FISHERIES, TOPOGEAPHY, ETC. 85 



attractive to a stranger, though its aspect is charac- 

 teristic enough of West Indian manners ; it is 

 situated in Pembroke, and on the north side of the 

 inlet ; it is a free port, and the seat of the legisla- 

 ture. You climb the wharf, and are immediately 

 in a broad, long, rather low and straight street, 

 which is the front street, nearly a mile in length, 

 bordered by a row of the Pride-of-India tree, which 

 forms a pleasant shade during the summer months. 

 There is no pavement, and the sandy earth is 

 ploughed into ruts by the carts. Most of the 

 houses are shops, or " stores, " as they are called in 

 America; each store, whatever the character of its 

 merchandise — M'hether shoes, drapery, " dry goods," 

 hardware, spirits, tobacco, provisions, or what not — 

 being usually fitted in the same manner, and having 

 an open piazza in front, two or three yards wide, the 

 ceiling being supported by slender pillars. Behind 

 this piazza is the shop, which is fitted up with 

 counters and shelves, somewhat in the English style ; 

 and over all are the rooms of the dwelling-house, 

 furnished with jalousies, or strong venetian-blinds, 

 which admit light and air from beneath, and exclude 

 the sun's rays. Toward the suburbs the shops cease, 

 the houses become more elegant, each enclosed in a 

 court or garden, which is often adorned with the 



