The Hurricane in St. Vincent. 71 
numerous rocky defiles, that the leeward side is only 
partially affe6led by a wind blowing in the opposite 
direction. Riding along the sea coast after the hurri- 
cane and looking up these narrow valleys, you would 
observe one side leafless with bare and whitened trunks 
while the other side retained its verdant green ; like sum- 
mer and winter occupying the opposite sides of the same 
hill. When the eye had viewed these scenes of desola- 
tion for a while the thoughts naturally reverted to self, 
and to the situation in which we were left by this awful 
visitation. Our first obje6t was to obtain shelter for 
the night ; and, as the evening continued fine, I pointed 
out to the negroes the necessity for taking advantage 
of so favourable an opportunity to search among the 
ruins of their cottages for articles of bedding and clothes 
and to have large fires made to boil their pots, and to 
ensure them a comfortable supper. As the evening 
closed in myself and family took possession of the upper 
part of the building that had been saved — the store 
room, where we placed our bedding on the floor. The 
cellars beneath and other parts of the sugar works were 
occupied by six or seven hundred negroes, more for- 
tunate in this respe6t poor creatures than many of the 
people of the neighbouring estates, who had no roof to 
cover their heads, and no better lodging than a little 
thatch raked together under which they crept night after 
night. As to ourselves, our situation was no enviable 
one ; beneath a burning copper roof, amidst the mingled 
delicate perfumes of hogsheads of salt fish, sugar, paint, 
oil, our medicine shop and other agreeables, reposing 
upon bales of osnaburg and blue cloth, and surrounded 
by bags of nails, coopers', carpenters', and agricultural 
