EXCURSION IN JAMAICA. 17 



out of repair, the people in the streets seem to have 

 nothing to do and to be doing it, the general air that of 

 listlessness and neglect. Altogether the place con- 

 trasts disadvantageously with the ports of Spanish 

 America, to say nothing of our own colonies. But 

 Kingston was not to detain us, and the overpowering 

 attraction was towards the range of the Blue Moun- 

 tains, on which my eyes had been iixed all the morn- 

 ing as we approached the shore. We were told that 

 we must return to the ship at five o'clock, so that it 

 was hopeless to attempt to reach even the middle 

 zone of the mountains, and all that could be done 

 with advantage was to engage a carriage to a place 

 called Gordontown, in a valley which is the ordinary 

 route to Newcastle and other places in the mountains. 

 After a delay which to our impatience seemed un- 

 reasonable, I started in a tolerable carriage with 



W , an old friend who was proceeding to Lima as 



commissioner from the Court of Chancery to receive 

 evidence in an important pending lawsuit, and who, 

 although not a naturalist, gave effective and valuable 

 help on this and other subsequent occasions in the 

 work of plant-collecting. 



For a distance of four or five miles the land slopes 

 very gently from the coast towards the roots of the 

 hills. This tract is partly occupied by sugar-planta- 

 tions ; but our road lay for some time among small 

 country houses, each surrounded by pleasure-ground 

 or garden. As the dry season was not yet over, the 

 country here looked parched ; but I saw many trees 

 and shrubs new to me, many of them laden with 

 flowers, and found it hard to keep my resolution not 



C 



