€»a*. rj WEST INDIES. 207 
Islands. The gates of the planter are always open 
to the reception of his guests. To be a stran¬ 
ger is of itself a sufficient introduction. This spe¬ 
cies of hospitality is indeed carried so far, that, as. 
Mr. Long has remarked, there is not one tolerable- 
inn throughout all the West Indies.* 
To the same cause may perhaps be ascribed, on 
the other hand, that eagerness for litigation and ju¬ 
ridical controversy, which so remarkably predomi¬ 
nates in most of these islands. From this unfortu- 
* There are some peculiarities in the habits of life of the white in¬ 
habitants which cannot fail to catch the eye of an European newly ar¬ 
rived ; one of which is the contrast between the general plenty and 
magnificence of their tables (at least in Jamaica) and the meanness of 
their houses and apartments ; it being no uncommon thing to find, at 
the country habitations of the planters, a splendid sideboard loaded 
with plate and the choicest wines, a table covered with the finest- 
damask, and a dinner of perhaps sixteen or twenty covers; and all 
this in a hovel not superior to an English barn. A stranger cannot 
fail, also, to observe a strange incongruity and inconsistency between 
the great number of negro domestics, and their appearance and appa¬ 
rel. The butler (and he but seldom) is the only attendant that is al¬ 
lowed the luxury of shoes and stockings. All the others, and there 
is commonly one to each guest, wait at table in bare-footed, majesty, 
some of them perhaps half naked. Another peculiarity in the man¬ 
ners of the English in the West Indies (in Jamaica especially) is the 
number of nautical expressions in their conversation. Thus they say, 
hand such a thing , instead ef bring or give it. A plantation well 
stocked with negroes, is said to be <vjeU handed : an office or employ¬ 
ment is called a birth ; the kitchen is denominated the cook-room j a 
warehouse is called a store , or store-room ; a sopha is called a cot-, a 
waistcoat is termed a jacket -, and in speaking of the East and West,, 
they say to nvindnvard and leeivard. This language has probably 
prevailed since the days of the bucaniers. 
