38 



USUAL OCCUPATIONS. 



or his deputy must keep his eye as much upon 



what is going forwards as possible. After this 



I breakfasted, and then either read or wrote, 



or mounted my horse and rode to the spot upon 



which my people were at work. I dined about 



two o'clock, and afterwards sat in my hammock 



smoking ; any of the secondary people, or of 



those in the lower ranks of life, would sometimes 



about three or four o'clock come to speak to me 



upon business, or to ask or communicate news, 



and so forth. Soon after four o'clock, I usually 



rode out again to see the work, and returned 



about five or half past. The remainder of the 



day-light was often expended in reading, and 



at times the vicar or some one else would come 



and sit with me until seven o'clock. Sun-set 



in retired situations usually produces melancholy 



feelings, and not less unpleasant was this period 



tinder the circumstances in which I was placed* 



The negroes were coming home straggling from 



their work, fatigued and dirty ; the church-bell 



tolled dismally at intervals, that all Catholics 



should count their beads ; the sea looked black, 



and the foliage of the trees became rapidly 



darker and darker as the sun sank behind the 



hills. There is scarcely any twilight in those 



regions ; the light is in a few minutes changed 



into darkness, unless the moon has risen. Her 



light is not afforded gradually, but her power is 



perceived very shortly after the setting of the 



M 



