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Show 28 ST. THOMAS ANJJ TORTOLA. by two circumstances; first, by their practice of preaching and teaching in the Negro-Dntch, a barbarous jargon now hut little spoken by the people ; and sc. condly, by their holding slaves as part of the mission properties. It is greatly to be regretted that the local Danish government in both islands is at present much prejudiced against the Methodists. To he a Methodist, seems to be tantamount to being absolutely excluded from the Danish colonies. The success which these Christians have met with, both among the slaves in your southern states, and among the liberated negroes in the British West Indies, affords a plain proof that they might be admitted with entire safety to the government, and with the most important benefit to the mass of the population. The worst charge which can be made against St. Thomas has relation to the slave trade. The Spanish and Portuguese slave vessels, frequently come to this port to be fitted up for their nefarious adventures on the coast of Africa; here they have free ingress and egress, without the smallest interruption from the Danish men-of-war on the station; and on some occasions, they have actually received their supplies of gunpowder from the fort itself. Why should not the treaties between Great Britain and Denmark, on the subject of the slave trade, be followed up by au honest and vigorous co-operation? Under a Christian and even Protestant government, such connivances, on the part of the local authorities, are extremely discreditable ; but it can scarcely be doubted, that the present benevolent rulers of Denmark will bring them to a speedy termination. ST. THOMAS AND TORTOLA. 29 1t is refreshing to turn trom the obliquity and corruption of men, to the charms of scenery, and the rarities of nature. Both these are to be found in St. Thomas. Kindly provided by our friends with horses, we oc~upi~d some of. our. early mornings in scaling the lnlls Ill several (brectwns; and the views which we obtained of the harbor, the town, and the shipping, under various aspects, with the wild country around them, were enchanting. From the top of the heights, to the north of the town, the sea, with its numerous inlets and rocky keys, is visible on both sides; and a ride of a few miles, to the eastward brings yon suddenly to a ncar view of St. John's: Tortola, Jose Vandyk, and other picturesque islands, with wooded mountains in the foreground, and ocean rolling between. But perhaps the greatest object of curiosity in this island is a prodigious specimen of the Bomba:r: Seva, or silk cotton tree, which grows about two miles to the westward of the town This tree which bears a light foliage and pods full. of silky cot~ ton (suitable we are told for the manufacture of hats,) loses its leaves once in the year. In the present ins~ ance it was quite bare-its trunk about fifty feet in Circumference, of a contorted shape, with high, thin ~attlements or projections-its vast branches, spreadmg to a great distance, at right angles with the trunk, and shooting out others nearly at right angles with themselves-some parts of it encumbered with enormou_ s knots. This tree is of African descent; the specimen now described may fairly be called a vege~ able monster. We were amused by observing upon It the works of a species of ant, called the wood- |