THIRTY YEARS AGO. 
[Mr, P. D. Millie, the' writer of the following in- 
teresting reminiscences, in an accompanying note to his 
first chapter says i recollect an old proprietor engag- 
ing an assistant on ,£50 a year, and telling him he could 
not afford wine and beer on the pay, but that he 
would find they were unnecessary, as the ‘ watter ’ 
on the estate was ‘ vera guded The said proprietor, 
however, was not a very fit judge himself as to the 
good or bad qualities of undiluted water. ”] 
CHAPTER I, 
A CoFEEE Planter’s Work Thirty Years Ago. 
In the days of ‘‘thirty 3mars ago,” the luxuries, 
now usual and common necessaries on every estate, 
of bread or toast and butter were unknown. So, at 
half -past 5 a.m., having partaken of a cup of coffee 
and a cabin biscuit, which must suffice to keep up 
the inward man till 1 1 o’clock, Vvith a paper umbrella 
tinder one arm, and a long pole in the other hand, 
we ascend the hill. An old water-cou?se, or rather 
a rain one, seemed the ouly tr;ick, strai-ht up a steep 
grass hill. After numerous pauses to res', we reach 
the top of the grass hill, on which was a small flat, 
and, pausing to admire the surrounding country, we 
are astonished at the great elevation reached in such 
a short space of time, for the ascent must have been 
at the gradient of one foot in tv/o. “ Co <te on,” says 
my employer, “this is nothing to what you v/illsee ; 
no time is to be lost, the sun is coming oYer the 
rock.” Passing the flat, again the ground rises as 
steep as ever, mth the difference that the path- 
way is covered with loose stones of all sizes. One 
must walk behind the other, the path bein? so narrow 
that two cannot go on abreast. Of course, a.s I v/as last, 
following ray guide, my whole attention was now occu- 
pied in escaping from the loose stones of all sizes that 
came tumbling down, loosened by the tread of my com- 
panion in advance, from which I mentally took note, 
when in company ascending this hill, alvrxys to go first. 
Higher still we And the ledge of rock loss itself in 
forest through which the path goes. I now see tha 
