Jamaica, August.
The delay in meeting with a conveyance to St. Domingo has afforded me
the means of seeing more of Jamaica than I had ventured to hope.
On the sixth inst. Mr. Jordan and myself went to visit Spanish Town, or
St. Jago de la Vega, the metropolis of Jamaica. We hired an open chaise,
and availed ourselves of the early part of the morning. The distance
from Kingston is thirteen miles, and the ride uncommonly pleasant, the
road being as good as those in England, and the bordering scenery more
like Europe than any I had before met with in these western settlements.
A toll-gate is established; regular mile-stones mark the approach to the
capital; bridges are built over the brooks and rivulets; carts, waggons,
chaises, and horsemen, are seen passing and repassing; and on each hand
are enclosed fields, with herds of oxen and sheep grazing in fine
pastures.
At the road-side we saw many neat houses; and, dispersed about the
fields, numbers of country villas, some of which were built upon wide
plains, decorated with trees and thorn-bushes like the finely studded
parks of England, the umbrageous branches of the wide-spreading
silk-cotton rivalling the picturesque and sturdy oak: the soft herbage
and refreshing verdure of the English lawns were indeed wanting, but the
arid aspect of the fields was, in a great measure, to be attributed to
the peculiar dryness of the season; which has been so remarkable at
Jamaica, that, while mild rains have produced the greatest fertility,
and richness of appearance in the colonies to windward, this island is
scorched so bare, that, at many of the pens or mountain farms, they have
been compelled either to kill their cattle, or drive them into the
interior, to prevent them from perishing by famine.
We were two hours on the road, and were exceedingly gratified with the
journey. Besides the fields, the plains, the valleys, and the cooling
streams, many stern rocks, and cloud-capped mountains vary the face of
the country, and increase the general interest of the scene.
From the excellent condition of the road, its conveniences and
accommodations, the number of passengers, and the busy traffic, it might
have seemed the approach to a crowded and opulent city; and, compared
with the still coast of Guiana, we might have fancied that we were
advancing to another London: but, such an expectation would have proved
illusory. Instead of handsome streets and magnificent buildings, the
appearance of both was so humble, that when we had arrived in the centre
of Spanish Town we imagined ourselves to be only in the suburbs; St.
Jago de la Vega neither exhibiting the splendour of St. Pierre, nor the
spaciousness of Kingston; nor did the crowd, or business of the place,
at all correspond with the general movement and traffic which we had
observed upon the road.
We took a very indifferent and badly served breakfast at the only tavern
in the place. After resting a short time I waited upon the Governor,
Lord Belcarras, and, at the king’s house, had the good fortune to meet
with Dr. Lind, who had been with us at Barbadoes, and was now appointed,
from the hospital staff of St. Domingo, to the direction of the medical
department in Jamaica.
This gentleman kindly insisted upon taking us under his guidance for the
day; and obligingly devoting his time to our accommodation, he conducted
us to the different parts of the town and its environs, pointing out to
us all that was particularly worthy the attention of strangers.
The general view of the place was strongly calculated to confirm the
opinion we had formed upon entering it: clouded with the dull marks of
its Spanish origin, it might be mistaken for only the fauxbourgs of a
more splendid city. The narrow confined streets look dark and gloomy,
and the older houses are small, low, irregular, and of mean appearance,
consisting only of a single story. Still, although the general face of
the metropolis be not prepossessing, handsome improvements are met with
in various parts of it. The king’s house, the house of assembly, and
public offices, are capacious and ornamental, as is likewise the
main-guard. The portico and statue erected to the memory of Rodney are
also magnificent, and an honor to the island. The horse-barracks form a
handsome pile of building, and are highly commodious for their purpose.
Some of the houses, likewise, at the extremity of the town are spacious,
and of modern structure.
The land in the outskirts of St. Jago de la Vega is barren and
uncultivated, and wears not the rich livery generally bestowed by a
populous city. It appears a wide and dreary waste, overspread with
thorns and bushes, a striking contrast to the luxuriant environs of St.
Pierre, where fields of coffee and sugar, and gardens of rich fruits
overhang the houses and very chimneys of the town, and extend themselves
from the vales and even the summits of the hills quite to the brink of
the ocean.
Near Spanish Town is an extensive flat, which is formed into a course
for the purpose of horse-racing. At a short distance are lofty hills and
pleasant, elevated fields, where many of the inhabitants have small
estates laid out in what are termed _pens_, for the purpose of breeding
and raising sheep, poultry, and the various kinds of stock. At these
pens it is common for the proprietors to have villas or cottages to
serve as country residences, whither they retire to pass the night in a
cool atmosphere, returning to the business of the town in the morning.
As at Kingston, so at St. Jago de la Vega, we met with very few women
who were fairer than mulattoes; and among these the same slovenly figure
and vulgar carriage prevailed, as among the like classes in Kingston. We
expected to have found more of neatness and taste among this order of
people at the seat of government and of fashion; but the dull Spanish
costume was still predominant, with a seeming disregard of cleanliness
and personal adornment.
We returned by moonlight, when the air was delightfully cool, and the
ride pleasanter, if possible, than in the morning; so clear, so bright
and exquisitely soft was the evening, that, upon our arrival near
Kingston, we took the opportunity of lengthening our ride by extending
it about the environs, and were highly gratified in seeing, by this mild
light, the many agreeable villas and improvements near the town.
Since our visit to St. Jago de la Vega we have repeated our walks about
the city and suburbs of Kingston. On the leeward side we found a number
of mean and confined streets, consisting of small houses, occupied by
Jews; and this quarter, like the dwelling-places of that race of people
in the large towns of Europe, is so crowded, filthy, and offensive as to
reflect much disgrace upon the arrangements of the police.
On the same side, at a very short distance out of the town, is also an
extensive burying-ground, which we were told, by a mulatto man whom we
chanced to meet upon the spot, was “for the heathens and the
Christians.” We observed that it was separated by a wide ditch into two
divisions, one of which we understood to be appropriated to the
interment of the soldiers, sailors, and lower classes of whites; the
other to that of the people of colour.
Eastward of the town is an extensive common, in the vicinity of
which, and upon its borders, are built numbers of gentlemen’s
country-houses—most of them very neat, some spacious and handsome.
Here the general appearance of all around was very like what is seen
in Europe. The excellent roads crossing the common at different
parts, the style of the buildings, the manner of fitting them up,
the glazed and sashed windows, the neatly paled gardens, and the
negro houses scattered over the heath like the happy cottages of our
peasantry, all so resembled England that we stood fixed, for a
considerable time, contemplating the scene, when the European
picture was still further heightened by a party of ladies driving
past us in an elegant English carriage. The agreeable coolness of
the evening, in consequence of a heavy shower of rain having fallen
about an hour before, contributed also to the same effect; and,
forgetful of the West Indies, we almost imagined ourselves to be
actually viewing a fine landscape in England.
We made a visit to the church and churchyard, and inspected the dates
upon the tombstones, as an index of the number of days commonly allotted
to the inhabitants of Kingston. In a few instances we observed records
of longevity; but the great majority of persons had been snatched away
in what is usually considered life’s happiest prime.
We observe in our walks about the streets, that in point of richness and
neatness of arrangement, the shops and stores of Kingston are as much
superior to those of St. Pierre, as those of London are to those of
Paris. Perhaps there are few things in which the English more strikingly
out-rival the French than in the art of dressing their windows, and
exhibiting their goods to public view. In Paris the shops are devoid of
that taste and brilliant display which so commonly attracts the eyes of
foreigners in the busy streets of London. A similar distinction prevails
also in the colonies of the two nations: the stores and repositories of
the handsome town of St. Pierre are small and gloomy, while at Kingston
many of them are light and spacious, and dressed out with all the
neatness and splendour of Bond Street or Cheapside.
I have mentioned to you already, that, on my first landing at
Port-Royal, I perceived the heat to be uncommonly powerful; and I may
now add that we find the climate of Kingston hotter than that of
Martinique, Barbadoes, or Demarara, although these colonies are many
degrees nearer the equator. In the shade, at the distance of a hundred
yards only from the water, the thermometer is commonly, at noon, at 86
or 87 of Fahrenheit: between six and seven o’clock, both morning and
evening, it is usually from 80 to 83 degrees.
The mornings are exceedingly oppressive. The sea-breeze, which becomes
very strong in the course of the day, is scarcely perceptible before ten
o’clock, being two hours later than we had been accustomed to have it
upon the coast of Guiana.
The fruits are very superior at Jamaica to those we commonly had in the
windward colonies, and in far greater plenty: the pines and mangoes, in
particular, are of exquisite flavour, and better, beyond all comparison,
than any we met with, either in the Charibbee islands, or at Berbische
and Demarara.
Various kinds of fruits, likewise, are in use here, which we had not
seen in the windward settlements. Among these is the jack-fruit, lately
imported from the East Indies. It is very large, and in form and
substance somewhat resembles a common sort called the soursop, but is of
a different and much superior flavour. If it were possible to convey a
correct idea of it in words, I might perhaps describe it best, by
saying, that it has the taste of a delicious melon, slightly quickened
with the eschalot. Of this production many persons partake with peculiar
gratification, after being accustomed to eat of it; but an acquired
taste is commonly said to be necessary to its full enjoyment.
A regular meat-market is established at Kingston, and so amply supplied,
that beef may be had as plentifully as from the shambles of Leadenhall
or Whitechapel. Turtle is also very abundant, and is among the common
dishes at every gentleman’s table. Some of these animals are of enormous
size. Their shells are used by the negroes for all the common purposes
of baskets and barrows. They carry them upon their heads, filled with
various kinds of wares; and employ them instead of wheelbarrows for
removing dirt and rubbish from the streets.
Although the market provisions are more reasonable, and in greater
plenty than in the windward colonies; and notwithstanding the common
supplies and conveniences are more extensive, and more like those of
Europe, still the superiority seems to be commanded principally, if not
exclusively, by the inhabitants; for, if it were fair to speak from the
limited experience which I have hitherto had, I should be compelled to
admit that the public accommodations of Martinique and Barbadoes are
more satisfactory to a stranger, than those of Jamaica.
A breakfast or dinner may be had for less money at Jamaica, than at
Martinique; but you are better served and attended, and have more of
that indefinable arrangement, which a man feels necessary to his ease
and comfort, in the taverns of Bridge-town and St. Pierre, than in those
of Kingston or Spanish Town.
Private lodgings are far more extravagant at Jamaica than in any other
colony we have visited. For only a very small room it is common to
demand seven or eight dollars per week. Amidst the plenty of provisions,
two bits (10_d._ English) are charged for a pint of milk. The hire of a
saddle-horse per day is three dollars, and of a mean-looking horse and
chaise seven dollars.
I have been sorry to learn, upon conversing with the medical
practitioners of Kingston, that the same uncertainty and indecision
prevail, at Jamaica, regarding the nature of the destructive fever of
the climate, as in the other colonies; and that the difference of
opinion, among the medical men, respecting the treatment of this
formidable disease, displays itself in a manner which adds to the public
fears; and cruelly augments the distress of individuals, who are
attacked with this malignant malady.
Two of the most eminent professional characters of the island having
adopted opinions directly the reverse of each other, many of the
practitioners have enlisted under the opposing banners, and the public,
distracted by the discords of the medical body, is deprived of that
happy confidence which forms so important a consolation in sickness. One
party, considering the fever to be inflammatory, employ venæsection,
relying upon it as a sovereign remedy; the other party, viewing it as a
putrid disorder, have a terror of the lancet, and put their trust in the
Peruvian bark, and other tonic remedies. These discordant opinions
afford the strongest testimony, that, in every attack of disease,
nothing less than a correct discrimination, and an unwearied attention
to all the symptoms and circumstances of each individual case, can be
available towards a successful treatment.