SETTLEMENTS ON THE DEMERARY, &C. 37 



lead to their dwellings : and little square clusters, or strait 

 alleys, of cocoa-nuts and limes, indicate the measuring me- 

 thodical taste of the continental gardeners. 



What does honor to them, both as individuals and as a 

 nation, is their indiscriminate hospitality. There are no road- 

 houses, inns, or places of public entertainment ; but, in all 

 my subsequent trips by land to the neighbouring settlements, 

 as well as on this occasion, I every where received eager 

 attentions from utter strangers. They accept visitors with all 

 the warmth of friendship ; and give a welcome, which in- 

 cludes the command of whatever the house affords. They 

 keep good tables; and willingly purchase what the country 

 does not supply. For potatoes {ardappels) such is their relish, 

 that I have known three pounds sterling given for a hamper 

 from Ireland, which contained about two bushels. 



The Dutch planters are clear and strict accountants, very 

 regular in all their mercantile transactions. They deserve cre- 

 dit for their industry and perseverance, and according to the 

 old adage, they are slow but sure. They would be better 

 planters than the English, were they to make an equal point 

 of encreasing progressively their cultivation ; but they cling to 

 the maxims of their native land; they aspire only to a compe- 

 tency not to a fortune; and they waste labor, under an idea 

 of having their estates look like gardens. The Englishman 



