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John-Canoe machines. " To be sure," he said, " it 

 was not so large nor so showy as the other, but 

 then it was much better proportioned (his own 

 word), and altogether much prettier ; " and he said 

 so much in praise of it, that I asked him whether 

 he knew the maker? and then out came the mo- 

 tive : " Oh, yes ! it was made by John Fuller, who 

 lived in the next house to him, and worked in the 

 same shop, and indeed they were just like brothers." 

 So I desired to see his jidus Achates, and he brought 

 me as smart and intelligent a little fellow as eye 

 ever beheld, who came grinning from ear to ear 

 to tell me that he had made every bit of the canoe 

 with his own hands, and had set to work upon it 

 the moment that he knew of massa's coming to 

 Jamaica. And indeed it was as fine as paint, paste- 

 board, gilt paper, and looking-glass could make it ! 

 Unluckily, the breeze being very strong blew off 

 a fine glittering umbrella, surmounted with a plume 

 of John Crow feathers, which crowned the top ; 

 and a little wag of a negro boy whipped it up, 

 clapped it upon his head, and performed the part 

 of an impromptu Mr. John-Canoe with so much 

 fun and grotesqueness, that he fairly beat the ori- 

 ginal performers out of the pit, and carried off all 

 the applause of the spectators, and a couple of my 

 dollars. The John-Canoes are fitted out at the 

 expense of the rich negroes, who afterwards share 

 the money collected from the spectators during 

 their performance, allotting one share to the repre- 



