988 
xii.—JAMAICA. 
468. We arrived at Kingston, the capital of J amaica, on günda, 
the 28th of March, and remained there or in the immediate 
Mio Saee Noo until the 10th of April. We held publie pomo» 
n five days, and examined 63 harin and also took other 
meni of maki ing ourselves acquainted with the condition and 
prospects of the island. On the 10th Apri a We proceeded by the 
recently completed railway to the town and port of Montego eut 
at the north-west extremity of the island, and embarked on the 
Talbot, in which we were taken on the 12th of April to Port Maria 
on the north coast. E Por i the Custos of the parish, 
Dr. Pringle, had made arrangements by which we were Meses 
to drive through a consic Meridie pole. of country which was 
formerly under cane, but has now been successfully brought odas 
banana cultivation. 
469 the Were we rejoined the Talbot at Port Antonio, and 
eem there until the morning of the Pos when we finally 
left Jamaica, fen a stay of 17 days in the Islan 
. During our stay at Port Antonio we visited some impor- 
tant banana plantations, and obtained much information regarding 
the banana industry from various persons, especially from Captain 
Baker, one of the early and successful originators of the trade. 
Port Antonio, it may be noted, is now, owing to the banana trade, 
a thriving place. It is the Pee port of departure for steamers 
carrying fruit to the United State 
471. Jamaica lies at a AEE a distance from the other 
British West India islands, and ee cne of the group of the 
Greater Antilles, which comprises Cu Ris E and nues Rico, all 
f which are foreign. The island is - 310 miles from the 
Continent of America, 90 miles south of OM: and 100 miles west 
Haiti. It has little connexion or trade with any of the other 
British West Indian Colonies, but has very frequent communica- 
tion and a good deal of trade with the United States, as well as a 
fair amount of trade with the United Kingdom and Canada, but 
the trade with the United Kingdom has diminished of late years, 
whilst that with the United States has largely increased 
412. The island has an area of 4,207 square miles, and is, there- 
fore, one-fourth larger than all the other British sugar-pr UE 
islands taken together, and although British Guiana, on the m 
land of America, is about 25 times as large as Jamaica, it had Hair, 
in aUe a population of 278,328, as compared with 639,491 in 
Jam 
73. Of the total area, 330,000 acres are still in forest, 80,000 
acres consist of swamps and rocky or other useless lands, and 
693,694 acres are returned as oveupied by cultivation. A large 
portion of the cultivable land is situated at a considerable height 
above the sea, and no less than 1,133,600 acres of the land that is 
classed as cultivable are situated at or above an elevation of more 
than 1,000 feet. Coffee is grown at various heights up to 5,000 
feet, and the mountain coffee is much prized, being sold at from 
5. to 6l. a hundredweight. Owing to the variety in elevation 
and the great fertility of the soil, nearly all tropical and sub- 
tropical plants can be cultivated with success. The island is 
