16 



OLD PEOPLE AND BABIES. 



traffic, wait upon those who do, or lead a life of compara- 

 tive indolence. The professional men are about the only 

 exceptions. 



The white inhabitants are almost all of British descent. 

 It is an uncommon thing to meet a Frenchman or a Spa- 

 niard in Kingston. The English language is universally 

 spoken, and in every variety of African dialect. They 

 have what they call the omnibus here, which is of the ca- 

 pacity and shape of a four-wheeled cab. These vehicles 

 pursue no specific route, but carry their passengers to any 

 part of the city for twenty -rive cents, provided their starved 

 horses are equal to the effort. I never tried any of them 

 but twice, but on both those occasions the horses gave out 

 more than once before they reached my place of destination. 



I never saw a place so abounding in old people and 

 babies. Almost every woman you meet, and of whatever 

 age, has an infant in her arms or somewhere upon her per- 

 son, while the streets are littered with children more ad- 

 vanced. So aged persons are far more abundant here than 

 in our northern cities. This may be attributed to the 

 mildness of the weather, which enables the old people to 

 be in the streets at all seasons, without exposing them to 

 those infirmities with which our northern climates afflict 

 the aged. But the fact probably is, that while in the north 

 the poor aged people die of neglect, privation and exposure, 

 as soon as they become too infirm to provide for all the 



