapidly indica,ting its position in the Caribbea,n Sea', 

 tlie derivation of its name from the Indian words, Chabuan, 

 water, and Makia, woods, and. its appi'opriateness, the lec- 

 turer reviewed the story of its discovery, the Spanish 

 period of occupation (during which its aboriginal inha.bit- 

 ants, numbering a)x>ut 60,000 Arawak Indians, were ruth- 

 lessly annihilated), and the Spanish town of St. lago de la 

 Vega was built as the capital six miles from the sea, where, 

 "flanlced by the Eio Cobre on the north and east, and. ap- 

 proached, only b}' a hidden road from tlie shore, sheltered 

 and hidden behind a range of hills to the south, and the 

 luxuriant growth of a primeval forest, the Spanish Vice- 

 Re-gent held his court in safety, una.fraid even when the 

 enemie-6 of Spain cruised in the neighboring wat'Cm or hov- 

 ered about the coast"), tlie British conquest in 1655, and 

 many interesting factfj connect-cd with Jam.aica's histoid , 

 as well as individual life, the origin of the Maroons, de- 

 i&cendants of ruliaway Spanish slaves, the destruction of 

 Port Eoyal by an earthquake in 1692, the connection of 

 Nelson and Rodney with the island, the abolition of slav- 

 ei'y, the riots of 1865, and the eurrendcr of the constitution, 

 finally bringing the audience dov.-n to present day condi- 

 tions. 



A grapliic description of the Kingston earthquake of 

 1907 followed, tlic particulars coming from an eye-witness.- 

 Here is.an extract: "The shock laisted for 30 or 40 seconds, 

 which seemed like hours, and in the midst of it there was 

 an awful roar like thunder from the business strce'te higher 



42 



