234 Foreign Notices : — West Indies. 



ings, and even heavy boulders which nature has planted in the soil, I came to 

 the conclusion, that the frost raised the trees, and left hollows about the 

 roots, tearing away the fibres used for the supply of nourishment. Next 

 spring I shall stir the earth with a pointed stick round every tree, and bind it 

 about the roots with moderate treading. A horsechestnut tree, the pride of 

 my garden, and planted with my own hand in the year 1814, showed symp- 

 ,toms of illness. Taught by the cherry trees, I immediately loosened the 

 ground, and trod the earth about it. Upon this, it sent out fresh shoots, 

 . which are, I trust, sufficiently ripened to stand the winter. 



While I am describing the mischief brought on by frost, I must, on the 

 other hand, enumerate the many blessings it showers upon us, by being 

 instrumental in supplying our markets with every thing, say every luxury. 

 I went up to Petersburg a fortnight ago and brought down a supply of 

 poultry and fish, and stowed them away in my cold pantry, like so many logs 

 of wood. The prices per pair : capons per pair, is. Id. ; ditto, smaller, 2s. 9d. ; 

 turkeys, 10s. Id. ; ducks, 3s. 8d. Game: gelinot, something like the perdrix 

 rouge, Is. 8d. ; such as have the breast the least grazed by a shot, but ex- 

 cellent for fricassees and ragouts, Id. ; cock of the wood, capercailzy, 2s. 9d. ; 

 grouse, Is. lOd. ; and these purchases were made in the best and dearest 

 market in Petersburg. Fish per lb. : Archangel cod, 4Jrf. ; Archangel hali- 

 but, b\d. ; pike, perch, l%d. ; white bait, 2\d. ; salmon, 5hd. ; Wolga sterlet, 

 7frf. You may hence conclude that we live here luxuriously during the 

 winter ; and the beauty is, that these things are taken out when wanted as 

 you would lift a spelding, and only demand time enough to be thawed 

 before being cooked. A fish soup I had at my table, the stock, I think, ruff, 

 with perch fillets, enough for three people, cost 8c?., adding the value of the 

 pepper and salt. I found it most excellent, but the poor in England would 

 reject it as part of their dinner. The quotations of prices I have made are 

 not formed from market lists, but from purchases I made for my own table. 

 — B. J. Near Strelna, January, 29. 1842. 



WEST INDIES. 



Residence of Edward Otto at Cuba. (Continued from p. 139.) — From 

 Cafetal el Fundador we now made more distant excursions, both by land 

 and water, to Cardonnas, which, within the last three years, has become 

 a city, and is situated on the sea coast near Lagunilles and Cafetal St. Juan. 

 The latter place pleased us very much, although our stay there bore more the 

 resemblance of a military bivouac. A magnificent avenue of coco palms 

 leads through the coffee plantation to an adjoining forest, in which are seen 

 Flcus, Rhizophora Mangle, Anbna, (Sida, Mimosa, and a strong kind of 

 Bombax. All the trees were entwined by passifloras and convolvuluses, 

 but unfortunately but few of them were in flower. In a marsh adjoining the 

 forest, I found, to my great astonishment, a considerable space covered with 

 Canna, probably C. stolonffera ; and between their bluish-green leaves a pro- 

 fusion of flower-stalks, which, with justice, gave the expectation of the most 

 beautiful blossoms. I seldom^ saw Orchideae on the trees here, and almost 

 always the same oncidiums, and Epidendrum cochleatum with thick stems 

 extending 5 or 6 feet up the trees. The coffee plantation consisted only of 

 shrubs, as they are never allowed to grow up to trees; perhaps because they 

 are more productive in this state, and the coffee more easily gathered. The 

 enclosure was low, consisting only of anonas, Tradescanti« discolor, and 

 ^Vum esculentum. Mus« sapientum paradisiaca and Oreodoxa regia grow 

 between the coffee shrubs ; the latter, however, frequently .loses its fronds, 

 which are taken off", partly because when the wind is high they are blown down 

 and injure the coffee shrubs, and partly because they are in request as a 

 covering for the roofs of the houses. In another plantation I saw an avenue 

 of the same sort which led to the dwelling-house, and the trees entirely con- 

 sisted of stems without fronds, which gave more the appearance of rows of 

 pillars than of an avenue of palms. The part near the house consisted almost 



