112 IP o s t e I s i a 



cured an eruption on face and hands 

 caused either by a vegetable poison, 

 or by getting over-heated. 



In the neighborhood of the hot 

 spring flourished a great variety of rare 

 ferns. The scenery all about was ex- 

 ceedingly lovely, diversified, as every- 

 where in Jamaica, by rivers gliding 

 rapidly over rocky beds, and cutting 

 their way to the sea through moun- 

 tains, thus forming many narrow val- 

 leys, which are often constricted to 

 deep gorges with perpendicular walls. 

 These walls are always draped with 

 tangled vines, drooping ferns and or- 

 chid-covered trees wherever a root can 

 take foothold. Soil is not necessary on 

 this wonderful island for the growth of 

 vegetation. The rocks, brick and stone 

 walls, the trunks of trees, the roofs 

 and very doorsteps of dwellings, have 

 growing upon them mosses, ferns, or- 



