Am.  Jour.  Pharuo.  \ 
February,  18^8.  j 
In  the  Land  of  Ginger. 
Si 
customs,  there  are  certain  days  and  times  to  carry  products  to 
market.  There  are  banana  days,  pineapple  days,  pimento  days  and 
ginger  days.  The  buyer  must  take  in  his  supplies  on  these  days  or 
go  without  them. 
The  ginger  crop  is  carried  from  five  to  forty  miles  to  a  place  of 
sale.  In  the  proper  season,  along  the  white-paved  roads,  from  the 
cool,  refreshing  hours  of  the  morning  far  into  the  night,  ginger  may 
be  seen  moving  to  market.  The  richer  planter,  with  a  lace  bark 
rope,  leads  a  heavily-laden  donkey  with  panniers  heaped.  Sometimes 
piled  high  on  either  side,  above  the  ginger  are  pineapples,  plan- 
tains, yams,  and  strange-looking  fruits ;  over  all  are  bunches  of 
knotted  sugar  cane  and  nets  filled  with  green  cocoanuts.  But  by  far 
the  greater  portion  of  the  ginger,  and  every  other  crop,  is  moved 
by  head-loads. 
Troops  of  Jamaica's  brown  and  yellow  daughters  are  seen  trudg- 
ing up  and  down  hills  under  the  terrible  sun,  with  a  load  of  a  hun- 
dred pounds  or  more  at  graceful  equipoise  on  their  gaily-turbaned 
heads.  All  have  their  garments  kilted  up  to  their  bare  dark  knees. 
These  women  have  taken  their  colors  from  the  fruits :  their  com- 
plexions are  orange,  olive,  sapota,  mango,  deepening  into  a  bronze- 
black.  They  are  upright  as  darts,  walk  with  a  free,  unhindered 
stride,  without  any  swinging  of  the  shoulders,  impressing  one 
greatly  with  their  grace  and  elegance  of  motion.  Carrying  their 
heads  like  queens,  without  nod  or  turning,  they  cry  out  in  a  high- 
pitched  musical  key,  to  the  bystanders,  "  Marningbuckra,"  and 
pass  on,  their  naked  feet  making  a  great  whispering  sound  over  the 
smooth  roadway.  In  a  picturesque  way  ginger  passes  to  the  mar- 
ket town. 
The  market  may  be  in  the  port  town  or  at  the  crossroads  store. 
The  sign  at  this  latter  place  reads,  in  rather  shaky  characters, 
"  Lisened  to  dele  in  Agricultural  Produse,"  which  is  made  to  include 
rum,  gin,  and  a  general  conglomeration  of  merchandise,  not  count- 
ing drugs  and  medicines.  In  this  sort  of  a  place  anything  in  the 
shape  of  hands  and  fingers  is  ginger,  and  is  dumped  into  a  barrel 
without  any  sorting,  to  be  shipped  to  the  port.  Often  the  small 
shopkeeper  is  heavily  in  debt  to  the  large  trader  in  the  port,  and, 
when  ginger  is  wanted,  makes  haste  to  get  in  as  much  as  possible, 
regardless  of  quality. 
