260 ST. NICHOLAS. [1828. 



of escaping on board the shipping which are continually stopping at 

 the island. To guard against this loss of property, the strictest pre- 

 cautions are adopted by the planters, who do not allow the inhabitants 

 the use of boats of any description, which arrangement gives to the 

 island the appearance of a deserted spot in the ocean. 



As there is scarcely any thing exported from this island excepting 

 goat-skins and archilla-weed, its sources of revenue are, of course, 

 extremely limited. What little money does enter is received either from 

 ship-masters for refreshments, or from Portugal in payment for the 

 archilla-weed, or to defray the current expenses of the establishment. 

 The latter item, however, cannot amount to a very considerable sum, 

 if all are paid in proportion to the governor's salary, which he assured 

 me was only four hundred dollars a year. 



In this island nature has not been niggardly of her favours. With 

 proper cultivation its soil will produce, in great abundance, cotton, 

 indigo, sugar, coffee, tamarinds, cocoanuts, bananas, plantains, cassavi, 

 maize, pine-apples, figs, lemons, oranges, papaw, custard-apples, guava, 

 grapes, dates, &c. The sugar-cane is equal to that of the West Indies, 

 and I have tasted and examined the sugar which they manufacture for 

 their own use, and found it excellent. The indigo plant thrives per- 

 fectly well, and makes die of the first-rate quality, with which they die 

 their cotton, and weave it into shawls for the women. I have drunk 

 their coffee, sweetened with their own sugar, and found it to be equal 

 to that of St. Domingo. They barely raise enough for home consump- 

 tion ; but. with common skill and industry, the now uncultivated valleys 

 might be covered with cotton shrubs and coffee-trees. 



I saw many large tamarind-trees growing out of the fissures and 

 crevices of almost naked rocks ; and frequently beheld the cocoanut, 

 banana, plantain, and papaw-tree, growing on the edge of springs 

 and in almost barren ground, where there was not three inches of soil. 

 Nourished principally by water, they only want a foothold to support 

 them, and they are certain to flourish. Most of these springs that I 

 passed were surrounded by females, nearly as naked as was the fair 

 Musidora when seen by her Damon, as " to the flood she rush'd." 



There is little or nothing like cultivation seen anywhere, excepting 

 in the glens or ravines which are watered by rills from the mountains. 

 In the upper and wider parts of the valleys I met with plantations of 

 Indian corn, cassavi, sugar-cane, and pine-apples. Cotton and indigo 

 were also planted in some spots, but being neglected, a few plants 

 only were to be seen, which run wild. On the sides of brooks and 

 springs grow luxuriantly the fig, lemon, orange, papaw, custard-apple, 

 guava, prickly-pear, and a few grape vines, besides the date, which 

 grows in abundance in the sandy places. Here cocoanut-trees bear 

 ripe fruit at the elevation of three hundred feet above the surface of 

 the sea. On some spots of the elevated grassy hills, roots and vege- 

 tables are cultivated with great success. I was also informed that 

 wheat succeeded very well when sown in the dry plains in the rainy 

 season, as does rice in the lowest and wettest grounds. But as these 

 islands are supplied with corn from America in return for salt and 

 mules, the indolent inhabitants pay but little attention to its cultivation. 



