ST. HELENA 185 



Lemon Valley, or Spragues, was formerly the best 

 watering place for ships, but in 1732 there was a landslip 

 of seven or eight acres of land (600 yards long by 91). This 

 altered the taste and colour of the water, making it less 

 pure than that of Jamestown or Chappie Valley. 



Luffkins. — There are two places called by this name, 

 Luffkins near Plantation, and Luffkins near Horse Pasture. 

 Both derive the name from John Luffkins, one of the first 

 settlers, of whom it is recorded in 1683 that the Mr. John 

 Luffkins being one of a serious life and conversation, was 

 chosen as fifth in council. He is referred to again in the 

 Dennison rebellion as one of the planters without arms, 

 who accompanied the soldiers to the Gate. The lands of 

 those implicated in the rebellion were forfeit, except in the 

 case of Luffkins, as " He wholly refused to make any agree- 

 ment, alleging his estate was not forfeit." Luffkins, near 

 Plantation, afterwards became Government land, not by 

 forfeiture, but by purchase ; June 1767, Record says : 

 " John Luffkins going to England, sold his house and 30 

 acres near Plantation to the Government for £350." 



Ladder Hill appears in the records 1733. It was more 

 usually called Fort Hill, meaning the hill above the fort or 

 Castle at Jamestown, for there were no fortifications on it. 

 A curious steep zigzag path, with a shore ladder piece in 

 the centre, can even now be clearly traced on the side of 

 rocks. It was cut by Governor Pyke in 1717, and for 

 cutting this Governor Pyke received a lecture from Eng- 

 land, for the Directors thought the labour and expense 

 should have been given to the fortifications. The only use 

 made of the top of the hill for the first hundred years of the 

 settlement was as a position for the gibbet on which crimi- 

 nals were hanged in chains at the point where the flagstaff 

 now stands. It commanded a view of the whole town and 

 harbour, so that after an execution the cheerful spectacle 

 was to be seen by all inhabitants. In 1770 the carriage 

 road was made. In 1797, in anticipation of war, Governor 

 Brooke relates that Ladder Hill had been strengthened by 

 an additional tower, mounting two 12 pounders, to aid in 

 covering the rear of the works, and by a battery of two 18 

 pounders on a point over the sea. He says a " barrier gate 

 has been constructed with works to flank it on the road 



