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Show 28 ST. THOMAS AND TORTOLA. sued our course through scenery of uncommon beauty-in f S . h racter From a mountam called parts almost o a WlSS c a . . f almost all the Ch teau Belau· we obtamed a vww, at once, o isla:lds of the ~irgin group, with their satellites !lf keys. They are very numerous, and mostly rise very boldly from the sea. ~he principal of them are St. Johns, St. Thomas, Tortola, Jose Vandyk, Norman's, Ginger, Peter's, Goodman's, Beef and Gn ann I.S l ands (the latter remarkable for the Guana hzard'sf) and Vir<Tin Gorda or Spanish town. The scene was magm-icent. There are no roads, on this island, for carnages-only rocky and precipitous mountain paths, for journeys ~n horseback or foot. The wild flowers are still more beautiful here than in Santa Cruz. The great aloe, called the century plant, abounds, and has a very picturesque appearance, and there are many prodigious plants of the cactus tribe. Pmk, p~rple, red, and yellow convolvoluses, are seen creepin~' about m all directions ; and the splendid " pnde of Barbadoes IS common. The white jasmine occurs in the hedges, and a small tree called the Panclntpan, bears profuse branches of large white flowers of fragrant jasmine odor. 'l'he brown pelicans float about the coast in great numbers, and we were told that the neighboring low island of Anegada is frequented by the f!ammgo. At the distance of mm1y hundred yards, when on the brow of a lofty hill, we distinctly saw n shark playing among the waves-an evidence of the remarkable clearness both of the mr m1d water. • . )J Many of the hills are covered with luxurim1t " gumea grass, m1d afford excellent pasture for cattle, sheep and goats. A larue proportion of these animals belong to the negroes. 'r;e cows are sleek and beautiful, and the milk excellent. Another day was spent in a boat excursion, to the Western extremity of the island, in order to visit some of the estates under the care of our friend Isaac Thomas, m1other of the principal attorneys on the islm1d. In the course of our voyage, the sailors caught some fish so curiously striped and spotted, as to receive the nm11e of "lizm·d" fish-and on ltmding, we observed the shore strewn with handsome specimens of the ST. THOl\fAS AND TORTOT.A. 29 cchinus, or sea egg. We found the sugar plantations under the care of our friend, in fair order. He employs two hundred and fifty free negroes, and assured us that " he had not the slightest complaint to make respecting them." On the-examination of the accounts of two of the properties, it appeared that he was decidedly saving money, by the substitution of free labor, on moderate wages, for the dead weight of slav~ry. After partaking, with several other persons, of this gentleman's abundant hospitality, he accompanied us to Windy Hill, the seat of the President, Hay Drummond Hay, an agreeable and sensible young man, who received us with great politeness.. Our friends had now once more provided us with horses ; and a long ride, by rocky paths, over steep mountains, brought us home to Roadstown, in safety-but not until after sunset. Tortola was once the seat of a little society of Friends, and one of our most eminent travelling ministers of former days, 'fhomas Chalkley, found there a field of labor, and a grave. There are no members of the Society now on the islm1d, but there is a small community of black people, settled, as tenm1ts in common, on an estate once belonging to Samuel and Mary Nottingham, quakers of high character. About sixty years ago, they liberated their slaves, from conscientious motives, m1d gave them their estate, at Longlook, on the eastern coast. A letter of christian advice addressed to their predecessors by these pious persons, then living at Bristol, is still cherished by the negroes on the property, about sixty in number, and held as a sort of title deed to the estate. We had great pleasure in visiting them. Their land is on the brow of a mountain, and a considerable part of it is well cultivated with yarns, and other vegetables. We held a religious meeting with them, in the largest of thei.r cottages, and were entirely satisfied with their respectable appearance, and orderly behavior. Our concluding day at Tortola, was the first of the week. We had appointed a public meeting for worship for the morning, Ill the Methodist meeting house. The excellent missionaries then stationed there, Bates and Stepney, being kindly willing 3" |