SETTLEMENTS ON THE DEMERARY, &C. 55 



were entering into large contributions, for the purpose of 

 building a marine hospital, or Lazaretto, capable of containing 

 five hundred patients. Should this arrangement be carried into 

 effect, it will be the means of adding greatly to the comforts 

 of the seamen employed in this trade, who for want of such 

 an extensive establishment as this is intended to be, are obliged 

 to linger with the most dreadful distempers in the hold or steer- 

 age of a vessel engaged in the hurry and confusion of taking 

 in, or discharging a cargo, without that attendance and rest, 

 which are so requisite to people in their situation. 



The houses are built of wood, two and three stories high, 

 raised on brick foundations, which include excellent cellars. 

 The frames and shingles (which are laths of twelve inches long 

 and four wide, laid on the tops of houses like tiles) are the pro- 

 duce of the adjacent forests. Boards, planks, clap-boards^ 

 for closing in, are imported from America. No fires, nor evem 

 stoves are in the dwelling houses, the kitchen being always sepa^ 

 rate; but for their cleanliness little indeed can be said, when 

 compared to those in England. The principal fuel used is 

 wood, and the meat, instead of being roasted, is baked.. 

 The generality of the cooks are men, and a good one selk for 

 almost any money. Good houses well situated for mercantile 

 concerns, either in Stabroek, or the new town, let with avidity' 

 for three, four, and five hundred pounds yearly. This sort of 

 building, if undertaken by a merchant setder, lays a great deal 



