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2. Climate, &c. Most of the Antilles are situated between the tropics, and there is not much 

 difference in their climate ; accurate observations made in any one of them may be applied, with 

 little variation, to them all. The spring begins about the month of May ; the savannas then 

 change their russet hue, and the trees are adorned with a verdant foliage. The periodical rains 

 from the south may at this time be expected ; they fall generally about noon, and occasion a 

 rapid and luxuriant vegetation. The thermometer varies considerably ; it falls sometimes 6 or 

 8 degrees after the diurnal rains ; but its medium height may be stated at 78° of Fahrenheit. 

 After these showers have continued for a short period, the tropical summer appears in all its 

 splendor. Clouds are seldom seen in the sky ; the heat of the sun is only rendered supportable 

 by the sea breeze, which blows regularly from the southeast during the greater part of the day. 

 The nights are calm and serene, the moon shines more brightly than in Europe, and emits a 

 light that enables one to read the smallest print ; its absence is in some degree compensated by 

 the planets, and above all by the luminous effulgence of the galaxy. From the middle of Au- 

 gust to the end of September, the thermometer rises frequently above 90° ; the refreshing sea 

 breeze is then interrupted, and frequent calms announce the approach of the great periodical 

 rains. Fiery clouds are seen in the atmosphere, and the mountains appear less distant to the 

 spectator than at other seasons of the year. The rain falls in torrents about the beginning of 

 October, the rivers overflow their banks, and a great portion of the low grounds is submerged. 

 The rain that fell in Barbadoes, in the year 1754, is said to have exceeded 87 inches. The 

 moisture of the atmosphere is so great, that iron, and other metals easily oxidated, are covered 

 with rust. This humidity continues under a burning sun. The inhabitants (say some writers) 

 live in a vapor bath ; it may be proved, whhout using this simile, that a residence in the lower 

 part of the country at this season, is disagreeable, unwholesome, and dangerous to a European. 



In order to make our readers better acquainted with this country, we shall attempt to descr-be 

 a morning m the Antilles. For this purpose, let us watch the moment when the sun, appear- 

 ing through a cloudless and serene atmosphere, illumines with his rays the summits of the moun- 

 tains, and gilds the leaves of the plantain and orange trees. The plants are spread over with 

 gossamer of fine and transparent silk, or gemmed with dewdrops, and the vivid hues of indus- 

 trious insects, reflecting unnumbered tints from the rays of the sun. The aspect of the richly 

 cultivated valleys is different, but not less pleasing ; the whole of nature teems with the most 

 varied productions. It often happens, after the sun has dissipated the mist above the crystal 

 expanse of the ocean, that the scene is changed by an optical illusion. The spectator observes 

 sometimes a sand-bank rising out of the deep, or distant canoes in the red clouds, floating in an 

 aerial sea, while their shadows at the same time are accurately dehneated below them. This 

 phenomenon, to which the French have given the name of mirage, is not uncommon in equato- 

 rial climates. Europeans may admire the views in this archipelago during the cool temperature 

 of the morning ; the lofty mountains are adorned with thick foliage ; the hills, from their sum- 

 mits to the very borders of the sea, are fringed with plants of never-fading verdure ; the mills 

 and sugar-works near them are obscured by their branches or buried in their shade. The ap- 

 pearance of the vaheys is remarkable ; to form even an imperfect idea of it, we must group to- 

 gether the palm tree, the cocoa-nut, and mountain cabbage, with the tamarind, the orange, and 

 waving plumes of the bamboo cane. On these plains we may observe the bushy oleander, all 

 the varieties of the Jerusalem thorn and African rose, the bright scarlet of the cordium, bowers 

 of jessamine and Grenadilla vines, and the silver and silky leaves of the portlandia. Fields of 

 sugar-cane, the houses of the planters, the huts of the negroes, and the distant coast lined with 

 ships, add to the beauty of a West Indian landscape. At sunrise, when no breeze ripples the 

 surface of the ocean, it is frequently so transparent, that one can perceive, as if there were no 

 intervening medium, the channel of the water, and observe the shell-fish scattered on the rocks, 

 and the medusas reposing on the sand. 



Hurricanes often do great damage in some of the islands, but they are rare in Cnba, and are 

 never felt in Tobago and Trinidad. These terrible movements of the atmosphere, during the 

 continuance of which the wind blows with fury from all the points of the compass, and which 

 are often attended with hail and lightning, most frequently occur in August, but also happen in 

 July, September, and October. A hurricane is generally preceded by an awful stillness of the 

 elements, the air becomes close and heavy, the sun is red, and the stars at night seem unusually 

 large. Frequent changes take place in the thermometer, which rises sometimes from 80 to 90 

 degrees. Darkness extends over the earth ; the higher regions gleam with lightning. The 

 impending storm is fir!=t observed on the sea ; foaming mountains rise suddenlv from its clear 



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