. , 1 
Volcanic Mountain in St. Vincent’s. 19 
furprifed when one of the negroes I had with me told me, it 
was the habitation of a Mr. Gasco, a Frenchman. What 
could induce a flout healthy man in the prime. of life, and a 
good mechanick, with feverai negroes, to take up his refidenca 
among rocks and precipices, excluded from the whole world, 
is a myftery to me. Befides, by every torrent of rain that, 
happens, he may expeft himfelf and all his habitation to be 
wafhed over the rocks into the ocean. Notwithftanding his. 
lingular fituation, I found him an intelligent man, and I expe- 
rienced every holpitality his poor cottage could afford. 
The difficulty of going through woods in the Weft Indies, 
where there are no roads or paths, is far beyond any thing an 
European can conceive. Befides tall trees and thick under- 
wood:, there are hundreds of different climbing plants twifted 
together like ropes, and running in all directions to a great ex- 
tent, sand even to the tops -of the higheft trees ; by puftiing on 
they cannot be broke, and many of them with difficulty cut ; 
•-befides a fpecies of grafs, the Scboenus Lithofpermos , with fer- 
rated leaves, that cuts and tears the hands and face terribly. 
With fuch obftrucl-ions as thefe it was above two hours before 
we got on the ridge, where I was in hopes our paffage would 
have been eafier; but I foon found my miftake, for I was fur- 
rounded with a thick foreft, much more difficult to get through 
than before, on account of the large piles of trees broken down 
by the hurricanes, to pafs which in many parts we were obliged 
to creep on our hands and feet to get below them, and in other 
places to climb a great height above the furface of the ground, 
to get over large trunks lying on one another, and thefe being 
frequently rotten, oceationed us, to tumble headlong down to a 
great depth, among rotten wood and grafs, fo that it was with 
great difficulty I and the negroes could extricate ourfelves. By 
D 2 con- 
