MIGRATION. 



297 



part of the inhabitants did not admit of this ; and 

 we saw many interesting family groups, where the 

 very aged and the very young people were hud- 

 dled on mules, already loaded with goods and 

 with furniture ; while the men and the women, 

 and the stouter children, walked by their sides — 

 ^ scene from which a painter might have collect- 

 ed innumerable subjects of interest. 



A city without people is at any time a strange 

 and anomalous circumstance ; but it seemed pe- 

 culiarly so to us, by our friends leaving us day 

 by day ; till, at length, we found ourselves com- 

 j)aratively alone in the deserted town. The go- 

 vernor and his family, and one or two other offi- 

 cers of government, with a few shopkeepers, re- 

 mained till our departure ; but with these excep- 

 tions, the inhabitants had nearly all gone before 

 w^e sailed. There are, it is true, always a few 

 people, who, for high pay, agree to watch valu- 

 able property ; and some families so miserably 

 destitute, that they absolutely have not the means 

 of removing. The population of the town, in the 

 fine season, is about three thousand, but the num- 

 ber which remains to brave the climate seldom 

 exceeds a hundred and fifty 



