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trees, and hills; the tumultuous violence of the cataract rolling down with unremitting fury; and the gloom of the overhanging wood, contrasted with the soft serenity of the sky, the brilliancy of the spray, the flight of birds soaring over the lofty summits of the mountains, and the placid surface of the bason, at a little distance from the foot of the fall, form an accumulation of objects, most happily blended together, and beyond the power of words to express. To complete this animating picture drawn by the hand of Nature, or rather of nature's God, a considerable number of tall and stately trees, beautifully intermixed, rise gracefully from the margin on each side. The bark and foliage of these trees are diversified by a variety of lovely tints. And from the bason itself, two elegant trees, of the palm species, appear like two straight columns erected in the water, and towering towards the sky; planted at such equal distances from the banks on each side, that the hand of art could not have effected, by rule, more exactness and propriety in the positions.

Another celebrated curiosity in this parish is, the wonderful grotto near Dry Harbour, about fourteen miles west from St. Anne's Bay. It is situated at the foot of a rocky hill, under which it runs a considerable way: it then branches into several adits, some of which penetrate so far, that no person has yet ventured to discover their termination. The entrance has a truly Gothic appearance. It exhibits the perpendicular front of a rock, having two arched entrances about twenty feet asunder, which seem as if they had been formerly door-ways. In the centre of the rock, between these portals, is a natural niche, about four feet in height, and as many from the ground. In this niche, it is conjectured, that a Madona was placed at some early period of time; especially as there is a small excavation in the form of a bason at the foot of the niche, projecting a little beyond the surface of the rock, and seeming to be a proper reservoir for the holy-water of the Roman Catholics. But this idea implies the workmanship of art, and that the grotto was anciently inhabited; neither of which circumstances is to be traced in Long's detailed description of the interior recesses, which does not materially differ from the descriptions of other grottos and subterraneous cavities in various parts of the globe.

This parish is in a course of progressive improvement, which is capable of being carried to a great extent, by the cultivation of its waste lands. Comparatively speaking, Jamaica, like many other portions of the New World, is yet in a state of infancy; and though it has made rapid advances towards maturity, much yet remains undone. To combine the powers of the soil with those of the climate, and to make them both subserve the im

portant purposes of life, require a portion of time which rarely accompanies the life of man.

The internal resources of the island are certainly considerable, and the advantages of its situation are become an artificial source of wealth. Happy would it be if, in the midst of sur rounding affluence and plenty, it could be added, that the gratitude of its white inhabitants kept an equal pace with the daily blessings which they derive from God! Happier still would it be, if the infinite love of Jesus Christ were felt in all its animating influences! Happy would it be for them, if they knew, in the day of their visitation, the things which belong to their endless peace!

VOL. 1.

CHAP. IX.

HISTORY OF JAMAICA.

County of Surry-description of Kingston; its public edifices, conveniences, and advantages-Port Royal; its calamities, present condition, and means of defence-parochial divisions, advantages; variety of productions; natural curiosities, and medicinal

waters.

THE COUNTY OF SURRY.

Description of Kingston, the county town; and of its other towns and parishes, &c.

THIS county comprises seven parishes, and ten towns and villages, or hamlets, of which Kingston is not only the county town, but likewise a distinct and the first parish. Its geographical situation is in 17° 594 north latitude; and 76° 34 west longitude from Greenwich. It has been already noticed, that this town owed its foundation to the almost total destruction of Port Royal by dreadful earthquakes and fires. This calamity obliged the inhabitants to flee to this district in 1692, and to erect new habitations for themselves, their families and dependants, in the course of the following year, on the spot where the improved and greatly enlarged city now stands. The original plan was drawn by Colonel Lilly, a very able military and civil engineer. The town is one mile in length, and half a mile in breadth. It is laid out in thirty-five streets, traversing each other at right angles. It has, besides, a great number of lanes, alleys, and passages; on which are finished, according to a late account, nearly two thousand handsome houses, occupied by the white inhabitants; exclusively of those of the people of colour, and the negro huts; making in all about four thousand large and small buildings. The present number of the whites is estimated at seven thousand; and the total of both sexes, and of all complexions and conditions, amounts to nearly twenty-seven thousand. In general, the houses, especially in the upper part of the town, are much superior to those of Spanish Town. Some of them are really sumptuous, being two or three stories high, with a convenient arrangement of cham

bers, rooms for the reception of company, and offices for business. The fronts of most of them are defended from rain, and shaded from the heat of the sun, by piazzas on the ground floor, and by covered galleries to the upper stories: they are also elegantly furnished, and kept very clean.

The town being situated on the north side of the harbour, renders it very convenient for the shipping; especially as the channel, which is formed by an inlet from the sea, is deep enough, for a considerable way both above and below the town, to admit ships of the greatest burden. The eastern branch of the harbour, which faces the town, is so capacious, that a thousand sail may anchor in it. Even at the wharfs, the water is so deep, that vessels of two hundred tons lie alongside them to deliver their cargoes.

A gradual descent of about four miles and a half, from that side of the harbour where the town begins, to the foot of the Liguanea Mountains, gives the streets such a convenient slope as to prevent any stagnation of water in the town. But, or the other hand, it admits too easy a passage to vast torrents, which sometimes rush with such impetuosity down the principal streets, as to render them almost impassable by wheel carriages. Sometimes these floods cause a shoal-water at the wharfs by depositing great quantities of rubbish and mud, by which means the channel is considerably contracted. It has been observed, that Kingston is secured from the danger of those dreadful conflagrations which destroyed Port Royal, Bridge'Town in Barbadoes, and St. John's in Antigua, by having wells and pumps in every principal street, conveniently placed, and kept in good order, and fire-engines and buckets in the court-house.

The great square, usually called the parade, from the troops performing their manual exercise in front of the barracks, which occupy the north-west side, is the most admired quarter of the town, on account of the public buildings. The barracks comprise convenient lodgings for two hundred privates and subalterns, inclosed within a square which is walled round behind the officers' apartments in the front of the edifice looking on the parade. The officers' apartments are very handsome. The church is situated on the south-side of the square, and by its tower and spire is a considerable ornament to the town, both when viewed at a distance and on the spot. The inside is distributed into four aisles, and its chief decoration is a very fine organ. Upon the whole, it is an elegant and spacious edifice. On the east side is the handsome chapel belonging to the society late in connexion with the Rev. John Wesley; for the pro❤ per description of which, and an elegantly engraved view, sce

the chapter on the progress of the Protestant Religion from the first settlement of our countrymen in the island of Jamaica.

The streets are all wide and regular. The market-places are adapted to the conveniences of the inhabitants: they are situated at the bottom of the town, where they neither offer obstructions to trade, nor annoyance to passengers. They are near the water's side; yet are sufficiently distant from the wharfs to leave the transactions of that department free.

At all seasons of the year, the markets of Kingston are well supplied with animal food, with fish, with vegetables, and with a vast variety of fruits peculiar to the tropical regions. The supply being both great and regular, the prices are less exorbitant than at Spanish Town, though the consumption is so great as to allow of no competition. The interpositions of the magistrates tend to preserve regularity, and to administer justice, while the certainty of sale ensures a constant supply.

As Kingston is the emporium of the foreign commerce of the whole island, its population rarely fluctuates. It gradually increases in number, without being exposed to those variations which are felt at Spanish Town from occasional visitors, who either throng the streets, or leave the town half desolated, at certain seasons of the year.

As it does not enter into the plan of this work to discuss commercial subjects, we shall only observe, that there are no sugar plantations in the parish, and scarcely any other cultivation than that of grass-pens.

Of the town of Port Royal, sufficient mention has already been made, in the narrative of the successive devastations which terminated in its ruin in 1692; for though it was rebuilt and re-peopled in a certain degree, yet all hopes of its re-establishment as a trading town were given up after the dreadful fire in 1703, which conflagration destroyed the new buildings that had been erected, and had been increasing from the former to the latter period. The few houses which escaped that fire were demolished by the great hurricane that happened on the 28th of August, 1722, which was severely felt throughout the whole island, and did considerable damage to the houses and plantations in every district. Few of the inhabitants of Port Royal lost their lives; but in its harbour, the catastrophe was dreadful. "Of thirty-six, merchant ships and sloops, only ten were to be seen after the storm;" "and it was computed," says Long, "that four hundred persons perished in the harbour, amongst whom were two hundred negro slaves on board a ship from the coast of Guinea, which foundered at her anchor." The whole parish has ever since been in a declining state; the inland part being too rugged or too steep to admit of any considerable set

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