674 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
May  i,  1893 
is  undulating,  and  one  passes  from  one  property  into 
another  without  any  specially  marked  boundary,  sugar 
works  abound  and  wind-mills : the  latter  pump  up 
water  from  wells,  and  there  appears  to  be  an  abun- 
dant supply,  and  I was  surprised  to  find  a splendid 
swimming  bath  at“Halton,”  though  to  all  appearances 
no  water  or  springs  were  to  be  seen. 
I spent  a very  pleasant  two  days  at  “Halton,” 
the  property  and  home  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Tolson, 
a most  hospitable  residence,  reminding  one  of  an 
old  English  .country-house.  The  crop  was  not  yet 
on,  so  I did  not  see  sugar  being  made,  but  saw 
people  at  work  in  the  fields.  The  cultivation  ap- 
peared to  be  neat  and  excellent,  in  fact  the  whole 
island  is  like  a sugar  garden.  Labour  is  abundant 
and  cheap,  as  the  island  is  well  populated  and  but 
few  Barbadians  care  to  emigrate;  good  terms  have 
been  offered  them  to  come  to  Jamaica,  but  they  don’t 
seem  to  see  it.  On  Sunday,  New  Year’s  Day,  I 
attended  St.  Philip’s  Church  ; there  was  a large 
congregation,  white,  coloured  and  black  ; so  different 
to  ours  here,  with  usually  but  three  Buckras  in 
attendance.  I cannot  say  I liked  the  singing  in  that 
church,  for  I have  never  heard  more  curious  pointing 
as  it  is  termed.  I was  disappointed  because  of  a 
rainy  afternoon  from  seeing  Codrington  College  and 
the  view  from  St.  John’s  which  I was  told  is  the 
prettiest  and  most  extensive  over  the  island.  On 
Monday  afternoon  I was  on  board  the  intercolonial 
royal  mail-steamer  •*  Eden”  of  about  2,000  tons  bur- 
den, she  was  slow  but  sure,  as  she  was  going  up 
to  St.  Thomas  to  be  docked.  I was  up  at  4-30  the 
next  morning  as  we  were  then  off  the  Pitons,  those 
celebrated  rocks  on  the  coast  of 
ST.  LUCIA, 
and  I had  a grand  view  of  them  in  bright  moonlight, 
these  two  most  peculiar  rocks  reach  the  height  of 
2,000  feet,  and  are  situated  on  each  side  of  a little 
bay,  one  is  in  the  form  of  a sugar  loaf  peak,  the  other 
more  rounded,  they  are  truly  grand  ana  picturesque. 
We  entered  the  fine  harbour  of  St,  Lucia,  des- 
tined to  be  the  future  Naval  and  Military  Station 
of  that  part  of  the  West  Indies,  at  9 a. in.,  and 
after  coaling  were  off  for  Martinique,  which  we  reached 
in  the  afternoon.  In  these  waters  famed  for  the 
deeds  of  Benbow,  Roduev  and  other  brave  and  famous 
British  Admirals,  we  passed  the  “ Diamond  ” Rock, 
another  piton-shaped  elevation  rising  perpendicularly 
from  the  sea  on  the  western  side,  but  habitable  on 
the  eastern.  St.  Lucia  and  in  fact  all  the  islands 
are  very  mountainous,  the  hills  are  all  muoh  in  the 
same  steep,  pointed  piton  shapes  whioh  are  evi- 
dently peouliar  to  these  islands,  both  the  large  and 
smaller  ones.  It  was  unfortunate  that  there  was 
no  time  to  land  at  several  of  the  islands,  specially, 
at  the  Frenoh.  As  I was  naturally  curious  to  see  the 
people  and  how  they  compared  with  our  local 
Jamaioans,  but  the  steamer  ody  remains  long  enough 
to  land  mails  and  passengers.  The  boatmen  and 
deok  passengers  who  oame  off  at  Martinique  and  Gua- 
deloupe, as  also  at  St:  Lucia  and  Dominica,  spoke  a 
most  unintelligible  patois  of  whioh  I could  only  here 
and  there  oatoh  a bona  Jide  French  word. 
MARTINIQUE  AND  GUADALOUPE 
are  oertainly  very  fine  large  islands,  but  Dominioa  is 
said  to  bear  the  palm  for  scenery  ; unfortunately  the 
Government  is  financially  in  a bad  way ; for  though 
there  is  a large  quantity  of  fine  virgin  land  avail- 
able for_  coffee,  cacao,  and  other  tropioal  cultivation, 
labour  is  soarce  and  dear,  so  that  no  rapid  progress 
can  be  made,  and  moreover  the  interior  where  these 
lands  are  situated  requires  opening  up  by  good  cart 
roads,  but  there  is  no  money  to  construct  them. 
The  trip  coasting  along  under  the  lee  of  the  islands 
is  smoothish  water,  with  just  enough  of  the  trade 
breeze  to  make  it  oool  and  pleasant  is  most  enjoyable, 
and  a very  good  view  of  the  coast  and  mountains, 
and  the  cultivation  alongshore,  chiefly  sugar,  is 
obtained. 
We  arrived  at 
MONTSERRAT 
about  10  a.m,  on  the  4th  January,  The  friend  with 
whom  I was  going  to  stay  is  the  manager  of  the 
Montserrat  Company,  an  old  Cey'on  p’antfr  of  10 
years’  experience  principally  in  Uva,  where  be  was 
the  friend  and  employd  of  the  much-lamented  R. 
B.  Downall.  I refer  to 
MB.  H.  DE  C0UBCY  HAMILTON 
who  must  be  well-knowD  to  many  of  your  readers,  not 
only  as  a good  hard-working  planter,  bnt  ae  a great 
sportsman  who  h»B  slain  bis  many  elephants  and 
other  big  game.  Mr.  Hamilton  wag  for  some  time 
manager  of  that  very  fine  property  Dambetenne  now 
I believe  owned  by  Mr.  Lipton  of  “ Mazawattee  Tea” 
fame.  Mr.  Hamilton  came  off  to  meet  me,  and  took 
me  to  bis  office  at  the  Depot,  which  is  a large  store 
owned  by  the  Company,  where  are  to  be  obtained  all 
necessary  estate  supplies  and  other  goods,  the  Com- 
pany also  are  the  Bankers  of  the  island,  and  Mr. 
Hamilton  has  bis  office  there  aDd  the  Banking  busi- 
ness is  looked  after  by  a Canny  Scot  of  .the  Dame  of 
MacGregor.  Little  Montserrat  is  still  so  charmingly 
primitive  that  it  boasts  neither  telegraph,  nor  newspaper. 
After  waiting  at  the  office  for  the  home  letters, 
Mr.  Hamilton  drove  me  up  to  his  pretty  residence 
“The  Cot”  situated  some  eleven  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea,  where  I did  not  find  it  much  warmer  than 
it  is  here  at  2,700.  The  lovely  views  from  and  near 
the  bouse  reminded  me  partly  of  the  Mediterranean, 
and  partly  of  the  Channel  Islands.  From  various  points 
of  vantage,  8t.  Kitt’s  and  Nevis,  the  little  island  of 
Rodonda,  where  nitrate  is  dug  and  exported  and  on 
a clear  day  even  “Saba”  may  be  seen  and  from  the 
other  side  Antigua  and  Guadaloupe  are  seen  away  iu 
the  offing:  in  fact  I believe  Montserrat  must  be  the 
gem  of  the  West  India  Islands  as  Capri  andjSark  re- 
spectively are  of  the  Mediterranean  and  OhanDel  Islands. 
My  first  walk  at  Montserrat  was  to  the 
COFFEE  FIELDS 
Those  last  planted  ran  up  to  2,000  feet  and  will 
believe  be  equal  to  about  3,000  feet  in  OeyloD.  They 
are  certainly  steep  in  parts,  but  as  the  soil  is  stiffer 
than  ours  here  whioh  so  easily  breaks  away,  I do 
not  apprehend  any  damage  from  landslips ; aDd  as 
to  steep  land,  were  not  some  of  the  steepest  estates, 
notably  in  Badulla  and  Haputale,  some  of  the  finest 
and  most  productive  in  Ceylon  ? Lower  down  there 
are  fields  from  2 to  3 years  old  at  various  elevations 
down  to  about  500  feet  which  have  grown  and  borne 
marvellously  fast,  aDd  when  I went  down  to  the 
store  I was  surprised  to  see  what  a very  fine  sample 
had  been  obtained  from  that  elevation.  It  is  to  be 
sent  home  in  parchment  and  oured  in  London  nrd 
will  no  doubt  fetoh  very  remunerative  prices.  The 
cacao  that  is  growing  among  the  lower  fields  is  very 
fine,  and  I don’t  remember  ever  to  have  seen  larger 
pods;  some  that  Mr,  Hamilton  sent  home  lately,  cured 
Ceylon  fashion,  fetched  96/  and  thus  beat  the  average 
of  Trinidad  “hollow.”  Then  I next  day  visited  the 
ARROWROOT  FIELDS, 
saw  the  men  at  work  digging  at  so  much  a barrel; 
it  is  then  oonveyed  by  women  to  the  store,  where 
it  is  washed,  soraped  and  washed  again,  and  then 
passed  through  the  machinery  ; the  staroh  is  run  off 
into  ronnd  tanks  and  after  the  necessary  process  has 
been  gone  through,  it  is  dug  out  of  the  tanks  and 
placed  on  wire  shelves  until  quite  dry,  and  fit  to  put 
into  the  oasks.  On  the  trays  arrowroot  looks  like 
small  blocks  of  snow ; it  is  so  white  and  powdery. 
Arrowroot  does  not  need  muoh  oultivatioD,  so  it  must 
I believe  be  a paying  concern  so  long  as  the  market 
is  not  swamped.  But  why  Bermuda  arrowroot,  whioh 
oertainly  is  not  to  all  appearances  better  than  that 
of  Montserrat  and  St.  ViDoent,  should  fetch  much 
higher  prices  is  a puzzle  nofellov:  oan  unriddle  As 
to  the  lime  oultivation  whioh  I believe  is  some  600 
aores  in  extent,  some  of  the  trees  have  done  their 
duty  for  20  or  30  years,  and  some  are  now  suffering 
from  blight,  but  the  Company  are  nothing  dauDted 
and  are  re-planting  and  supplying,  aa  well  as  plant- 
ing out  new  land. 
Besides  all  the  forementioned,  the  Company  are 
breeding  males  and  cattle  and  horses.  I saw  some 
