RAH&
ra >>o
mpf
Accessions
Slielf No.
GIVET^ BY
» f
A
PICTURESQUE TOUR
OF
^mia a^obiisriD ^15^
JAMAICA,
FROM
DRAWINGS MADE IN THE YEARS 1820 and 1821,
2Y
JAMES HAKEWILL,
AUTHOR OF THE " PICTURESQUE TOUR OF ITALY,"
ic. ie. ^c.
LONDON:
HURST AND ROBINSON, PALL-MALL; E. LLOYD, HARLEY STREET.
1825.
^^ ^ f 3 ^
M) X'Ui ^ '^-^'^^'^ ^ ^
,/
}~4
LONDON:
PRINTED BTf COX AND BAYLIS, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLn's-INN FIELDS.
Lp
TO
THE NOBLEMEN AND GENTLEMEN,
PROPRIETORS OF ESTATES
m THE
TO
THE RESIDENT GENTLEMEN,
(From many of whom the Author received so much kindness) ;
AND TO
THE MERCHANTS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM,
CONNECTED WITH THOSE VALUABLE COLONIES ;
THIS
IPa(Sl'TOIig(Qeii ir®I!JIE ©IF TTIHIE a^ILAMB ©IF ^AMAWA
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY THEIR MOST OBEDIENT,
AND VERY HUMBLE SERVANT,
JAMES HAKEWILL.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2009 with funding from
Boston Public Library
http://www.archive.org/details/picturesquetouroOOhake
DIRECTIONS FOR THE BINDER.
TITLE.
DEDICATION.
ARRANGEMENT of the WORK, and LIST of
VIEWS TAKEN IN JAMAICA.
INTRODUCTION.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
ARRANGEMENT OF PLATES.
No. 1 . Spanish Town.
2. Bridge at Spanish Town.
3. Kingston and Port Royal from Windsor Farm.
4. King-street, Kingston.
5. M'aterfall on the Windward Road.
6. Holland Estate, St. Thomas in the East.
7. Golden Vale, Portland.
8. Spring Garden Estate, St. George's.
9. Agualta Vale.
10. Bridge over the White River, St. Mary's.
11. Port Maria.
12. Trinity Estate, St. Mary's.
13. Cardiff' Hall.
14. Mount Diablo.
15. Bog Walk.
16. WilliamsBeld, St. Thomas in the Vale.
17. Bryan Castle Estate, Trelawny.
18. Montego Bay, from Reading Hill.
19. Montpelier Estate, St. James's.
20. Rose Hall, St. James's.
21. Whitney Estate, Clarendon.
VIEWS TAKEN IN JAMAICA,
By JAMES HAKEWILL.
Akcedecxne, C. Esq. — Mill Yard and Works, Golden Grove, St. Thomas in the East.— Batchelor's Hall, Penn, Ditto,
Admiral's, Penn, — View looking to Port Royal,
Blagrove, John, Esq.' — Approach to Cardiff-Hall, St. Ann's,— Cardiff-Hall. — Ditto. — Overseer's House,— Orange Valley, St.
Ann's, Works from the Overseer's House. — Ditto from the West — Orange- Bay Estate, Hanover. — Maggotty Estate. — Five
Views from various points.
Beckfokd, William, Esq Tliree Views of Drax Hall, St. Ann's.
Beckford, Horace, Esq Works on Shrewsbury Estate, Westmoreland.
Beckford, Heirs of. — Plead of Roaring River; Roaring River Estate, Westmorland.
Brisset, Esq.— Content Estate, Hanover.
Baillie, J. Esq. — Roehampton Estate, St. James's.
Bog Walk.—
Barrett, S. M. Esq. — Works on Cinnamon Hill, St. James's
Brvan, W., Esq — Buildings on the Bog Estate, Portland. — View from the Great House, looking to Port Antonio. — Two Views
from Shotover Penn ; the one looking westward along the sea-sliore, the other inland to the Blue Mountains.
Bath," — View in the principal street.
Bayly, C, N., Esq. — Rosslyn Estate, St. Mary's. — Trinity Estate, ditto. — Brimmer- Hall Estate, ditto. — Tryall Estate, ditto.
Campbell, P., Esq. — Fish-River Estate, Hanover.
Cunningham, J. Esq. — Bellfield, St. James's. — Biddeford, Trelawney; two views.
Clarke, Sir S. H., Bart. — Retirement, St. James's, — Cacoon Castle Penn, Hanover; two views. — Long Pond, Trelawney, — Hamj,-
shire, ditto. — Mahogany Hall Penn, ditto; two views,— Warwick Castle, St. Mary's.
CooRE, H., Esq.,— Pembroke Estate, Trelawney ; two views.
Crossly, B., Esq. — Lennox Estate; two views.
CussANS, T., Esq. — Amity Hall, Great House, St. Thomas in the East. — Ditto, Works from the Great House.
Cargill, M. E., Esq. — Haiiiing from the Top House, Hector's River, St. Thomas in the East. ■
Cope, I. F., Esq. — Belvidere Estate, St. Thomas in the East; two views. ■
Dickinson and H.vrman. — View of the Overseer's House, Pepper Penn.
Dudley and Ward, Viscount. — Whitney Estate, Clarendon.
Dehany, Mrs. — View from the Point Estate, Hanover, over Lucca, of the Works looking over Paradise Estate to Montego Bay.
Dawkins, H., Esq. — Treadways, St. Thomas in the Vale; two views,
Donaldson, Heirs of. — Stoakes Hall, St. Tliomasin the East.
Ellis. C. R. Esq. M.P New Works, Montpelier, St. James's; two views. — Old Works, ditto. — Genera! View. — Shetllewood
Penn, Hanover : three views,
Edwards, Bryan, Esq, — Estate of — Dove Hall, St. Thomas in the Vale.
Fairclough, W., Esq. — Dumfries Estate ; two views.
Falmouth, Town of. — From Clermont Estate,
Fuller, Peake, Esq. — Thetford Eslate, Luida's Vale,
Franklyn, Mrs Weston Favell, Trelawney; three views.
Gordon, George, Esq, — Distant View of Moor Park, St. James's.
Gordon, J, Esq — Glasgow, St. James's ; two views.
Gordon, Robert, Esq,, M P Paisley, St. James's; two views. — Windsor Lodge.
Gale, Edward M, Esq. — Gale's Valley, Trelawney; two views. — York Estate; three views..— .Source of the Marthae Bras Ri^er.
Gardiner, Edward, Esq Flint River, Hanover.
Grant, Meek and Green Bryan Cgstle, Trelawney; three views.
Grant, Sir Alexander. — Charlcmont Penn, St. Thornas in the Vale ; two views.
Grossett, J. R,, E^q , M.P. — Spring Garden Estate; two views.
Green Island.— View from Haugliton Court (vide Haugliton, James, Esq.)
Holland, Lord. — Friendship Estate, Westmoreland. — Sweet River Penn, ditto.
Harewood, Earl of - Nightingale Grove, St. Dorothy's; two views. — Williamsfield, St. Thomas in the Vale; two views.
Hawthorn, , Esq. — Amity Hall, St. Ann's; two views.
16
Hyatt, , Esq., Estate of. — Mount Plenty, St. Ann's.
Hyde, , Esq. — Hyde Estate, Trelawney.
Hamilton, G. W., Esq. — Providence Esl.ite, St. Thomas in the East; two views. — Windsor Castle Estate.
Hall, Jasper, Esq. — Hector's River Estate.
Harvey and Kemys.— Plaintain Garden River ; two views.
HiBBERT, Thomas, Esq. — Hibbert's House, Kingston. — Agualta Vale, Penn; three views.
HiBEERT, Robert, Esq., Sen. — Great Valley, Hanoier; three views. — Albion Estate, St. David's.
HiBBERT, Robert, Esq., Jun Georgia Estate, Hanover ; three views.
HiGsoN, Thomas, Esq. — Windsor Farm ; two views.
Haughton, James, Esq. — Haughton Hall and Green Island; two views.
Innis, Capt. James. — Soraerton Estate, St. James's.
Johnson, G. R., Esq. — Springfield, looking westward.
KiNQSTOv, City of — From Windsor Farm. — From Port Henderson — Parade. — King Street ; two views. — Harbour Street. Duke
Street (Hibbert's House). — Cocoa-nut Tree Walk.
I.TON, David, Esq. — Barnstaple, Trelawney.
Lucea.— From the Point Estate (Mrs. Dehany's), from Minden Hall, from Mr. Malcolm's.
Luida's Vale. — With the rel.itive situations of Thetford, Worthy Park, Tydixton Park, and Swansea.
MoNTEGO Bay. — From the Long Hill. — Entrance from the East.
Mitchell, W., Esq. — Phoenix Park, St. Ann's ; three views.
Mandeville.' — View from the Road.
Murray, Walter, Esq. — Dundee, Hanover; two views.
Murray, W., Esq, — Latium Estate, St. James's.
Mount Diablo — Lookingover St. Thomas's on the East.
Needham, General.— Mount Olive St. Thomas's in the Vale Natural Bridge, ditto.
Palmer, C. R., Esq.— Rose Hall, St. James's; two views.
Palmer, C. N., Esq., and M. Dawson, Esq. — Prospect St. Mary's; two views.
Phillifs, N. Esq. — Pleasant Hill Estate ; two views.
Port Antonio Four views.
Plaintain Garden Rzver Valley. — General View, showing the relative situations of Winchester, Golden Grove, Ducketifield,
Wheelerfield, Hordly, Amity Hall, Holland, Stoakes Hall, Suffolk Park Penn, Plaintain Garden River, Batchelor's Hall Penn,
and Port Morant.
Port Maria. — St. Mary's.
Price, Sir Rose, Bart. — Worthy Park, Luida's Vale ; two views. — General View of Luida's Vale.
Rio NuEvo Bay.
Rio Nuevo River.
Rickets, G. W., Esq.— New Canaan Estate, St. James's.
Reid, G., Senior, Esq. — Friendship, Trelawney ; two views.
Reid, G. Junior, Esq. — Bunker's Hill Estate.
Reynolds, C, Esq Clermont, looking to Falmouth.
Roaring River Cascade, St. Ann's.
Rio Bueno.
Ross, John, Esq. — Works from the Great House.
Spanish Town. — View of the King's Square. — Iron Bridge ditto. — King's House. — House of Assembly. — Rodney's Temple.
Shirley, Esq. — Hyde Hall ; four views Etingdon.
Simpson, J., Esq. — Bounty Hall. — Trelawney. — Tileston.
Stirling, A., Esq. — Hampden, St. James's. — Frontier, St. Mary's.
Smith, F. G., Esq. — Goshen Penn, St. Elizabeth's ; two views. — Long Hill; two views.
Swaby, J., Esq. — St Elizabeth, from Pleasant Prospect.
Steel, J , Esq. — Spring Bank, looking to Port Antonio. — Ditto to Golden Vale. — Golden Vale.
St. Ann's Bay.— General View, including from Columbus' Cave to Seville Point.
St. Andrew's. — View Mount Zion Coffee Plantation.
St. Eiizabeth. — Two Views from Longwood. — View from Mr. Swaby's, shewing the relative situations of Two-mile Wood, the
Bogue, Peppef Penn, Goshen ditto, Lacovia, New River Penn, Lancaster, Elira, Robinson's Fort, and Nassau Mountains.
Shand, Hon. William. — Hopewell Penn, St. Ann's.
Sband, John, Esq. — Kellit's Estate, Clarendon. — Belmont Estate, St.John's.
Tharp, John, Esq. — Good- Hope Estate. — Pantrepant. — Potosi. — Covy.— Lansquinet. — Top- Hill Penn. — Windsor Penn.
Tharp, J., Esq. — Dean's Valley Water-works, St. Elizabeth's.
Taylor, G. W., Esq., M.P. — Lyssons, St. Thomas in the East Holland Estate; three views. — Haughton Court, Hanover. —
Situation of the same above Lucca. — Llanrumny, St. Mary's.
Tharp, F., Esq Three Hills, St. Mary's.
Vacghan, Hon. J. — Westmoreland, from Caledonia.
Up Park Camp.
Wedderburn, , Esq. — Spring Garden Estate ; three views.
Wykn, Lascelles, Esq. — Marly Castle, St. James. — Adelphi Works, ditto.
White River. — View of the Bridge near Davis.
Wordy, Miss — SchuUembourg, St. Ann's.
Waterfall. — On the Windward Road.
Westmoreland, from Caledonia. — General View shewing the relative situations of Bath Estate, Amity, Great House, Carawina
Estate, Anglesea, and Sweet River Penns, Paradise Estate, Savannah le Mar, Dean's Valley Dry Works, Fort William Estate,
Roaring River Estate, Friendship Estate, Shrewsbury Estate, Mesopotamia, Petersfield, Cornwall, Frome, and Hertford Penn.
INTRODUCTION.
The Title of " Picturesque Tour" has been appropriated to any work
intended to convey a general idea of the surfaces and external appear-
ances of a country, without undertaking to develope its moral and political
institutions. The Tour which is here submitted to the attention of the
Public, was professedly and exclusively picturesque, and it is hoped
that the conditions of the Prospectus will be found to have been
fulfilled in the execution of the work. But a residence of nearly two years
in the island of Jamaica must be pleaded as the Author's apology for offer-
ing, also, a few remarks on the moral condition of some parts of its inha-
bitants ; first, the Negroes. As slaves these are, undoubtedly, subject to
be sold ; but large purchases of Negroes, unless with the estate on which
they are settled, and which would be useless without them, are not often
made. Except what are called jobbing gangs, which sometimes, though
rarely, may amount to from twenty to twenty-five in number, the only
transfers which take place are of domestic or tradesman negroes, and no
man would venture to buy a slave that had not previously agreed to live
with him. If he did, the slave would inevitably run away ; for while
the purchaser requires a good character with the negro, the latter is equally
alive to obtaining a knowledge of the habits and disposition of his future
master. One or two facts will illustrate the nature and manner of these
transfers. While the author was on the Montpelier estates, the resident
carpenter, Mr. Thomas, had ten negroes, of whom, as he intended to
leave Jamaica, he was desirous of disposing. He desired them to find
themselves a master, proposing only to negociate the sale with a person
with whom they could place themselves to their satisfaction. After some
time they came to him with information that they were willing to serve
Dr. Pierce, of Belle Vue, who was desirous of engaging them, and with him
Mr. Thomas afterwards concluded the bargain. The negroes had pre-
viously arranged with Dr. Pierce, their provision grounds, clothing, days
of rest, and all the particulars of their allowances. And this is not con-
fined to sales by private contract : the author was present at a public sale
A 2
of negroes at Kingston, where a gentleman, accompanied by a friend,
came up to a negro about to be submitted to the hammer, and (in the
author's hearing) after a few preliminary questions, asked him if he would
be disposed to live with him, described the nature of his work, the situa-
tion of his coffee plantation in Liguanea, and every inducement that
occurred to him. His friend calling to the negro's recollection an old
acquaintance, suggested that he must remember him lean and sickly ; he
was now on the same plantation healthy and fat. The negro consented to
live on the plantation, and the gentleman purchased him.
With regard to their comforts it is to be remarked, that nearly the whole
of the markets of Jamaica are supplied with every species of vegetable and
fruit by the overplus of the negro's produce, by which traffic they acquire
considerable riches. On Holland estate, in St. Thomas in the East, the
negroes keep a boat, which trades regularly between that place and King-
ston, and these grumble as much at the low price of yams and plantains as
an English farmer at the fall of corn.
Riding in that neighbourhood at Christmas, the author met a negro
driving a mule heavily laden; the man was head cattle-man on Batchelor's
Hall Penn, belonging to A. Arcedekne, Esq., an appendage to his fine
estate of Golden Grove. He had been at Morant Bay for his Christmas
stock, and had purchased a cask of wine, a ham, and many other luxuries,
which with his poultry of every description, of which he had abundance,
and the estate allowance of fresh beef, would enable him to keep open
house for three days for all his acquaintance. This man being an expert
cattle doctor, had frequently leave of absence ; and at his return, after the
lapse of a fortnight, would bring home a very considerable sum of money.
This is an indulgence granted very generally to expert and well disposed
negroes on the principal grazing farms ; but even those apparently the
least capable may accumulate large sums. While on a visit in the neigh-
bourhood of Arcadia estate, in Trelawny, the author was told that an old
woman had brought the attorney a large sum of money, to be sent to the
proprietor in England as her free gift. Though he neither doubted the
possibility nor the credit of the story, he was, nevertheless, willing to have
it from the best authority ; and when at Bellfield, the residence of William
Miller, Esq. attorney to Arcadia estate, he made inquiries of him. Mr.
Miller directed the book of Arcadia estate to be brought, and pointed to
the following entry :
5
" Aug. 2, 1810. — ^This sum, received of an old Eboe negro woman, named
Martia, to be transmitted to England for the benefit of her young master,
" In dollars 72
" In macaronies 40
" In ten pences 20
" In doubloons 16
" Small change 2
£150.
j>
Mr. Miller remonstrated with her upon her wish to divert so large a sum
from her family ; but she only replied, that she had enough left for them
and to bury herself ; how much more she might have had was never ascer-
tained. The occasion of this donation was a report which had reached
her that the estate was to be sold, and imagining that a portion of her
savings might be of use to her owner, she thus generously ofi^ered them.
Now this was an old imported negi-ess, and it proves incontestably two facts :
first, that she must have been amply supplied with every comfort of life to
have been able to sell so much provision (the only mode she had of acquir-
ing moneys ; and secondly, she must have been well treated or she would
not have made so afl'ecting a return of gratitude.
In bringing forward this evidence of the personal comfort of the negro
population, the Author is desirous of being understood as by no means ad-
vocating slavery on principle ; or asserting that the situation of the negro
would not still admit of amelioration ; they must, indeed, be a favoured race,
to whose condition no further enjoyment could be added. But while its
inhumanity is made a favourite topic of invective against a system, on the
maintenance of which the interests or the safety of the colonies appear to
be committed, it may be considered to be sufficient for the purpose of vin-
dicating it from this charge, to shew that its practical operation is not des-
tructive of the negro's comfort; that his circumstances are ordinarily easy,
and frequently aflluent ; and that in the scale of physical enjoyment, the
condition of the slave population of our colonies is equal or superior to the
generality of the working classes of the free communities of Western
Europe. Against this an argument is sometimes drawn, from the adver-
tisements in the public papers for the recovery of runaway negi'oes, as if
the disinclination of a slave to work, were a proof of the cruelty with which
he is treated ; or that in a population of 300,000 of the lowest class of a
6
community, it is to be expected that, even with kind treatment, all would
be more inclined to work than to remain idle — more attentive to their duties
than alive to their pleasures. It is, in fact, in contemplation of the condition
of these runaway negroes, that the difficulty presents itself of forming from
them a working population. The Healthshire Hills, in the parish of St,
Catherine, are the favourite haunts of the runaways of that side of the
island, who establish themselves there until their numbers attract the
attention of the government, which is obliged to call for the aid of the
military to dislodge them. Suppose the negro emancipated, what motive
would he have for working .'' Of the surface of Jamaica, containing in all
2,724,265 acres, 1,914,809 acres are, according to Robertson's survey,
uncultivated, consisting chiefly of mountain land, the greater part uii-
ciaimed, and open to the occupation of the first settler. In a state of
liberty, the negro wants little or no clothing ; the work of a few hours will
supply him with provisions for as many months ; and with what more could
labour furnish him ? Unlike the peasant of Europe, who if he do not work
must starve, he has only to betake himself to the woods, where, if no law
gives the power of dislodging him, he will immediately find himself at
ease, and look with perfect indifference on all beyond his hut and his
plantain ground. In this point, Jamaica differs from some other islands,
in which there are no provision grounds, in lieu of which the negroes are
regularly paid a sum of money, with which they go to the market of im-
ported provisions. The stoppage of that allowance would lay them under
the necessity of working, as it would leave them without resource. To
these remarks on the negro population the author has only to add, that
during his" residence in Jamaica, in the course of which he visited every
parish in the island, remaining on many estates only for a single day
(a time too short to admit of any change in a system of severity which an
overseer might have adopted), on others for two months (a period
throughout which deception could hardly be kept up), he confidently
avers, that he never witnessed the infliction of a cruel or unmanly punish-
ment.
To one point of the moral condition, also, of the white inhabitants of the
island, the author is desirous of inviting attention, because the greatest
portion of the prejudice existing with respect to the state of society in the
island is drawn from that source : he alludes to the connexion formed
between them and the black or coloured females. But in all societies we
must take the greatest positive good with the least positive evil ; and it can
easily be imagined that the system which time has sanctioned, and which,
with all its inconvenience, has hitherto admitted of no change, has its
foundation in circumstances too strong to be easily controlled. We have
only to judge of the case by comparing it with our European habits, and
every feeling of justice and propriety will soon be enlisted in the cause of
Qur transatlantic countrymen. Let us not draw a too frightful picture of
our system : but we must for a moment dwell on the number of human
beings living by the prostitution of charms, which might have been their
passport to honest and honourable society, sacrificing their health to the
brutality of their more degraded fellow-creatures, and filling the public
theatres and streets with the exhibition of lewdness, misery, and shame.
And does the horror of the system end here .? do the sufferings of so many
wretched beings close the catalogue of ills ? Would to God it did ! But
we have seduction in all its forms ; we have the dreadful crime of child
murder, made more horrible by the punishment which follows its detection.
The poor wretch, whose maternal feelings would have prompted her to a
far different course, sees in the birth of her infant, only want and beggary,
her character blasted, and her means of providing for her child made more
than doubtful by its birth — she has recourse to the alternative from which
humanity shrinks appalled — if successful in the concealment of her crime,
her better feelings are gone for ever ; if detected, she pays by the forfeit of
her life, a crime on which she was precipitated by the system. Let the
experience of every family speak for the other numerous evils of our system,
in the loss of health or fortunes, which every one has suffered in some one
of its members. Let us now turn to Jamaica, where we shall find none of
these horrors ; where the eye is not shocked by the sad spectacle of female
debasement, nor the soul harrowed by the dismal sound of preparation for
the punishment of a crime, equally pitied and condemned. Is then the air
of Jamaica so favourable to virtue, or does the warmth of the sun refine
the manners ? No, the system only is different. On his arrival, a young man
looks in vain for the indulgence of his English habits ; he finds no opportu-
nity of indiscriminate gratification ; and he is soon taught, that the only
means of securing to himself the comfort of female attention, is by forming
a connexion nearly as binding as matrimony, and to which almost all would
incline, could they find a female of education who would, at the same time,
share his present humble state, and be equal to his fortunes when the
prospects he indulges in of affluence and independence are realized. Could
c
8
his young feelings so fix lie would be happy ; but as a substitute he takes
what offers, and attaches himself to one female, whom he rarely afterwards
deserts. Notoriously good mothers, he soon sees himself surrounded by a
family on which his best feelings may be placed ; and whenever the mo-
ment shall arrive which shall see him so far master of his fortunes as to
allow him to form a more honourable connexion, his partner sees no
duplicity in his conduct, nor considers it a desertion of principle, expecting
only a proper provision for herself and family. Nor are the numbers who
submit to this course of life considerable, when compared with the popu-
lation. Since the provisions of the legislature have removed every restric-
tion from the unlimited possession of property by the free-coloured inhabi-
tants, marriage is almost universal among them, and the natural conse-
quence presents itself in a coloured population, growing in affluence and
respectability.
It is for the philanthropist and the statesman to determine between the
two evils which are here compared (and evils they are fully admitted to
be, although the experience of the most remote antiquity would seem to
prove that they are inseparable from a state of society) ; between regu-
lated concubinage and promiscuous and unlimited indulgence ; between an
engagement which secures independence to the mother and protection to
the child, and a connexion attended with infamy and abandonment to its
degraded victim, and involving the unhappy offspring in all the bitter con-
sequences of it's mother's guilt; between, in short, an institution favourable
to the multiplication of the species and the sobriety of the individual, and
a system which dries up the sources of population, that " induces habits of
ungovernable lewdness, contracts the understanding, and depraves the
heart." But if a frame of mind, manly, sober, and undissipated — if do-
mestic habits and affections— if the prevention of female misery and a
growing population, be advantages, they are the attendants of this calum-
niated system ; a system which impresses on vice — or more properly irre-
gularity— a character of amiability and decency, which makes illicit grati-
fication subservient to the pui-poses of public expediency and domestic
happiness : a system, be it remembered, which originates in circumstances
of local privation, and which, in favourable contrast with the licentious
European, presents the better disciplined inhabitant of a warmer hemi-
sphere, continent, faithful and domestic — a voluntary husband, and a useful
citizen.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
or THE
ISLAND OF JAMAICA
Jamaica was discovered by Christopher Columbus, in his second
expedition to the New World. In his former voyage he had explored
the north-eastern part of Cuba, proceeding from thence to Hispaniola ;
but he had returnedto Europe in doubt whether Cuba was an island
only, or part of some great continent, of which he had received obscure
accounts from the natives. To satisfy himself in this particular, he
determined, soon after his arrival a second time at Hispaniola, on another
voyage to Cuba, by a south-westerly course ; and, in pursuance of this
resolution, on the 24th of April 1494, he sailed from the port of Isabella,
with one ship and two shallops. On Tuesday the 29th, he anchored in
the harbour of St. Nicholas. From thence he crossed over to Cuba, and
coasted along the southern side of that island, surrounded by many
thousand canoes, filled with Indians, whom curiosity and admiration had
brought together. In this navigation, on Saturday the 3d May, he
discovered, for the first time, the high lands of Jamaica on the left, and,
probably, learnt its name (the name which it still retains) from some of
the Indians that foUowed him. The early Spanish historians wrote the
word Xaymaca. It is said to have signified, in the language of the
natives, a country abounding in springs. As this was a new discovery,
and many of the seamen were willing to believe that it was the place to
which they had formerly been directed by the Indians of the Bahama
Islands, as the country most abounding in gold, Columbus was easily
persuaded to turn his course towards it. He approached it the next day,
and after a slight contest with the natives, which ended, however, in a
cordial reconcUiation, he took possession of the country with the usual
formalities. Jamaica remained under the power of Spain until the pro-
tectorate of Cromwell, when, after the unsuccessful attack upon St.
Domingo, in 1655, the fleet under Admiral Penn, Vice Admiral
Goodson, and Rear Admiral Blagge, and the land forces under
General Venables, arrived at Port Caguaya (Port Royal) on the 9th of
May. Next evening the troops landed at Passage Fort, which was fortified
with nine pieces of cannon, and had a garrison of 500 men. Little
resistance having been made, about a week after a capitulation was
B
10
ratified on the part of the English, by Major-General Fortescue, Vice
Admiral Goodson, and Colonels Holdip and D'Oyley. By the letter of
Venables to the secretary Thurloe, dated June 13, 1655, we learn that
St. Jago de la Vega (Spanish Town) was at that time the capital. Of the
other principal settlements, the chief appears to have been Puerto de
Caguaya, since named, by the English, Port Royal ; to the westward of
Caguaya was the Puerto de Esquivella, which was still resorted to by the
galleons, and, from its ancient reputation, the English named it the Old
Harbour.
From Old Harbour to Punto Negrillo, the western point of the island,
the sea-coast was chiefly in savanna, abounding in horned cattle ; but
there does not appear to have been any settlement in all that great extent
of country, except a small hamlet, called Oristan, of which, however, the
accounts are obscure and contradictory. Returning eastward, to the north
of Port Caguaya, was the Hato of Liguany : presenting to the harbour an
extensive plain or savanna, covered with cedar and other excellent
timber. This part of the country was also abundantly stored with horned
cattle and horses, which run wild in great numbers ; and the first employ-
ment of the English troops was hunting, and slaughtering the cattle for
the sake of the hides and tallow, which soon became an article of export.
It was supposed by Sedgewicke, that the soldiers had killed 20,000 in the
course of the first four months after their arrival : and as to horses, " they
were in such plenty (says Goodson), that we accounted them the vermin of
the country." Eastward of Liguany was the Hato, by some called
Ayala, by others Yalos, and now wrote Yallahs ; a place, says Venables,
" which hath much commodity of planting or erecting of sugar engines of
water, by reason of two convenient rivers running through it for that
purpose." Next to Ayala was the Hato called Morante. " This Morante,"
continues Venables, " is a large and plentiful hato, being four leagues in
length, consisting of many small savannas, and has wild cattle and hogs
in very great plenty, and ends at the mine, which is at the cape or point
of Morante itself, by which, towards the north, is the Port Antonio."
No mention is made of the north side of the island, which gives room to
conclude, as was undoubtedly the fact, that it was one entire desert from
east to west, totally uncultivated and uninhabited. Of the inland parts,
it appears from Sloane, that Guanaboa was famous for its cacao-trees,
and the low lands of Clarendon for plantations of tobacco. The Court of
Spain could not see so valuable a gem torn from its diadem without a wish
11
to replace it ; and its recapture became, towards the end of 1657, an
object of great national concern. Its defenceless state, the dissatis-
faction of the English troops, and the exertions making by Cromwell to
afford them relief, as well as to augment their numbers, led the Governor
of Cuba to believe, that the juncture was then arrived for retrieving the
honour of his country, by the restoration of this island to its dominion.
Having communicated to the Viceroy of Mexico a scheme built on this
idea, and received the sanction and support of that officer, he made pre-
parations for a formidable invasion, and appointed Don Christopher Sosi
Arnold©, who had been governor at the time of its capture, to take the
command of the enterprize. On the 8th of May, 1658, thirty companies
of Spanish infantry landed at Rio Nuevo, a small harbour on the north
side of the island. They were provided with eight months' provision,
ordnance, and ammunition. Twelve days elapsed before D'Oyley, the
governor, knew of their landing, and six weeks more intervened before he
was able to approach them by sea. During this interval, the Spaniards
had established themselves in great force ; but D'Oyley at length reaching
Rio Nuevo, with seven hundred and fifty of his best soldiers, attacked them
in their intrenchments, carried by assault a strong fortress which had
been erected on an eminence over the harbour, and compelled the late
unfortunate governor to get back as he could to Cuba, after the loss of all
his stores, ordnance, ammunition, and colours, and of one-half of the
soldiers he had brought with him. After so signal a defeat, the Spaniards
made no effort of consequence to reclaim Jamaica. A party of the ancient
Spanish inhabitants, however, still lurked in the woods, and Sosi, their
governor, had returned to share their fortunes ; but a body of their fugitive
negroes having surrendered to D'Oyley, informed him where their late
masters were sheltered, and joined some troops that were in pursuit of
them : thus the Spaniards were entirely routed, and the few that survived,
by escaping to Cuba, took their last farewell of a country, their fond
attachment to which it is not possible to reflect upon without emotions of
pity. The island has remained ever since under the quiet dominion
of Great Britain, and must be considered as the most valuable of her
Colonies.
The Island of Jamaica is situated about 4,000 miles south-west of
England, ninety to the west of St. Domingo, about the same distance to the
south of Cuba, and 435 to the north of Carthagena, on the great continent
of South America. The centre of Jamaica lies in 18" 12' north latitude,
B 2
12
and in 76'^ 45' west longitude from London. It is about 150 miles in
length, and on a medium of three measurements, at different parts, about
forty miles in breadth; and contains, according to Robertson's survey, made
in 1801, 2,724,262 acres. It is divided into three counties— Middlesex,
Sun-y, and Cornwall.
Middlesex contains nine parishes : — St. Catharine, St. John, St. Dorothy,
St. Thomas-in-the-Vale, Clarendon, Vere, Manchester, St. Mary, and
St. Ann.
Surry contains seven parishes : — Kingston, Port Royal, St. Andrew,
St. David, St. Thomas-in-the-East, Portland, and St. George.
Cornwall contains five parishes : — St. Elizabeth, Westmorland, Hanover,
St. James, and Trelawney.
The subjoined statement will furnish the best account of the produce of
the island.
GENERAL EXPORTS from Jamaica, between the 29th of September 1820, and the
29th of September 1821.
Tonnage.
Sugar.
Rum.
Molasses.
Coffee.
Ginger.
Pimento.
176,311
Hhds.
110,512
Trs.
11,703
Bbls.
1.972
Puns.
46,702
Hhds.
1,792
Cks.
687
Casks.
167
Lbs.
16,819,863
Cks.
984
Bags.
271
Casks.
1,224
Bags.
24,817
Cocoa.
Cotton.
Indigo.
Hides.
Logwood.
Fustic.
Nica-wood.
Lignum.
Mahogany.
Cedar.
Lance-
wood.
Casks.
640
Bags.
57
Bales.
7,211
Bags.
987
Seroons.
406
No.
7,420
Tons.
4,964
Tons.
1,313
Tons.
241
Tons.
741
Logs.
2,757
Logs.
1,411
Spars.
9,656
To this may be added, as a proof of the immense value of these posses-
sions to the commerce and manufactures of England, the Official Value
of Imports and Exports from and to the West-Indies : —
Imports.
Exports
British and Irish produce and Manufacture
Foreign and Colonial Merchandize
1819.
8,347,235
5,516,816
267,736
5,784,553
1820.
7,887,688
4,197,975
292,033
4,490,008
1821.
8,011,335
4,038,222
308,820
4,437,042
The returns of 1825 made the slave population 317,138. The free-
coloured and white inhabitants may each be estimated at about 25,000.
13
The government of the island is confided to William Duke of Man-
chester, to which his Grace was originally appointed in 1808.
His Majesty's Council are —
President, Hon. Geo. Cuthbert.
The Hon. Robt. Johnston,
The Hon. W. J: Hall,
The Hon. R. O. Vassell,
The Hon. J. M. Whyte.
The Hon. Wm. Rowe,
The Hon. Wm. Burge,
The Hon. W. J. Stevenson,
The Hon. Rob. Moulton,
The Hon. Sam. Jackson,
Clerk, Wm. Bullock, Esq.
Assist. Do. and Librarian, W. Hewitt, Esq.
Usher of the Black Rod and Messenger, Anthony Davis, Esq.
Chaplain, Rev. Lewis Bowerbank.
(A
Aikman, Alex. Esq.
Bayley, Alex. Esq.
Berry, C. P. Esq.
Bayly, Wentworth, Esq,
Burke, Henry, Esq.
Barnes, Jos. Esq.
Blyth, John, Esq.
Brown, Haniilton, Esq.
Clare, Sir M. B.
Cox, Hon. Henry
Dick, A. Esq.
Farquharson, Hon. C.
Finlayson, Hon. D.
Grant, C. Esq.
Gordon, H. Esq.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
General Election took place in July,
Speaker, Hon. David Finlayson,
Grignon, W. S. Esq.
Heath, Wm. Esq.
Higgin, Isaac, Esq.
Hyston, W. H. Esq.
Hodgson, Hon. A.
Hanson, J. Esq.
Hamilton, G. W. Esq.
Holmes, J. Esq.
Jackson, Hon. J. R.
James, Hugo, Esq.
Lunan, J. Esq.
Lynch, L. Esq.
Lambie, W. Esq.
Mitchell, Hector, Esq.
Mais, J. Esq.
1820.)
Marshall, Geo. Esq.
Minto, W. Esq.
Macpherson, R. Esq.
Plummer, H. W. Esq.
Passley, H. J. Esq.
Rennalls, Hon. W. R.
Robertson, Hon. P.
Stewart, Hon. James
Shand, W. Esq.
Stimpson, Hon. W.
Townshend, G. H. Esq.
Williams, Hon. J.
Wright, J. Esq.
Williams, M. Esq.
Yates, T. L. Esq.
Clerk, J. G. Vidal, Esq.
Serjeant at Arms, J. D. Smith, Esq.
Chaplain, Rev. J. Alves.
Printer, A. Aikman, Esq.
Librarian, W. G. Nunes, Esq.
Island Agent in Great Britain, George Hibbert, Esq.
^
^
o
■.i
BRIDGE OVER THE RIO COBRE, AT SPANISH TOWN.
The Iron Bridge, of which we give a view, was erected in the year 1801,
at a cost of four thousand pounds, at which sum it was contracted for by
Messrs. Campbell and Mclntyre. From the year 1766 we find the House of
Assembly constantly engaged on the improvement of the road of communi-
cation between Kingston and Spanish Town, and several acts were passed for
that purpose. The Bill of 1775 made the Commissioners nominated by the
act of 1766 a body politic and corporate, and enabled them to raise a sum
of money upon the toll.
In the year 1788 trustees were appointed for the management of this
fund, and, in the third and fourth sessions of 1791, bills were passed for further
adding to these trustees. In 1796, we again find the House occupied on the
same subject, and a bill passed for the erection of a stone bridge; some dif-
ficulties, however, arising to the execution of this plan, the cast-iron bridge
was at length resolved upon, and erected in 1801.
The banks of the Rio Cobre are naturally steep at this part of the river,
but the road was of necessity much raised above the natural level, in order
to insure a free watercourse at those times when the rainy season swelled the
river to its greatest height, and the vast body of water rolled along with an
impetuosity to which nothing could afford an effectual resistance. The sud-
denness and violence of these risings of the rivers can scarcely be imagined
by reference to European streams. When heavy rains take place in the moun-
tains, the first notice to the traveller is the roaring of the river above; and as
his attention is directed to the point from whence the sound proceeds, he sees
the appalling spectacle of the foaming waves dashing furiously along, and
bearing away in its violence immense trees, which it has rooted up in its pro-
gress, and not unfrequently the bodies of negroes, who have attempted to
pass a well-known ford, but who have been surprised by its unexpected
depth, and carried along by the violence of the stream.
This view is taken from the sloping grounds to the left of the Bridge, in
approaching Spanish Town from Kingston. Under the arch appears the resi-
dence of Angus Kennedy, Esq., Provost Marshal.
\^
v^
^
1
;.^\
KINGSTON AND PORT ROYAL FROM WINDSOR FARM.
The city of Kingston was founded in the year 1693. The plan of it was
drawn by Colonel Lilly, an experienced engineer, and in propriety of design
it is perhaps not excelled by any town in the world. The plan is a paralle-
logram, one mile in length by half a mile in breadth, traversed regularly
by streets and lanes, alternately crossing each other at right angles, except
in the upper part of the town, where a large square is left — but the build-
ings have now spread much beyond the boundary of the original plans.
The harbour is formed by an inlet of the sea, which after passing Port
Royal, divides into two branches : the western, flowing to Passage Fort and
the mouth of the Rio Cobre, forms a small bay of shallow water ; the eastern
branch runs beyond Kingston to Rock Fort, making a course this way of
nine miles in length, and in the broadest part, facing which the town is
situated, of two miles in breadth. For a considerable way above and below
the town, the channel is deep enough to admit ships of the greatest bur-
then ; a thousand sail may anchor here in perfect safety, and the water is
so deep at the wharfs, that vessels of 200 tons lie alongside to deliver their
cargoes. At the bottom of the town, near the water-side, is the market-
place, which is plentifully supplied with butcher's meat, poultry, fish, and
vegetables. The latter are brought from the Liguanea mountains, and are
excellent ; the beef is chiefly from the pastures of Pedros, in St, Ann ; the
mutton from the salt-pan lands in St. Catharine. The square before-men-
tioned, at the upper end of the town, is more generally called the Parade.
On the south side, forming the N. W. angle of King Street, is the parish
church, a plain convenient brick structure, but without any pretensions to
architectural beauty; on the north side are the barracks and theatre : the
former accommodates about 400 men ; the latter will contain about 700
persons ; it belongs to the public, and the performers pay into the public
funds ten pounds for every night of performance. But the handsomest
building in Kingston is the Scotch Church in Duke Street, which was erected
about the year 1814 by a public subscription, from a plan of James De-
lancy, Esq. It is of an octagon figure, extending eighty-six feet nine
inches in the clear, from east to west, and sixty-two feet seven inches from
north to south, having four entrances, east, west, north and south, with a
portico over each entrance. It is calculated to hold 1 ,000 persons. The
number of houses paying tax in Kingston are about 1,300; of the un-
taxed it is difficult to obtain the precise number, but they may be stated
at between three and four hundred.
In 1802 the royal assent was given to the act for constituting Kingston
a corporation, under the name of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of
the City and Parish of Kingston. The election of officers took place on
the 15th of November.
PORT ROYAL
Is situated on the point of a peninsular, or narrow neck of land, called
the Palisadoe, which projecting from the main land about eight miles and
three quarters ^ forms a barrier to the harbour of Kingston against the sea.
The foundation of it was first laid by General Brayne in 1757. It was
then called Cagua, a corruption probably of Ceragua, the Indian name for
the Coratoe or great aloe, which overspreads the adjacent Salt-pan hill. In
1672 it contained eight hundred well-built houses," and twenty years after
the number was increased to two thousand ; it had then attained the height
of its splendour. In 1692 it contained upwards of three thousand five
hundred inhabitants ; the greater number of the houses were of brick
several stories in height, founded close to the very brink of the water, on a
loose bank of land. The fort, which mounted sixty pieces of cannon, and
the rest of the houses, were built on the rocky part of the peninsula. On
the 7th of June 1692, between eleven and twelve o'clock at noon, began
that terrible earthquake, which in two minutes produced such a scene of
devastation. All the principal streets which were next the water sunk at
once, with the people in them; a high rolling sea follow'ed, closing imme-
diately over them. Not less than sixteen hundred were thus swallowed up.
Some of the streets were laid several fathoms under water, and it stood
so high as the upper rooms of those that remained. It is computed that
about two thousand whites and negroes perished ; the harbour had all the
appearance of agitation as in a storm ; and the huge waves rolled with
such violence, as to snap the cables of the ships, drive some from the an-
chors, and overset others.
But the great advantage of the situation again attracted inhabitants, and
by degrees, as the popular fears subsided, the town increased in buildings
and inhabitants (though far short of its former state) till 1703, when it
was destroyed a second time, by fire. This ruinous accident caused another
desertion to Kingston, which thus began to thrive by the decline of her
elder sister. Port Royal was at this period reduced to a very low ebb, yet
it was not wholly abandoned; it possessed some little trade, and was the
favourite resort of the seamen belonging to the men of war and privateers.
But what the earthquake and conflagration had spared was nearly demo-
lished by a violent hurricane, which happened on the 28th August 1722. It
began at eight in the morning, and lasted fourteen hours. Port Royal, as
a place of defence, is deservedly valued. The ships, in advancing towards
the harbour, must necessarily pass between shoals and rocks, through a
difficult channel, in some parts extremely narrow ; and are inevitably ex-
posed to a severe fire, without the possibility of bringing their guns to
bear. Ahead they have a battery of twelve guns, mostly forty-two
pounders, called the twelve apostles, built on a point of Salt-pan hill (above
the range of an enemy's shot), which would rake them the whole way, until
they tacked to steer up the harbour ; they are then exposed to the fire of
this battery on one side, to that of the fort on the other, and in front to
the battery of Fort Augusta. The harbour is about one mile and three
quarters in breadth, but widens further on. The view is taken from
Windsor Farm, the residence of Thomas Higson, Esq., and embraces a
part of the city of Kingston, the harbour, Port Royal, and the mountains
of St. Catherine.
GENERAL EXPORTS from the Port of Kingston, between the 29th of September 1820,
and the 29th day of September 182L
Tonnage.
77,867
Sugar.
Rum.
Casks
of
Molasses.
7
Coffee.
Ginger.
Pimento.
Hhds.
22,643
Tis.
2,239
Bbls.
1,224
Puns.
8,874
Hhds.
625
Casks.
687
Lbs.
9,437,089
Cks.
170
Bags.
98
Cks.
857
Bags.
3,305
Cocoa.
Cotton.
Indigo.
Hides.
Log-
wood.
Fustic.
Nica-
wood.
Lignum.
Mahogany. Cedar.
Lance-
wood.
Cks.
640
Bags.
57
Bales.
7,199
Bags.
955
Seroons.
401
No.
5,029
Tons.
1,580
Tons.
687
Tons.
233
Tons.
492
Logs.
2,045
Logs.
65
Spars.
866
THE KING'S SQUARE, ST. JAGO DE LA VEGA.
St. Jago de la Vega, generally known as Spanish Town, is situated about
thii'teen miles from Kingston, and six from Port Henderson, the nearest ship-
ping places. The road from each is level and excellent. It was fixed upon
as the capital of the Island, after the desertion of Sevilla Nueva, a town on the
north side, near St. Ann's Bay, which had been founded by Juan de Esquivel,
who was appointed governor by Don Diego, the son of Christopher Columbus.
Blome, who compiled a short account of Jamaica, so early as I672, says, that
the town of St. Jago de la Vega consisted of 2,000 houses, two chapels, and
an abbey. At present, the number of houses paying taxes are I68 j but as no
house is assessed unless paying a rent above ^50, the number may probably be
about 600. It is the seat of government, and has been so ever since the con-
quest of the island, with the exception of a short period in 1754 and 1755,
during the government of Charles Knowles, Esq. when five sessions of the
House of Assembly were held in Kingston. The chief ornament of Spanish
Town is the King's Square ; on the east side of which is the House of As-
sembly, on the west the King's House, on the north Rodney's Temple, and on
the south the public offices.
The annexed view exhibits the first three buildings. The interior of the
King's House or residence of the Governor, is well adapted to the cUmate ; the
rooms are spacious and lofty, and the whole is elegantly furnished ; the House
of Assembly is large and convenient ; of Rodney's Temple, a monument so
honourable to the loyal and patriotic feehngs of the island, we shall give a more
enlarged account. On the 20th February 1783, the House of Assembly di-
rected the Committee of Correspondence to write to Stephen Fuller, Esq. the
agent for the island, directing him to apply to the most eminent artist in Eng-
land, to prepare an elegant marble statue of Lord Rodney, to be erected in the
Parade of Spanish Town, in commemoration of the glorious victory obtained by
that gallant commander, and the brave officers and seamen serving under him,
over the French fleet on the 12th of April 1782. In I788 the statue was re-
ceived at Kingston, and its arrival renewing the public feeling towards it, which
the long delay had in some slight measure depressed, a violent struggle com-
menced between Kingston and Spanish Town for the honour of its final pos-
session. A petition was presented to the House of Assembly from the inhabi-
tants of Kingston and Port Royal, in which they stated, " That they had sub-
scribed a large sum of money for the purpose of conveying Avater from the
Hope
Hope River to the Parade at Kingston, by means of which they propose to
form a spacious basin to surround the statue, and that they had lately sub-
scribed a further considerable sum to assist in erecting it ; but that they are
penetrated with the deepest concern to find that a report prevails of its being
intended to be placed in Spanish Town." In this petition every argument to
support the object of the petitioners was urged, but a motion being made in
consequence in the House of Assembly, that the petition be referred to a com-
mittee of the whole House, it was determined in the negative, by the casting
vote of the Speaker alone, the numbers being for entertaining the petition 19,
and 19 for its rejection.
A Committee was then appointed for determining the site in Spanish Town
on which it should be erected, who reported in favour of the Parade, and for
erecting the colonnade and public offices which form the wings.
The statue, executed by the elder Bacon, was erected on the 13th December
1792, and in the evening splendidly illuminated. The whole expense
of this national monument appears to have been £30,918. 8s. 4d, currency of
Jamaica.
The Barracks on the south side of the town are large and commodious.
The Church is an ancient brick structure of no exterior beauty, but contains
some fine monuments, particularly those to the memory of the Earl and
Countess of Effingham and Sir Adam Williamson. The most ancient is an
inscription upon a flat stone in the chancel, to the memory of the wife of Sir
Charles Lyttleton, dated January 1662.
^s
•^
VIEW OF HARBOUR STREET, KINGSTON,
(looking eastward).
Harbour Street and King Street, crossing each other at right angles, are
the principal streets in Kingston. At the corner to the left is the store of Mr.
Netlam Tory, and on the right that of Mr. John Mais, M.A. Further on,
on the same side of the way, is Harty's Tavern, the flag indicating a public
entertainment. Beyond is the Custom-House, marked by its high roof. The
great tree stands in front of Wood's Tavern. The street is terminated, at the
distance of about half a mile, by the residence of Edward Codd, Esq.
Drwtvn oy Jwn^ SdkswiU:
i:7ijrj}.'ii ^/ Sidiurlmd.
c
on the //1//L
''ulmiyul ^in.^loi/^.
n&a7' Kingston.
Tz!l)'as'lut.Ip':z.idi'4.h' M^st.RcbiTisoTi & ly or t^: ':■■
CASCADE ON THE WINDWARD ROAD.
The Cane River dischai-ges itself into the sea, at about the distance
of seven miles from Kingston, on the Windward Road. The road
runs for some way on the sea-beach, passing Rock Fort, where there
is a fine head of spring-water, from which the shipping is supplied,
and from whence it is in contemplation to supply Up-park Camp and
Kingston. Rock Fort is in its situation very like the Torre dei
Confini, near Terracina, forming the boundary-mark between the
dominions of the Pope and the King of Naples ; on the right the
same brilliant sea, on the left the same almost inaccessible mountains ;
the Fort guarding the narrow pass. Leaving his carriage at the Fall
Tavern, a small well served inn, on the road-side, the traveller
proceeds on horseback, through a deep ravine, between mountains
of so great a height as scarcely to admit the rays of the sun. At the
bottom the Cane River takes its devious way, sometimes stretching
in a broad even bed, sometimes urging its impetuous coiu-se among
rocks of considerable magnitude which impede its progress. The
distance from the high road to the Fall is about two miles, and the
river is crossed and re- crossed more than twenty times.
The Fall is formed by the junction at its head of the Cane and
Lucky Valley rivers, which unite within a hundred yards of the spot,
from whence they are precipitated into the gulph beneath, from a
height of somewhat more than 200 feet. The road is tolerably good,
having been formed with much labour for the traffic of the mules,
for the supply and convenience of the estates and coffee mountains,
which abound in its neighbourhood.* For this purpose the rocks
have been in two instances pierced (one of which is seen in the
annexed Plate), and give a good miniature resemblance of the cele-
brated galleries of the Simplon.
* The more immediate are Trafalgar Coffee Mountain, the property of the Honourable
John Rawleigh Jackson, Custos of the Parish; and Bloxburg, the property of J. P.
Kellerman, Esq.
* 't j^
r" J
i
^
%m
m^-
1
n
1^ i
i>-
d
V.
<4i
^
-ft
^
HOLLAND ESTATE, ST. THOMAS IN THE EAST.
Holland Estate, in St. Thomas in the East, the property of George Watson
Taylor, Esq. M. P., occupies a very great portion of the easternmost extremity of
the valley of Plantain Garden River. The works are situated on the northern
bank of the stream, and give employ to upwards of six hundred negroes, who are
now settled on the sea-shore in a village recently erected at a very great expense.
Although the situation of the former settlement was known and felt by the negroes
themselves to be unhealthy, so great was their attachment to it, that no persuasion
could induce them to abandon it. Fortunately the elements came in aid of the
efforts of the proprietor. A flood, unusual in extent, even where floods are far from
uncommon, cleared the village of its inhabitants, who took up with their new and
much more commodious habitations, merely as temporary residences, till the effects
of the partial deluge should have passed away. A few weeks, however, reconciled
them to their new abode. The greater convenience was every day more apparent,
and they remained contentedly in a spot to which probably nothing short of the
accidental circumstance above-mentioned could have driven them.
The family of Taylor was originally of Norman extraction, and settled in Scot-
land early in the fourteenth century, acquiring lands at Burrowfield near Montrose.
The first we find on record is Robert Tailzour, of Tailzourtown, who married Mary,
daughter of Sir Alexander Strachan, Bart. Approaching our own time, Patrick
Tailzour, Esq. settled in Jamaica, and married Martha, daughter of George Taylor,
Esq. of Camanas in that Island (upon which marriage he assumed the name of
Taylor), by whom he had two sons and four daughters. John, the second son, was
created a Baronet on the 25th July I778. The elder son, Simon, died unmarried ;
and his estates descended to his nephew, Sir Simon, upon whose death without
children the whole centred in George Watson Taylor, Esq., only son of G. Watson,
Esq. of Saul's River, Jamaica, in right of his wife, Anne Susanna, eldest sister of Sir
Simon and sole heiress of her uncle. The original family estate is Lyssons, near
Port Morant ; to which Mr. Simon Taylor added, Holland, Llanrumney in St. Mary's,
with the pens of Montrose and Flint River. The estates of Haughton Court and
Haughton Grove were the patrimony of the late Lady Taylor, widow of Sir John,
descended from a younger bi'anch of the ancient family of Haughton of Lancashire,
Baronets. Mr. Simon Taylor was educated at Eton, and going early in life to
visit his patrimonial estates in Jamaica, engaged actively in the public concerns of
the Island, aud continued his residence there during the remainder of his life,
making only one visit to England, when he was received by Mr. Pitt, the Minister,
with marked consideration, and was introduced to His Majesty George III.
The view before us presents the approach to the works from the South. On the
left is the Barrack, or residence of the book-keepers and other white people attached
to the estate, beyond which is the boiling-house and still-house. On the right is
the overseer's house, and in the distance, upon the hill, is the change-of-air house,
for the use of convalescents on the estate.
r\.
VIEW FROM SPRING BANK, NEAR PORT ANTONIO.
Spring Bank was, at the time this vi6w was taken, the property and resi-
dence of John Steel, Esq. It is situated at an immense elevation, about three
miles south-westward of Port Antonio, and commands the most extensive and
varied landscape scenery. This view, which is terminated southerly by some
af the highest of the Blue Mountains, includes in the valley, along which the
Rio Grande has its impetuous course, the Golden Vale and Seaman's Valley
estates, with some small portions of Stanton Harcourt and Hope estates.
Golden Vale, about five miles in the interior from Port Antonio, contains
about 250 acres of level cane-field above and below the works, and about as
much more bottom land, not so convenient for canes, which is chiefly in pas-
turage, with a very large extent of hilly and mountainous land to the south-
westward, in pasturage, provisions, ruinate and wood. There are on the estates
500 negroes, 50 mules, and 300 head of cattle. Golden Vale was settled by the
late George Paplay, Esq. about the year 1750, and became afterwards the pro-
perty of Greenwich Hospital, from which it was purchased in 1811 by Alex-
ander Kinloch and John Steel, Esqrs. with only 140 negroes, which have been
brought up by subsequent purchases to their present number. Its annual crops
are about 300 hogsheads of sugar, and about half that number of puncheons of
rum. — William Lambie, Esq. attorney.
Seaman's Valley is said to derive its name from the destruction of a party of
our seamen by the Maroons. It is about ten miles from Port Antonio, and
contains 1693 acres, of which 18? are in canes, 158 in guinea grass and pas-
tures, the remainder in provision grounds, wood-lands, river courses, &c. The
cane-land is loamy and productive, yielding in most instances two hogsheads
per acre. Seaman's Valley was for many years in the possession of Messrs.
Daniel and Richard Shaw, from whom it passed in the year 1813 to Messrs.
Gray, Whitworth and Gillbee, merchants of London, with 172 negroes ; to
this strength an addition has since been made, and there are now 291 on the
estate. — Maurice Jones, Esq. attorney.
At the head of the Valley is Moor Town, one of the stations of the Maroons.
It contains 80 men, 127 women, and 202 children, under the superintendence
of George Fuller, Esq. The elevation of the Blue Mountains, according to
the observations of Dr. Cowan of Falmouth, is as follows : — Manchester Rest,
5,050 ; East Peak, 5,670 ; North Peak, 5,900 ; West Peak, 5,680 feet above the
sea.
K\
,^
f^
s "
SPRING-GARDEN ESTATE, ST. GEORGE'S.
Spring Garden Estate, frequently called Great Spring Garden, is one of the pro-
perties of JohnRock Grosett, Esq., M.P., to whom it has descended from his great
grandfather, the original settler. The law of entail in Jamaica is much the same
as in England : but in the former country entails are barred by deeds of lease
and release, and not by fine or recovery. This plantation is contiguous to the
sea-shore, and adjoins the left bank of the Spanish river. The mansion-house,
or, according to local phraseology, the great house, is placed on a rising ground,
and judiciously overlooks the works, which are extensive, and in the most complete
repair ; the mill is turned by a well-supplied water-wheel, and the boiling-
house contains a double and single set of coppers. The overseer's house and
offices, the hospital, and a building for the negro children, are severally large, and
well adapted for their purposes. Between these and the great house, at the foot
of the knoll on which the latter stands, is seen a portion of the negro village,
which embraces, however, in its whole circuit an area of nearly thirty acres.
Beyond these the eye rests on the blue expanse of Buff Bay, closed in by Pal-
metto Point towards the sea, and inland by that portion of a range of the Blue
Mountains which run north and south, or nearly at right angles with the prin-
cipal range, which cross the southward side of this parish.
A regularly bred surgeon resides on the estate, who was sent out by the present
proprietor, and whose practice is exclusively directed to the property. This plan
has been adopted by other proprietors, and would doubtless be more general, if
the planters were not prevented from extending their improvements by the dis-
tressing circumstances of the times, and the continual low sale of their produce.
This estate contains nearly three thousand acres of land, of which five hundred
and eighty are in cane cultivation of plants and ratoons. On it are six hundred
negroes ; many of them settled on it from father to son, and who regard their
houses and provision grounds (of which they have between three and four hun-
dred acres) as an inheritance, the possession of which they enjoy with uninter-
rupted security. With their surplus produce, and their pigs and poultry, they
supply even to the distance of Anotto Bay, and from this traffic derive a very
considerable profit. A good private wharf, with a large store (as seen in the
view), is an useful acquisition to this estate, for the conveniency of shipping its
produce ; which from thence, as well as from the neighbouring plantations, is
generally conveyed in small craft, called droggers, to the ships, which lie for
anchorage
anchorage to the eastward, off Port Antonio. Mr. Grosett is also proprietor of
Petersfield estate, in St. Thomas's in the East, and of various premises and lands
at Morant Bay, and of the principal public wharf there, at which an iron rail-
way has been laid down for the convenience of transporting goods, &c. He is
also proprietor of Chepstow Coffee plantation and pen, and of two or three other
minor properties.
On the morning of the 12th of January 1821, when the author was residing at Spring Garden, the
mill yard was suddenly filled with sailors. They were the crew of the ship Birch, Captain M'Intosh,
burthen 454 tons, which was entirely wrecked on the morning of the 9th, abreast of Fair Prospect
estate, in Manchioneal, about four miles to the eastward of the N.E. point. Providentially no lives
were lost. Immediate assistance and accommodation was aflForded by Mr. Gillchrist, the overseer of
Fair Prospect. The passengers were afterwards removed to Castle Comfort (no bad name for the place
at any time, but particularly at the present moment), where they were hospitably entertained by Mr.
and Mrs. Orr. The crew, consisting of twenty-five men, proceeded for their original destination, and
halted at Spring Garden for breakfast, which was speedily and largely provided for them. In this way,
without expense, and meeting at every halt with the most active sympathy, they reached Montego
Bay, a distance of about 150 miles.
^
^
;*
^
^
^
J-
MONUMENT OF THE LATE THOMAS HIBBERT, ESQ. AT
AGUALTA VALE PENN, ST. MARY'S.
The annexed View represents the Monument of the late Thomas Hibbert,
Esq., erected on the summit of an eminence, which, besides the pleasure it
gave to the proprietor in affording him a commanding view of the penn on
which it is situated, and on either hand the works and cane fields of Agualta
Vale and Orange Hill Sugar Estates, opened likewise to the south-east the
buildings of the penn, and the winding course of the Agualta River imme-
diately beneath his eye ; onward, the beautiful sweeping line of Anotto Bay
and Town, the buildings of Gibraltar and Gray Inn Estates, and the distant
high lands of St. George's. The plate before us embraces these interesting
objects. On this spot, as having yielded him many a happy moment, in the
reflection of an ainiabfe mind surveying his own creation of wealth and inde-
pendence for a long inheritance, he desired that his remains should be placed.
He died on the 20th of May I78O, aged 7I years.
" This tribute to the dead, no church's care,
Nor solemn sprinkling boasts, nor prelate's prayer,
But rites more sacred sanctify the dust
Where rest revered the reliques of the just :
Prayers from the poor, which sooner reach the sky,
And holier drops which fall from friendship's eye."
Mr. Hibbert arrived in Jamaica in 1734, and soon became one of the prin-
cipal and most opulent merchants in Kingston, where he erected the very
handsome house in Duke Street, late the residence of the Commander-in-Chief
of the Forces, and still known as Hibbert's House.
Agualta Vale, containing about 3000 acres, was purchased from the heir of
Mr. Bendish about the year I76O; part of it was in coffee, but by far the larger
portion in wood and pasture. The sugar estate, formed out of a part of it,
was settled in 1771> and the coffee abandoned, while a large breeding penn was
established in place of it.
Orange Hill was a small sugar estate, joining line and line with Agualta Vale,
almost in ruins, and had been the property of William Beckford Ellis, Esq.
It was sold by a decree of the Court of Chancery, and purchased and in a
manner resettled by Mr. Hibbert.
These estates are at present the property of Thomas Hibbert, Esq. nephew
to the original settler. Upon them are 896 negroes and 633 head of cattle.
The family of Hibbert possess very extensive property in other parts of the
island, as Georgia in Hanover, belonging to Robert Hibbert, Esq. of East
Hyde, Bedfordshire ; the Valleys in Hanover, and Albion in St. Thomas in
the East, the property of Robert Hibbert, Esq. of Birtles in Cheshire.
These gentlemen, as well as George Hibbert, Esq., to whom the agency of
the island is confided at home, are nephews of the original settler of Agualta
Vale Estates.
JN
(^
^.
■^
BRIDGE OVER THE WHITE RIVER, ST. MARY^S.
The White River rises on the North side of the parish of St. Thomas
in the Vale, and its course in its greatest length forms the boundary line
between the parishes of St. Mary and St. Ann. Passing Whitehall,
Spring Garden, Halifax and Goshen estates, it is crossed, near Davies's,
by the bridge in the annexed Plate ; it then passes Industry, and falls into
the sea at White River Bay, about midway between Rio Novo and Ocho
Rios Bay. About twelve miles from its source in the mountains, the
river precipitates itself in a fall of nearly three hundred feet obliquely
measured. So vast a discharge of water, dashing and foaming from
step to step with all the impetuosity and rage peculiar to that element,
exhibits an awful and pleasing scene. But the grandeur of it is astonish-
ingly heightened by the supplies it receives in the rainy seasons ; then —
" Down it comes
From the rude mountain and the mossy wild,
Tumbling through rocks abrupt and sounding far :
Then o'er the sanded valley floating spreads
Calm: sluggish, silent; till again, constrained
Between two meeting crags, it bursts away,
Where rocks and woods o'erhang the turbid stream ;
There, gathering triple force, rapid and deep.
It boils, and wheels, and foams, and thunders through."
Nearly the whole parish of St. Mary is composed of hill, mountain,
dale, and valley. The soil is in general a stiff clay in the higher
grounds, and a considerable depth of rich, black, vegetable mould in the
lower. It is universally fertile, the hills and mountains clothed with
noble woods full of the finest and largest timber trees, and every spot is
adapted to cultivation, except that the summits of some are thought too
bleak and chilly for the sugar cane. The water is of extraordinary
purity and wholesomeness, and the air is in general extremely healthful
and agreeable to European constitutions.
The annexed View on the River has been selected not more on account
of its pleasing sylvan character, — the Bridge being seen through its
elegant frame of bamboos, and backed by mountains clothed with the
richest forests, — than from its well-known form being so indelibly fixed
on the memory of every one who has visited the North side.
Is
PORT MARIA, ST. MARY'S.
Port Maria, the principal town of the parish of St. Mary, on the north
side of the island, is famous for having given, as it is supposed, an asyhim
to Columbus, when his ship was foundering ; and somewhere hereabouts
authors have placed the town of Melilla, the first which the Spaniards
founded. The neighbouring port of Rio Nuevo is likewise remarkable for
the decisive victory gained there by General D'Oyley over the Spaniards,
which confirmed the English in the possession of the island. The coast
differs greatly from that of the south side, being for the most part iron-
bound, or protected from the fury of the north winds and the surges of the
sea by a wall of rocks. The weather of this parish is extremely wet during
great part of the year, and so cold that few if any of the houses are unfur-
nished with a chimney. The land in general, from its richness, bears a
very luxuriant cane, some of which grow to an enormous size : but are
unfit for making sugar, and are only grown for the still-house. The greater
part of the land on which the town of Port Maria is built is the property
of C. N. Bayly, Esq., as was likewise the ground on which the Court-house
has lately been erected, but for which an exchange was made by the parish
for other lands, which are now attached to Trinity Estate.
The view before us embraces on the left the New Court-house, erected
1821, and Fort Haldane and the Barracks on the point, an eminence which
commands the entrance of the harbour. The houses stretch along the sea-
shore, at a short distance from which is Cabarita Island. On the right are
the works and negro houses of Frontier Estate, the property of A.
Stirling, Esq.
GENERAL EXPORTS from Port Maria, between the 29th of September 1820,
and the 29th of September 1821.
Tonnage.
9,036
Sugar.
Rura.
Molasses.
CofFee.
Pimento.
Hhds.
8,124
Trs.
172
Bbrs.
24
Puns.
4,275
Hhds.
15
Casks.
4
Lbs.
460,464
Casks.
33
Bags.
2,693
Indigo.
Hides.
Logwood.
Fustic.
Nica-wood.
Lignum.
Mahogany.
Lance-wood.
Seroons.
5
No.
230
Tons.
55
Tons.
49
Tons.
3
Tons.
20
Logs.
12
Spars.
500
\N-
J
TRINITY ESTATE, ST. MARY'S, THE PROPERTY OF
C. N. BAYLY, ESQ.
Trinity, Tryall, Brimmer Hall, and Roslyn are contiguous Estates,
occupying between 4 and 5,000 acres of land, in the immediate vicinity
of Port-Maria, and from their consequence give the name of Bayly's
Vale to the district in which they are situated. The richness of the
land, adapted for the most part to the cultivation of sugar, the easy
approach to a shipping-place, the general healthiness of the spot,
and the excellent provision grounds for the Negroes, render this one of
the most desirable properties in the Island, more especially as the
crops are seldom known to fail from that grievous calamity a protract-
ed drought. The returns are annually from 1,000 to 1,100 hogsheads
of sugar ; in 1815, they reached 1,450. The number of negroes is little
short of 1,100. The annexed View embraces the works of the Estate,
with its aqueduct for the supply of the Water-mill, at once an object of
utility and ornament, erected at a vast expense by the father of the
present proprietor, and completed in 1797- In the distance are seen
the works of Brimmer Hall, with the Overseer's House on the eminence.
Mr. Bayly's Estates are in the charge of Henry Cox, Esq., of Industry.
The above-named Estates formed part of the extensive property of
the late Zachary Bayly, Esq. (Mr. C. N. Bayly's uncle), whose cha-
racter is thus drawn by the elegant pen of his nephew, Bryan Edwards,
Esq., in an Inscription in the Parish Church of St. Andrew.
Near this place
Lie the remains of
ZACHARY BAYLY,
Gustos and Chief Magistrate of the Precinct
Of St. Mary and St. George, and one of his Majesty's
Honourable Council of this Island,
Who died on the 18th December 1769,
In the Forty-eighth Year of his Age.
He was a Man
To whom the endowments of Nature rendered those
Of Art superfluous.
He was wise without the assistance of recorded Wisdom,
And eloquent beyond the precepts of scholastick
Rhetorick.
He applied, not to Books, but to Men,
And drank of Knowledge
Not from the Stream, but the Source.
To Genius, which might have been fortunate
Without Industry,
He added Industry, which, without Genius, might
Have commanded Fortune.
He acquired Wealth with Honour,
And s>eemed to possess it only to be Liberal.
His Public Spirit
Was not less ardent than his Private Benevolence:
He considered Individuals as Brethren,
And his Country as a Parent.
May his Talents be remembered with Respect,
His Virtues with Emulation 1
I
S5
CARDIFF HALL.
Cardiff Hall, of which we give a view, is situated westward of St.
Ann's Bay, and was the usual residence, when in Jamaica, of John Blagrove,
Esq., lately deceased.
This Estate, with others of equal and superior value and extent, was in-
herited by the late Mr. Blagrove from his Father, his ancestors having been
settled in the Island from the time of its conquest by Cromwell.
The late Mr. John Blagrove was born at Cardiff Hall, and sent at an early
age to England. He received his education at Eton College ; from thence he
went to Oxford, and afterwards passed a considerable time in travelling on
the Continent; from which course of education he possessed in a high degree
the accomplishments of a scholar and a gentleman.
On his return to Jamaica, he occasionally took an active part in the dis-
cussions which occurred in the House of Assembly, to which he was returned
a member for many years by his native parish. And during the Maroon war,
Mr. Blagrove was most actively engaged, and shared in its privations and
dangers.
Mr. Blagrove bestowed the greatest attention to the improvement of the
breed of cattle on his several Penns : he imported into the Island some of the
best bred horses England ever produced, and his liberality and public spirit
were rewarded by the high prices which his stock, particularly his horses,
always commanded. He was a successful competitor, on many occasions,
for the cup given at the races held in the parish of St. Ann's : in fact,
his horses for the most part beat the whole field.
For many years previous to his decease, Mr. Blagrove was resident in
England, and about twenty years since he purchased the Aukawyke mansion
and estate, with the manor of Wyrardisbury, in Buckinghamshire : this he
made his chief residence, and the property has benefited much by his care
and improvements, he having always taken much delight in agricultural
pursuits, which he understood well.
He was also, a few years since, the purchaser of another estate at Great
Abshot, near Titchfield, in Hampshire, and he resided there at the time of
his decease, which happened on the 9th April 1824, after only a few days'
illness.
He was buried at Titchfield, and in the church-yard of that parish a neat
monument has been erected to his memory ; he had attained his 70th year,
and is sincerely lamented by his family and numerous friends.
At
At this period, when the whole system of colonial slavery is so grossly
misrepresented, it will only be an act of justice to state, that Mr. Blagrove
was always considered by his slaves as a most kind and humane master.
They amounted in number to about 1,500, and are a fine people, and unques-
tionable specimens of the happiness and comfort to which a slave popula-
tion may attain, however melancholy it may be to contemplate the risks to
which the late discussions are daily exposing them. Mr. Blagrove has given
a legacy by his will, which marks at once a feeling for his slaves, that few
men would bestow on the free labourers of England. We give his bequest
in his own words : —
" And lastly, to my loving people, denominated and recognized by law as,
and being in fact my slaves in Jamaica, but more estimated and considered
by me and my family as tenants for life attached to the soil, I bequeath a
<l[ j, dollar for every man, woman, and child, as a small token of my regard for
their faithful and affectionate service and willing labours to myself and family,
being reciprocally bound in one general tie of master and servant in the
prosperity of the land, from which we draw our mutual comforts and subsis-
tence in our several relations (a tie and interest not practised on by the hired
labourer of the day in the United Kingdom), the contrary of which doctrine is
held only by the visionists of the puritanical order against the common feel-
ing of mankind."
The annexed view is taken from the great interior road, and represents,
seen through the Pimento Grove, the south or entrance front of the house.
On the right is the barbecure, or plaister floor, on which the pimento is spread
out to dry. The excellence of the house, the delightful variety of the grounds,
and the contiguity to the sea, render Cardiff Hall one of the most desirable
residences in the Island of Jamaica.
^<,
^
■1
. "^
^
^
-^
^
1
'""
-,^
"a-
^
%
is
"5v
s
1
.[£
^^
^
^
^
•S
~
■^
\:>
,1^
y-
S5
ST. THOMAS IN THE VALE, FROM MOUNT DIABLO.
The road over Mount Diablo, to open a more easy communication between the
South and North side of the Island, was formed about fifty years since. The eleva-
tion is gradual and easy to its summit, and the toil of mounting it is amply repaid
by the varied and extensive prospect which it commands ; the whole parish of St.
Thomas in the Vale backed by the high grounds of St. David's, and the more distant
blue mountains being spread before the eye. In the wood beneath us are the
buildings of the Ivy Sugar Estate, now thrown up, and lately purchased by George
BarrifFe, Esq. : beyond is Charlemont Penn, the property of Sir Alexander Grant,
Bart, and more distant, the works on Treadways, the property of Henry Dawkins,
Esq. The immense height and consequent distance renders the markings of other
estates too indistinct for the pencil. The greater part of the parish is comprized
within the Vale called Sixteen Mile Walk. This Vale is about eleven miles in length,
and eight in width. It is neither flat nor swampy, but diversified throughout with
gentle risings and slopes : the soil is fertile ; for the most part a red coarse earth,
mixed with clay, or a dark mould, with a whitish marl. The Vale is almost daily
throughout the year overcast with a thick fog, which begins to rise slowly on the
approach of evening, grows denser as the night advances, becomes gradually dif-
fused into all the contiguous vales or inlets among the surrounding mountains, is
heaviest about the dawn of day, and remains settled until the sun has warmed and
agitated the air : then it rises higher, expanding in the atmosphere ; and between the
hours of eight and nine in the forenoon, it begins to flow away in two principal
streams, the one westward among the mountains on that side ; and the other south-
ward following the course of the river. The air of this parish is in general reported
healthy, and the habitations throughout the Vale, being for the most part built upon
rising grounds, are not liable to damps. This tract was among the first settled with
sugar plantations, and what it produces now of that commodity is of an excellent
quality, but the land is thought to be much worn. The road itself cannot be better
described than in the words of Beckford ; and not having the English work at hand,
we must quote from the French translation, which is fortunately in our possession.
" II est peu de routes que je prefere a celles que I'on voit dans la plus grande partie
de I'isle entre de hautes hayes de campeche ; elles sont loin d'une regularite mono-
tone ; souvent elles forment de magnifiques berceaux du plus beau verd ; ici, elles
sont decouvertes et laissent distinguer vingt arbustes differens ; la elles se resserrent,
c'est plus un sentier qu'un grand chemin, et des tilleuls en fleurs y repandent leurs
parfums dans les airs ; tout aupres s'eleve le cocotier ; ses rameaux forment le dais
le plus magnifique, et ses fruits suspendus a la portee du voyageur I'invitent a
y chercher une fraicheur salutaire et des sues parfumes et exquis. Les prairies
sont peuplees de troupeaux ; le bambou y etale la delicatesse de ses plumes et la
richesse de ses ombres ; le cedre batard y balance ses larges ombelles, et I'arbre du
cachou y attire les yeux par la couleur doree de ses fruits."
:^
1^
I
BOG WALK.
The Parish of St. Thomas in the Vale is very generally known as
The Walks, which are again subdivided and distinguished as Bog Walk,
the Six Mile Walk, the Sixteen Mile Walk, &c. Bog Walk is the
high road from Spanish Town, to the parish of St. Thomas in the
Vale, St. Ann, St. Mary, and generally to the north side of the Island.
The road for the first five or six miles from the former town runs
through a fine open country, and then enters the mountains, clothed
with the most luxuriant foliage of every variety of form and grandeur,
and of every variety of tint; the road passes along at their base,
and divides the narrow space, with the Rio Cobre retained in its
channel, where necessary, by a stone parapet, as seen in the accom-
panying view.
The Rio Pedro, Rio d'Oro, Rio Magno, and the Black River, fall
into the Rio Cobre, near the Bog Walk. From the Tavern (at the
opening of the pass into St. Thomas in the Vale) the latter river, after
passing Spanish Town, enters the sea at Hunt's Bag, near Fort
Augusta.
^
V ^
N
.§-
. ^_
l»
^
'^
s
tS
■^
WILLIAMSFIELD ESTATE.
WiLLiAMSFiELD Estate, in the Parish of St. Thomas in the Vale,
according to what can be gathered from the old negi'oes (there being
no early records), was first settled, nearly eighty years ago, by Mr.
Needham, who was at that time a large proprietor in the Island ; but
while in its infancy (within three or four years after it was commenced),
it was purchased by a Mr. Harvey, who came from Barbadoes, and
was a merchant in Kingston, From Mr. Harvey it became the property
of Daniel Lascelles, Esq., brother to the first Baron Harewood, from
whom it descended to the present Earl. It contains 2,998 acres of
land, including Sandy Gut, a small estate which was purchased and
added to it in 1815 : something more than 300 acres of this is in canes,
about 500 fallow and in pasture ; the remainder in excellent negro
provision grounds, woodland and ruinate, but a great part of the two
latter is incapable of any cultivation, from being extremely rocky and
steep : the present crops exceed 300 hogsheads of good sugar, with a
pretty good proportion of rum. There are 304 negroes (negroes and
people of colour) on the estate. The jobbing, or hired negro labour, is
however considerable. The nearest shipping-places to which a waggon
can go, are Port Henderson and Passage Fort, both of which are
twenty-three or twenty-four miles distant. The principal road across
the island, fi-om Spanish Town to St. Maiy's, passes through the estate,
on the bank of a pleasant rivulet, between the works and dwelling
house : the cane field and pasture land is a continuation of small steep
hills with water- courses passing between them ; the wood covers the
hills towering over these. The soil is in general light and poor, but
with a judicious use of manure, which the situation of the cane land
renders the application of, a hard task for the stock, gives fair returns.
Nightingale Grove, in St. Dorothy's, is Hkewise the property of the
Earl of Harewood. At the time of its purchase, by Mr. Daniel Las-
celles, it was a penn, but was soon after converted into a sugar estate.
— G. W. Hamilton, Esq., Attorney.
^
1
<J^
5-
s
«0
VIEW OF BRYAN CASTLE GREAT HOUSE, TRELAWNY.
Bryan Castle Estate was settled in 1793 T^y Bryan Edwards, Esq., and
afterwards became, by purchase, the property of the late Alexander Donald-
son, Esq., and is now in the possession of Alexander Grant, John Meek, and
Joseph Green, Esqrs., trustees nominated by his will. The property contains
1402 acres of land, 300 of which are in canes, 600 in pasture and pimento, and
the remainder in negro and provision grounds. The crops have averaged,
during the last twelve years, 300 hogsheads of sugars, with the usual proportion
of rum, and in good seasons 300 bags of pimento. On the estate are 165
negroes, the extra labour being made up by jobbing. This estate is pleasantly
situated within three miles of Rio Bueno, the nearest shipping port, to which
there is a good road ; it is like the generality of sea-side estates, subject to
frequent droughts, but in good seasons is very productive. The works are on
an extensive scale, and in high preservation ; and at the distance of half-a-mde
from them is the Great or Mansion House, represented in the annexed view.
Above stairs is the Study, where the original founder of the estate compiled
his much esteemed work, and his books and furniture are still preserved there.
Bryan Edwards, the very able and accurate historian of the West Indies,
was born May 20, 1743, at Westbury, in Wiltshire. His father inherited a
small paternal estate in the neighbourhood, and died in 1756, leaving a widow
and six children, of whom Bryan was the eldest.
Mrs. Edwards had two opulent brothers in the West Indies, one of them a
wise and worthy man, of a liberal mind and princely fortune. This was
Zachary Bayly, Esq. of this island, of whom some further account is given in
the description of the estates in St. Mary's, now the property of his nephew
Charles Nathaniel Bayly, Esq.
Mr. Bayly took the family under his protection, and directed that no
expense should be spared in their education.
In 1759 a younger and only brother of his uncle came to reside in England,
where he was successively Member of Parliament for Abingdon and for his
native town. This gentleman, at the end of the same year, sent his nephew to
Jamaica, where he resided with his uncle, and continued his classical studies
under a Mr. Teale, with unabating assiduity.
In 1773 Mr. Edwards was left heir to the great property of a Mr. Hume,
of Jamaica, became an opulent merchant, returned to England, and in 1796
took his seat in ParHament for the Borough of Grampound. He represented that
place
place till his death, which happened at his house, Polygon, near Southampton,
July 15, 1800. His first publication was a pamphlet entitled, " Thoughts on the
Proceedings of Government respecting the Trade of the West India Islands with
the United States of America," 1 784. This was followed by " A Speech delivered
by him at a Free Conference between the Council and Assembly at Jamaica, held
on the 25th November 1789, on the subject of Mr. Wilberforce's Propositions
to the House of Commons concerning the Slave Trade." But his distinguished
performance is his " History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in
the West Indies," 1793, 2 vols. 4to. a work of very superior merit, and of the
highest authority, particularly in the commercial part. To a new edition of this
work, pubhshed in 1801, 3 vols. 8vo., is prefixed a short Memoir of his early
Life, written by himself. In 1796 Mr. Edwards published " The Proceedings
of the Governor and Assembly of Jamaica in regard to the Maroon Negroes,"
8vo. In all these works Mr. Edwards' style is easy and elegant, and many of
his remarks highly valuable, as the result of long experience and observation.
x^
^
•^
VIEW OF MONTEGO BAY FROM READING HILL.
This view of Montego Bay is taken from Reading Hill, over which the King's
Road to Westmoreland passes. Immediately below the eye are the buildings oa
Mr. Scott's wharf, rented by Mr. Home, between which and the town of Mon-
tego Bay the sea is dotted with the Islands which form a part of the Bogue
estate. They are entirely unproductive, although the largest contains fifty acres,
and has a spring of fresh water. Behind is the town, seated on a bay, which for
beauty of form may vie with the most remarkable.
The first ship and house built at Montego Bay was about the year I748 ; it
was made a port of entry and clearance in 1758, and a free port at near the same
time ; and in 1815 the Courts of Law were removed thither from Savannah le
Mar.
In 1759, by an Act of the Legislature, the Close Harbour Company was formed,
and made a corporation and body politic. The swell, which arises from the
action of the north-west winds on the gulph stream on the coast of America, is
thrown back, and occasions the re-action of the sea upon the Bay of Mexico ;
from thence it is thrown on to the Islands, and of course into this harbour. It
often comes after the wind has long ceased, and upon several occasions every
vessel riding in Montego Bay has been thrown on shore. To guard, as far as
human foresight was able, against the recurrence of similar accidents, a company
of gentlemen, actuated by their feelings of humanity and patriotism, first formed
a fund of £15,000 by shares of £100 each, for building a breakwater, a sort of
mole, behind which the vessels might lay in security ; but, beyond this sum, above
£45,000 has at various times been expended upon the work, which is built in
twenty -four feet water ; the base is 120, and the upper part eighty broad.*
This was the first company formed in the West Indies for the execution of any
public undertaking. The holders get a return of from six to ten per cent, on
their original shares, deiived from a tax upon shipping granted at the time of their
incorporation; but nothing for the sum laid out beyond the original subscription.
The Close Harbour is calculated to hold thirty ships, and a vessel of 800 tons has
loaded in it.
The number of vessels which come into Montego Bay annually may be stated
at about seventy ships and brigs, and the tonnage at 20,000 tons. The exports,
from the 29th of Sept. 1820 to the 29th Sept. 1821, were as under:
Tonnage
Sugar.
Rum.
OS
OS
Coffee,
lbs.
Sugar.
Piinenlu.
£
X
1
be
O
1
1
f
.a
O
5
f
J
Hds.
Trs.
Bbls.
Puns.
Hds.
Cks.
Bags.
Cks
Bags.
1
Tuns.
Tons.
Tons.
H..gs.
Logs.
Sprs.
To Great Britain...
13072
13097
1887
147
6186
458
6
53930
53
4
71
1183 222
701
313
79
549
832
4103
193
3431
210
21
70
2
6
944
10
24
93
8734
1563
—
:
12
40 —
10
1
—
—
—
—
— Brit. Plantations
91
188
— Spanish Main...
3551
—
—
—
996
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
'- —
—
—
—
—
—
J
20247 J 3328 1959
153
8126
492
99
64227J M 4 S3|1S14 410 711 314
' 1 1
79 549 832|410.'^
The
* On the whole of the north side of Jamaica are natural breakwaters, formed of coral rocks, having
here and there openings through which vessels can pass. At Falmouth, such form the harbour ; buc
at Montego Bay, although there is a similar line of rocks, they were insufficient, and tliis mole or
breakwater was built to assist it.
The town is the county town, and the third in size in the island Its pubKc
buildings are two places of worship, a court-house, gaol, fort, marine hospital,
and barracks for two companies of infantry. The site of the town is bad, being
on the leeward side of a range of hills, and originally it was very marshy ; but
these hills afford fine lime-stone, and an earth of the nature of puzzolana, which
no water acts upon. The streets formed of these materials, are hard, durable,
and free from dust.
The portion of a morass at the back of the town, which belonged to the
public, has recently, though an Herculean task, been filled up. The bushes and
aquatic vegetables growing upon it were cut down and laid on the morass, and
small stones and earth from the town quarry laid upon them to the thickness of
three inches. When these had sufficiently incorporated, a similar layer, and then
again a third were put on, and it is now passable for the heaviest carts. It has
already had a sensible effect on the leeward part of the town, where the autumnal
fever, so frequent in the fall, is now scarcely known. The land belonging to
individuals is foa'ming in like manner, and will in a few years be capable of bear-
ing buildings. The town has been twice in great part burnt down, in 1795 and
1818. While we deplore the loss to individuals, the arrangements for its recon-
struction have greatly improved it. The building lots are generally about one-
fifth of an acre, and, according to their situation, value from £280 to £1500 a
lot, or from 1400 to 7500 cmxency per acre. The most valuable lots are those
nearest the sea.
On the hills to the east and north are a variety of very elegant and substantial
residences, which command a charming prospect of the town and shipping, and
an extensive line of country.
The Church of this town is the handsomest in the island. There is likewise a
Wesleyan Chapel, and in the parish there are no less than fourteen religious
establishments for the instruction of the black population, conducted by the
Established Church, the Moravians, Baptists, and Wesleyan Methodists. In the
town itself are eight Schools : four for the white, including a free school, and four
for the brown population.
The Magistracy are divided into four bodies, one being appointed for each
quarter, and two meet every day at the Court-house for the decision of inferior
cases. The Quarter Sessions are held four times a year, and the Assize Courts
three times.
The Court-House is a handsome and commodious building. In it are whole-
length portraits of George III. and Queen Charlotte, by the former President of
the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Bail-Room and Court-House
are elegantly furnished ; the chandeliers are of the most costly description, and
the entertainments given there are seldom graced with fewer than 120 ladies.
The water, with which the town is abundantly supplied, rises in a valley at
the foot of the hills, and is of remarkable purity. These, with other local
advantages, render Montego Bay and its neighbourhood a very desirable place
of residence.
i:^
-\ V>\^
MONTPELIER ESTATES, ST. JAMES'S.
MoNTFELiER Estates, the property of Charles Ellis, Esq. M. P., are situated in
the parish of St. James, at about ten miles from Montego Bay. They are part of
a large tract of land, consisting of about 10,000 acres, which stretches across the
valley of the great river from the hills on either side, and is divided by that
river into two portions, of which about 8,000 acres are in the parish of St. James,
and about 2,000 in the parish of Hanover. The latter forms a penn, or grass
farm, called Shettlewood.
The Montpeliers were purchased by John EUis, Esq. father of the present
proprietor, when nearly the whole of this beautiful valley, now so thickly settled
and so richly cultivated, was covered with native wood. The settlement of the
Old Works' Estate had been commenced, but was completed by Mr. Ellis : the
New Works' Estate was entirely settled by him about the year 1775.
Shettlewood was the residence of a gentleman of that name, but it was esta-
blished as a penn by Mr. EUis, and has since been greatly extended by the
present proprietor.
The buildings on both the estates (the annexed plate represents the Old
Works) are of stone, which is in great abundance in the neighbourhood, and of
which the small round hiUs, which form a remarkable feature in the surrounding
country, are chiefly composed. The mill on the Old Works is supplied by a
stream which rises in the highland to the east of the works, in the chasm of a
rock, where it forms a pool, said to be of unfathomable depth, and from the
clearness of the water has acquired the name of the Blue Hole. It is brought
on an aqueduct along the side of the hills, till it reaches the works, where it is
carried over the flat to the mill in a series of stone arches, some of which are
seen in the drawing. The date of the year 1746 appears on several of the
buildings.
The New Works Estate has likewise the advantage of a water-mill. The
stream by which it is worked has its source in Shettlewood Penn, where it is
collected into a large pool by a stone dam raised across the valley in which it
rises. It is carried over the great river by a bridge, and thence on an aqueduct
of stone arches to the mill.
The cane pieces of the two estates occupy about 1000 acres, that is 600 to the
Old Works and 400 to the New : but the field of canes actually kept in cultiva-
tion has latterly been considerably diminished. There is also a due proportion
of land in guinea grass and common pasture, both for the working stock of the
estates
estates (about 550 head) and for the cattle belonging to the negroes, who have
100 head of breeding cows, besides their produce. The remainder is chiefly wood-
land, but presents the means of forming more than one additional sugar-estate,
for which the soil is very well adapted. At present it affords an abundant supply
of timber and of wood for staves and fuel, and an extensive provision ground for
the negroes.
An establishment called the Farm has also been formed on a part of it, which
is cultivated for the supply of the estates with vegetables and ground provision ;
where a range of cottages has likewise been built for the convalescent negroes or
others, whose health may require rest or particular attention.
The produce of the estates is shipped at a wharf, which forms part of the pro-
perty at the bottom of the Long Hill, at a distance from Montpelier of about
seven miles.
Shettlewood Penn contains 850 acres of guinea grass, 450 acres of common
pasture, the remaining 700 are in woodland and negroe provision grounds. The
stock consists chiefly of horned cattle, in number about 800 ; of these 200 are
breeding cows. In addition to their produce, there is a large stock fattening for
the butchery, by which the neighbouring estates are regularly supplied with
fresh beef On the estates and pen are about 900 negroes.
The properties are under the management of William Miller, Esq. of Fal-
mouth.*
* The family of Ellis have been settled in Jamaica fi-om the time of its conquest, and possess large
properties in other parts of the island. Mr. John Ellis, the elder brother of the proprietor of Montpelier,
being owner of Green Castle, Newry, and Nutfield Estates, in the parish of St. Mary, and of a penn in
the adjoining parish of St. George, called Fort George; and also jointly with Mr. C. Ellis of an estate
and penn (called Caymanas and the Crawle), which are situated on the road from Spanish Town to
Kingston near the Ferry.
The o-uinea grass, a production of the soil next in importance to the sugar cane, was first sown by an
ancestor of these gentlemen. The seed had been sent from Guinea as food for some birds, which had
been presented to Mr. Ellis, the Chief Justice of the island, and was sown to insure a supply. But the
avidity with which the cattle sought it, induced him to cultivate it on a larger scale. To this accident
may be ascribed the introduction of this valuable grass, and probably, in consequence, the settlement
of nearly all the north side parishes.
Recurring to the plate, we will briefly describe the destination of the several buildings. Tlie first on
the left is the barracks or residence of the book-keepers ; the next the overseer's house and offices ; on
the knoll is the hospital ; below is the cattle-mill, and next the water-mill, between which a portion
of the aqueduct is seen. The next and largest building of the group is the boiling-house, and then the
still-house. In the distance are the trash-houses ; and above, shaded and partly concealed by groves
of cocoa-nut trees and plantations, are the cottages of the negroes. The natural productions which
appear in this view, as the mango tree at the end of the still-house, the lofty cabbage tree, the bamboo,
and the cotton tree, will be found described in another portion of the work.
,^\
ROSE-HALL, ST. JAMES'S.
Rose-Hall, the property and residence of John Rose Pahner, Esq., is situated
on the sea-side, at nearly equal distance from Montego Bay and Falmouth.
The house of which we give a view is justly considered as the best in Jamaica,
and was erected about fifty years since by the uncle of the present proprietor, at
the expense of £30,000 sterHng. It is placed at a delightful elevation, and
commands a very extensive sea view. Its general appearance has much of the
character of a handsome Italian villa. A double flight of stone steps leads to
an open portico, giving access to the entrance hall ; on the left of which is the
eating-room, and on the right the drawing-room, behind which are other apart-
ments for domestic uses. The right wing, fitted up with great elegance, and
enriched with painting and gilding, was the private apartment of the late Mrs.
Palmer, and the left wing is occupied as servants' apartments and offices. The
principal staircase, in the body of the house, is a specimen of joinery in maho-
gany and other costly woods seldom excelled, and leads to a suite of chambers
in tlie upper story.
This estate, and the adjoining one of Palmyra, descended to the present pro-
prietor from his great uncle. Rose- Hall estate has about 200 acres in canes,
about the same quantity in grass, and about 250 in ruinate ; the Negro grounds
are on Palmyra estate, which is a more seasonable situation.
Palmyra estate contains about 1,250 acres.
The produce is shipped at a wharf at about two miles and a half distance.
On the two estates are 252 negroes, and 276 head of cattle.
^
I
SI
■I
Hi
X
1-^
r- x^
0
^ \ J^
5sS v.r^
WHITNEY ESTATE, CLARENDON.
WhitiNey Estate, the property of Viscount Dudley and Ward, is
situated on the great interior road which connects St. Elizabeth with St.
Dorothy's, at the distance of about thirty-five miles from Spanish
Town. It contains 3,243 acres ; of which 160 are in canes, 2,902 in pro-
vision and wood land, 151 in pasturage, and 22 in corn. The average
crops are 250 hogsheads, and the number of negroes 271. The produce
is shipped at Milk River, nearly fifteen miles from the estates ; but this
distance is relieved by Rymesbury Penn, a portion of the same property.
The soil of the high lands of Clarendon is in general rather rocky, inter-
mingled with a black shell mould, or a fine vegetable dark mould on a
clay. The lower grounds are chiefly clay, intermixed here and there
with rich veins of vegetable mould : the latter mostly abounds near the
banks of rivers, consisting of the sediment they have deposited, or the
finer particles washed down from the hills. Long, in his History of
Jamaica, published in 1774, speaking of this estate, says : " The plan-
tation called Carvers (now Whitney) is one of the most celebrated for
its fertility. It is a small dale surrounded with rocky hills, and so rich
that it produces invariably three hundred hogsheads of sugar per annum,
with so little labour upon it, that they (the negroes) multiply sufficiently
to keep up their stock, without having recourse to African recruits." —
These estates became the property of the present noble family by
marriage with an heiress of the Carvers, a descendant of the original
settler. The Plate before us gives the general view of the Estate in
approaching it from the South. The road is crossed by the aqueduct,
which conveys the water to the mill, and its course may be traced along
the side of the hill to the works.
^
aiiBo, 18S9, 20,000)
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRAEY.
One vnlunie allowed at a time, and obtained only by
card ; to be kept 14 days (or seven days in the case of fiction
and juvenile books published within oneyeai') without fine ;
not to be renewed; to be reclaimed by messenger after 31
(lays, who will collect 20 cents besides fine of 2 cents a day,
including" Sundays and holidays; not to be lent out of the
Inirrnwcr's Iiousehnld, and not to b& transferred; to be re-
(iinied at this Hall.
Borrowers finding this book mutihited or unwarrantably
defaced, -ire expected to report it; and also-suxy undue delay
in the delivery of books.
f-^*No claim can be established because of the failure of
any notice, to or from the Library, through the mail.
The record fcslow must not to made or altered by borrower.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11