324 
DOTTINGS ON THE ROADSIDE. [Chap. XX.—B. P. 
But the chief boast of the islanders is the produce 
of the sea and the coral reefs, which nearly surround 
their island: here the finest turtle are seen grazing on 
the grassy bottom; fish of every sort abound; the 
lobster, or as it is called here, the craw-fish, is easily 
captured; in fact, I think I have said enough to sub¬ 
stantiate the assertion made at the commencement of 
this chapter, that the Corn Islands contain all the 
elements of an earthly Paradise. 
It gave no small delight to my hungry crew to see 
canoe-load after canoe-load, containing specimens of 
every animate and inanimate thing I have enumerated 
above, fresh beef included, come alongside; while it 
was no doubt equally delightful to the islanders to find 
what a capital market the ship afforded, for a ready 
sale of their produce at their own doors was a rare 
occurrence, and as they are not enterprising enough 
to seek purchasers, great quantities of fruit and 
vegetables annually rot on the ground. 
At one time a considerable amount of cotton was 
raised here, and commanded a very high price at 
Liverpool as sea-island; indeed, almost the entire is¬ 
land was once covered by that plant, but on the eman¬ 
cipation of the negroes the prosperity of the planters 
came to an end, and now the islands can be looked 
upon as little more than a large farm, trees and thick 
bush having grown up where nothing but waving cot¬ 
ton was formerly to be seen. Cocoa-nuts at present 
form the only article of export, in exchange for which 
certain necessaries are procured. 
The climate is undeniably warm, but the trade- 
