174 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 
by the brightest and sauciest of the five—a very 
grandfather among vests, which, descending to the 
urchin’s thighs, left but a scanty drapery of shirt vis- 
ible beneath. 
We sailed away from Antigua one evening, the doc- 
tor’s store increased by nearly eight hundred dollars ; 
mine, by one new bird. This was in September, the 
very worst month of the year for travel. Nearly every 
craft that sailed these seas was drawn up on shore to 
await the close of the “hurricane season ;” and this 
one in which we had taken passage was on her way 
to Barbados, hoping to escape a blow until she could 
make shelter there. 
The “hurricane season” extends from the middle 
of July to the middle of October, and is at its height 
in the autumnal equinox. It is a season of calms; 
the sea is deceitfully quiet, and the wind variable. 
During the greater part of the year the wind blows 
from the east or north-east in the well-known “trades ;” 
but at this season it dies away, coming in puffs from 
different quarters. The winds that precede the hurri- 
canes usually commence blowing from the west or 
north-west, and increase in strength until they acquire 
that terrific force that devastates islands and destroys 
in a few hours the work of years. They shoot through 
the air in different directions, sometimes from above, 
perpendicular to the earth; and woe to the vessel 
caught abroad at such a time. 
In this connection I may speak of the seasons of 
the year, which are not so distinctly marked as is 
commonly supposed. The first three months of the 
year are generally fine; they constitute the best por- 
tion of the hunting season, when the woods are driest 
