W.S.W. A voyage in that direction to the West Indies, by Robert Elwes. With illustrations from original drawings by the author

Front matter

w. s. w.

A VOYAGE IN THAT DIRECTION TO THE WEST INDIES.

ROBERT ELWES, Esq.,

Chapter II

Leave St. Thomas. — St. Domingo. — Jacmel. — Jamaica. — Port Royal. — Land at Kingston.-— State of the Streets. — Shops.

And so we left St. Thomas, on the second of February, in the Solent, 1,400 tons, for Jamaica and Aspinwall. We ran along in sight of the pretty looking island of Porto Kico, but did not touch there. It is still in the possession of Spain' and is rather a large island, being ninety-three miles long, and eighty-three wide. It is fertile, and supplies most of the neighbouring islands with beef. We had a detachment of a West Indian regiment on board, bound for Honduras. They fancied that they had some grievance about provisions or rum, or something of that sort, and at last one or two of them broke out in open mutiny, — one, indeed, rushing about with a knife, — but he was soon seized and overpowered by the crew and joassengers, and finished his voyage in irons. At daylight the next morning, we found ourselves in sight of the mountainous coast of Hayti, or St. Domingo. It is a very large island, being 380 miles in length, rugged and mountainous, the

HAYTI, OE ST. DOMINGO.

highest peak rising to the altitude of 7,450 feet.

Formerly the island was owned half by the French and half by the Spaniards, but now the French have entirely given up their part. Having had several revolutions, and been governed by the Emperors Faustin and Soulouque, it is now a black republic. Lately there has been some severe fighting between the blacks and the Spaniards, who still hold a part, but I believe the latter are now on the point of giving it up entirely. The country being very mountainous, and covered with wood, the negroes have a great advantage ; and the climate being excessively unhealthy, it was found impossible for the Spaniards to keep their troops there.

After coasting along for some way, we entered the bay in which is situated the town of Jacmel. Here the mail-boat went on shore, and another followed. Some of the passengers went on shore for a few minutes ; but landing is often very difficult, a heavy surf rolling in from the ocean. Sentries were on the pier and in different parts of the town, some with shoes, some with coats, some without, and generally they were quite willing, for a quarter of a dollar, to put down their muskets and go an errand. The boats soon returned, bringing plenty of pine-apples, and other fruits, and we then proceeded on our voyage.

10 A VOYAGE, ETC.

February 4. — The distance from St. Thomas's to Jacmel was 470 miles, and hence to Kingston 255 ; but at daylight we found ourselves a few miles off the southern coast of Jamaica, and we ran all day along in full view of the island. It appeared to be a succession of hills, with higher mountains behind them ; and as we got nearer we could see the thick forests, and below them the cultivated land, bright green, with fields of sugar-cane and here and there the houses, the steam-engines with the tall chimneys, and the sheds used for different purposes in the manufacture of sugar- We gazed at all these most anxiously, as we coasted along, wondering which parts we should visit and how we should get there ; but most persons gave us very discouraging accounts of the travelling in the island, saying there were no inns, but that we must go up to people's houses, and depend on their hospitality ; that there were no horses to be hired, and if we wanted any, we should have to buy a pair ; " but don't you know people on the island," etc., etc.

Late in the afternoon we rounded the flat low point of Port Eoyal and picked up a black pilot, who was to take us up to Kingston. Port Eoyal is situated at the end of a long sandy spit called the Palisades, which entirely defends the harbour of Kingston from the sea. It was formerly a row of islets, but to protect the country

PORT ROYAL.

from the attacks of the buccaneers the Spaniards filled up the openings between them with posts, and since that the sand has silted them up entirely, and it is now a continuous spit of land, and hence got its name of the Palisades.

Port Koyal, famous for yellow fever, sharks and landcrabs, is built at the end of this spit, where it becomes broader, and here lie the men-of-war and here are the commissariat stores, barracks, etc. Formerly, old Port Koyal stood further out, but it was entirely submerged by an earthquake in 1692, and now there is deep water close to the point. We were boarded by the men-of-war's boats for the mails, the frigates Shannon and Rosario lying there. It was doubtful at first whether we should proceed up to Kingston that night. However, we sent out boats with lanthorns to the principal buoys, and feeling our way carefully with the lead going, we arrived safely at the wharf at Kingston.

Colonel Nelson, who had come out with us, and I, immediately went on shore, guided by an old resident, who was to show us the best boarding-house in the town, to which we were to go on our return from Panama. This old resident had been sent, on some government service, to report on the Island of Sombrero, and as he had lived for a long time in Jamaica, we tried to get all the information we could from him ; but

KINGSTON.

although he praised to the utmost everything in the island, he did not give us, as travellers, much encouragement ; and as for our trip to Mexico, he did nothing but shake his head at the thought of it. I fancied all the time that I had seen him before, and kept thinking where I could have heard his melancholy voice. Australia and the South Seas he had been in, Chili, Peru, and many other places where I had been, At last, he showed me some sketches, and then 1 thought that I recognised the stiff style ; and on f further questioning, I found that we had been in Lima at the same time ; and then I remembered that I, with Mr. Pitt Adams (who was then minister there), had looked over his portfolio, and that this old fellow, who was now shaking his head about our intended trip to Mexico, had actually persuaded me not to go there, when I was in Lima fourteen years before. With this gentleman, then, we passed through the company's coal wharf, where cocoa-nut and elate trees overshadow huge mountains of coal, and went into the streets. But, oh ! what streets, and what a town ! It was moonlight, and though this softened down everything, it could not conceal the desolation and ruinous look of these streets. They were unpaved and nearly ankle-deep in dust ; no footway, except in some of the streets near the harbour, where there was often a disjointed piece in front of a house, and

KINGSTON.

this piece usually finished a foot above or below the next one. This made it still more dangerous, as the town was utterly unlighted.

Before each house were steps, and on each side of the steps heaps of earth and rubbish, so that the only safe place whereon to walk wis the middle of the street. Then the houses all seemed to be in the last stage of decay. Eailings in front with brick pillars tumbling down ; doors gone, or hanging by one hinge ; windows patched with boards ; roofs falling in, in fact, in every form of unpicturesque ruin. If one house was in tolerable repair, the next would very likely be railed in more like an English pigstye than anything else. Each house had brick steps, but the last step was always twice as high as it ought to have been, for the road seemed to have been washed away from it ; and that was probably the case, as the streets became large muddy water-courses in the rainy season, and are then difficult to cross. Canoes are sometimes paddled up them, and I know a gentleman who, having to dine with another at the other side of the street, took off his shoes and stockings to walk across, putting them on again when safe on the other side.

The houses could never have been good. I did not see a piece of cut stone in the whole town, and the brickwork looked as if all the mortar had been picked out of it.

BREAKFAST ON SHORE.

We walked through the dust up Duke Street, and at last stopped at one of these houses, better looking, perhaps, than most of the others, but still we did not guess why we stopped there, till our friend rang the bell and told us that this was the boarding-house where we were to stay. Having ascended the dangerous steps we found it much better than its outside appearance led us to suppose. There were really good rooms, with a verandah and polished oak floor. Nice bedrooms, altogether comfortable, and as good as any place possibly could be in Kingston. It was nicely furnished ; but curiously enough the first thing that caught my eye in one of the rooms was a print of Castleacre, a ruin near my own house.

We arranged that we should stay at this house on our return from Panama, and then went on to one of the hotels (Barkly House) to order breakfast for the morrow, — thinking we could get a better breakfast on shore than on board the steamer. Indeed, we then had visions of fresh flying-fish, landcrabs, and all sorts of West Indian delicacies * but we found our mistake in the morning, for we had to breakfast on bad coffee, ridiculously tough beefsteak, and fried bacon. And this was Kingston, and here on our return we were to stop a fortnight, and my friend the Colonel for five years !

To our surprise the next morning was rainy.

GOOD SHOPS.

The ship was coaling, and at daybreak, with the rising sun, it was a busy and picturesque scene. The coal was all carried up on black women's heads. After I had had a delightful bath on shore at the Company's wharf, we went to breakfast, and then walked about the town to buy a few things we wanted.

The shops were tolerably good, especially the drapers, and were full of everything that could be wanted. Full, too, of customers, principally coloured ladies, and they seemed to drive a 'flourishing trade ; but business seemed mostly to be in the hands of the children of Israel, and Lazarus, Moses, and Levy were the commonest names. The town looked no better by daylight, in fact, in some things rather worse, and put one most in mind of Monte Video as I saw it once during the siege. And this, as already said, was Kingston, the chief town of our most important West Indian Island, — Kingston, which was formerly so rich that every planter lived like a prince, and kept open house for everyone. But I saw no signs that it had ever been rich ; no large houses, even in ruins ; no remains of grandeur. The only solid looking things were the aforesaid brick steps to the houses. In Spanish towns, however bygone, we generally see some remains of prosperity — well built church towers, handsome facades of

GOOD SHOPS.

convents, arches, or fortifications ; but here was nothing, and if Kingston were shaken down by an earthquake, a few heaps of bricks would be the only remains to mark the spot.