JAMAICA—THE NEGRO 
275 
the courage, the thoughtfulness, and the devotion to duty of the 
Rev. S. R. Brathwaite (a Wesleyan minister), a fine specimen of a full- 
blooded negro; he was as cool, as quiet, and as resourceful as any 
European, devoting himself to encouraging the timid, comforting the 
afflicted, and aiding the injured. Another notable fact was the ex¬ 
cellent behaviour of the men of the West Indian Regiment, who 
showed the good effect of discipline, alike in the terrible scenes of 
the fire in the camp (when a score of officers and men were burnt), 
and in the trying picket duty in the city afterwards. 
It is quite likely that a contributory cause of the panic was the 
fact that the Seventh Day Adventists had quite recently held a 
mission in Jamaica, preaching their favourite doctrine of the speedy 
coming of the end of the world. Naturally enough, emotional 
negroes who had heard their teaching would take the earthquake 
to be the fulfilment of their prophecies. 
The negro is a cheery, good-natured fellow, who takes life very 
easily. His ideal occupation is said to be to lie on his back under 
his own coco-nut tree, chewing a piece of “ cane ” from his own estate, 
and meditating upon the hardness of the Christian religion in for¬ 
bidding a man to have more than one wife, seeing that one woman 
can do so little work. 
Admitting the negro to be indolent and unenterprising and vain 
withal, he is at the same time intensely religious. Nowhere have I 
seen such universal church-going, nowhere have I heard such con¬ 
gregational singing. It must, however, be admitted that the negro’s 
religion does not have as much effect upon his morals as it should; 
moreover, it is reported that he is, as a consequence of his highly 
emotional disposition, easily wrought upon by Revivalists. 
The powerfully made African is largely displaced by the slim coolie 
from India. The coolie, though relatively weak and unquestionably 
slow, can be trusted to go on working, and so gets through more in a 
day. It takes a constant stimulus to make the negro work, and this is 
entirely lacking under the easy conditions of his life. An experienced 
official told me that he was convinced that to double his taxation 
would be an act of kindness! The required stimulus is given by 
the sea. Accordingly we find the negro boatmen of Bermuda are 
famous; an officer of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company spoke 
to me in the highest terms of the way in which the boating connected 
with their coasting work is carried out. I have said above what a 
grand sight it is to see the Herculean boatmen of Barbados bending 
to the big sweeps as they urge the heavy coal lighters against the 
ceaseless “ Trade.” But in the last-named island over-population 
