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diff --git a/38788-0.txt b/38788-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd12a91 --- /dev/null +++ b/38788-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14252 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume I (of 2), by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume I (of 2) + A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the + time of the Caribs to the present day + +Author: Anonymous + +Release Date: February 7, 2012 [EBook #38788] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANTIGUA AND THE ANTIGUANS, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Flo Williams + + + + + + + + + ANTIGUA + AND THE ANTIGUANS: + + + + A FULL ACCOUNT OF + THE COLONY AND ITS INHABITANTS + FROM THE TIME OF THE CARIBS + TO THE PRESENT DAY, + Interspersed with Anecdotes and Legends. + + ALSO, + + AN IMPARTIAL VIEW OF SLAVERY AND THE + FREE LABOUR SYSTEMS; + THE STATISTICS OF THE ISLAND, + AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE PRINCIPAL FAMILIES. + + “Sworn to no party, of no sect am I.”—Pope. + + IN TWO VOLUMES. + VOL. I. + + LONDON + SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET. + 1844. + + TO THE + HONBLE ROWLAND EDWARD WILLIAMS, + + LATE CAPTAIN IN THE 10th REGIMENT OF HUSSARS, + ONE OF HER MAJESTY’S PRIVY COUNCIL IN ANTIGUA, + + THE LINEAL DESCENDANT OF + THE FIRST WHITE CHILD BORN IN THAT ISLAND, + AND THE FRIEND AND BENEFACTOR OF ITS INHABITANTS + OF EVERY HUE AND COLOUR, + + This Work, + + DESCRIPTIVE OF ANTIGUA AND THE ANTIGUANS, + IS, BY HIS KIND PERMISSION, + INSCRIBED + BY HIS FAITHFUL AND OBLIGED SERVANT, + + THE AUTHOR. + + + + + PREFACE. + + + +Although in the present day the writing of a preface may be +considered almost a work of supererogation on the part of an +author, since it is that portion of a work seldom or ever looked +into, still, as custom demands the form, and there may be some +among my readers who may desire to learn what first led me to +undertake this work, I am induced to follow the fashion, more +especially as on one or two points I am desirous of offering a +few words of comment and explanation. + +Not being a native of the West Indies, and visiting that part of +the world for the first time at an age when all looks bright +around us, the novelty of the scenes which passed before my eyes +struck me forcibly, and induced me to make notes of the +impressions I then received. Pursuing the same practice at +subsequent visits, and during prolonged residences, in process of +time my memoranda expanded to a considerable bulk. The increasing +interest I took in everything relating to Antigua, led me to +inquire into its early history, and to search out the origin of +the numerous ancient families whose descendants have resided in +the island from the period of its colonization. + +Some of my friends in the island who had become acquainted with +my pursuits, were gratified by the specimens of my labours, which +were exhibited to them, and urged me to throw my scattered notes +into form. I yielded to their solicitations, and the result has +been the following pages, which, while they afford a condensed +history of the colony from its earliest days, present also a +record of the impressions produced on one, at first, fresh from +English society, but now, by long continued residence, become +almost an Antiguan; having, it is hoped, lost all relics of +English prejudice, but not become so biassed by her new +connexions, or blinded by the many charms of Antigua or Antiguan +society, as to hold the scales of justice unevenly. + +Having been resident in Antigua both before and after the passing +of the Emancipation Act, and having had ample opportunity of +judging of the practical effects of that memorable event, the +observations I have made with relation to it may not be +considered altogether unimportant. + +In perusing the early history of the colony, the English reader +may be surprised to find how many men of family became early +settlers in the West Indies; but when the eager spirit of +adventure which immediately followed the enterprises of the +Spaniards, and was so eminently conspicuous in the days of +Elizabeth, is called to mind—when the causes which drove the +“pilgrim fathers” forth are recollected, together with the +numerous emigrations which took place from England, when the +Royalists, in their turn forced to become fugitives, mostly +sought a refuge in the West Indies, at first a safe and +sanctioned asylum, till the very amount of the fresh influx of +Royalist opinions made the West Indies a thorn in Cromwell’s +side, and compelled him to have recourse to strong measures to +secure their obedience to his will,—when all these causes are +considered, it becomes no longer a matter of wonder that much of +the best blood of England runs in the veins of the people, not +only of Antigua, but of the West India islands generally. + +In justice to the character of the country which I have learned +to love, I must, although unwillingly, notice another and a most +painful subject. I refer to the exceedingly harsh laws passed +respecting the slaves, and the shocking executions of those +concerned in the insurrection in 1736. In relation to the former +point, it is sufficient to observe that such laws are almost +inseparable from the institution of slavery itself, and that the +stigma affected the mother country equally with her colonies, +while it redounds to the honour of Antigua that she was the first +to announce unbounded freedom to her slave population. With +respect to the barbarous executions, they would not be tolerated +in Antigua at the present day, even had she continued to be a +slave-dealing colony; and they can only in justice be referred to +a state of society when the practice of torture had hardly fallen +into desuetude in the civil courts of Europe, when the +Inquisition was in full glory, when, only a few years before, the +politest capital in the world had looked unmoved on + + “Luke’s iron crown, and Damien’s bed of steel,” + +and criminals continued to be strung up by dozens in England (and +for many long years after) for offences which, in the present +advanced state of society, no civilized state would visit with +the punishment of death. What wonder, then, that at such a +period, and under such alarming circumstances, the Antiguans +should have shewn themselves cruel and barbarous? + +Before I conclude, I must not omit to tender my acknowledgments +to the numerous friends who have kindly afforded me assistance in +the course of my work, among whom let me make grateful mention of +Edward S. Byam, Esq., the Rev. and Hon. Burgh Byam, Col. Byam, +Dr. Furgusson, Nathaniel Humphreys, Esq., Deputy Colonial +Secretary in Antigua, (to which latter gentleman I was indebted +for access to the Records of the island,) to John Furlong, Esq., +(who obliged me with the will of Governor Parke,) Registrar of +Antigua, to ——— Edmead, Esq., to Captain George B. Mathew, of the +Guards, the Rev. D. F. Warner, and others. + +In conclusion, may the Great Giver of all good pour down His +choicest blessings upon this beautiful and favoured little +island; may her legislators be ably endowed in all true +principles of jurisprudence; may her planters be blest with +kindly showers, so that their golden canes may raise their “tall +plumes” in luxuriance; may her merchants, the prop of every +civilized state, be prosperous—her peasantry happy and good, as +they are _free_; and, finally, may her ministers (of every +denomination) be long spared to watch over and pray for her +teeming inhabitants, that one choral song of praise may resound +from every quarter and from every tongue. + + The Author. + + + + + CONTENTS + OF + THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + + CHAPTER I. + + General Description of the Island—Appearance—Soil—Productions— + Climate—Early history—Discovery by Columbus—Attempted + settlement by Spaniards—Grant to Earl of Carlisle—Settlement by + d’Esnambuc—Williams—Governor Warner—Account of Sir Thomas + Warner, founder of the family + + CHAPTER II. + + History of the island continued—Sir Henry Hunks—Descent of the + Caribs—Legend of Ding-a-ding Nook—Arrival of the Ship Nonsuch— + Sir Thomas Modiford—Earl of Warwick, Captain-General—Captain + Edward Warner—Colonel Rich—Colonel Lake—Mr. Everard—Sir George + Ayscue—Colonel Christopher Reynall—Invasion by the Caribs— + Dissensions among the inhabitants—Copy of Colonel Reynall’s + letter to Cromwell—Attack upon St. Domingo and Jamaica— + Major-General Poyntz—Grant of Antigua to Lord F. Willoughby + + CHAPTER III. + + Rupture between France and England—War in the West Indies—Loss + of Lord Francis Willoughby—Colonel Carden—Capture of Antigua by + the French forces under M. de la Barre—Colonel Fitche— + Restoration of Antigua by the Treaty of Breda—Death of Colonel + Carden—Biographical notices + + CHAPTER IV. + + Governors: Lord William Willoughby, Henry Willoughby—Arrival of + Major, afterwards Lieutenant-General Byam, the progenitor of + the family of that name—Biographical remarks—Partition of the + Caribbee Islands—Sir William Stapleton—General Council and + Assembly—Colonel Philip Warner—Expedition against the Caribs— + Death of Indian Warner—Arrest and trial of Colonel P. Warner— + Acquittal—Dampier’s account of this affair—Captain Southey’s + History of the Indian Warner + + CHAPTER V. + + Governor Col. R. Williams—Biographical remarks—Towns of trade + appointed—Antigua divided into parishes—Sir Nathaniel Johnson + appointed captain-general and governor-in-chief—Colonel + Codrington—Remarks upon this family—Invasion of Antigua by a + French privateer—Attack upon Guadeloupe by the English— + Expedition to St. Christopher’s—Gallant conduct of Colonel + Williams and Colonel Willoughby Byam—Sir Francis Wheeler’s + expedition—Wilmot and Lillingston’s expedition—Death of the + captain-general, General Codrington—Colonel John Yeamans, + lieutenant-governor—Arrival of Admiral Benbow + + CHAPTER VI. + + Governor Colonel Christopher Codrington—Establishment of the + first market—Accession of Queen Anne—Arrival of Admiral Benbow— + Attack upon the island of Guadaloupe, in conjunction with the + Antiguan troops—Bravery of Colonel Edward Byam—Arrival of + Captain Hovenden Walker—Second attack upon Guadaloupe—Colonel + Codrington quits the government—His death—Sir William Mathew— + Hon. John Johnson + + CHAPTER VII. + + Governor Colonel Daniel Parke—His birth-place and parentage—His + actions at the battle of Holchet and Blenheim—His arrival at + Antigua—Dissensions with the Antiguans—Complaints against him + sent to England—Results of the applications at the court of + Queen Anne—Tyrannical behaviour of Colonel Parke—Events of the + 7th December, 1710—Death of Colonel Parke + + CHAPTER VIII. + + Governor Walter Hamilton—Walter Douglas’s Disturbances— + Complaints against him sent to England—Queen Anne recalls him, + and reappoints Walter Hamilton—Lord Viscount Lowther—John Hart— + Lord Londonderry—Lord Forbes—Colonel William Crosbie + + CHAPTER IX. + + Governor William Mathew—Insurrection of the Negroes—A Legend of + the Ravine—Punishment of the Conspirators + + CHAPTER X. + + Governor William Mathew—Sir George Thomas, Bart.—James Verchild + —Honourable William Woodley—Sir Ralph Payne—Hon. Craister + Greathead—General Burt—The circumstances of his death—Sir + Thomas Shirley, Bart. + + CHAPTER XI. + + Governors: William Woodley—John Stanley—Major-General Charles + Leigh—Archibald Esdail—John S. Thomas—Robert Thomson + + CHAPTER XII. + + Governors: The Right Honourable Ralph Lord Lavington—William + Woodley—James Tyson—John Julius—Hugh Elliot—Sir James Leith— + Henry Rawlins—S. Rawlins—Major-General Ramsay + + CHAPTER XIII. + + Governors: Sir Benjamin D’Urban—Sir Patrick Ross—Sir Evan + Murray McGregor—Mr. Light—Sir W. G. MacBean Colebrooke—Major + McPhail—Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy + + CHAPTER XIV. + + My first voyage to Antigua—Visit upon deck—The booby’s welcome— + Nearer approach—Harbour of St. John’s—The Black Pilot—North + Sandy Island—Wreck of the mail-boat—Dangerous navigation—Long + Island—South Sandy Island—Panoramic views from the vessel’s + deck—Light winds—Disappointment made pleasing—Anchorage for the + night + + CHAPTER XV. + + The extent of Antigua—Opinion of some planters—Want of + agricultural labourers—Emigration not always profitable to the + negroes—“Seizar’s” letter upon the subject—Return of emigrants— + Soil of Antigua—Geological matters—Petrifactions—Climate of + Antigua—“Yellow fever”—Beautiful evenings—the appearance of the + heavens—Evening visitants + + CHAPTER XVI. + + Scenery of Antigua—Pilgrimage to “Tom Moore’s Spring”—The + Goddess Mnemosyne—Fig-Tree Hill—The “Bower of Bliss”—“Old Road” + —The Strand—The cross sexton—The parochial school—Old Road + Church—Tomb of Col. Williams—Moravian settlement—Salt ponds— + Copses—“Crab Hill”—Sandy Valley—The Valley Church—The rising + moon—Arrival in town—Night, and night dreams + + CHAPTER XVII. + + The seasons at Antigua—Heavy rains—Long droughts—The + water-merchant—A fortunate shower—Drought in 1837—Desolate + appearance of the country—Famishing cattle—Definition of “_fine + rains_”—Anecdote—Heavy shower—Joy—Earthquakes—1835—Meteors— + Dressing for the ball—The alarm—The ball-room—Hurricanes— + Devastations + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + Description of the town of St. John’s, the capital of Antigua— + Situation—Arrangement of the streets—Hucksters—Houses—Springs— + Small shops—Stores of the retail dealers—Grog-shops—Merchants’ + stores and lumber yards—Definition of lumber—Auction sales— + Scotch Row and Scotchmen—Incongruous display of goods—Fire in + 1797—Ruins—Fire in 1841—Its devastations + + CHAPTER XIX. + + Description of the church of St John’s—Period of its erection— + Present site—Panoramic views—Form of structure—Length and + breadth—Interior—Decorations—Monuments—Organ—Tower—Bells—Clock— + Churchyard—Tombs and sepulchral inscriptions—An acrostic—“Adam + and Eve!” + + CHAPTER XX. + + Court-house—Bazaar—Arsenal—Police-office—Government-house— + Barracks—House of correction—Gaol—Methodist chapel—Methodism, + its rise and progress in Antigua—Moravian chapel—Rise and + progress of the Society of United Brethren—Scotch kirk + + CHAPTER XXI. + + Morning—Institutions—Daily Meal Society—Its rise and progress— + Lazaretto—Destitute Females’ Friend Society—Its origin and + purpose—Friendly Societies—Bible Society—Missionary + associations—Temperance Society—Juvenile Association—Ladies’ + Clothing Society &c.—Banks—Library Society + + CHAPTER XXII. + + Early rising and “Jamie Thomson”—Journey to English Harbour— + Windmills and Don Quixote—Groups of negroes and their equipages + —All Saints’ chapel of ease—The “Hamlet”—Village of Liberta— + Grace Hill—Patterson’s and Prince William—English Harbour + market—Streets and dwellings—Commissariat’s store and + government tank—Dockyard—The superintendent—Stores and + storehouses—Engineer’s workshop—Blacksmith’s shop and blowing + machine—Limes and roses—Recollections of England—Lieutenant + Peterson and Lord Camelford—His lordship’s pranks—The ordnance— + Clarence House and Dows Hill—The Ridge and “Shirley heights”— + Fort Charlotte and Fort Berkeley—Bats Cave—The Savannah and its + tombs—Indian Creek—Return to town + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + Zulmiera, the Half-Carib girl, a Legend of the Savannah + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + Continuation of the Legend + + CHAPTER XXV. + + Conclusion of the Legend + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + Towns: Falmouth—Church and churchyard—Mangroves and acacias— + Black’s Point—Bridgetown—Willoughby Bay—Its site and decoration + —The superintendent of the Wesleyan schools—School-room— + Methodist chapel—The Memoras—St Philip’s church—Beautiful views + —Parham—Its derivation and site—St Peter’s church—Churchyard— + The new church—Methodist chapel and school-room + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + Forts and fortifications—Temporary ones—The present forts—Fort + James—Its situation and approach—Rat Island Battery, its + appellation, lunatic asylum, and flag-staff—Goat Hill—Steep + ascent—Schools in St. John’s + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + Remarks upon the aboriginal Americans—Suppositions of various + authors—Caribs—Arrowawks—Ferocity of the Carib—Complexion—Dress + —Ornaments—Dreadful revenge—Wars-Chiefs—Severities practised— + Feasts—Remarks upon paganism—Anthropophagi—A traveller’s tale— + The Carib’s opinion of death—Religious tenets—Altars—The + burning Carib + + ERRATA. + +[Transcriber’s Note: these errata have been incorporated.] + +Page 4, line 8 from top, _for_ “D’Escambue,” _read_ “D’Esnambuc.” + +— 20, line 7 from bottom, _for_ “Parhan,” _read_ “Parham.” + +— 89, line 3 from top, _for_ “Mathews,” _read_ “Mathew.” + +— 249, line 13 from top, _for_ “Hernhult,” _read_ “Herrnhutt.” + +— 266, line 3 from bottom, _for_ “Sheltic,” _read_ “Sheltie.” + + + + + SUBSCRIBERS. + + + COPIES + Sir Charles A. Fitz Roy, Governor-in-Chief of the + Leeward Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + Major McPhail, Lieutenant-Governor of Dominica . . . . . . 4 + The Lord Bishop of Antigua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + + + + + Members of Council + + + COPIES + Hon. Mead H. Daniel, President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. Rowland E. Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + Hon. William Byam, (Cedar Hill) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + Hon. Bertie E. Jarvis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + Hon. G. W. Ottley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. R. W. Nanton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. Owen Pell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. George S. Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. Paul Horsford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + + + + + Members of the House of Assembly, &c. + + + COPIES + Hon. Thomas Sanderson, Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. William Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. Thomas F. Nibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. John Athill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + James Scotland, Jun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. John Gray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Francis Byam Ottley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas Furgusson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + William Thibou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + R. B. Eldredge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Osborn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James W. Sheriff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Samuel Auchinleck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Jos. L. Bindon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + D. H. Allan, (Whitehaven) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + George Athill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Athill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Gedney C. Bispham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + Godschall Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + William Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Horace Turner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William H. Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. E. Sanderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Charles Murray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Hosier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + W. H. Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + N. J. Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. H. More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert Erskine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William S. Odlum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert Humphreys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Edward Wesston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Thibou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + R. K. Nanton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Madgwick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Paul Horsford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas Prizgar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert Armstrong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. Burke Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James E. Geddes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + George Ewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John McDonald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + George Cranstoun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 + J. Barrett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + W. T. Gore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + H. Perrott, 59th Regiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Gilbert Auchinleck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + A. Duncan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William L. Nibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + M. Capdestaing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James F. Salmon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Samuel L. Bridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + T. H. Morrison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Haining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Henry Simpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas Barry Nibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + N. Humphreyes, Jun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Charles Robertson, Sen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Benjamin Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Joseph Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + George Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William C. Brookes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + A. McDowal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + R. W. Baxter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John F. Smyth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + Ed. F. Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Rev. H. G. Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Scotland, Jun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Patrick Cadell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + John Gow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Richard Higginbotham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas C. Walter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John W. Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Richard Wilson, (Mico School) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Dr. J. Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + Thomas Gordon, (English Harbour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Charles Boison . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Francis Critchton, (Rose’s Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Charles McGuire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Jeremiah R. Nibbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John B. Lowry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert T. Pooler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Mrs. Freeland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Captain Kennedy, Brig, “British Queen.” . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. C. Milward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Henry T. Pigot, (Villa Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + C. W. More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Jos. Lavicount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William Simpson, Jun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Rev. J. B. Wilkinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William Walker, P. M. G. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Dr. Carmault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + P. P. Walter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + David Armour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Charles Robertson, Jun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas H. Hyndman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Ashford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas W. Scholar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William Grant, (Freeman’s Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Bradfoot Taber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas Doyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Dr. Thomas Nicholson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Edward Liscombe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James C. Wesston, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert Kennedy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert Lindsay, A. C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + D. Cranstoun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + Oswald Wood, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + G. J. Watkins, (Lavington’s Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. P. Maynard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Captain W. C. Johnson, Brig “Ludlow” . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + D. Malone, (English Harbour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + D. Scarville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. P. Guilmett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + W. Isaacs, (English Harbour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. Hart, Superintendent of Naval Yard . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + ——— Nugent, 59th Regiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + ——— Peebles, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Rev. James Curtin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas Clarke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + George Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Alonzo Hurst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Henry Trew, Collector H. M. C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + T. A. Benjamin, D. O. S. K. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + George S. Bladen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Ledger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + W. G. Dumeresque, H. M. C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + F. H. Price, H. M. C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hinton Simpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. J. Ronan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Jos. Sherrington . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + John Winter, Chief of Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + G. B. Cadelle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + W. A. Ross Willock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. R. Haynes, (Folly Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Goodwin, (Mount Lucy Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Thomas Bryan, (Elliot’s Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Jno. M. Donovan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Frederick Kysh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Richard Abbot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William Howell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + R. S. White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + J. Fulton Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Dr. Henry French . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + Captain Fred. Simpson, “Miranda” (ship) . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Stewart, (Hermitage Estate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Samuel M. Richard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Lieutenant Bulman, H. M. S. “Fair Rosamond” . . . . . . . . 1 + C. F. Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Mrs. Storrock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Connor, (English Harbour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Jno. Rodney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert Gregory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Henry Elliot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Brodie G. McNish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Andrew Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Mat. Cockburn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Mrs. T. C. Walter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Dr. Jno. Furlong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + James W. Boyd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Wm. Fairclough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + + + + + St. Christopher’s. + + + COPIES + Horatio Adlum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Joseph McLachlane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Private Subscription Rooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + C. Hay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + William Padmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Messrs. Dinzey and Peterson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + C. McMahon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Rev. William Frazer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Henry Woodcock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + C. A. Tapshire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + N. J. Lynch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Robert Nimmo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. R. Claxton, Attorney-General . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. R. B. Cleghorn, President of Nevis . . . . . . . . . . 1 + H. Harding, (Nevis) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + James Thensteat, (Dominica) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Fortunatus Larrica, (Madeira) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + T. L. Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + F. Burk, (Monserrat) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + + + + + England. + + + COPIES + Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen Dowager . . . . . . . + Sir T. Fowel Buxton, Bart., Northrepps, Norfolk . . . . . . 4 + Lord James O’Bryen, 15, North Crescent, Bath . . . . . . + Sir George Thomas, Weymouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + Captain G. B. Mathew, Carlton Club . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + Lieutenant Parsons, R.N., Southampton . . . . . . . . . . . 2 + Rev. William Palmer, Rector, Eynesbury, Hunts . . . . . . . 1 + Joseph Liggins, Esq., Mincing-lane, London . . . . . . . . 2 + Rev. Daniel F. Warner, Rector, Hoo, Rochester . . . . . . . 1 + Mrs. Byam, Byam House, Brighton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Edward S. Byam, Esq., Cheltenham . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Hon. and Rev. Richard Burgh Byam, Vicar of + Kew and Petersham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Mrs. Engleharte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Mrs. John Walter, Bridge-street, Blackfriars . . . . . . . 1 + L. C. Lecesne, Esq., Fenchurch-buildings . . . . . . . . . 1 + Lewis F. Bellot, Esq., Barge-yard Chambers, Bucklersbury . 1 + James McKie, Esq., Bucklersbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Edward Byam Wyke, Esq., Ealing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + Rev. Sam. Ashton Warner, Rector of St. George’s, Antigua . 1 + Shirley Warner, Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate, Montserrat . 1 + John Dawson, Esq., Whitehaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 + + ANTIGUA AND THE ANTIGUANS, + ETC. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + + + General Description of the Island—Appearance—Soil—Productions— + Climate—Early history—Discovery by Columbus—Attempted + settlement by Spaniards—Grant to Earl of Carlisle—Settlement by + d’Esnambuc—Williams—Governor Warner—Account of Sir Thomas + Warner, founder of the family. + +The Island of Antigua, one of the great Antilles, is situated in +the Caribbean Sea, about twenty-five miles to the north-east of +Montserrat, and forty miles north of Guadaloupe, in latitude +seventeen degrees north, and longitude sixty-two degrees, or +thereabouts, the measurement in these respects not being more +exact than those of its length and breadth, which are variously +stated at 21, 20, and 18 miles for its length, and 21, 20, and +17, for its breadth. The lower estimate is, however, most +probably correct. Its circumference, again, is variously stated +at from 50 to 80 miles, and its total area from 59,838 acres, to +108 square miles, or nearly 70,000 acres. The population in 1837, +consisted of 2000 whites and coloured people, and 33,000 blacks. +All the slaves in the island were enfranchised in 1834. + +The island is of an oval shape. On the first approach the coast +appears rough and barren, but as the voyager draws nearer, hills +and valleys open on his view, and the shore puts on an appearance +of luxuriant vegetation. The country possesses little of a +mountainous character, the highest elevation reaching only to the +height of 1210 feet above the level of the sea. The soil varies +according to the situation; that of the valleys and low lands +consisting of a rich, black mould, on a substratum of clay; and +unless in seasons of excessive drought, to which this island is +peculiarly subject, remarkably productive. The soil of the high +lands, on the other hand, is a stiff, reddish clay, on a +substratum of marl, and is much less productive, abounding, as it +does, with a species of grass extremely difficult to extirpate; +and the increase of which has even caused some lands, formerly +cultivated, to be abandoned. With the exception of such tracts, +and of a small part totally unimprovable, the whole island may be +said to be under cultivation. The staple production is sugar; a +little cotton is cultivated; but all other articles of commerce, +with the exception of sugar, are neglected. The quantities of +ground provisions, as yams, eddoes, sweet potatoes, &c., grown in +favourable seasons, is very considerable. + +The most remarkable circumstance connected with Antigua is the +want of fresh-water springs, there being but two or three of +them, wholly inadequate to the wants of the population. This want +is supplied by tanks, in which the rain water is preserved, and +found to be particularly wholesome and agreeable, being light and +pleasing to the palate. + +The climate is remarkable for want of moisture, although the +average fall of rain is forty-five inches. It is considered one +of the most healthy in the West Indies. + +The history of Antigua may be said to commence with its discovery +by Columbus, for although it was at that period, and +subsequently, frequented by the Caribs, they appear not to have +made it a place of permanent residence; the want of water, which +caused European settlers so long to neglect the island, deterring +them also from establishing themselves upon it. For an account of +the Caribs, and of their probable origin, the reader is referred +to the chapters devoted to that interesting subject; and we shall +now proceed to the history of the settlement of the island and of +its internal administration down to the present time, reserving +for future chapters those sketches of the island, and its +inhabitants, which are the result of personal experience. + +It was not until his second voyage, in the year 1493, that +Columbus discovered Antigua. He landed with a party, but finding, +on examination, that it was peopled only by a few Caribs, who +possessed nothing that was serviceable to the Spaniards, and who +were, probably, only casual visitants, and that the island was +destitute of fresh water, he contented himself with giving it a +name, Antigua, from the church of St. Mary of Antigua, at +Seville, and abandoned it. There is a tradition that the name +given to the island by the natives was “Xaymaca,” signifying the +“land of springs;” but whether this “lucus a non lucendo” was a +specimen of Caribbean wit, or, more probably, arose from a +mistake on the part of the European visitants, is uncertain. + +Antigua remained neglected by all the various European +adventurers, who hastened in crowds to other more favoured spots, +until the year 1520, when a small party of Spaniards, under the +Licentiate Don Antonio Serrano, who had received letters-patent +from the King of Spain to colonize Antigua, Montserrat, Barbadu, +Deseada, Dominica, and Martinique, landed, and driving off the +few Caribs they found there, attempted to establish themselves; +but after a short stay they abandoned it, and the island remained +without a European claimant until the year 1627, when the Earl of +Carlisle obtained a grant of Barbados, Antigua, and the rest of +the Leeward Islands, from Charles I. This grant was opposed by +the Earl of Marlborough, on the plea of a prior grant from James +I., which was, however, eventually compromised, and the Earl of +Carlisle was recognised as the sole proprietor. He, however, +contented himself with settling Barbados; and although Antigua +was colonized in his lifetime, yet neither he nor his son, who +died without issue in 1660, and in whom the family honours became +extinct, appear to have ever interested themselves in Antigua, or +to have exercised any rights of ownership or property. In fact, +the first permanent occupation of the island appears to have been +a mere private speculation, and to have excited little notice or +inquiry, since it is still a question who was the first actual +settler. + +In the year 1629, Mons. d’Esnambuc, the captain of a French +privateer, made an attempt at a settlement, but the want of water +drove him away after a very short stay; so short, indeed, that +although a party of English settlers seem to have been upon the +island, he did not remain long enough to discover them. The +assertion, however, that English colonists were then on the +island, rests solely on a tradition that William Herbert, Earl of +Pembroke, who interested himself greatly in the colonization of +the West Indies, sent out his friend and countryman, Mr. +Williams, (the father of Colonel Rowland Williams, renowned in +Antiguan story, as having been the first white child born on the +island,) to attempt a settlement in Antigua. As Lord Pembroke +died in April 1630, it does not appear probable that Mr. +Williams’ settlement was later than 1629. If he were not the +first, there is no doubt he was one of the first settlers, and an +estate at Old Road, still in possession of his descendant, is +pointed out as the spot he made choice of for his residence, +which, as it is in the neighbourhood of the best spring in the +island, now known as “Tom Moore’s Spring,” is extremely likely to +have been the case. A fact that strengthens the probability of +Mr. Williams being the first settler is, that Mr. Warner, who +unquestionably conducted a party to Antigua from St. Kitts, in +1632, fixed his residence near the same spot, which it is natural +he should do, for the sake of companionship, but built a cistern, +whose ruins are still to be seen in the savannah, which he need +not have done, had not the scanty spring been already +appropriated. + +In the year 1632, General Sir Thomas Warner, at that time, by the +sanction of the Earl of Carlisle, the legal proprietor, and, +under warrant from the king, Governor of St. Christopher, Nevis, +Barbados, and Montserrat, sent his son Edward, a captain in the +army, with a sufficient party, to colonize Antigua, which design +he carried into effect, and during the remainder of his life +continued to act as governor, although we have discovered no +evidence of his having ever possessed, either as principal or +deputy, any warrant for assuming the title, or executing the +functions of governor, except so far as his father, as agent for +the Earl of Carlisle, the lord proprietor of the island, might be +considered as vested with authority; for in his commission from +the crown, no mention is made of Antigua. + +The name of Warner being thus distinguished in the annals of +Antigua, we may be excused for making a digression upon the +history of its founder, more especially as it affords a good +illustration of the process of colonization in our West Indian +and American possessions. + +General Sir Thomas Warner was a scion of an ancient and +distinguished English family; but from being a younger son, he +was obliged to use personal efforts, in order to effect an +honourable passage through life. Having entered into the army at +an early age, and attained the rank of captain, he accompanied +Roger North, brother of Lord North, in his expedition to Guiana, +a country which was then looked upon as a perfect _Eldorado_. +Here he became acquainted with a Captain Painton, a great +navigator of those times, and one who had well studied the then +all-engrossing subject of colonization. + +This gentleman suggested to Captain Warner how much more facility +would attend a settlement in one of the smaller islands, than in +a country so extensive as Guiana; and from his own personal +experience, he thought St. Christopher’s (at that time unoccupied +by any European power) would be an island particularly adapted +for the exercise of a daring spirit, in the way of planting a +settlement. + +These suggestions of his friend appear to have made due +impression upon the mind of Mr. Warner; for in 1620, after the +death of Captain Painton, he resolved to return to England, and +endeavour to procure the aid of some kindred spirit, in order to +put his designs into execution. Having so far succeeded in his +plans as to procure all necessary arrangements for establishing a +colony, Mr. Warner again left England, accompanied by his wife +and son, Edward, (who was a captain in the army at the early age +of thirteen, and who was afterwards appointed first governor of +Antigua,) and a small party of followers,[1] and embarked on +board a vessel bound for Virginia, whence himself and party +proceeded to St. Christopher’s, where they arrived 28th January, +1623. Mr. Warner, as head of the settlers, commenced immediately +the task of cultivation, in which he so far progressed as to +raise a crop of tobacco, which was unfortunately destroyed in the +severe hurricane of the 19th of the following September. + +During this period, the movements of the English were diligently +observed by the Caribs, who, instigated by three Frenchmen, +(supposed to have been cast upon the island by a former storm,) +at length made an outbreak upon the English, and retarded in some +measure their work of cultivation. + +By the end of the following February, Mr. Warner had another crop +of tobacco ready for exportation; and the ship Hopewell +(commanded by Captain Jefferson) arriving on the 4th March, 1624, +from London, bringing fresh supplies for the infant colony, a few +emigrants, and goods with which to trade with the Caribs, Mr. +Warner resolved to return in her to England, in order to obtain +more powerful assistance. He accordingly embarked himself and his +first-gathered crop on board the “Hopewell,” and once more sought +the shores of England, to receive the congratulations of his +friends, and search for a patron who would enable him to carry +out further his plans of colonization. + +Between that period and 1625, Mr. Warner was employed in voyaging +backwards and forwards from St. Christopher’s and England, +leaving the cares of the government to his son, Edward Warner, +(of whom Du Tertre speaks very handsomely,) until, having gained +a friend and patron in the Earl of Carlisle, he was introduced at +the court of the then reigning sovereign, Charles I. This monarch +was so pleased with Mr. Warner’s indefatigable and patriotic +spirit, that he was graciously pleased to grant him a commission, +(signed 13th Sept. 1625,) constituting him governor over the +“foure islands of St. Christopher’s, Nevis, Barbados, and +Mountserrate,”[2] and on the 21st September, 1629, knighted him +at Hampton Court Palace.[3] + +Some of Sir Thomas Warner’s descendants have filled the highest +situations in Antigua, administering the government at times. Nor +is the family extinct, for many there are who can trace their +descent in a direct line from this great founder of four +flourishing colonies. One of these was in 1838 “gathered to his +fathers;” he was esteemed as an able legislator, and fulfilled +his duties as president of the council, brigadier-general of the +militia, and occasionally lieutenant-governor, with integrity. As +this family ranks among the first aristocrats of the island, a +more particular account of their lineal descent may not be deemed +superfluous, and will be found in the Appendix, No. 2. + + + ------ + +[1] The names of these adventurous few were as follows:—William +Tasted, John Rhodes, Robert Bims, Mr. Benifield, Sergeant Jones, +Mr. Ware, William Ryle, Rowland Grasscocke, Mr. Bond, Mr. +Langley, Mr. Weaver, Sergeant Aplon, one sailor, and a cook. + +[2] Vide copy of the first commission granted, No. 1, Appendix. + +[3] Sir Thomas Warner died at St Christopher’s in 1648. His tomb +is still to be met with in the parish church for the township of +Old Road, (a place which derives its name from the involuntary +exclamation of Columbus upon his second visit to St. +Christopher’s, “Ah! we are at the _old road_ again,”) the +inscription upon which is as follows:— + + An Epitaph vpon Th------------------- + Noble & Mvch Lamented Genrl Sir + Tho. Warner, Kt Lievtenant + General of ye Carribee + Ielands & Goverr of ye + Ieland of St Christopher + Who Departed This + Life the 10th of + March 1648. + + First Read then weepe when thou art hereby taught, + That Warner lyes interr’d here, one that bought, + With losse of Noble bloud Illustrious Name, + Of A Comander Greate in Acts of Fame. + Trayn’d from his youth in Armes, his courage bold, + Attempted braue Exploites, and vncontrold + By fortunes fiercest Frownes, hee still gaue forth + Large Narratiues of Military worth. + ----ritten with his sword’s poynt, but what is man + -------the midst of his glory, and who can + ----------this Life A moment, since that hee + -------------by Sea and Land, so longe kept free + -----------al, Mortal Strokes at length did yeeld + ------------ace) to conquering Death the field, + fini Coronat. + +The black lines shew where the marble is broken, or the letters +from some other cause are quite obliterated. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + + + History of the island continued—Sir Henry Hunks—Descent of the + Caribs—Legend of Ding-a-ding Nook—Arrival of the Ship Nonsuch— + Sir Thomas Modiford—Earl of Warwick, Captain-General—Captain + Edward Warner—Colonel Rich—Colonel Lake—Mr. Everard—Sir George + Ayscue—Colonel Christopher Reynall—Invasion by the Caribs— + Dissensions among the inhabitants—Copy of Colonel Reynall’s + letter to Cromwell—Attack upon St. Domingo and Jamaica— + Major-General Poyntz—Grant of Antigua to Lord F. Willoughby. + +We will now return to the history of Antigua, which we shall +hereafter pursue, as closely as possible, in chronological order. + +In 1639, Sir Henry Hunks paid Antigua a visit. This gentleman +(who was nephew to Lord Conway, Secretary of State) was the first +governor of Barbados with a regular commission; but upon his +arrival at that colony, Henry Hawley, the then acting +commander-in-chief, would not resign the government, and raised +so formidable a party, that Sir Henry Hunks quietly retired to +Antigua, where he remained from June to December; at which latter +period, he was installed in his government, according to the +instructions which he received from England. + +In 1640, the English settlers were disturbed in their possessions +at Antigua by the Caribs, who made a descent upon the island, +pillaging it, and destroying everything that fell in their way. +After many lives being lost on both sides, the English were +enabled to repel their invaders; who, however, succeeded in +carrying away the governor’s wife and her two children. It is +maintained by some authors, that the after fate of this +unfortunate woman was not known; but that everything the worst +might be imagined from the character of the Caribs, goaded on as +they were by the loss of their country. + +There is, however, a tradition still extant in Antigua, which +most probably relates to this catastrophe. In the first years of +this island becoming an English colony, it was, of course, but +thinly peopled by Europeans, and consequently there was but +little force to repel any invasion. Parties of Caribs from the +different islands, particularly Dominica, used frequently to land +upon it, and distress the inhabitants. In these invasions, no +mercy was shewn, no quarter given, to the unhappy people who fell +in their power, and after a combat, numerous were the bodies left +upon the field of battle. Armed with their massive clubs and +sharp spears, at the end of which was inserted a fish-bone, +dipped in the poisonous juice of the lianas or the manchineel, +the Caribs were no mean foes. No sooner had they set fire to a +cluster of houses, or destroyed a field of tobacco, the chief +production of the island in those days, than they immediately +flew to their canoes, which were so fast in sailing, that before +the alarm had subsided in one part, they were burning and +plundering in another.[4] At that period, the house where the +governor resided was situated near Falmouth Bay; and in the +village itself the principal of the English settlers lived. +Government House, from its situation, was particularly open to +the attacks of the Caribs; and here the first part of the scene +took place, which gave rise to + + + + + The Legend of Ding-a-ding Nook.[5] + + + +It was night. The wind, which had been blowing rather hard during +the day, as evening drew in, gradually sank, until about +midnight, the time when the legend opens, it was a dead calm. +Nothing was to be heard but the dull moaning of the waves, as +they broke heavily upon the beach, or, now and then, the distant +bark of a dog from the houses of the settlers, which, with the +natural fidelity of that animal, had followed his master to these +sunny islands, when he came in search of that fortune which his +native land denied him. + +The family of the governor consisted of himself, his young and +beautiful wife, two lovely children, and his numerous domestics. +At an early period of this evening, his lady, with the warm +solicitude of a mother’s love, had seen her infants safely +deposited in their cot; and with a mother’s prayer for their +happiness upon her lips, watched beside them until the deepening +rose upon their cheeks, and their measured breathings, shewed +that they slept the quiet sleep of childhood. + +Hours rolled on, and all beneath that roof sought their +resting-place—all but the governor’s wife were quickly in the +arms of sleep. As if some “spirit of the night” had whispered a +hint of the sufferings she was fated to endure, an irresistible +feeling of melancholy hung over her. Sleep she could not; and to +allay the fever of her brow, she arose from her couch, and +throwing her robe around her, she opened the lattice. The scene +she looked upon was wild but beautiful. Dark masses of clouds +still hung about the heavens, and strove to hide the beams of the +rising moon; but she, “fair Cynthia,” kept on her way in peerless +majesty, and shed on every object her mellowed light. The simple +houses of the English were visible amid the trees; above which +the stately cocoa-nut reared its head, its long pendant branches +perfectly motionless. On one side, the bay of Falmouth lay +stretched before the eye of the gazer, every snow-crested wave of +which could be counted; and on the other were the dark mountains, +except in the opening of the bay, where nothing was to be seen +but an extent of waters. + +Long did that beautiful lady gaze upon this scene: many thoughts +did its loveliness conjure up—thoughts of her native land, its +verdant hills and spangled dells, and all its towering cities. +Present objects were fast fading away, when a splash of the +waters was heard, and as her eye sought the ocean, a +swift-gliding canoe came in sight. At this moment, the moon, +which had been lately obscured, shone out with redoubled +brightness, and she could plainly discover that the canoe +contained about twenty armed men, and was quickly followed by +another, with even more than that number. Who could these +strangers be? was the first thought; and what their business at +such an hour? Were they Caribs? And one more glance at their wild +forms, and the dreadful truth rushed across her mind, that they +were coming to storm the house. Soon she awoke her husband, and +told him her fears; the domestics were aroused and armed, and the +house put into a posture of defence. + +The canoes were now no longer to be seen; and even the lady was +inclined to ask, Could it be one of those wild vagaries of the +imagination? when suddenly the war-cry was heard, and, with +dreadful imprecations, a party of Caribs bounded into sight. +Terrible was the fight that succeeded, and many a corse strewed +the ground. At length the Caribs were obliged to retreat; but, +alas! they carried with them all that was dear to the governor— +his wife and children. The Caribs, hotly pursued, made for the +place where they had directed their canoes to wait, under the +charge of some of their friends, dragging the unhappy lady and +her two babies with them. Frightened by the wild looks of the +Indians, and suddenly awakened from its slumbers, one of the +little innocents commenced crying bitterly, which its distressed +mother, at the command of her conquerors, vainly endeavoured to +still. After walking, or rather running, for some distance, they +had almost reached the sea-side, when one of the Caribs, more +ferocious than the rest, and thinking that the cries of the child +would perhaps lead their pursuers to the spot, caught the baby by +the feet, and swinging it around his head, at one blow dashed out +its brains upon a neighbouring rock.[6] This deed committed in +sight of its parent, the lady and her remaining child were rudely +hurried on, until, the beach gained, they were thrown into one of +the canoes; and the whole party embarking, they pushed out into +the ocean. + +The governor, finding they had escaped, proceeded on board an +armed vessel, and immediately sailed in pursuit of the enemy. The +morning that succeeded that disastrous night was one of West +Indian beauty; not a vapour was abroad; the sky was one deep, +lovely blue, and the sea looked like fluid light. Seated upon the +high poop, anxiously did the governor scan the waters in hopes of +seeing the canoes; but nothing met his eye—not even a speck +appeared to raise his hopes. Hour after hour passed away, but no +sight of the fugitives; night drew on, and the breeze died away; +the sails flapping heavily against the mast bespoke another calm. +How tedious seemed those hours of darkness—how fervently was the +morning wished for; but just before dawn the wind sprung up, and +soon after the mountains of Dominica appeared in sight. Slowly +but surely the vessel glided on, every eye watching for some +trace of the lost ones, when, in the opening of a little bay, two +empty canoes were discovered. Could these be the same they were +in quest of? was the anxious query; and if so, where could their +owners be? Orders were given to let go the anchor, and prepare +the boats; and in a short time the governor and his party, all +well armed, were landed upon the beach. + +A beaten path led up to the mountains, and it was determined to +pursue it in hopes of it leading to some dwelling, where they +might obtain information. As it proceeded, however, it became +more and more intricate, guava bushes, aloes, and the prickly +pear, grew thickly together, while different species of parasites +conspired to render the path more impervious. In some places it +was almost obstructed by these various bushes, interspersed with +larger trees, so that the companions of the governor were for +returning, supposing no one could have passed that way lately. +But he was determined to proceed a little further; and had just +stretched out his hand to sever with his sword the overhanging +boughs of an acacia, when suddenly he made a start, his heart +beat almost to bursting, and, unable to speak, he pointed to his +amazed followers a portion of white taffeta hanging to one of its +sharp thorns. This, he felt assured, must have been torn from the +robe of his wife; and, consequently, that was the road her +conquerors must have carried her. Upon further search among the +rank and tangled grass, in hopes of discovering prints of +footsteps, marks of blood were observed. These led to further +inquiries. Could they have murdered her there? But no; had such +been the case, greater quantities of blood would have marked the +deed. Perhaps she might have been wounded, and placed in some +concealment near. Again they proceeded, guided by the drops of +blood, until, coming to an abrupt turn of the path, about a dozen +Caribs’ huts lay stretched before them, and their fierce inmates +lolling around the open doors. + +In less than a minute all was confusion. Confident that this was +the party who had stolen his wife, the governor rushed upon them +furious with passion. Nothing could resist his power; Carib after +Carib lay stretched by the prowess of his arm; and springing over +his prostrate foes, the anxious husband entered the principal +hut, which he had observed was carefully guarded throughout the +fray. A well-known voice called his name, an infant’s cry of joy +saluted his ear, and, bursting open an inner door, his weeping +wife was in his arms, and his darling child clinging around his +knees. It took but little time to quit that spot, and retrace the +mountain path. The drops of blood he had seen were occasioned by +his wife’s shoe coming off, and the rugged ascent cutting her +tender feet, upon her journey to the Caribs’ huts. The boat was +quickly gained, and in a few minutes they reached the ship, and, +unfurling the sails, they sought the shores of Antigua, where +they arrived in safety. + +Hitherto all was well. Happy in again seeing her husband, and +knowing herself and child were safe, that lady still took +comfort, although mourning the untimely fate of her other +darling. But this did not last long. Other thoughts arose in her +husband’s breast—thoughts too horrible to mention. + + “Oh! what dreadful minutes tells he o’er, + Who dotes, still doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves.” + +In vain his poor unhappy wife protested she was pure. + + “Jealousy is a green-eyed monster, + That doth mock the food it feeds upon;” + +and by its whispers drove him, who was the affectionate friend +and protector, to be the harsh and implacable tyrant. No longer +enjoying the society of his wife, he determined to get rid of +her; and for this purpose built a keep in Ding-a-Ding Nook, and, +conveying his wife hither, left her to wear away her life in +hopeless misery. + + + ------ + +This is the legend; and well might that Nook be selected for such +a place of seclusion, for it is a valley completely shut in by +the surrounding mountains, and open only to the sea. I have heard +another version of this story, which says, the governor and his +lady parted by mutual consent, and that it was her wish to have a +house built in that spot. Surely, if this was the case, she must +have had the taste of an anchorite. + +Between the period of Mrs. Warner’s abduction and the year 1666, +the Caribs carried away the wives and children of many of the +respectable settlers. Among them, we find mentioned Mrs. Cardin +and children, Mrs. Taylor and children, Mrs. Chrew and children, +Mrs. Lynch and children, Mrs. Lee, wife of Captain Lee, and many +other females. Mrs. Lee was detained prisoner for three years, +after the Caribs had murdered her husband, and many other +Englishmen, the truth of which is attested by the following +extract from a letter written by J. Daniel, auditor-general to +the expedition under Pen and Venables, to Oliver Cromwell, +lord-protector of England, dated 3rd June, 1655:—“Mrs. Lee, wife +of Captain Lee, was carried away by the Caribs, and kept prisoner +three years at Dominica, her husband and many English +slaughtered.” This statement immediately dispels the hypothesis +(which some writers have entertained) of Captain Lee being the +erector of the keep at Ding-a-Ding Nook; and, consequently, fixes +more firmly the truth of Mrs. Warner being the heroine of the +preceding legend. + +To return once more to our chronological record. In 1647, the +ship “Nonsuch,” Captain Middleton, owner, arrived at Antigua, +which gave the name to Nonsuch Harbour, having anchored in that +port. This was one of three vessels which had been fitted out +from England by Colonel, afterwards Sir Thomas, Modiford, in +order to form a plantation in this island. During the passage, +the “Achilles,” the larger vessel of the expedition, of 300 tons +burden, William Crowder, owner and master, parted company with +the “Nonsuch,” which proceeded to Antigua alone. The “Achilles,” +after being out at sea for many weeks, put into Barbados in +distress, being infected with a disease which caused great +mortality among the men. During Colonel Modiford’s stay at +Barbados, it was represented to him how far more advantageous it +would be to purchase an estate in that island, already planted, +and from which immediate emolument might be derived, than to +proceed to an infant colony, where he would have to undergo all +the fatigues and privations incident upon establishing a +plantation. Colonel Modiford, listening to this advice, purchased +the half of an estate for 7000l., an immense sum at that day, and +thus constituted himself a Barbados planter, instead of adhering +to his first resolution, of becoming a settler of Antigua. Sir +Thomas Modiford afterwards removed to the newly-gained English +colony of Jamaica, of which island he was appointed governor in +1663, and where he resigned his breath in 1679. The Earl of +Warwick had been appointed captain-general of _all the West +Indies_ in 1643, but he does not appear to have assumed the +command; for, in 1648, after the demise of Sir Thomas Warner, we +find Colonel Rich become governor of St. Christopher’s, Colonel +Lake[7] of Nevis, and Colonel Edward Warner of Antigua. How long +this latter gentleman retained his situation is uncertain; but, +about the year 1651-2, a Mr. Everard is mentioned as holding the +government of the leeward West India islands. An official +document, however, written in the year 1655, speaks of a +gentleman of that name as governor of St. Kitt’s only. + +Antigua, among most of the other colonies in this quarter of the +globe, refusing to acknowledge the rights of the Protector, Sir +George Ayscue was sent with a squadron to reduce them. This +island soon yielded to the Commonwealth’s banner, and Colonel +Christopher Reynall was appointed governor, instead of the +individual who had so daringly withstood the parliamentary power. + +In 1654, the Caribs again made a descent upon Antigua; but the +English were enabled to repel their invaders, and effect such +slaughter among them, that but few escaped to tell the tale. This +victory appears to have intimidated the Indians; and for the next +two or three years, the island had rest from their relentless +invasions. About this period, Antigua was a prey to great +dissensions between the governor and the governed. Complaints +were forwarded by the inhabitants to Barbados, praying the +governor of that island to use his influence in endeavouring to +put a stop to their internal distractions. On the other hand, the +Governor of Antigua, Colonel Christopher Reynall, wrote to the +Lord Protector, imploring his Highness to take the island under +his more particular command, and, by his authority, quell the +disaffections which had so unfortunately crept in among them. The +following letter from the Governor of Antigua, and the extract +from one written by Daniel Searle, Esq., Governor of Barbados, +are taken from “Thurloe’s State Papers”:— + + Copy of a letter from Christopher Reynall, Governor of Antigua, + to the Lord Protector of England, Oliver Cromwell. + +“May it please your Highness, + +“Upon the reducement of these parts in that expedition of Sir +George Ayscue’s employ, I was by him and the other commissioners, +then empowered and commissioned to be _governor_ and +_commander-in-chief_ of this island of Antigua, in relation and +obedience to the Commonwealth of England, which, to the best of +my endeavours, I hope in my instrument, I have faithfully +performed; in the progress of which my employ being, I have +received by several advice, that it was and is thought meet, and +so established by the Great Council and Estate of England, with +your Highnesses consent and acceptation, that the government of +our nation and dominions remain in yourself as Lord Protector; a +thing most acceptable to me, who do most faithfully wish your +Highness and the Commonwealth welfare and happiness; and, in +manifestation thereof, have cheerfully acknowledged and submitted +to all such mandates or expresses which hath hitherto come in the +name of the Lord Protector. But in our private consultations, +considering of _many spirits amongst us_, doubting their +satisfactions have not attained the title of our ...... or +......; according to our desires and intentions, lest an +ill-affected party should presume to take an advantage thereby in +pretending, as some have already given out, that there were no +power of government, but all as libertine, until a new commission +came from your Highness; which, by that means might endanger the +place to a confusion and ruin: so render us incapable of that +service we desire to perform to your Highness and the +Commonwealth. The place of itself (if encouragement and small +help were afforded) being of consequence, by reason of the +fertility of the soil, and exceeding all others settled in these +parts, in convenient and safe harbours—I, in relation to the +promises and my loyalty to your Highness and the Commonwealth, do +prostrate my humble desire at the feet of your Highness’s care +and justice, as so far to take up the people and place into your +consideration, as to give such orders and directions as may put +us not only in the condition of walking inoffensively, but also +as we may be serviceable to your Highness and the Commonwealth, +which is the hearty desire of + + “Your most obedient subject and servant, + + (Signed) “Christopher Reynall. + + “From the Island of Antigua, in the parts of America, + +“Aug. 20th, 1654.” + +The extract from Governor Searle’s letter, dated from Barbados, +Nov. 7th, 1655, and addressed to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, +&c., is as follows:— + +“Some addresses have likewise been made unto me, by Mr. Jos. Lee, +Mr. Benjamin Langham, and Richard Farley, inhabitants of Antego, +in behalf of themselves and the people of that colony, concerning +some distractions among them, and the present unsettled and +desturbed condition of that colony. But finding I have no power +to take cognizance of anything of that nature, without the bounds +of this colony, without a special order from your Highness, I +have transmitted their complaints, and the state of the matter in +difference betwixt them and the governor going off, which your +Highness will here receive.” + +In 1665, Antigua joined with Barbados, St. Christopher’s, and +Nevis, in levying troops to join the intended expedition of +Admiral Pen and General Venables, (of which accounts had been +received from England,) in their projected attack upon St. +Domingo—an island at that period under the power of Spain, but +which Cromwell was very desirous of obtaining. From the copy of a +State paper, it appears, however, that upon the arrival of the +Commonwealth fleet, the Governor of Antigua, Christopher Reynall, +represented to the commanders of the expedition, the disastrous +state of the island, from the frequent, and particularly the +_late_, molestations of the Caribs;—a fact so clearly presented +to Pen and Venables, that they would not lessen the force of the +place, by impressing any of its inhabitants for soldiers. They, +therefore, remained only two days at Antigua, during which period +they proclaimed the Protector with great pomp; and then proceeded +to St. Christopher’s, and the other leeward islands, where they +procured a sufficient complement of men. I am sorry, however, +that an historian of great fame states, “the troops raised in the +West Indies were the most profligate of mankind.” + +As Antigua did not eventually join in this expedition, it will be +sufficient to remark, that the attack upon St. Domingo was very +disastrous; for, although upon the first approach of the English, +the Spaniards left their town and fled into the woods, the troops +did not follow up their advantage. Venables allowed the soldiers +to disembark, without a guide, ten miles from the capital; and, +wandering about without any fixed purpose for the space of four +days, they gave the Spaniards time to recover themselves from +their alarm, and, rushing from their place of concealment, they +fell upon the English, who were almost dead with fatigue and +hunger, killed six hundred of them, and drove the remainder on +board their vessels. In order to atone for their indiscretions, +the English commanders resolved to proceed against Jamaica, also +under the dominion of Spain, and which island immediately +surrendered to the English flag, without a blow being struck in +its defence. Colonel Doyly being appointed governor of the new +gained colony, with about 3000 land forces under his command, and +a fleet of men-of-war under Vice-Admiral Goodson, Pen and +Venables prepared to return home. Landing the West India troops +at their respective islands, the commanders sailed for England; +but, upon their arrival, they were both sent to the Tower, for +their failure upon St. Domingo, entirely owing to their want of +proper conduct as English officers. + +Upon the Restoration, Antigua held out for the Commonwealth, as +strenuously as in 1651 it had opposed the pretensions of +Cromwell, and for this cause, Charles II. appointed Major-General +Poyntz, a former deserter from the Parliamentary power, to act as +governor, which situation he filled until 1663, when Lord Francis +Willoughby, of Parham, obtained a grant of the entire island from +Charles II. as a reward for his eminent services in the cause of +that monarch; and Major-General Poyntz retired to Virginia. +During the period this latter gentleman resided at Antigua as +governor, he owned and planted an estate called by him Cassada +Garden, a title which it still bears. + + + ------ + +[4] The following extract alludes to the invasions of the Caribs +(Rochfort’s Histoire des Antilles, published at Rotterdam, 1665, +tome 4, page 310):—“Les Caraibs ont fait des descent dans les +isles de Montserrat, d’Antigoa, et en d’autres qui sont occupées +par les Anglais, et après avoir brulé quelques maisons, et pillé +quelques meubles; ils ont enlevé des hommes, des femmes et des +enfans, qu’ils ont conduit à la Dominique et à St. Vincents.” + +[5] An estate in Antigua called by that name. + +[6] This rock is still pointed out upon an estate, called +Patterson’s, belonging to the Hon. John Athill. + +[7] The proper appellation of this gentleman (according to the +authority of E. S. B———, Esq.) is Colonel _Luke Stokes_; but, +from an orthographical error of the French historian, _Du +Tertre_, he has been handed down to posterity as Colonel _Lake_. +He afterwards removed to Jamaica at the head of a small party of +English settlers, where he died in 1659, universally esteemed for +his virtues and honourable actions. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + + + Rupture between France and England—War in the West Indies—Loss + of Lord Francis Willoughby—Colonel Carden—Capture of Antigua by + the French forces under M. de la Barre—Colonel Fitche— + Restoration of Antigua by the Treaty of Breda—Death of Colonel + Carden—Biographical notices. + +In 1665-6, England was engaged in a contest with Holland, +Denmark, and France; and during that period, her colonies in the +West Indies suffered greatly, particularly St. Christopher’s and +Antigua. + +St. Christopher’s being reduced by the French, Lord Francis +Willoughby headed an expedition of 2000 troops, and sailed from +Barbados (where he was then residing in preference to Antigua) +with the hope of recapturing that island. On his passage to St. +Christopher’s, he visited Martinique, with the design of +surprising the place, and, after taking the French prisoners, to +transport them to Antigua, Montserrat, and Nevis. The French, +however, having received tidings of his movements, were +accordingly prepared; and Lord Willoughby, finding himself +baffled in his intentions, sailed for Guadaloupe, where he +arrived on the 2nd of August. Before any success was effected +against this island, a dreadful hurricane arose, which, raging +with extreme violence for the space of twenty-four hours, +entirely destroyed the fleet of Lord Willoughby, strewing the +coast with its fragments, and every soul perished, with the +exception of two seamen.[8] + +Before embarking upon this expedition, this ill-fated nobleman +appointed his nephew, Mr. Henry Willoughby, lieutenant-general +and governor of these islands, who in his turn constituted +Colonel Carden governor of Antigua. + +Before the declaration of war between France and England was +published, several Frenchmen had left the French colonies, from +different motives, and settled in Antigua, where they lived +sociably with the English, and prosecuted their respective +professions. After the rupture between those nations was known in +the West Indies, and the report of the intended attack upon St. +Christopher’s by the French, reached the ears of Lord F. +Willoughby, he dispatched his nephew, Mr. Henry Willoughby, to +the relief of that place. Arriving, however, too late for the +action, he was obliged to proceed with his ship to Antigua; and +being (according to Du Tertre, the French historian) in “_a +burning rage_” at the failure of his plans, he vented it upon the +French settlers whom he found there—confiscating their property, +forbidding them to quit their houses, or hold communications +between themselves, under pain of death, and obliging them to +swear allegiance to the English monarch. + +“Many of them submitted, in a very cowardly manner,” remarks the +above-named quaint author; “but others, _whose heart was in a +better place, refused to do so_.” + +Among these French settlers was a young surgeon, of the name of +Grand-Maison, who had been formerly _valet-de-chambre_ to M. de +la Barre, lieutenant-general by sea and land of the French +forces, and who was fully alive to the tyrannical manner in which +himself and his countrymen had been treated. Having a little more +liberty than the others, from the nature of his profession, +Grand-Maison had an opportunity of entering into conversation +with another young Frenchman, of the name of Baston, who, says Du +Tertre, “was skilful by sea and land, courageous and brave, and +an admirer of firmness and constancy.” Finding Grand-Maison +entertained the same sentiments as himself, he proposed that they +should steal a small shallop, which was attached by an iron chain +to a post firmly planted in the beach, and taking advantage of +the darkness of the night, effect their escape from the island. +As, however, the oars had been carried away by the owner of the +boat, they bribed a French carpenter, who was engaged working in +some of the back woods of Antigua, to join them in their +enterprise, and make them a pair in that retired place. + +Grand-Maison, who served a very rich master,[9] took the charge +of bringing a sufficient quantity of provisions from his home; +and between them they procured five muskets, a few pairs of +pistols, some cutlasses, twenty or thirty pounds of powder, and +lead in proportion. But thinking themselves not strong enough to +man the shallop, Grand-Maison, who was very much beloved by the +negroes, engaged two of them, who were esteemed excellent rowers, +to accompany him. + +All things being duly prepared, they stole away from their +masters by night, hurried to the beach, and the carpenter having +sawn in two the post to which the boat was fastened, they +departed, and made for Guadaloupe. After struggling manfully +against the current and contrary winds for some time, running +many risks of their lives, and putting back into Antigua once or +twice, they changed their resolution, and made for St. +Christopher’s—arriving in Cabsterre, a district of that island, +at the very time M. de Chambre was on the point of sailing for +Martinique, to rejoin M. de la Barre, with all the French ships +of war. + +M. Sannois, captain of that district, welcomed the adventurers, +and treated them very kindly; and upon hearing their story, sent +them to M. de St. Laurent, who, after examining them, and finding +them well informed of the strength and natural barriers of +Antigua—and more particularly, as Baston gave him a plan of the +coast, shewing the best landing-places, and offered himself as a +guide to the troops, to lead them to the place “wherever +resistance might be expected,” and to be _everywhere_ “at their +head,”—he determined to send them with M. de Chambre to M. de la +Barre, at Martinique. + +Upon their arrival at that island, at counsel was held, and +Grand-Maison and Baston introduced, when the latter repeated his +offers. The assembly was well pleased with his information and +solid reflections; but M. de Chambre represented, that the +officers of the French forces were so contented with the conquest +of St. Kitts, that he thought they would be unwilling to engage +in any new adventure, unless there was an augmentation of the +troops. To this objection M. Clodoré, the Governor of Martinique, +replied, in such a splendid speech, abounding with so much true +martial ardour, that every objection was borne down before him; +and M. de Chambre was led to observe, that if M. St. Laurent had +heard the powerful arguments brought forward by M. de Clodoré, he +would change his opinion, and join in attacking Antigua; and he +did not believe M. St. Leon, (the commanding officer,) with his +brother officers, would even stand firm in their resolution after +hearing him. M. de Chambre then asked M. Clodoré if he would +accompany him to St. Christopher’s, to consult with the other +officers. M. Clodoré immediately replied he should be most happy +to do so, if M. de la Barre would give him such instructions in +writing; which being directly complied with, they made sail 25th +October, 1666, with seven vessels of war, carrying 166 pieces of +cannon, and commanded by M. de la Barre, admiral of the whole +fleet; M. de Clodoré, Governor of Martinique; M. du Lion, +Governor of Guadaloupe; M. de Chambre, Intendant of the French +West Indian Company’s affairs; and attended by 130 men of the +regiment of Poictiers, commanded by Sieur d’Orvillier, and two +companies of infantry, besides the seamen. + +Calling in at Guadaloupe, they held another council of war, in +which it was determined to sail for St. Kitt’s; but at the same +time to come so near to Antigua as to be able to reconnoitre the +island, and ascertain if it would be prudent to attack it before +they proceeded to St. Christopher’s. + +Leaving Guadaloupe on the 2nd November, they made sail for +Antigua, bearing the English flag as a subterfuge, and thinking +by that means to deceive the English. Upon reaching Antigua, they +endeavoured to get into the harbour of St. John’s; but meeting +with contrary winds, they put back and made for Five Islands’ +Bay, which at that period was defended by two forts—the smaller +one (which appears to have been only an artificial mound, without +any parapets or any kind of fortifications) mounted with six +guns; the larger one (with good stone buildings, and standing in +that part now occupied by the batteries of “Goat’s Hill”) mounted +with eight guns. The men stationed at the smaller fort had their +suspicions first awakened by observing how carefully the French +came in, sounding with the lead every moment; and consequently +they determined to fire upon them. + +To this _warm_ welcome the French replied in such a manner, +bringing all their guns to bear upon the place, that the English +abandoned the fort, and fled. Arriving abreast of the larger +fort, the French anchored at pistol-shot; and the firing was +carried on with such vigour, that it was also abandoned, and that +with such precipitancy, that the royal flag was left behind. + +The signal was now made for a party to land and take possession +of the forts, with directions to capture all they could, but not +to burn or destroy any part of the country, wisely remarking, +according to their own narrator, that “they could do that another +time.” These orders for forbearance, if they were ever given, +were not attended to; for everything that fell in their way was +devastated; and it has been remarked by an old author, that the +French robbed the very shoes from off the feet of the +inhabitants.[10] + +But to return to the particulars of the attack. The next morning, +about four o’clock, M. de Clodoré, &c., attended by 200 men, +landed upon the beach, and, guided by Baston, proceeded to the +house where the governor, Colonel Carden, then resided, which was +situated about a mile and a half from the shore. The English +fought with their usual bravery, but were at length overpowered; +and Colonel Carden, Colonel Monk, and about thirty other +officers, were taken prisoners, and the house burnt to the +ground. + +The governor, being thus captured, was conveyed on board the +admiral’s ship; and the French were so elated with their success, +that they determined to push on their good fortune, and endeavour +to subdue the whole island. The next day, they again landed at +daybreak, attended by 240 men, divided into two companies, and +guided by Baston. Reaching a large house situated upon a hill, +they dispatched a trumpeter to summon the inhabitants to +surrender, among whom was Mrs. Carden, the wife of the governor. +This trumpeter carried a letter, written by Colonel Carden, +describing how well he was treated(?), and advising them not to +wait to the last extremity to surrender, but to do so without +delay. To this letter they returned a verbal answer, thanking the +French for their polite treatment to their governor, but at the +same time intimating, that they were resolved to do their duty, +and resist to the last. + +Upon receiving this reply, the French commanders prepared for +battle, and resolved to storm the house. At first they were +repulsed by the English; and the greater part of the regiment of +Poictiers, commanded by the Sieur d’Orvillier, being seized with +a panic, retreated and concealed themselves in a neighbouring +wood; but Mons. de Clodoré, seeing the state of affairs, hurried +to the spot, and, being joined by the officers of the regiment +and about thirty of the common soldiers, whom they had prevailed +upon to leave their concealment, made a second attack upon the +house, and succeeded in forcing an entrance. + +A battalion of the English making their appearance upon the hill +behind the house, M. de Clodoré drew off his men to engage with +them, while D’Orvillier and the rest of the party were left in +charge of the edifice. Upon entering, they found Colonel Quest +(who had taken the command of the island after the seizure of +Colonel Carden) seated “in an arm-chair, with a pair of pistols +cocked in his hand,” and surrounded by a few brave English. +Colonel Quest demanded quarter, to which a Frenchman replied by +sending a ball through his body; and the rest of the English who +were with him, were slaughtered without mercy. + +In justice to M. de Clodoré, it must be remarked, that as soon as +he knew of these proceedings, he endeavoured to put a stop to +them, and finally saved the lives of about fifty English, who had +concealed themselves in another part of the house. + +After burning down the edifice, and many others in the vicinity— +which were described as being very handsome ones—killing fifty of +the English, and getting all the plunder they could, the French +proceeded to the beach, carrying their prisoners, about fifty in +number, along with them. Upon arriving there, it was agreed to +ship them immediately, and despatch them to St. Kitts, with the +wounded Frenchmen, among whom was Baston, the instigator of the +attack, and who afterwards died of his wound at that island.[11] +When Colonel Quest was to be carried down to the beach along with +the other prisoners, he was found to be so seriously wounded, +that he was unable to walk; and consequently, one of the French +officers proposed to despatch him, offering to do the deed +himself. At this barbarous scheme, M. de Clodoré was justly +incensed; and, ordering a few of his soldiers to form a kind of +bier, had him carefully conducted on board the ship that was to +carry him to St. Kitts, in which island he also died. + +After getting rid of their prisoners, the French held another +council of war, when it was resolved to send a trumpeter, +summoning all the inhabitants to surrender, threatening to set +fire to all their property should they demur. A compliance with +this demand appears to have been wholly unexpected by the French, +and their threat of burning only a species of _bravado_; for at +this council it was resolved, that if the English held out, they +would immediately sail for St. Christopher’s with the whole +fleet. Fate, however, willed it otherwise, and the trumpeter +brought answer back, that the English were willing to accede to +their demand, and desired a place to be appointed in which to +treat about the terms of capitulation. Overjoyed at their +unexpected success, the French named the harbour of St. John’s as +the place of treaty; and accordingly despatched one of their +frigates—the “Armes d’Angleterre,” on board of which the +conference was to be held. On the tenth of November, 1666, M. de +Clodoré, M. de Chambre, &c. &c., accompanied by four shallops, +containing eighty armed men, proceeded on board that vessel, and +were quickly joined by Lieut.-Colonel Bastien Baijer, Colonel +Buckley, Joseph Lee, Captain Samuel Winthorp,[12] Captain Philip +Warner, and James Halliday, who were appointed by the English to +sign the capitulation. + +All arms, ammunition, forts, batteries, &c., were to be given up +to the French; but the English were to be allowed to retain their +property, have free exercise of their religion; (except in that +immediate district which the French governor might choose as his +quarters;) and Colonel Carden, who had been detained prisoner of +war on board one of the enemy’s vessels, was to be restored to +liberty. + +After signing the capitulation, on the 12th of November, the +English deputies despatched Colonel Buckley on board the “Armes +d’Angleterre,” with the information that there were three hundred +soldiers arrived from Barbados, which would prevent them from +fulfilling their part of the treaty; _but that if the French +thought proper to hazard an attack, they (the deputies) would not +interfere_. + +Upon receiving this message, the greater part of the French +officers were for detaining Colonel Buckley as an hostage, as +well as refusing to liberate Colonel Carden; but to this M. de +Clodoré would not assent, remarking that as he had given his word +to restore Colonel Carden to liberty, and Colonel Buckley had +come on board under protection of a flag of truce, they should +both be conveyed safely to land. This was accordingly done the +same day; but Monsieur Giraud, the head commander of St. Kitts, +seeing Colonel Buckley on shore, and not being aware of M. de la +Barre’s intentions towards him, had him seized and conveyed on +board the admiral’s ship; who, being of different opinion to M. +de Clodoré, detained him as a hostage; and the whole of the +French forces having embarked, the fleet sailed for St. Kitts, +where they arrived on the 15th of November. + +After remaining there a few days, M. de Clodoré sailed for +Martinique to transact some necessary business, and then, +accompanied by a fleet of six frigates, returned to Antigua, to +oblige the inhabitants to fulfil the treaty they had signed. He +arrived on the 30th of November, but found the state of affairs +entirely changed, Mr. Willoughby having appointed Colonel Daniel +Fitche, (who upon the former visit of the French was staying at +Nevis,) governor of Antigua, in place of Colonel Carden, and the +island being reinforced by the arrival of some troops from +Barbados. + +Surprised but not intimidated, M. de Clodoré, with the +concurrence of his principal officers, sent a trumpeter to +Colonel Carden, calling upon him to fulfil the treaty, and oblige +the inhabitants to surrender. This message was received by +Colonel Carden in the presence of some of the English officers; +but the same night, by the order of Colonel Fitche, (who was +displeased at his expressing his opinion, that it was but +equitable to stand by their written contract,) he was arrested +and sent to prison. Upon this occasion, Mrs. Carden despatched +the following letter to M. de Clodoré:— + +“Mons., + +“Mon mary cette nuit a esté enlevé d’auprés de moy par deux +officers et deux soldats, et ce qu’ils pretendent faire de moy et +des miens, jusqu’à present ie n’en sçay encore rien; mais en +crains qu’il ne nous en arrive mal. Je vous supplie +tres-humblement, Monsieur, voyant que moy, les mien, et ma +famille est delaissée et abandonée de nostre nation; qu’il vous +plaise nous prendre sous votre protection, nous qui n’avons levé +la main ni le cœur contre vous; et moy et les miens, et beaucoup +d’autres, prieront pour vostre prosperité et ie prend la +hardiesse de me qualifier, + + “Monsieur, vostres, &c. + + “Marie Carden.”[13] + +[N.B.—These letters are literally transcribed.] + +Upon the same day, Colonel Carden despatched the following letter +to M. de Clodoré:— + +“Monsieur, + +“J’aurois eu l’honneur de vous aller trouver, mais i’ay este +intercepté par ordre de Mons. le Gouverneur Fitche, et il ne m’a +pas esté permis de sortir. J’espere, Monsieur, que ne croirez, ni +ne iugerez autre chose de celuy qui prend la liberté de se +souscrire,—Mons., votres, &c. + + “Robert Carden.”[14] + +Soon after sending this letter, Colonel Carden was liberated, and +immediately proceeding on board the French ship, delivered +himself up to M. de Clodoré, and informed him that Colonel Fitche +and his troops were encamped at Pope’s Head. Upon hearing this, +M. de Clodoré immediately weighed anchor, and sailing round the +coast, arrived off Pope’s Head the same night. The next morning, +the following letters were despatched to him from the English +camp:— + +“Monsieur, + +“Nous avons receu vos semonces de venir à bord delivrant en +vostre possession nos armes et munitions de guerre; laquelle +chose, le changement de nos affaires est tel depuis vostre +depart, qu’il ne vous la peut pas permettre. Monsieur le +Lieut.-General de nostre roy ayant envoyé icy le Col. Daniel +Fitche pour son gouverneur, luy a donné pouvoir sur toute la +milice de cette isle: si-bien, Mons., que nous sommes devenus +tout-à-fait incapables de vous donner aucune reponse +satisfactoire; et sur l’examination des affaires passées, a +trouvé qu’elles estoient beaucoup à notres preiudice; et en +particulier envoyant les Careibes deux fois sur nous contre +l’obligation de vos articles, et les loix des nations, des +personnes qui sont cruels, tout-à-fait barbares et ignorans de +Dieu et de toutes civilitez. Neanmoins, Monsieur, nous vous +supplions suivant ce que nous avons déiafait, d’en faire vos +demandes à nostre dit gouverneur, qui est uniquement experimenté +en matiere de guerre. En attendant nous demeurons, + + “Monsieur, vos tres-humble serviteurs, + + “Bastien Baijer, &c. &c.”[15] + +“Mons., + +“Nous avons receu la vostre, à laquelle nous ne pouvons à present +faire aucune reponse, si non qu’il n’est pas en nostre pouvoir de +convenir à vos semonces, ni à aucunes choses cy-devant faites; +parce que depuis vostre depart d’icy, est arrivé le Col. Daniel +Fitche, avec commission de Monsieur le Lieut.-Gen. pour +gouverneur, auquel vos semonces et demandes doivent estre faites, +comme estant seul commandant de la milice. Nous trouvons que nous +avons receu grand preiudice à la rupture des articles concernans +les Careibes, qui ont deux fois attenté sur nous à leur maniere +accoustumée, qui est cruelle et barbarienne. Nous serions reioüis +de vous voir si le souhaittez; car on attend icy quinze navires +de la Barbade, dont il y en a cinq de trente pieces de canon +chacun, et deux de soixante, et huit navires marchands de vingt à +trente pieces de canon, avec mil soldats du roy vestus de +casaques rouges, avec quantité d’armes: vous presentant vous +rendrez service. Nous demeurons, + + “Monsieur, vos asseurez amis et serviteurs, + + “Bastien Baijer, &c. &c.”[16] + +Upon receiving these letters, M. de Clodoré held a council with +his officers, the results of which were as follow:— + +“As the enemy have made no answer to our summons, sent three days +ago, to fulfil the conditions of the treaty made with them; but, +on the contrary, they have sent these letters this morning, in +which, after having sought vain pretences of rupture, they +declare they are not willing to fulfil it, and at the same time +they have disposed guard-houses along the coast, and caused +several armed persons to oppose our landing; it has been found +proper to accept the rupture they have made of the treaty, and +after having fired a cannon-ball at them, to land, in order to +make them return to their duty, without paying regard to the +letters they have sent. Besides the absence of Monsieur de la +Barre, and the necessity we are in to send back immediately the +island troops to Martinique and Guadaloupe, to oppose the enemy, +who, according to advices received, will soon arrive there, it is +impossible now to keep the island of Antigua for the king. It has +therefore been thought proper to land, attack the enemy, and, in +case of success, place the island in such a state, that the enemy +can draw no sort of profit from it. + +“Done unanimously between us, the undersigned, in the harbour of +Antigua, the 3rd December, 1666. + + “De Clodore, + Blondel, + Hinsselin.” + +During the period the council was being held, several armed +soldiers, (of the English troops,) impatient to know what answer +would be returned to their letters, appeared upon the beach; upon +which, according to the resolutions already passed, a cannon-ball +was fired at them, when they dispersed, and appeared no more, +without a white flag in their hand. Before the French council +broke up, an English officer came on board, bringing the +following letter for M. de Clodoré:— + +“Monsieur, + +“Nous vous avons envoyé ce matin telle reponse que nous pouvions, +estant sous le commandement et autorité de Mons. le Gouverneur, +au pouvoir duquel n’estions pas capables de resister; mais depuis +que nous luy avons fait voir amplement la raison de nostre +premier traité et nostre refus de rompre, avons tant fait qu’il +en est demeuré d’accord, moyennant qu’il y soit, compris comme le +reste des habitans; le dit traité et accord sera ponctuellement +ratifié et effectué en toutes ses particularitez. + + “Monsieur, vos, &c., + + “Bastien Baijer, &c. &c.”[17] + +But paying no regard to this letter, M. de Clodoré wrote them as +follows:— + +“Messieurs, + +“J’ay esté fort surpris, lorsque j’ay veû que vous n’avez pas +repondu à la sommation que ie vous ay fait faire, et encore +davantage lorsque i’ay leû la lettre que vous m’avez envoyée ce +matin, où vous nous accusez de vous avoir traité avec rigueur, +pour chercher pretexte de rompre comme vous avez fait, en +manquant à vostre foy et à vostre parolle. Je descends à terre et +vous vais trouver, pour vous mettre à vostre devoir par la voye +des armes: ceux qui les poseront, auront de moy bon quartier, et +les autres seront traitez selon la rigueur de la guerre. + + “Vostre serviteur, + + “De Clodore.”[18] + +Immediately after sending this letter, M. de Clodoré and +Hinscelin landed with the French forces; but, upon gaining the +beach, they were met by a party of the English, bearing a flag of +truce, and offering, in the name of the inhabitants, to give up +all pretensions to this island, provided they would include +Governor Fitche in the treaty. + +To this proposition M. de Clodoré would not assent, but forming +his troops into battle array, marched to attack the English. The +result of this encounter appears to me so remarkable, that it +obliges me again and again to assure my readers I give the true +translation: “marching to attack the new Governor and his eight +or nine hundred men, only two shots were fired by the English, +one of which wounded _their own sentinel_, and this was the only +blood spilt in this engagement; and Governor Fitche hearing that +M. de Clodoré was coming up with all his troops, and four pieces +of artillery, ran away in a boat with Colonel Warner and some +others, saying to his soldiers only these words—“God be with me, +and with you.” + +Thus have I narrated the reduction of Antigua by the French, +following the steps of their own historian, “Du Tertre,” who of +course speaks in favour of his own countrymen. Antigua remained a +French colony, although of no use to the nation, except from the +plunder obtained from it, until the following year, when by the +treaty of Breda, Louis XIV. restored it to the English crown.[19] +The French appear to have ever doubted their success; and their +attack upon Antigua, in the first instance, seemed only intended +as a feint; but by one of those extraordinary accidents, which we +often meet with in the annals of nations, the island was reduced, +and in the second attack, if we may believe Du Tertre, _only two +shots_ were fired in its defence. + +At the period of this conquest of Antigua, there were about 800 +negroes upon the island, but of these the French could only find +about 500, which they carried away with them, along with their +plunder. The after fate of Colonel Carden was truly shocking. +Soon after the French had abandoned Antigua, a party of Caribs +landed, and cruelly treated the defenceless inhabitants. At +length they proceeded to the house of the ex-governor, Colonel +Carden, who treated them very kindly, and administered to their +want. Upon their leaving, they requested their entertainer to +accompany them to the beach, who instantly complied; but the +Caribs, more treacherous than the wild beasts that haunt the +desert, had no sooner reached the place where their canoes were +stationed, than they fell upon their kind host, cruelly murdered +him, and broiled his head, which they afterwards carried with +them to Dominica. Nor were they satisfied with this horrible +piece of barbarity; for, to make the tragedy complete, they +returned to Colonel Carden’s house, seized his wife and children, +and after telling them of the fate of their kind relative, +hurried them away into a captivity worse than death. + +The Bastian Baijer—whose name appears conspicuous in signing the +capitulation, and in the after letters which passed between the +English and the French—was of Dutch extraction, and one who +emigrated to this island at an early period of its colonization. +He died in London, in the year 1704, and in his will directed +that his remains should be interred in the vaults of the Dutch +church in Austin Friars, which was accordingly done. Many of the +descendants (or rather representatives, for Bastian Baijer died +without issue, and left his property to the person who assumed +his name) of Bastian Baijer have resided in the island until +within a year or two. The remains of one member of that family, +Otto Baijer, Esq., moulders beneath the beautiful tomb, a +description of which will be found in Chapter XV.; and the +remaining scion of the house, a female, was shortly since united +to the Hon. Owen Pell, of Antigua, and of Suwell, county of +Northampton. + + + ------ + +[8] It is said, that some part of Lord Willoughby’s fleet escaped +the hurricane, and reached Jamaica in safety. + +[9] It must be remembered, that at the time we are now speaking +of, surgeons did not hold that respectable rank in society as +they now—that is, most of them—deservedly fill. Not so very many +years ago, naval surgeons in particular were very little thought +of; and even in the British navy, they were required to perform +the office of barber, as well as attend to the bodily ailments of +the crew. + +[10] To shew the state to which the French reduced the island, +the following extract from a letter written by Count D’Estrade, +ambassador from the French king to Charles II. of England, dated +26th May, 1667, and addressed to Louis XIV., is inserted:—“Il +nous dit de plus que le Sieur de la Barre avat ruiné celle +d’Antigoa, et en avait fait transporter tout ce qu’il avait pu +afin d’être mieux en etat de conserver de St. Christophe.” + +_Translation_.—“He”—that is, the deputy from Zealand, with whom +Count D’Estrade had had a conference at Breda, on 21st May, 1667— +“informed us, in addition, that the said M. de la Barre had +ruined the colony of Antigua, and had taken and transported from +it all that he could, to the end that he might be in a better +condition to retain possession of St. Christopher’s.” + +[11] His tombstone may be still seen in one of the churchyards of +St. Christopher’s. + +[12] For account of this gentleman, see Appendix, No. 3. + +[13] “Sir,—My husband has been arrested by two officers and two +soldiers this night, and what they intend doing with me and my +family, I know not even now; but I fear that some ill +consequences will attend it. I beseech you humbly, Sir, seeing +that myself and family are abandoned by our countrymen, that it +may please you to protect us who have never assailed you; and +myself, and family, and many others, shall pray for your +prosperity; and I take the boldness to qualify myself, + + “Sir, your very humble and very obedient servant, + + “Mary Carden.” + +[14] “Sir,—I should have had the honour of waiting upon you, but +I have been intercepted by the order of Governor Fitche, and I +have been in custody since. I hope, Sir, you will not believe or +think otherwise of him who takes the liberty of subscribing +himself, Sir, yours, &c., + + “Robert Carden.” + +[15] “Sir,—We have received your summons to come on board to +deliver our arms and ammunition; which thing, such is the change +in our affairs since your departure, as not to permit of our +doing. The lieut.-general of our king having sent Colonel Daniel +Fitche as his governor, has given him power over all the militia +of this island. Thus, Sir, we are become entirely unable to give +you any satisfactory answer; and, upon examination of the +transactions which have taken place, we have found that they were +so much to our prejudice, and in particular, sending the Caribs +twice upon us, against the obligation of your articles and the +laws of nations; persons who are cruel, entirely barbarous, and +ignorant of God and of all civilities. However, Sir, we pray you, +as we have already done, to address your demands to our governor, +who alone is experienced in matters of war. In the meantime, we +remain, yours, &c. &c., + “Bastien Baijer. Gilbert Gregory. + Philip Warner. Henry Reynall. + Richard Boraston. Jeremiah Watkins. + Samuel Winthorpe.” + +[16] “Sir,—We have received your letter, to which we cannot at +present give any other answer, but that it is not in our power to +yield to your summons, nor to agree to anything done before; +because, since your departure from here, Colonel Daniel Fitche is +arrived, with commission from the lieutenant-general as governor, +in obedience to an order from the king, which has been published. +It is to the said governor that your summons and demands must be +addressed, for he is the sole commander of the militia. We think +that we have suffered great injury at the rupture of the articles +concerning the Caribs, who attacked us twice in their wonted +manner, which is cruel and barbarous. We would be glad to see +you, _if you wish_, for we expect here, fifteen ships from +Barbados, five of which are of fifteen guns each, and two of +sixty; and eight merchantmen, of twenty to thirty guns; with a +thousand of the king’s soldiers, _dressed in their red jackets_, +and a quantity of arms. By coming, you will render service. We +remain, &c., + + “Bastien Baijer, &c. &c.” + +[17] “Sir,—We have sent this morning the only answer we could +give, being under the command and authority of the governor, to +whose power we could not resist; but as we have shewn him the +reason of our first treaty, and our refusal to break it, we have +done so much that he has agreed with us, provided he be included +in it, with the rest of the inhabitants: the said treaty and +agreement will be punctually ratified and executed in all its +parts. + + “Bastien Baijer, &c. &c.” + +[18] “Gentlemen,—I have been much surprised when I saw that you +made no answer to the summons given you, and much more yet when I +read the letters you sent me this morning, in which you charge us +with having treated you with rigour, which is seeking for a +pretence of rupture, as you have done by not keeping your faith +and word. I am landing and coming to you, to teach you your duty +by force of arms: those who will lay down their arms will have +good quarter from me, and the others shall be treated according +to the rigour of war. Your servant, + + “De Clodore.” + +[19] It was for some time pending in the mind of Louis XIV. +whether he should, or should not, restore Antigua to its rightful +sovereign; and several letters passed between the King of the +French and his ambassador, Count D’Estrade, (the deputy from +Zealand assuring the count that he would use his influence to +retain Antigua for his majesty, should such be his wish,) upon +the subject. At length, however, Louis XIV., after much +hesitation, authorized its rendition by a letter to Count +D’Estrade, dated 6th May, 1667, of which the following is a +translation:— + +“I have always forgotten to inform you, and even to put it in +your instructions, that it is my intention to surrender the +island of Antigua to the English, which belonged to them before +the war. Thus you will make no difficulty by promising, by the +treaty (of Breda), that all things shall be established in the +island of St. Christopher, and that of Antigua, as they were +previously to the rupture,” &c. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + + + Governors: Lord William Willoughby, Henry Willoughby—Arrival of + Major, afterwards Lieutenant-General Byam, the progenitor of + the family of that name—Biographical remarks—Partition of the + Caribbee Islands—Sir William Stapleton—General Council and + Assembly—Colonel Philip Warner—Expedition against the Caribs— + Death of Indian Warner—Arrest and trial of Colonel P. Warner— + Acquittal—Dampier’s account of this affair—Captain Southey’s + History of the Indian Warner. + +After peace had been once more proclaimed between France and +England, and Antigua restored to its rightful sovereign, the +English government, being fully assured of the death of Lord +Francis Willoughby, appointed Lord William Willoughby, of Parham, +(who when the royalists rose against the parliament, after the +deposition of Richard Cromwell, undertook to secure Lynn for his +exiled majesty,) Captain-General and chief Governor of Barbados, +Antigua, and the rest of the Leeward Caribbee Islands, as some +reward for his services. + +Lord William Willoughby arrived at Antigua about 1668, and +appointed Samuel Winthorpe his deputy-governor. During the first +year of his lordship’s administration, a registrar’s office was +established, and fees appointed for the same. The registrar and +recorder was to be “a person of good discretion and honesty,” and +his salary paid in sugar and tobacco.[20] Acts were also passed +for the “settling the inhabitants in their lands” and “for the +encouragement and promoting the settling of the island”—very +necessary measures, as all was in confusion, from the late cruel +dealing of the French, in so dismantling their promising colony. +This year also (1668) commenced the four and a half per cent. +duty; which was an impost upon all native productions shipped +from the island, to be paid to the reigning monarch, his heirs, +and successors, in consideration of new grants of lands being +given to the inhabitants after the restoration of Antigua to the +English crown; all old titles to lands having become void by +reason of the late conquest, by the French. + +Lord William Willoughby removing to Barbados about this time, +nominated his son, Henry Willoughby, as acting-governor, the same +gentleman who was left by Lord F. Willoughby deputy-governor of +Barbados during his absence upon the disastrous expedition +already spoken of. Nothing of much importance occurred during the +short period Mr. H. Willoughby held the government. War had not +broken out in the West Indies, although it threatened the mother +country, so that the Antiguans had a little quiet to settle their +domestic affairs. One of the first points to which they turned +their attention was to endeavour to suppress the strong habit of +profane cursing and swearing which had crept in among their +community, and also to put a stop to the prevalence of inebriety. +To bring this desirable reformation about, the legislature +enacted, that a fine of ten pounds of sugar, or tobacco, was to +be imposed upon every one who uttered an oath, or opened his lips +to curse; and if any one was discovered in a state of +intoxication, he could be made to pay fifty pounds of sugar, or +not being able to procure that quantity, and being possessed of +no other property which could be levied upon, he was condemned to +be placed in the public stocks for the space of four hours. It +would be well if something of the kind was in force now; our ears +would not then, perhaps, be so frequently shocked as they are +liable to be at every hour of the day by the passers-by. +Regulations were also made for establishing a public treasury in +the island, and regard paid to the martial bearing of the +inhabitants, by exercising them in the science of arms. + +Among the settlers who came to Antigua with Francis Lord +Willoughby, of Parham, was William Byam, a distinguished +royalist, at that time major, but who afterwards acquired the +rank of lieutenant-general. + +In 1644, Mayor Byam was among the officers in garrison at +Bridgewater, and being on guard when an attempt was made by the +parliamentary army to take the town by surprise, he defeated the +forces with great slaughter, thereby averting for some time the +fate of that important fortress. On the following year, Cromwell +and Fairfax coming against Bridgewater with an overwhelming +power, after a gallant and desperate resistance, the town was +taken, and quarter only given to the garrison. The officers were +immediately sent to London, and put at the disposal of the +Parliament, whence they were despatched to the Tower, and other +public prisons. After remaining in the Tower for some months, +Major Byam accepted a pass “to go beyond the seas,” (as the term +then was,) and, with some of his military friends, he accordingly +left the home of his fathers, and sought in Barbados—that last +asylum for royalists—a retreat from the Oliverian power. Soon +after his arrival, the important post of “treasurer of the +island,” as well as “master of the ordnance,” was conferred upon +him, together with large grants of land; but the number of +_refugees_ increasing in the colony to such a surprising height, +the Parliament became alarmed, and, in 1651, sent a fleet and +armament, under command of Sir George Ayscue, to reduce the +island. There being a defection in the garrison, owing to the +withdrawal of Colonel Thomas Modiford from the side of the king, +after a resistance of six months, the governor, Lord Francis +Willoughby, of Parham, was compelled to think of terms; and +accordingly he appointed, along with three other commissioners, +Major Byam to negotiate a surrender. This gentleman and his +coadjutors performed their parts so ably, that they obtained from +the admiral terms allowed by all historians as alike +“comprehensive and honourable.” Indeed, when they were reported +to England, though the Parliament did not refuse to ratify them, +yet, considering them much too favourable, they never afterwards +countenanced Sir George Ayscue. The very first act of the +Parliament possession, contrary to the tenor of some of the +articles, was to banish Mayor Byam and the other commissioners, +and about ten more of the royalists, including Lord Willoughby +himself. Major Byam retired to the then newly-founded settlement +of Surinam, which being composed chiefly of the refugee followers +of Charles, they, in those times of turmoil, elected him, by +united suffrages, governor of the colony in 1654. In this +situation he continued for six successive years, although +Cromwell had despatched an officer of his own to take the +command, being elected by universal voice, until the Restoration, +when, in virtue of the proclamation at that time issued, he +became governor for the crown. He was afterwards more formally +confirmed in this appointment, in which he remained until the +removal of the colony (or at least a large portion of it) to the +island of Antigua, in virtue of the treaty of Breda, in 1667. Of +this island he also became an early governor, as is still to be +seen by many documents in the registrar’s office, and resumed to +himself that property which he had before acquired when on a +visit to the island with Francis Lord Willoughby in 1650; and +now, by letters patent for the crown, under date April, 1668, +20th Charles II., among the estates of Lieutenant-General Byam +renewed to him at this period, were the present Cedar Hill and +his Willoughby Bay estate.[21] + +In 1672, his majesty Charles II. deemed it proper to make some +alteration in the affairs of the West Indies. Hitherto all the +Caribbee Islands were united under one government, but after the +return of Lord William Willoughby to England, the king entered +into fresh arrangements with the colonies, appointed him +captain-general of Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Vincent’s and +Dominica; and Sir William Stapleton captain-general and +commander-in-chief of Antigua and the other Leeward Islands. This +Windward Island’s separation continues at the present time, after +undergoing many changes, by having their own particular governor; +as far as regards Barbados, St Lucia, and St. Vincent’s. Dominica +has at length been united with Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St. +Christopher’s, Anguilla, Tortola, and the Virgin Islands, which +now form the Leeward Caribbee government. + +During the general government, a general council and assembly was +held at either of the islands whenever the legislature deemed any +important matter rendered it necessary to convene them; but the +respective islands in the government, however, retained each +their laws as regarded local circumstances. When the +commander-in-chief found it necessary for the public good to call +together this general council and assembly, the freeholders of +each island met together and made choice of five eligible +inhabitants to act as their representatives. + +The convening of this general council and assembly accounts for +the affairs of these different islands being wound up together, +and laws which were passed at the one, answering, in many +instances, for the others. + +Sir William Stapleton preferring Nevis, he made that island the +seat of government, and Colonel Philip Warner (Sir Thomas +Warner’s son by his second wife) was appointed governor of +Antigua. A very necessary precaution was adopted about this time— +namely, the preventing persons wandering about cane-pieces, with +lighted torches, hunting for land-crabs. If a free person was +found so offending, the culprit was to pay into the public +treasury one thousand pounds of sugar or tobacco; or if a slave, +he was to be publicly whipped. This very dangerous practice +continues to this day in seasons when the land-crabs are upon +their travels, and certainly ought to meet with some punishment. +So careless and thoughtless are the negroes, that large pieces of +fire are frequently dropped upon the road while thus employed, +which they never think of extinguishing; and as the scene of +their exploits is generally in the vicinity of cane-pieces, where +there is often a large quantity of dry cane-leaves, called in the +country idiom, trash, serious accidents might, and indeed have +been the result. + +It was also deemed advisable to ordain that marriages solemnized +by the governor, council, or any justice of peace, should, in +absence of beneficed clergymen from the island, be adjudged +equally binding and lawful, as if the ceremony had been performed +by an orthodox minister. This was a regulation very necessary in +that early period, when there was as yet no established church +erected, or any clergymen officiating in the colony; and, +consequently, marriages were obliged to be celebrated by a civil +power. It was also enacted by the legislature this year (1672), +that slaves killed or maimed, while acting in defence of the +country, should have their value ascertained by arbitration, and +the amount paid over to their owners from the public treasury. + +In 1674, the inhabitants of Antigua presented an address to the +captain-general, Sir William Stapleton, praying him to grant them +a commission “to kill and destroy the Indians inhabiting the +island of Dominica.” + +From the period when Antigua was first settled by the English, +the Caribs, as we have already seen, had been in the constant +habit of landing upon it, and perpetrating the most fearful and +horrid acts of violence upon its inhabitants. So frequent and +barbarous were these attacks, that the colony at one time was in +danger of being abandoned; and nothing but firm and vigorous +measures on the part of the English could restrain the fury of +their Indian adversaries, and quell their turbulent assaults. + +As soon, therefore, as his excellency, Sir William Stapleton, +acceded to the request of the Antiguans in granting a commission, +a large party of volunteers was formed, aided by some of the +settlers from the neighbouring islands, of which, at the earnest +entreaties of the council and assembly of Antigua, Governor +Philip Warner took the command. They immediately proceeded to +Dominica; and however different historians may relate the events +of this action, they all concur in stating, that the English +obtained a most signal victory over their Indian foes. In this +fray the illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Warner, by a Carib woman— +who was generally known by the name of Thomas Warner, or “Indian +Warner,” and who is said to have headed the Indians in many of +their attacks upon the English—fell, as it is supposed, by the +hands of his half-brother, Philip Warner, the governor of +Antigua. Whether this deed was done by open warfare, or by +treacherous means, is uncertain; but, upon the return of Colonel +Philip Warner, the governor, to Antigua, after the reduction of +the Caribs, the circumstances of the death of Indian Warner were +inquired into either by Sir William Stapleton or Lord Willoughby, +the results of which were, that Colonel Philip Warner was sent to +England to stand his trial for the murder of his half-brother. +After being kept in the Tower of London for some time, Colonel +Warner was placed on board the Phoenix frigate, and despatched to +Barbados, in order that he might be tried in the Court of Oyer +and Terminer in that island. + +This resolution, on the part of the home government, was no +sooner known in Antigua, than a strong remonstrance was drawn up +in the name of the inhabitants, and after being signed by sixteen +of the most influential men among the legislature, was +transmitted to the justices for the trial of Colonel Warner at +Barbados, setting forth the facts, that it was only through the +most earnest prayer of the Antiguans, and not from any private +motives of his own, that he was induced to take the command upon +the attack of the Caribs, in which action the Indian Warner fell. +The facts of this case being fully investigated, Colonel Warner +was honourably acquitted, his lands,[22] which he had quietly +yielded up on being sent to England for trial, were restored, and +he was again permitted to exercise the functions of governor of +Antigua. + +It certainly appears rather extraordinary that Colonel Warner +should have stood his trial for this massacre of the Indians, +when we find, that for more than fifty years after this +occurrence, the Caribs were still hunted and destroyed as so many +reptiles; but Indian Warner was one who ranked rather high in the +opinion of Lord William Willoughby, and probably that nobleman +felt incensed at his death. Many are the opinions of writers upon +this subject. While some look upon Colonel Warner as the +unjustified murderer of his half-brother; others are led to +palliate the circumstances on the plea of Indian Warner being the +chief actor in those cruel Carib attacks, which were generally +made upon unarmed Englishmen, or their defenceless wives and +children. + +Dampier, one of the greatest navigators among the Buccaneers, +(before that name had acquired a dread from the lawless and +bloody deeds its chieftains committed,) visited Antigua about the +period of Indian Warner’s death; and in his history of his +voyages he has the following passage:—“About this time (1674) the +Caribbees had done some spoil on our English plantations at +Antego, and therefore Governor Warner’s son by his wife took a +party of men, and went to suppress these Indians, and came to the +place where his brother _Indian_ Warner lived. Great seeming joy +there was at their meeting, but how far real the event shewed; +for the _English_ Warner, providing plenty of liquor, and +inviting his half-brother to be merry with him, in the midst of +his entertainment, ordered his men, upon a signal given, to +murder him and all his Indians, which was accordingly performed. +The reason of this inhuman action is diversely reported. Some say +that this Indian Warner committed all the spoil that was done to +the English, and for that reason his brother killed him and his +men. Others, that he was a great friend to the English, and would +not suffer his men to hurt them, but did all that lay in his +power to draw them to an amicable commerce; and that his brother +killed him because he was ashamed to be related to an Indian. +But, be it how it may, he was called in question for the murder, +and forced to come home, and take his trial in England. Such +perfidious doings as these, besides the baseness of them, are +great hindrances of our gaining interest among the Indians.” + +Captain Southey, in his “Chronological History of the West +Indies,” writing of the events of 1674, says—“Sir Thomas Warner’s +son went with an expedition to suppress the Caribs, who were +headed by his half-brother, his father’s son by a Carib woman. He +was received in a friendly manner by his relative. In the middle +of the repast, upon a signal given, the Caribs were attacked and +all massacred. Different reasons are given for this act of +atrocity: one, that the Indian Warner committed all the ravages +upon the English; another, that the murderer was ashamed of his +Indian relations.” Evidently Captain Southey took Dampier for his +guide in relating this circumstance; and other authors, following +in the wake, have handed Colonel Warner down to posterity, in the +character of a fratricide. But before his actions are discussed, +it would be well to lay aside all previously formed opinions, +and, horrible as fratricide must appear to all, calmly take a +retrospect of the great cruelties practised by the Caribs on the +persons of the English, which led to the melancholy incident +already narrated.[23] Before concluding this subject, it will be +necessary to mention some further particulars of the Indian +Warner, the half-brother, of whose death Colonel Philip Warner +was made amenable. + +At the latter end of 1629, after having the honour of knighthood +conferred upon him by Charles I., Sir Thomas Warner returned from +England to St. Christopher’s. Soon after his arrival, he entered +into a league with the French settlers and Mons. D’Esnambuc, the +captain of a French privateer; and, falling upon the Caribs by +night, murdered in cold blood one hundred and twenty of the +men.[24] The females they parted among themselves, and one of the +handsomest of them fell to the share of Sir Thomas Warner,[25] by +whom she had a son, a remarkably fine and intelligent lad. About +the year 1645, when he was fifteen years old,[26] an old Carib +man, who, by some chance, had remained upon the island after the +expulsion of his countrymen, informed the boy of the former +cruelties of the English to his mother’s relations—a tale which +so exasperated him, that he was determined to escape, the first +opportunity, and join his Carib friends. At length he effected +his purpose, and fled to Dominica,[27] where the Caribs had taken +up their abode after being driven from St. Christopher’s. So +pleased were the Indians with this display of spirit on the part +of their young relative, that they received him with open arms, +looked upon him as their chief, shared with him all their +predatory booty, and followed him in all his expeditions. In +1664, Lord Francis Willoughby appointed this half-Carib (who bore +the name of Thomas Warner) governor of Dominica, then inhabited +by Indians. In this situation he remained until 1666, when he was +captured by the French, and carried prisoner to St. +Christopher’s, (some authors say Guadaloupe,) where he met with +very harsh treatment, and was not liberated until after the +peace, and then only at the earnest interposition of Lord William +Willoughby. After his liberation, he appears to have carried on +his warfare with the English colonists, until, as already +mentioned, 1674, when he met his fate in about the forty-fourth +year of his age. + +As perhaps it may be interesting to some of my readers to look +over the “_Remonstrance_,” alluded to as drawn up by the members +of the Antigua legislature in 1676, when Colonel Philip Warner +was tried for the murder of his half-brother—I have inserted it +in the Appendix, (No. 6.) + + + ------ + +[20] The French having entirely ruined Antigua, it was necessary +to form all new regulations, as at the first settlement of the +colony. + +[21] For a further account of this gentleman’s family, see +Appendix, No. 4. + +[22] For copy of the Grant of Land to Colonel P. Warner, see +Appendix, No. 5. + +[23] Oldmixon, in his “British America,” says:—“At this time +(1676) there was a wicked practice in the West Indies, of which +the English are accused; and that was, their stealing and +enslaving Indians, which they took on the continent or the +islands. And one Colonel Warner being charged with this unlawful +traffic—if it deserves that name—was made a prisoner in England, +and sent, aboard the Phoenix frigate, to Barbados, to take his +trial there; but he found so many friends, that he came off.” + +[24] Oldmixon, in his History of St Christopher’s, speaking of +this circumstance, says—“They (the Caribs) were willing enough to +live peaceably with the Europeans who first landed there, and +were upon the place when D’Esnambuc came thither; but, upon his +landing, their boyez, or conjurers, telling them, in a general +assembly met on purpose, that the foreigners were come to take +away their country from them, and destroy them root and branch, +it was resolved to massacre the English.” He goes on to state, +that the English and French, having gained intelligence of the +Caribs’ design to _cut their throats_, “fell upon the most +factious of the natives by night, killed them, and drove the rest +out of the island.” + +[25] Labat mentions seeing this woman at Dominica, and gives the +following account of her:—“This old savage woman is, I think, the +oldest creature in the world, being more than a hundred years +old. They say she had been very handsome, and on account of her +beauty the English governor at St. Kitts kept her for a +considerable time. She had a number of children, among which was +one called _Ouverard_. [_Warner, it ought to be; but Pierre du +Tertre is not very particular in his orthography of English +names._] Pierre du Tertre speaks of him in his history; but this +demi-savage was dead before I came to the West Indies. They +always continue to call her Madam _Ouverard_. After the English +sent her to Dominica upon the death of the governor, she was more +respected for her old age than from being his mistress. Her +property was rather extensive, and was entirely peopled by her +children’s children. This old woman was entirely naked, and had +not two dozen hairs upon her head; her skin resembled old +parchment completely dried up, as if baked. She was so crooked +that I could not see her features except when she went to drink +water. She had a good many teeth in her head, and her eyes were +perfectly clear.” + +[26] Some writers make it sixteen. + +[27] Dampier says St Lucia. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + + + Governor Col. R. Williams—Biographical remarks—Towns of trade + appointed—Antigua divided into parishes—Sir Nathaniel Johnson + appointed captain-general and governor-in-chief—Colonel + Codrington—Remarks upon this family—Invasion of Antigua by a + French privateer—Attack upon Guadeloupe by the English— + Expedition to St. Christopher’s—Gallant conduct of Colonel + Williams and Colonel Willoughby Byam—Sir Francis Wheeler’s + expedition—Wilmot and Lillingston’s expedition—Death of the + captain-general, General Codrington—Colonel John Yeamans, + lieutenant-governor—Arrival of Admiral Benbow. + +In 1675, Colonel Rowland Williams was appointed +lieutenant-governor (or, as the phrase then was, deputy-governor) +of Antigua. This gentleman was possessed of eminent +qualifications, which honourably distinguished him among his +contemporaries. He was alike conspicuous as a wise councillor and +a skilful commander; whether in the senate or the field, he +equally merited applause. The father of Colonel Williams (as will +be seen in the genealogy of this family) was one of the earliest +settlers in Antigua, and even in those times was famed for noble +virtues—virtues which have descended from father to son, down to +the present day, and centered themselves in the person of the +Hon. Rowland E. Williams, the present possessor of “Claremont,” +the family mansion.[28] + +During the administration of Colonel Rowland Williams as governor +of Antigua, six towns were appointed as places of trade, instead +of two, as was the former custom. These towns were Falmouth, St. +John’s, Bridge Town, Carlisle Road, Parham Landing Place, and +Bermudian Valley. In these different towns all business was to be +transacted as relates to shipping, &c.; and no vessel was allowed +to unload or sell their cargo at any other place, under +punishment of forfeiting their goods. This, however, did not +debar any freeholder from disposing of his own personal property +or merchandise at any place in the island he deemed proper. + +It does not appear at what particular period a secretary and a +marshal were appointed; but in 1677 an act was passed relating +unto such officers. + +In 1680, provisions were made for settling the militia, and for +ensuring a better martial discipline throughout the island. + +Antigua was divided into parishes about 1681, which then +consisted of five—namely, Falmouth, Rendezvous Bay, and part of +Willoughby Bay, to be the parish of St. Paul’s; the remaining +part of Willoughby Bay, Nonsuch, and Belfast, to be the parish of +St. Philip’s; divisions of New and Old North Sound to be the +parish of St. Peter’s; the divisions of Pope’s Head, Dickerson’s +Bay, St. John’s, and Five Islands, to be the parish of St. +John’s; and the divisions of the Road and Bermudian Valley to be +the parish of St. Mary’s. Churches were also ordered to be +erected, and all parochial charges to be raised from the +inhabitants of each parish. The yearly salary of their ministers +was 16,000lbs. of sugar or tobacco, which was paid to them on the +24th day of June, being the feast of St. John the Baptist. + +The following year (1682) an expedition was despatched to act +against the Indians of Dominica. + +His Majesty Charles II. having departed this life, Sir William +Stapleton proclaimed his successor, James II. with great pomp, at +Nevis. An old writer gives a long account of the ceremonies +observed upon that day—of the gorgeous festival which succeeded, +and the splendid attire of the governor; but as this work is +strictly confined to Antigua, such detail will be superfluous. + +In 1684, during the administration of Sir William Stapleton, +slaves were annexed to freeholds, and could be voted upon, the +same as a freehold, or levied upon for distress. In illustration +of this, a person possesses a family of slaves—say the mother and +five or six children, the youngest in arms and drawing its daily +nutriment from its parent; the owner of these slaves falls into +difficulties—he owes a certain sum, and his creditor takes out an +execution against him. The value of the negro woman covers, +perhaps, the amount of debt, and accordingly she is seized, +carried away, and sold, probably to a third or even a fourth +person, and her baby and other children are severed from her, and +she left alone. Oh! slavery, slavery, how dost thou debase the +sons of men! + +Sir William Stapleton dying, King James appointed Sir Nathaniel +Johnson, governor-in-chief, who continued to act as such until +the first year of the reign of William and Mary, when he retired +to America, and was succeeded in the government by Colonel +Christopher Codrington in 1689.[29] + +Colonel Codrington was so indefatigable in planting and +cultivating the sugar-cane in Antigua, that he has been termed +the patron of the island. This gentleman removed from Barbados to +Antigua in 1674; when he purchased a large quantity of land, and +formed the first sugar estate upon the island, and, sending for +his wife and children, constituted himself one of its earliest +planters. The Codrington family is of old extraction, and many a +brave warrior has sprang from that source, as British history +will shew.[30] + +About the first year of Colonel Codrington’s government, in 1689, +the fortifications at Monk Hill were commenced; but they appear +not to have been carried on with any degree of spirit until 1705. +This year the crew of a French privateer landed at Five Islands’ +Bay, and burnt and plundered the surrounding country; and carried +away with them several negroes, besides much spoil. The +Antiguans, highly incensed at this invasion, placed a small force +on board an armed vessel under command of Captain Walter +Hamilton, and pursued the enemy. This plan succeeded, and they +returned to Antigua with the privateer as a prize; on board of +which were some Irishmen, who were hung as a warning to others. + +The English government was greatly annoyed at these repeated +attacks upon her West Indian colonies; and William III. made it +one of his complaints against the French king upon declaring war +with that monarch. Supposing that, after this war was declared, +the French would be more active in their incursions, the +inhabitants of Antigua determined to keep better watch. Sir +Timothy Thornhill arriving with troops, all military affairs were +delegated to him; and by his orders, guards were stationed at all +the bays, and a constant look-out kept. Still the Caribs and a +few Frenchmen managed to effect a landing, by sailing up some of +the creeks, and killed ten of the inhabitants, and plundered some +provision grounds. It was thought proper to appoint some reward +for soldiers acting valiantly in defence of the island; and to +make some provision for the wounded, and allowance for the widows +and children of the slain. If any white servant shewed deeds of +valour, and could obtain a certificate of such from the hands of +his officer, that servant was freed,[31] the country paying to +his master a sum proportionate to his services. If wounded they +were to receive medical attendance and maintenance free of +charge; if disabled, to receive yearly 3000lbs. of sugar for +life; and if killed, their widows were to have the same amount of +sugar, and the children to be taken care of, and supported by the +country. The owners of those slaves who fell in defence of the +country, were also recompensed, by having 5000lbs. of sugar paid +them from the public stock for every negro killed or mortally +wounded, instead of having such slaves valued by arbitration, as +was the plan from the year 1672. Regulations were also gone into +by the legislature, for the establishing of courts of law, and +settling due methods for the distribution of justice throughout +the colony. + +About the middle of this year (1689) Colonel Hewetson, with a +party of men, embarked on board a man of war, and sailed to +attack Guadaloupe. They landed with but little opposition, and +having obtained some plunder, and given the French a kind of +_tit-for-tat_, returned in safety to Antigua. This was a very +busy year for the Antiguans; for no sooner had Colonel Hewetson +reached Antigua with his troops, from the late attack, than they +raised 300 men, and sailed to the island of Marie Galante. Here +they met with like success in the way of retaliation; beating the +inhabitants, burning their town, and obtaining more plunder. From +Marie Galante they proceeded to St. Martin’s, where Fortune, that +usually fickle goddess, did not forsake them; for they not only +plundered the place and increased their spoils, but drove the +French completely off the island. Upon their return, General +Codrington (for the governor had arrived to this rank) sent three +sloops, with eighty men, under the command of Captain Edward +Thorn, to the island of Anguila, to bring from thence all the +English who resided there; they having been very cruelly used by +some Irishmen, whom the French had landed there, for that +purpose, a year before. + +1690 was again ushered in by that demon—War. Louis, that +ambitious, but admired monarch, encouraged his subjects to invade +the English colonies, in the West Indies and America, while he +assisted James, the abdicated sovereign, in his attempts upon +England and Ireland. General Codrington was warmly attached to +the reigning monarchs, William and Mary, and consequently +endeavoured on all occasions to further their interest in the +West Indies. No sooner had accounts arrived at Antigua of the +battle of the Boyne, and William’s victory over the French troops +upon that eventful day, than the governor determined to strike a +blow for the honour of England. Admiral Wright arriving with a +strong squadron of men of war, General Codrington prevailed upon +all the other Leeward Islands to raise forces to endeavour to +retake St. Kitt’s, which had fallen to the French king some time +before, by the fortunes of war. Antigua, never behind the other +islands in warlike deeds, raised a body of 400 (or, as some +authors make it, 800) men, which were placed under the command of +that gallant officer, Colonel Rowland Williams, and 200 gentlemen +volunteers, under command of Colonel Willoughby Byam, who served +as a body-guard to the governor-general, Christopher Codrington; +and, by dint of prowess, their object was gained, for not only +did they oblige the French to surrender the island, but, +according to some authors, actually transported about eighteen +hundred of them to St. Domingo and Martinique.[32] A general +council and assembly was held this year, and an agent and +commissioners appointed for the negotiation and management of the +affairs of the Leeward Islands, as well as the raising and +settling a proper fund for the defraying the expense of the same. +Rewards were also given to the soldiers who acted valiantly in +the late expedition. + +The following year (1691) passed in quietness. The French were +too much taken up with their European engagements to have much +force in the West Indies; and Admiral Wright, cruizing about +these seas, intimidated the few privateers still lurking about. +It was deemed necessary by the legislature this year to enact a +law, obliging all the members of the assembly to serve in such +capacity when elected. + +The year 1692 was chiefly passed in settling island business, and +making laws to redress several grievances which were severely +felt by the inhabitants. One of these was as follows: after the +reduction of this island, and its restoration to the English in +1667, a great many persons pretended to have a right to large +portions of land, by virtue of grants prior to the war, but which +they had failed to cultivate. The consequence of this was, that +the country was rapidly going to ruin; and the only way to avert +it was, by government granting these lands to more industrious +persons, as an encouragement to them to settle. When, after a +lapse of time, the former possessors found their barren and +uncultivated lands turned into profitable estates, they came +forward and claimed them as their own; and so annoying were these +threatenings to those who had worked the change, that although +they had spent both time and money, they preferred leaving the +island, and seeking some other home. To rectify this, it was +determined by the legislature this year, that all persons who +possessed lands by grants from government should be confirmed in +the same, providing they had held them for five years. Still, +that justice might be equally imparted to all, if the former +possessors put in their claim within two years, and it was +allowed by a jury that they had a right to the same, they could +demand the value of their lands as they were when they left them. +A vestry was this year elected, churchwardens appointed, and a +parish register ordered to be kept in each of the parishes in the +island. In this register, all christenings, marriages, and +burials were to be entered, under penalty of 5l. currency, the +fee for which was 9d. currency each. An act was also passed for +the settling of general councils and assemblies. + +The next year (1693) was celebrated for the endeavours of the +Antiguans to destroy the remaining Caribs; and for this reason, +great encouragement was given to those persons who fitted out +privateers to destroy them and take their canoes. In the early +part of the year, Sir Francis Wheeler arrived at Barbados, with +an expected squadron of English men-of-war, intended for an +attack upon the island of Martinique, when intelligence was +immediately despatched to Antigua, in order that General +Codrington might join him with the Antigua and other Leeward +Island troops. In this expedition, Sir Francis Wheeler commanded +the men-of-war, (on board of which were Colonel Foulks and +Colonel Godwin’s regiments of foot, and 200 recruits, under +command of Colonel Lloyd,) and Colonel Foulks the land forces. On +the 30th of March, the fleet left Barbados, having on board two +Barbados’ regiments, which, including the gentlemen-volunteers, +consisted of about 1500 men, and arrived at Martinique on the 1st +of April. + +The fleet anchored in the Cul de Sac Marine, on the south side of +the island; and Sir Francis Wheeler, attended by Colonel Foulks +and Colonel Lloyd, went in a boat to search for a good +landing-place for the troops. Their movements were, however, +watched by a party of French guards, one of whom fired a musket, +the shot of which striking Sir Francis upon the breast, +occasioned a severe contusion. The next morning, Colonel Foulks +landed 1500 men without opposition; and during the day, the whole +of the forces were gathered together on shore, where they +commenced the work of destruction by burning the houses and +sugar-works, the inhabitants fleeing for safety into the woods. + +In the course of the few following days, General Codrington +joined the expedition with the Antigua and other Leeward Island +forces, and Colonel Lloyd’s regiment, when it was determined, in +a council of war, to sail and attack St. Pierre, the principal +town upon the island. Here, however, the English appear to have +acted a very indifferent part; for, after destroying a few +plantations, and standing some slight skirmishing with the +French, they abandoned their plans of endeavouring to take the +town; and, upon the plea of the troops being sickly, re-embarked +their men, and left the island. Colonel Foulks, Colonel Godwin, +Major Abrahall, with some of the other officers, died of their +wounds on board the vessels; and the Antigua and other island +troops returned to their respective colonies. + +Thus ended an expedition, from which had been expected great +results. According to an early historian, if the regulars had +done their duty, as the Antiguan and the other island troops did, +the whole of the French sugar islands might have been +dispossessed, for the English forces amounted to between 3000 and +4000 men. The French were, however, very much alarmed, and many +of “the richest inhabitants shipped themselves and their valuable +effects for France, some of whom were intercepted by the +English.” Sir Francis Wheeler then steered for Boston, in +America, intending to have proceeded against Quebec; but finding +his arguments overruled by the Bostonians, he returned in disgust +to England, with his vessels in a very shattered condition, and +having lost half of his men. + +This officer was noted for his misfortunes, which could neither +be attributed to want of courage nor want of judgment, but to +circumstances over which he had no control. We have seen how +unfortunate was his expedition to the West Indies; and although +not altogether connected with this work, we may just glance at +his after-fate. About 1694, he was appointed commander-in-chief +of the Mediterranean squadron, with orders to take under his +convoy the merchant ships trading to Turkey, Italy, and Spain; +there to join the Spanish fleet in cruising about until the +return of the Turkish ships, when he was to accompany them home. +After receiving these orders, he sailed from the roads of St. +Helens, off the Isle of Wight, and arrived in safety at Cadiz, +where, leaving Rear-Admiral Hopson, he proceeded for the +Mediterranean. In passing through the Bay of Gibraltar, he met +with very bad weather under a lee-shore. The ground was so foul +that there was no hold for an anchor; but as there was no other +plan they could follow, they were obliged to drop them. Several +of the ships were driven on shore, of which many were entirely +lost. The Admiral’s ship foundered at sea, and with the exception +of two Moors, all perished in those tideless waters. + +In 1694, a general council and assembly was held at Antigua, +when, among other business, it was deemed necessary to place a +certain value upon all foreign coins in circulation throughout +the Leeward Caribbee Islands. To avoid disputes in electing +members to serve in these general councils and assemblies, it was +proposed that in future the secretary should take the votes of +the freeholders upon oath in their presence, and admit no vote +but from a known freeholder of the respective island in person. +But if, after these precautions, disputes should still occur, the +legislature was to determine the cause. + +The year 1695 will be long remembered in English history as that +of the siege of Namur; which action, glorious as it was, would +not have been mentioned here, did not two gentlemen, well known +in Antigua, make themselves conspicuous by their courage and +noble bearing on that occasion. One of these distinguished +characters was Christopher Codrington, Esq., son of General +Codrington, the commander-in-chief, and afterwards governor +himself; a gentleman not only celebrated for his bravery, where +all were brave, but also as being the most accomplished person of +his day. The other individual was Sir William Mathew, afterwards +Captain-General of the Leeward Islands. + +While these warlike deeds were going on in Europe, a squadron had +been sent to the West Indies to protect the trade and harass the +enemy. This squadron was placed under the joint command of +Captain Robert Wilmot and Colonel Lillingston, and consisted of +about 1200 land forces, augmented by troops from Antigua, and +some other of the West Indian islands. This expedition, like that +of Sir Francis Wheeler’s, proved unfortunate; the sea and land +officers disagreed, and instead of acting with each other, they +pursued opposite courses. Their first attempt was against St. +Domingo; but instead of proceeding to take the capital, Captain +Wilmot plundered the surrounding country for his own good; and +although Colonel Lillingston remonstrated with him, he would not +listen to reason. Finding the ill success of their endeavours, +the West Indian troops determined to return to their respective +homes: the Spaniards, who had joined them against their common +enemy, the French, became disgusted, and withdrew; and the +commanders themselves, disappointed of their expected captures, +set sail for England. They lost one of their ships in the Gulf of +Florida, and Captain Wilmot died on his passage. This year the +Antiguans lost some of their merchant-ships, as did many of the +other West India Islands, by their falling into the hands of the +French privateers, who swarmed about the entrance of the English +Channel. + +The following year passed in quietness in Antigua. The +secretary’s office was appointed as the place where all the +island laws were to be lodged. Before this period, it appears +that there was no particular place appointed to keep the public +records; and consequently many valuable papers became mislaid or +lost. This year, (1696,) the Hastings frigate was at Antigua, and +sailed for London as convoy to a fleet of eleven ships, which +were eleven weeks upon their voyage. + +In 1697, public pounds were erected in the several towns of +Antigua, and imposts laid upon all liquors imported into the +island. This had been hitherto a custom, but had expired some +short time before. + +The year 1698 was a year of mourning to the Antiguans; their +friend and patron, as well as governor, breathed his last sigh, +and exchanged an earthly for a heavenly home. General Codrington +was, as before remarked, the first person who planted the +sugar-cane in Antigua: its chief productions before were indigo, +ginger, and tobacco. He removed from Barbados (of which island he +was a native) in 1674; and some authors make that year his +appointment to the governor-generalship of the Leeward Islands, +and that of Colonel Rowland Williams, deputy-governor of Antigua. +This assertion is, however, evidently incorrect; for we have +already seen, that Sir William Stapleton was acting as such at +that period. The mistake must have arisen from General Codrington +having removed to Antigua in that year. + +After the demise of General Codrington, the captain-general of +the Leeward Islands, Colonel John Yeamans, a resident proprietor +of Antigua, exercised the office of governor of the island. + +The Antiguans came to the resolution this year (1698) of +appointing an agent for the island, who was to reside in London, +and solicit the confirmation of such laws as should from time to +time be made in Antigua, as well as to transact any other island +business. The salary then given was 100l. sterling per annum, to +commence from 1st January, 1689; but since the year 1800, it has +been augmented. About this period, the notorious Captain Kidd[33] +paid Antigua a visit; but finding the coast of North America +would afford him a better harvest, he did not remain long. + +In 1699, the gallant Admiral Benbow arrived at Antigua with a +squadron of men-of-war, having on board Colonel Collingwood’s +regiment, (or, more probably, Col. Whetham’s regiment, known as +the “Enniskillen,” or 27th regiment of the line;) part of which +was intended to be stationed upon the island, and the remainder +to be sent to the other colonies within the government. + + + ------ + +[28] For the Genealogy of the Williams family, see Appendix, No. +7. + +[29] Sir Nathaniel Johnson was appointed, in 1704, Governor of +Carolina.—Vide History of Carolina. + +[30] For further particulars of this family, vide Appendix, No. +8. + +[31] The persons to whom these rewards were given, owed their +residence in Antigua to the following cause:—To increase the +white population, great encouragement was given to persons +importing white protestant men-servants into the island, paying +to the importer to much per head from the public treasury. These +white servants were sold for a certain number of years, and at +the end of that time they became free, and were incited to +settle, by having small grants of land given to them. Every +proprietor was obliged to have one of these white servants to so +many slaves; and they were to be furnished with clothes and arms, +and to serve in the militia. It was customary to sell them upon +hogsheads, which I shall have further occasion to mention when I +come to treat of the white inhabitants. + +[32] Extract from the London Gazette, No. 2602, published by +authority, from Thursday, October 16th, to Monday, October 20th, +1690, giving an account of the capture of St Christopher’s, the +forces for which service arrived in Frigate Bay, in that island, +20th June; the French offered to surrender on the 12th July, and +articles agreed to on the 14th July:— + +“Colonel Byam was dangerously wounded in the neck.” + +Extract from “London Gazette,” 4th to 8th September, 1690. No. +2590:— + + “Bermudas, July 24th. + +“On the 20th June, the English arrived at St. Christopher’s, +consisting of eleven men of war, besides fire-ships and tenders, +and other vessels, under command of Captain Wright, who was +himself in the Mary of 64 guns, and 450 men. These ships had on +board 3000 land forces—viz., 700 English soldiers, commanded by +Colonel Holt; 800 Nevis and Barbados soldiers, commanded by Sir +Timothy Thornhill; 800 Antigua, commanded by Colonel Rowland +Williams; 400 Montserrat men, commanded by Colonel Blackstone, +and 200 gentlemen volunteers, commanded by Colonel Willoughby +Byam, which served as a life guard to Colonel Codrington, +governor of the Leeward Islands, and general on this expedition. +The conduct of which forces was much commended in the second +Gazette from 16th to 20th October.” + +[33] The colonists of North America had, for the last few years, +been greatly addicted to piracy: a practice which it behoved the +English government to put an immediate stop to, if possible. A +person of the name of Kidd, the owner of a small sloop, and who +had been early inured to a maritime life, proposed, that if a +vessel of thirty guns, well manned, was placed under his command, +he would agree to suppress the pirates, and effectually clear +those seas from such dangerous frequenters. After some delay, a +vessel was equipped by private subscription, and Kidd appointed +to the command; but instead of proceeding upon his mission to the +American seas, he sailed for the East Indies, where he engaged in +the unlawful traffic himself, captured some traders, and, after +burning his own vessel, sailed in the largest of his prize ships +for the Leeward Islands. After remaining there for a short +period, he proceeded in his piratical career to the coast of +North America, where, in his search after wealth, he perpetrated +those revolting cruelties which have rendered his name infamous, +and long caused the inhabitants of those colonies to chat around +their winter’s hearth of the deeds and fate of the redoubted +Captain Kidd, the lawless rover of the seas. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + + + Governor Colonel Christopher Codrington—Establishment of the + first market—Accession of Queen Anne—Arrival of Admiral Benbow— + Attack upon the island of Guadaloupe, in conjunction with the + Antiguan troops—Bravery of Colonel Edward Byam—Arrival of + Captain Hovenden Walker—Second attack upon Guadaloupe—Colonel + Codrington quits the government—His death—Sir William Mathew— + Hon. John Johnson. + +At the period of his father’s death, Christopher Codrington, +Esq., the eldest son of the preceding governor, was in Holland, +with his sovereign and his army; but upon the news arriving of +General Codrington’s demise, William III. immediately appointed +Christopher to succeed his late father as Captain-General and +Commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands, in which capacity he +arrived at Antigua, in the year 1700. + +In the same year, regulations were framed by the legislature, to +further increase the number of white inhabitants, and encourage +the soldiers who had been lately disbanded, to settle in the +island, by giving them grants of ten acres of land, and +authorizing the treasurer to advance to each of them, as a loan, +the sum of 3l., a barrel of beef, and a cask of flour. Such +soldiers as were unprovided with grants were to be allowed 6d. +per day, until the time they were put into possession; and those +who chose to emigrate from the islands to leeward of Antigua, +were allowed 12s. for their passage-money. All tavern-keepers, +owners of sloops, &c., were also obliged to employ white men, +under a penalty of 30s. for each offence. + +In 1702, the first market-place was established, cross streets +laid out, and the town of St. John’s otherwise improved. A clerk +of the market was appointed, who was also to be the public +whipper and crier; town-wardens were elected, whose duty was to +assess houses and lands; and a cage, pillory, stocks, +whipping-post, and ducking-stool,[34] put up at the public +expense. Night-watches were also appointed, to have the same +power as watchmen in London, and a watch-house built in a +convenient spot. Many of the wharfs were also constructed, and +other improvements made. + +William III. having died the 8th of the preceding March, Queen +Anne, his successor, was proclaimed at Antigua, in June, 1702, +with some pomp; as also at Nevis, where the captain-general was +holding a general council and assembly. Punishments were also +enacted this year for the offences of slaves, and for the better +government of free negroes. If a slave struck a white person, and +in any way hurt or disfigured him, such slave was to have _his +nose slit_, or _any member cut off_, or to suffer death, at the +discretion of a justice of peace. Any slaves running away from +their owners for the space of three months, were also to suffer +death, have a limb cut off, or be publicly whipped—the treasurer +paying to the owner 18l. in case of death. If, in pursuit of a +runaway slave, the parties killed him, they were not liable to +prosecution. + +With regard to free negroes, and _mulattoes_, by which was meant +all persons of colour, they were obliged to choose a master or a +mistress to live with, unless they possessed land of their own; +and if they dared to strike a white servant, they were to be +severely whipped. No free negro could possess more than eight +acres of land; nor could any minister marry such person to a +slave, under a penalty of fifty pounds. + +The military affairs were also regulated. The island militia were +to consist of infantry and carbineers, under one of which all the +male white inhabitants, from the age of fourteen to sixty-five, +were to be included. One day in every month was to be set apart +for the troops to be exercised; and once in a year a grand +rendezvous was to take place at Boyer’s Pasture, in the division +of North Sound, when prizes were to be distributed to those who +made the best six shots at a target. The prizes consisted of six +silver-hilted swords, with belts, valued at 6l. currency. Martial +law was also ordained to be in full force at any period when +there were fears of insurrections or invasions. Fines were also +imposed for various offences, such as absence from parade, &c. +Privates who could not raise the money, were, in default of +paying such fines as they had incurred, to be picketed, or _tied +neck and heels for an hour_. + +This year (1702) Admiral Benbow again visited Antigua, and war +having broken out with France, the captain-general, Colonel +Christopher Codrington, resolved, in conjunction with that brave +officer, to make an attack upon Guadaloupe. The merchants of +Antigua, who were then a numerous body, equipped several +privateers to serve under the admiral’s flag; and the +captain-general, Colonel Codrington, raised a regiment of +soldiers, which were placed under the command of Colonel Edward +Byam. On the 7th March, the land and sea forces were abreast the +island of Guadaloupe, from whence the French fired at them, +killing one man, and wounding a boy on board the commodore’s +ship. The fleet laid off and on until the 10th of the same, +waiting for the “Maidstone” man-of-war, with some other of his +Majesty’s vessels, from Maria Galante, when, upon their arrival, +Admiral Benbow came to an anchor on the north-west side of the +island. After burning some plantations along the coast, on the +12th, Colonel Byam, with his regiment, and a detachment of 200 +men of Colonel Whetham’s regiment, landed at “Les Petits +Habitans,” where Colonel Byam distinguished himself by his great +bravery; and, with the united assistance of the regulars, obliged +the French to retire. The English next attacked a town called +“Bogliffe,” which, after some resistance, they took, as also the +Jacobin’s church, on which the French had planted ten pieces of +cannon. After many other successes, among which was taking the +breast-work along the Jacobin river, the strongest fortifications +the French possessed, the English proceeded to Basseterre, the +capital; and this town they, no doubt, would have also taken, had +it not been for the unhappy differences arising between the +commanders, and which, combined with the illness of the troops, +occasioned the English to withdraw from the island at a time when +victory was almost sure. + +After quitting the island of Guadaloupe, the fleet proceeded for +Antigua; but Admiral Benbow, hearing of the arrival of the French +admiral with ten ships of the line in these latitudes, went in +search of them. As it does not appear any of the Antiguan forces +joined him, we will only briefly remark that, falling in with the +squadron, a fight commenced, which lasted three days. The last +twenty-four hours the admiral fought with his single ship, his +other vessels having deserted him; when, although his leg was +shattered by a chain-shot, and he had received several other +wounds, he would not be carried from the deck of his ship, but +continued fighting until the French were obliged to sheer off. + +Benbow was so displeased with the conduct of the captains of his +different ships, that he determined to steer for Jamaica, and +upon his arrival to call a court-martial. The most culpable of +them suffered death, the others were punished in different ways, +and the admiral himself took their conduct so much to heart, that +vexation, co-operating with the pain of his wounds, caused his +death in November of the same year. + +About this period (1703), the first sailing packet for the +conveyance of letters arrived at Antigua. Queen Anne had been +graciously pleased to establish this packet service for the +furtherance of trade, as well as to keep up a more regular +intercourse with the colonies, as may be seen from the annexed +notification:— + + “London, 11th February, 1702-3. + +“Whereas her Majesty, for the encouragement of trade and +commerce, hath thought fit to appoint boats to convey letters and +packets between Barbados, Antigua, Montserrat, Nevis, St. +Christopher’s, and Jamaica in America,—this is to give notice +that a mail will go from the general post-office, in London, on +Thursday of this instant (February) for the above-mentioned +islands, and henceforward on Thursday in every month; and her +Majesty, pursuant to the statute made in the twelfth year of the +reign K. Charles II., for establishing a post-office, hath +directed and empowered the postmaster-general of England to take +for the post of all such letters and packets that shall be +conveyed by the said boats between London and any of the +before-mentioned islands, the rates as follows:— + s. d. + + For every letter not exceeding one sheet of paper, 0 9 + do. do. two sheets do. 1 6 + For every packet weighing an ounce . . 2 8" + +This year (1703), his Excellency, Christopher Codrington, again +entered the lists of battle. Sir George Rooke had despatched from +England at the end of the former year Captain Hovenden Walker +with six ships of the line and transports, having on board four +regiments of soldiers for the Leeward Islands, which were to be +landed at Antigua, and then distributed among the other colonies. +Upon their arrival at Antigua, Colonel Codrington gave Captain +Walker such information as determined him to alter his plans, and +make an attack upon Guadaloupe; so, taking on board the governor +and a “martial little band” under his command, they proceeded for +that island. After having razed the fort, burnt the town, and +ravaged the surrounding country, they re-embarked with +precipitation, in consequence of a report that a body of 900 +French soldiers had arrived to the succour of the inhabitants. +Colonel Codrington and his party returned to Antigua; and Captain +Walker retired to Nevis with his squadron, where, it is said, +they must have perished by famine had not Admiral Graydon +fortunately put in there, on his way to Jamaica, and relieved +them. + +Colonel Codrington was recalled from his government in the early +part of 1704—for what reason I know not, unless it be his loyalty +and attachment to his deceased sovereign, William III. He resided +upon his “Betty’s Hope” estate, in Antigua, for some years +afterwards, as a private gentleman, but at length removed to +Barbados, where he died in 1710; and, in 1716, his remains were +exhumed, and conveyed to England, and buried in the chapel of All +Souls’, Oxford. Colonel Codrington added to his other +accomplishments that of a poet—four of his poems being published +in the _Musæ Anglicanæ_. He founded a college, by bequest, at +Barbados, which still bears the name of “Codrington College;” and +where, since the appointment of a bishop to this diocese, in +1825, the clergymen who officiate in the West Indian churches, +are, with the exception of two or three from the English +universities, ordained.[35] + +In 1704, Queen Anne appointed Sir William Mathew, a native of St. +Kitt’s, (who had distinguished himself at the siege of Namur,) +captain-general, who arrived at Antigua 14th July, the same year. +His Excellency did not live much more than five months after his +appointment, dying 4th December; but during that short time, he +endeared himself to all classes by a kind and courteous +behaviour, and his strict integrity and honourable actions.[36] +Upon the decease of Sir William Mathew, the Hon. John Johnson was +made commander-in-chief for a short time.[37] During his +administration, measures were taken to provide for the safety of +the wives and children of those persons who at any time might be +engaged in fighting for this island, and also for the infirm and +superannuated, by building small houses within the fortifications +of Monk’s Hill, where they could retire in times of actual +warfare. This was a very necessary precaution, when the frequent +landing of the French, attended by the Caribs, and the dreadful +barbarities which they practised upon the unfortunate creatures +who fell into their hands, is called to mind. And it was very +naturally supposed that the men would fight better in the ranks, +when they knew those who were near and dear to them were in +comparative safety, than if obliged to leave them unprotected. +These fortifications had been begun, at considerable expense, in +the year 1687-8, and although a constant tax upon the country, +had never been finished; but it was resolved this year to make no +more delay, but carry on the works with vigour. + +This year (1705) a general council and assembly was held at +Nevis, when an act was passed to regulate such meeting, and +retain for each island its several laws. In future, the general +assembly was to consist of five freeholders, elected from each +respective island within the government. No member was to be sued +or arrested for debt ten days before or after the sessions; and, +while serving in general council and assembly, each member was to +be paid 20s. per day, and their expenses allowed them for going +from island to island. + + + ------ + +[34] “A stool, in which scolds are tied, and _ducked_ under +water.”—Dr. Johnson. + +[35] For a genealogy of the Codrington family, see Appendix, No. +9. + +[36] Vide Mathew pedigree, Appendix, No. 10. + +[37] This Hon. John Johnson appears to have crept into the +government with nothing more than a _verbal_ commission from some +great courtier; and it is said that, in order to gain the +Antiguans over to his cause, he allowed them to frame and pass +what acts they pleased. He was an officer in Colonel Thomas +Whetham’s regiment, (the Enniskillen, or 27th regiment of the +line,) where he held the rank of brevet-colonel. About the year +1706, after the government had devolved to the captain-general, +Colonel Parke, Colonel Johnson had a fracas with a Mr. Poxton, a +native of St Christopher’s, which ended fatally to the +ex-governor, and for which Mr. Poxton was tried for murder, but +acquitted by a jury of his countrymen. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + + + Governor Colonel Daniel Parke—His birth-place and parentage—His + actions at the battle of Holchet and Blenheim—His arrival at + Antigua—Dissensions with the Antiguans—Complaints against him + sent to England—Results of the applications at the court of + Queen Anne—Tyrannical behaviour of Colonel Parke—Events of the + 7th December, 1710—Death of Colonel Parke. + +The year 1706 is celebrated in the annals of Antigua as that in +which that abominable and atrocious governor, Daniel Parke, +arrived to blast for a time with his unhallowed breath this +beautiful little island. Parke was an American of rather low +birth, a tobacco-planter in the state of Virginia, but who +succeeded in marrying a lady of good fortune, and of a +respectable family in that province. As money was the only thing +he cared for in this alliance, he contrived to secure that, and +then left his wife a prey to sorrow and regret, for having +sacrificed her peace for a handsome but unworthy man. After +acting in this inhuman manner to a woman whose only fault was her +love for him, Parke proceeded to one of the northern states, +where he committed a crime at a gaming-table, which obliged him +to fly to England to escape the punishment so justly due. Here he +purchased an estate, situated near Whitchurch, county of Hants, +of about 500l. a year, and got himself returned member for that +borough. He was, however, expelled the House for bribery, and +ordered to be prosecuted, but through the interference of the +Earl of Pembroke, he eluded his trial. His next action was to +form a _liaison_ with a lady, the wife of a captain in the +Guards; and, to escape the vengeance of the incensed husband, he +left England, and fled into Holland, where he entered into the +army as a volunteer, under the celebrated John Churchill, Duke of +Marlborough. + +The Duke of Marlborough appears to have been caught with Mr. +Parke’s insinuating manners and agreeable person, and made him +one of his aides-de-camp at the battle of Hochet; but having had +a quarrel with an officer in the Queen’s Guards, Parke quitted +the service a few days previous to the memorable battle of +Blenheim. He still, however, remained within the precincts of the +camp until the very day when that decisive action was fought; and +when victory was about to be declared for the allied army, he +presented himself before Marlborough, and requested that he might +be the bearer of a line or two to acquaint the Queen of the +glorious conquest likely to be achieved. The brave General reined +up his panting war-horse, and with a heart bounding with +exultation, and a face flushed with expected success, wrote, with +a lead pencil, the following brief and soldier-like billet to his +duchess:— + + August 13, 1704. + +“I have not time to say more, than to beg of you to present my +duty to the Queen, and let her majesty know that her army has had +a glorious victory. Monsieur Tallard and two other generals are +in my court, and I am following the rest. The bearer, my +aide-de-camp, Colonel Parke, will give her majesty an account of +what has passed; I shall do it in a day or two, by another, more +at large. + + “Marlborough.” + +At the English court, Colonel Parke gained the patronage of +Sarah, the haughty but fascinating Duchess of Marlborough; +through whose interest he became such a favourite with Queen +Anne, that she presented him with her picture, richly set in +diamonds, a purse of one thousand guineas, and afterwards made +him governor and captain-general of Antigua and the rest of the +Leeward Islands; where he arrived 6th July, 1706, in the squadron +commanded by Capt. Kerr, and where he gave full scope to his +licentious disposition. + +Upon the first arrival of Colonel Parke, the assembly voted him +1000l. a year for house-rent, and great satisfaction was +expressed at his appointment. It was not long, however, before +this fair prospect of colonial happiness changed; and the +governor, by his arbitrary behaviour, forfeited all claims to the +good feeling and respect of the inhabitants. One of the earliest +offences Colonel Parke gave the Antiguans, was his making a low +man he brought to the island with him a member of the assembly. +Being a vulgar man, he delighted in vulgar associates; and +becoming acquainted with a private named Ayon, belonging to a +regiment of foot stationed in Antigua, he prevailed upon the +governor to appoint him provost- marshal. To the remonstrance of +the Antiguans against this proceeding, Parke replied, he should +make whom he chose provost-marshal; and that he would never +appoint any person to that office who did not agree to act +exactly as he wished, as well as empannel such juries as he +should direct. + +The next act of the governor gave equal displeasure. This was +calling upon the Codrington family to shew their right to the +Island of Barbuda,[38] (which had been granted to General +Codrington by William III.;) and the Antiguans not only felt +interested in the affairs of him who had been their friend and +governor, but they supposed Parke would also be calling upon them +to shew their claim to their estates—an indignity which they felt +no inclination to put up with. + +Another crime of huge magnitude was the seduction of Mrs. +Chester, the wife of Edward Chester, Esq., one of the most +opulent of the Antiguan merchants, and a member of the house of +assembly. Not content with injuring this gentleman in the deepest +manner by thus robbing him of the affections of his wife, Colonel +Parke, in his office of governor, proceeded to offer Mr. Chester +every insult which a little mind was capable of. Upon one +occasion, the governor had all his cocoa and other merchandise +seized, on an unfounded suspicion of its being illegally gained; +and then, supposing that all these several aggravations would +cause him to be justly disliked, he (Colonel Parke) accused Mr. +Chester of joining with other disaffected parties, in endeavours +against his government; and, upon the plea of doing it for the +establishment of the public peace, he broke into Mr. Chester’s +house one evening, when that gentleman was entertaining a few of +his friends, who were obnoxious to the governor—and, by the +assistance of some of his armed sycophants, among whom was the +provost-marshal, dragged Mr. Chester and his friends to prison. +In order to give some face to his proceedings, Colonel Parke +accused other gentlemen of joining in this pretended +insurrection, and, accordingly, he sent some of his brutal +partisans to an estate called “Denbows,” with orders to take into +custody Mr. Ffrye and Mr. Cockran, (members of the assembly,) and +bring them to town to stand their trial upon that charge. While +the magistrates were taking depositions in this case, Sergeant +Bowes, a creature of the governor, beat Captain Kallabane (one of +the witnesses for the defendant) in the open court. For this +offence the sergeant was broke by his colonel, and ordered to be +whipped; but when this circumstance came to the ears of the +governor, he immediately restored Bowes to his rank of sergeant, +and protected him from all further punishment. + +Another source of dissatisfaction, upon the part of the assembly, +arose from the circumstance of the governor taking the soldiers +off duty to watch his private property. The following extract, +taken from a message addressed to his excellency from the members +of the house of assembly, relates to this subject:—“We always +conceived her Majesty’s troops were sent to do duty on our +_standing guards_, and not to be altogether employed in guarding +your excellency’s person, your several buildings, your lumber, +your heaps of bricks, mortar, and pantiles.” + +It must not be supposed that these were the only complaints +alleged against Colonel Parke. His whole conduct, both in public +and private life, was arbitrary in the extreme; and so +supercilious was his treatment of the magnates of the island, +that before he had held the government for twelve months, +articles of impeachment were prepared to be forwarded to England. + +In 1707, a petition was drawn up and signed by eighty of the +principal inhabitants, praying for his recall; a sum of money +raised in order to defray the expenses of sending Mr. Nevin to +England, to lay their grievances before her Majesty and council; +and letters were written to Richard Cary, Esq., the colonial +agent, calling upon that gentleman to assist them in their +designs. + +While these measures were pursued by the disaffected party, the +governor, who was not ignorant of these cabals against him, lost +nothing of his arrogance of manner, which so incensed his +adversaries, that at length an attempt was made upon his life. As +he was riding along the high road, leading from St. John’s to +English Harbour, a negro, named “Sandy,” fired at him from a +piece of canes belonging to the plantation of the Honourable Otto +Baijer,[39] and dangerously wounded him, of which deed Colonel +Parke accused Mr. Jacob Morgan and some of the other members of +the assembly, with being the instigators. + +About this time, Colonel Parke thought proper to accuse Barry +Tankard, Esq., (a proprietor of sugar estates in Antigua, and an +intimate friend of Colonel Codrington,) of caballing against his +government; and accordingly he despatched his emissaries to the +estate of that gentleman, with orders to seize his person, and +bring him into town. Upon their arrival at Mr. Tankard’s house, +they were informed of his absence from home; but doubting the +truth of this information, they broke open the door of Mrs. +Tankard’s chamber, (who was confined to her bed from severe +indisposition,) and so alarmed that lady, that for some time her +life was in danger. This arbitrary behaviour on the part of the +governor led Barry Tankard to resent it, by calling his +excellency out in a duel; but Colonel Parke, considering it +beneath the dignity of the queen’s representative to accept the +challenge of a private gentleman, the matter ended. + +While these dissensions were going on in Antigua between the +governor on the one side, and the members of the assembly and the +principal inhabitants on the other, Mr. Nevin and Mr. Cary were +using their best endeavours to get a favourable answer to their +complaints from the home government. At length, after many +delays, Mr. Nevin returned to Antigua, bringing with him the +queen’s letter, directing that witnesses should be examined to +prove the several articles of impeachment sent home against the +governor, as well as his excellency’s answers to the same. “The +depositions and answers were sworn before Edward Byam, Esq., one +of the council, and Nathaniel Crump, Esq., speaker of the house +of assembly, and were ordered to be sealed with the broad seal of +the island, and forwarded immediately to England.” The governor, +however, refusing to seal the affidavits of the complainants, +upon the plea that his own answers were not ready, from the +delays of the justices before whom they were sworn, his opponents +were obliged to use another seal, and then despatch them, under +the care of Mr. Nevin, to England. + +During the year 1709, Queen Anne recalled Colonel Parke from his +government, to the great joy of the Antiguans. To this command +the infatuated man, however, would pay no attention; and, +exasperated by the triumphant looks of his accusers, which they +could not, or would not, conceal, he proceeded to measures which +could be only deemed those of a maddened despot. + +The year 1710 was ushered in with no better feeling between the +governor and the members of the legislature. One of their first +causes of complaint alleged against his excellency arose from the +following circumstance:— + +It had ever been the privilege of the house of assembly to choose +their own “clerk;” but during this despotic administration, the +governor overlooked this, and wished to appoint to that office a +friend of his own—a Mr. Hinton.[40] + +This encroachment upon the assembly’s privileges gave rise to a +great deal of ill feeling, and many acrimonious messages passed +between his excellency and the members of that body. The +following paragraph, copied from one of the governor’s speeches, +alludes to this subject:— + +“If you still persist that it is your undoubted privilege to +choose your ‘clerk,’ and will do no business until that be +yielded to you, you certainly will have the ‘Lords’ Committee’ +opinion. It is an undutiful attempt upon her majesty’s +prerogative; and I do assure you, gentlemen, if the queen does +not appoint any other before I go, I will leave you time enough +to raise money during this crop to pay off all the public +debt!”[41] + +This unhandsome taunt of the governor’s was deeply felt, and +resented by the “house,” who, in reply to it, remarks— + +“We cannot but observe how severe and bitter your excellency +reflects upon, and reproaches our country with, the not paying +its debt, but compounding the same. We well remember, when the +country paid your excellency 1000l. in sugar, at 12s. 6d., your +excellency sold that very sugar for 18s.; so that we hope your +excellency has but little reason to complain of the public +compounding their debt.” + +And then, in reference to a recommendation of the governor’s to +enlarge the provision for the clergymen, they go on to mention— + +“Your excellency next recommends to provide a better maintenance +for the clergy. They are already allowed 100l.; but as we are a +people so much in debt, as your excellency observes, it cannot be +expected, during these troublesome times, for us to advance their +salaries, especially such scandalous persons as too many of the +present clergy are.” + +This was only the third meeting of the legislature since the +election, after a recess of three years; although, from the +unsettled condition of the West Indies, (arising from the state +of affairs in Europe, where Marlborough, at the head of the +British forces, was engaged in frequent skirmishes with the +French,) the Antiguans were in momentary expectation of an +invasion. After being prorogued from the 18th of November to the +27th, (1710,) the legislature again met, but without any better +feeling between the governor and the members of the assembly. A +fresh cause of dispute arose, from his excellency having caused a +Mr. Hill to be sworn in as clerk of the assembly, (in place of +his former favourite, Mr. Hinton,) but whom the members would not +recognise; and after a great deal of altercation upon the +subject, that body addressed the following to the governor:— + +“If your excellency’s resentment so far prevails as to despise +these our propositions, and that the public affairs must with us +still suffer, as unworthy your regard and consideration, we do +then, as the only and last expedient, humbly propose your +excellency’s visiting some other island of the government; +thereby to afford us the opportunity and means, in conjunction +with the lieutenant-governor and council, to provide for the +public security, to heal our divisions, restore discipline, and +our broken constitution, after the best manner we can. And we are +unanimously of opinion, that in case your excellency rejects this +our humble motion, and will not surcease such administration, as +afore-mentioned, (which is so very opposite to the nature of our +constitution, to the opinion of the lieutenant-governor, the +council, as well as this house, and to the sense of the +inhabitants in general,) we shall be under the unhappy necessity +of withdrawing our obedience from you as chief governor, which, +by your dispensing with her majesty’s positive command for +leaving the government, we shall, in duty to her and justice to +ourselves, (which we ought long since to have done;) and that +this her colony, our persons and estates, may no longer be +exposed to such unhappy conduct and administration, which seems +entirely—we must say, foully—devoted to the ruin and destruction +of all.”[42] + +After receiving this message, the unhappy, infatuated governor +sent the following to the house:— + +“Gentlemen,—You are adjourned until Thursday, the 7th of +December, then to give myself and council a meeting at the town +of St. John’s, by eight of the clock in the morning. + + “By command,” &c. + +Alas, that very morning, the sun arose for the last time to him! +and by a fearful and unhallowed death, he was sent with all his +sins upon his head, to render in an account of his stewardship. + +The cause which led to this melancholy event was this:—Worn out +with the proceedings of Colonel Parke, and looking upon him as an +usurper of the government, the Antiguans threw off all restraint; +and as the last remedy, determined to arm against, and force him +to quit the island. + +Accordingly, upon the morning of the 7th December, 1710, a large +body of men, in number about 500, proceeded to Government House, +in two parties—the one headed by Mr. Piggot, then speaker of the +house of assembly; the other, by Captain Painter, another member +of that body. Colonel Parke, who was not ignorant of these +proceedings against him, had quartered in Government House, some +time before, the soldiers stationed in the capital; and who, +along with many of his private friends, (among whom was Mr. +French, his historian,) had made arrangements for resisting any +attack upon the governor. + +Upon the approach of the armed party, Colonel Parke sent the +provost-marshal (the man whose appointment to that office had +given the Antiguans such offence) with a proclamation, ordering +them to disperse immediately. This they refused to do; but in +order, if possible, to save an effusion of blood, they despatched +Nathaniel Crump, Esq., (the former speaker of the assembly,) and +George Gamble, one of the council, to the governor, desiring him, +in the name of the inhabitants, to discharge his guards, and quit +the government, without any further contest. Colonel Parke +returned for answer, “that neither threats nor fear of death +should make him do so; for the queen had intrusted him with it.” +Through the delegates, Mr. Crump and Mr. Gamble, he bid the +assembly “sit at Parham, if they were afraid of the troops at St. +John’s,” but consented at the same time to dismiss the soldiers, +if six of the principal inhabitants would remain with him as +hostages. As the negotiators considered the proposal of the +governor’s to be far preferable to commencing hostilities, they +agreed to be two of the hostages, and endeavour by their +influence to obtain four more from among the assembled multitude. +Many of their party, upon hearing this proposition of the +governor’s, agreed with them in their opinions, and laid down +their arms; but the majority of the people, fearful of any +agreement made with the governor, and thinking that delays might +induce others of the group to withdraw also, determined to +commence the attack, and endeavour to secure the person of the +governor. The two companies, headed by Captain Piggot and Captain +Painter, immediately drew up before Government House, which they +saluted with a warm discharge of musketry. This was returned by +the governor’s party; volley succeeded volley from within and +without; the balls whistled hotly around; until at length the +assailants burst open the doors, and rushed into the dwelling. +Captain Piggot fell by the hand of Colonel Parke, at the +commencement of the affray, although it was the belief of many +that Ayon, the provost-marshal and _ci-devant_ foot-soldier, came +behind him and shot him in the back. After some deaths on both +sides, Colonel Parke, who had retired into his bedroom, received +a shot in his thigh, which, breaking the bone, disabled him from +further retreating, and the people rushing upon him, literally +tore him to pieces while alive. They afterwards burnt down +Government House, the ruins of which remain to this day a memento +of his dreadful crimes and fearful punishment. Colonel Parke was +dragged into the streets by some of his adversaries, where he +remained for some time, still sensible, but suffering agonies +impossible to describe, until at length his mutilated body was +carried to the house of a person named Wright, who lived near to +the spot, where he shortly expired. His body was deposited in the +vault of the old church; but so detested was his memory, that the +people broke down the pew which had been appropriated for him and +his predecessors. + +Some writers maintain that only the _common people_ were +concerned in the last act of this tragedy; that those of the +higher rank proceeded to the house of John Yeamans, the +lieutenant-governor, and quietly laid down their arms. Mr. +French, the historian of Colonel Parke, writes, however, very +differently upon this part of the subject; but it ought to be +taken into consideration, that he was a particular friend of +Colonel Parke, and consequently might give a higher colouring to +the melancholy picture. He says, that when Colonel Parke lay in +the street suffering the pangs of a dismembered body, the members +of the house of assembly stood round reviling and insulting him +in his last agonies; that among the number were Andrew Murray, +Francis Carlisle, Mr. Tomlinson, and Captain Painter. I cannot +believe this assertion. Although Parke was their common foe, +still they must have been possessed of those feelings of honour, +if not humanity, which would forbid them to triumph over a dying +enemy. Mr. French goes on to state, that it was Colonel Byam who +was most active in convening the inhabitants, and appointing a +certain day for them to come into town well armed. This, too, has +been contradicted. There were not many clergymen then upon the +island; but among their number, Mr. James Field, rector of St. +John’s, took the part of the people; and Mr. Baxter, rector of +Parham, that of Colonel Parke. + +All writers upon the West Indies mention the crimes and fate of +Parke; and consequently I am obliged to follow in the wake, or +else I should have buried his errors—or, more properly speaking, +his vices—in oblivion.[43] + + + ------ + +[38] Barbuda is a small island, about twenty miles broad, and +lies twenty-six miles to the north of Antigua. It has belonged to +the Codrington family from about the year 1691, when William III. +granted it to General Codrington, then governor-general of the +Leeward Islands. It raises a great number of horned cattle, +ponies, donkeys, &c., and its shores are very prolific in turtle +and various kinds of fish; while its beach is strewed with many +beautiful shells. Deer, also, range amid its sylvan glades; and +their flesh occasionally affords another dish at a West Indian +dinner. The chief emoluments arising from this island, however, +are the number of wrecks; three or four sometimes occurring in a +year. The reason of these frequent maritime disasters is, that +the island lies so low, and is generally encompassed with fogs, +that vessels are upon the reefs (by which it is almost entirely +surrounded) before they are aware. It was upon one of this chain +of reefs, that H. M. S. Woolwich was wrecked. + +Barbuda contains about 1500 inhabitants, of which the greater +part are employed as huntsmen and fishermen: the former make use +of the lazo to catch the wild horses, &c. + + + ------ + +[39] This spot is now appropriated for the Wesleyan +burial-ground. + +[40] The following is an authentic copy of Mr. Hinton’s +commission and warrant, as drawn out in Colonel Parke’s own +handwriting:— + + “By his Excellency Daniel Parke, Esq., Captain-General and + Governor-in-Chief in and over all her Majesty’s Leeward + Caribbee Islands in Antigua. + +“I do hereby authorize and appoint you, Gabriel Hinton, of the +said island aforesaid, to be clerk to the assembly of this +island, and which is this day appointed to meet; and to receive +all fees, proffitts, and perquisites thereto belonging, for which +this shall be your sufficient warrant and commission. + +“Given under my hand and seal this twenty-second day of May, +1710. + + (Signed) “Daniel Parke.” + +[41] At this period, the island had fallen considerably in debt; +and the legislature not having met for some time, from the +unhappy differences between them and the governor, they had no +opportunity of relieving themselves from their burdens; which +difficulties were pleasing to Colonel Parke, in the hopes of +their being compelled to make a general compromise. + +[42] It may be well to remark, that any peculiarities in the +diction of the foregoing extracts must be attributed to the time +in which they were written: they having been copied _verbatim_. + +For a list of the members of the house of assembly at this time, +see Appendix, No. 11. + +[43] The last will of Governor Parke will be found in Appendix, +No. 12. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + + + Governor Walter Hamilton—Walter Douglas’s Disturbances— + Complaints against him sent to England—Queen Anne recalls him, + and reappoints Walter Hamilton—Lord Viscount Lowther—John Hart— + Lord Londonderry—Lord Forbes—Colonel William Crosbie. + +After the death of Colonel Parke, the government, of course, +devolved upon the lieutenant-governor of Antigua, John Yeamans, +until such time as despatches could be forwarded to Nevis, where +General Hamilton, who was next in command to the late +captain-general, (and who had married the widow of Sir William +Stapleton, a former governor,) was residing. Four of the members +of the legislature were, accordingly, sent to General Walter +Hamilton, advising him of the death of Colonel Parke, and +inviting him to come to Antigua in order to assume the chief +command. General Hamilton received the party with great urbanity +and kindness, and accompanied them back to Antigua, where he took +up his residence, for the time being, with Dr. Mackinnon, one of +the actors in the late affray.[44] + +Upon the intelligence of Colonel Parke’s death reaching England, +Queen Anne was very much incensed against the inhabitants of +Antigua; but, after hearing the catalogue of Parke’s crimes, and +in order to prevent any further effusion of blood, her majesty +was graciously pleased to send a general pardon to all that were +concerned in that transaction. + +But although the queen thought proper to extend her clemency to +the Antiguans, she made some alteration in the affairs of the +Leeward Island government. General Walter Hamilton was recalled, +and General Walter Douglas appointed in his room; and John +Yeamans was removed from the situation of lieutenant-governor of +Antigua, and that appointment conferred upon Colonel Edward Byam. + +During the period General Douglas administered the government, he +received instructions from England to see an act put into +execution, which had been passed in the time of Christopher +Codrington the younger, respecting the ascertainment of the value +of current coin. + +The 24th of June, 1712, Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker again visited +Antigua with a fleet of seven ships under his command. Soon after +his departure, M. Copard, the French admiral, with a fleet of +eight ships and seventeen sloops of war, manned with about 5000 +men, made an attack upon the island; but we find, from despatches +sent to England by the governor, General Douglas, their attempts +at landing were frustrated. + +General Douglas had scarcely been two years governor before +complaints against him were also despatched to England, as well +as a petition from the inhabitants, praying the queen to recall +him, in which petition their late governor-general, Walter +Hamilton, joined. General Douglas had made himself so obnoxious, +that another rebellion had almost occurred. One of his measures +was to retain certain duties, which ought to have been paid into +the treasury, (such as duties upon wines and liquors, &c.), for +his own particular use. He also persecuted General Hamilton, and +suspended him from all offices he held in the island; and upon +that gentleman repairing to England to transact some private +business, Colonel Douglas endeavoured to seize Dr. Mackinnon and +Chief-Justice Watkins for their proceedings in the affair of +Colonel Parke, as well as on the plea of another intended +rebellion. These gentlemen, however, contrived to escape to +England, where, from advices received from Governor Douglas, they +were afterwards seized and committed to prison; but, pleading the +general pardon which her majesty had issued, they were discharged +without trial, although Ensign Smith, one of the asserted +culprits, lay in Newgate for some months. + +While these rancorous dissensions were going on between the +governor and the inhabitants, orders were received for him to +return to England; and, to the joy of the Antiguans, his majesty +George I. re-appointed General Walter Hamilton to the government +in 1715. The island was now pretty quiet; the French keeping to +their own colonies without troubling their neighbours. The +Antiguans, however, were still very cautious of them; and the few +persons of that nation who, after the termination of the war, +came to reside at Antigua, were very coldly received. This year +(1715) the court of chancery was amended. Hitherto it was held by +one person, which caused delays, besides other inconveniences: so +that it was resolved in future it should consist of the governor, +and not less than five members of the council. + +Previous to this period, there was also much difficulty in +recovering minor debts, owing to the want of good laws, which +occasioned so much inconvenience to the merchants of Antigua that +they found it necessary this year (1715) to draw up a petition, +signed by twenty-six of the most influential members of their +body, praying for a better settling of the island courts. In +1711, the attorney-general, Thomas Bretton, Esq., had drawn up an +act “for establishing a court of queen’s bench and common pleas, +and for the better regulating and settling due methods for the +administration of justice,” with which the council and assembly +were so well pleased, that they presented him with one hundred +and forty pounds currency; but which act was so marred in the +passing of it, that they themselves found it necessary to incur +further expense by having another drawn up. As, however, this did +not appear to have the desired effect, in 1715, (after receiving +the petition from the merchants,) further and more effective +measures were taken for settling law courts, and limiting a time +for issuing executions out of the court of chancery. + +In 1716, fresh regulations were made respecting the importation +of white servants. Every owner of slaves, to the number of +fifteen, was obliged to find a white man to serve in the militia; +and for every twenty slaves, above fifteen, they were obliged to +find another white servant. Importers of white Protestant +servants could demand of the treasurer of the island eighteen +pounds per head if not sold in twenty days, and further obliged +the treasurer to receive such servant until sold. The general +term of servitude was seven years, at the end of which period +their master was to give them fifty shillings, and 400 pounds of +sugar or tobacco, with a certificate of their being free. If one +of these white servants married a free person without the consent +of their master, that free person was to be fined 100l.; and if +one servant entertained another for more than twenty-four hours +at one time, the person so offending was to be publicly whipped, +or serve the injured party three months; or if the entertainer +was free, he was to forfeit 20l. + +About this time, Governor Hamilton sent a party of settlers, +under command of a Mr. Howell, from Antigua and the different +Leeward Islands, to plant a colony upon Crab Island, a small +island lying between Santa Cruz and Porto Rico. + +In the year 1699, the Scottish or Darien Company fitted out two +large ships with a cargo of articles for traffic, and arms and +ammunition, intending to form a settlement in America. While on +their passage, they resolved to call in at Crab Island, and leave +some of their party there; but upon their arrival, finding a +large tent erected on the beach, with Danish colours flying, and +not wishing to have any dispute, they left the island to the +Danes, and proceeded to the Isthmus of Darien. The Danes having +given up the colony, the English thought it a good time to put in +a claim, and accordingly, as before remarked, Governor Hamilton +sent a party to colonize it. + +Improvements were made about this time in the erection of mills +for the purpose of grinding the sugar cane, and also in the art +of sugar-boiling, which the Antiguans at that day appear to have +been deficient in. Oldmixon, speaking of the sugar made in +Antigua, says,—“It is so black and coarse, that no art could fine +it; and, as if our sugar bakers in England scorned to put dirt in +their coppers, it was generally shipped off to Holland and +Hamburg, where it was sold for 16s., when any other brought from +18s. to 19s. per hundred.” + +In 1620, Lord Viscount Lowther was appointed to the government of +the Leeward West India Islands, but his appointment was +afterwards cancelled; and, in 1721, George I. appointed John +Hart, Esq., former governor of Maryland, to be commander-in-chief +of the Leeward Islands, who arrived at Antigua about the middle +of the year. About this time gambling raged to a great extent in +Antigua, and it was thought necessary to adopt some measures to +suppress it. It was therefore ordained, in 1723, that, if any +person won more than seven pounds at one sitting, or within +twenty-four hours from the time they first commenced playing, +they were to forfeit treble the value, half of which was to be +paid into treasury for the purpose of building and repairing +forts, &c., and the other half to go to the loser. It is strange +that, much about the same time, this vice was very prevalent in +England. Indeed, profligacy of all kinds had increased in that +kingdom to an alarming extent. This was supposed to have arisen +from the infatuation of the South Sea scheme, which, intoxicating +the minds of the people with the prospect of imaginary wealth, +led them into every excess. If any of the Antiguans had joined in +this infatuation, I am unable to say. I was led into the mention +of it from the fact of both countries being, at the same period, +subject to the same kind of vice. + +For the last few years the inhabitants of Antigua had been very +much harassed by a gang of runaway slaves, from various estates, +who had taken up their abode in some of the mountains and rocky +parts of the island, and who were in the practice of issuing out +at night, and committing many and great depredations. The leaders +of this gang of vagrants were three men, of the name of Africa, +Papa Will, and Sharper; and, to insure their capture, a reward of +twenty pounds was offered to any person who should place either +of them, dead or alive, in the hands of the provost-marshal. If +any one killed a slave who had been absent from their owner three +months, while in pursuit of them, he was entitled to the sum of +three pounds; and when such slave was taken alive, the reward was +doubled, the owner of any slave so killed being paid his or her +value from the treasury. If a slave concealed, afforded +nourishment to, or comforted a runaway, he was to be publicly +whipped on the bare back with any number of stripes the justice +of the peace thought proper to order; and if any free person so +offended, such freeman was to be fined not less than ten pounds +for the first offence. No person was allowed to purchase goods of +a slave, under a penalty of thirty pounds for the first offence, +except such things as pigs, goats, fowls, fish, or ground +provision, which slaves were allowed to sell; but ginger and +cotton ranked among the prohibitory articles. For the better +government of this sable race, it was thought proper by those in +power to restrict their diversions, and publish a decree, that +all owners of slaves should allow them three days at Christmas +for play-days, _and no more_, under a penalty of twenty pounds. +Many other regulations were made, which appear at this day very +harsh—such as not allowing slaves to plant cotton, forbidding +them to assemble in parties of more than ten, punished for +carrying any kind of weapon, unless in company of a white person, +&c.; but, at the same time, it was enacted that if any cruelly +disposed person hurt, or killed a slave, they were liable to the +same punishment as if the victim had been free; thus setting a +bright example to the other island, where killing a slave was +looked upon, in law, as a mere trifle. + +In 1725, the parish of St. Peter’s was divided into two, making +Antigua to consist of six parishes, instead of five; the +separated half of St. Peter’s being called St. George. The reason +of this division was the great extent of the parish, which, +having only one church and one chapel of ease in it, and those at +a considerable distance, the parishioners had not an opportunity +of attending divine worship every week. Nothing of much +importance occurred during the next two years, except that the +assembly of Antigua returned thanks to Captain Arthur Delgarno, +commander of H.M.S. South Sea Castle, for his indefatigable +exertions in these seas, in keeping away the enemy’s ships, and +protecting the trade of the island: they also voted two hundred +guineas to purchase a sword to present to the gallant commander, +as a token of respect. It was by the suggestions of this Captain +Delgarno, and Captain Cooper, of H.M.S. Lyon, in 1725, that the +spacious dockyard at English Harbour was first erected. + +George I. dying in the month of June, 1727, his son succeeded to +the vacant throne, under the title of George II. Upon the +intelligence reaching the ears of the Antiguans, he was +proclaimed at Antigua with great pomp. An ox was roasted whole, +and three hogsheads of beer distributed to the poor inhabitants; +while a splendid entertainment was provided for the governor and +the gentry of the island, at the public expense. + +His majesty George II. having appointed Lord Londonderry[45] to +succeed John Hart, Esq., in the government of the Leeward +Islands, that nobleman arrived at Antigua in 1728; but was +detained off the port, or rather on board his vessel, which was +anchored in the roadstead for some time, on account of a +hurricane. About this period, the commander of H. M. S. +Winchelsea took a pirate vessel, while at anchor near one of the +small islands with which these seas abound; but the crew escaped, +with the exception of five persons, who were brought to Antigua, +and hung. These were Captain Fen, the owner and commander, his +gunner, and three common sailors. + +The first year of Lord Londonderry’s administration, it was +privately recommended to him, by the English government, to lay +before the legislature of Antigua the necessity of building +barracks for the accommodation of the regiment of foot stationed +in the island, or else assign them quarters, by billeting them +upon the several estates, or in the towns. Hitherto, they were +scattered all over the country, obtaining shelter wherever they +could, and consequently, they became very disorganized. It was, +however, not until the year 1741, that these recommendations were +carried into effect, when barracks were erected upon Rat Island; +and, in 1753, additional barracks were built at the head of the +town. The Antiguans were this year alarmed by a conspiracy among +the negroes, which, however, appears to have been confined to +those belonging to a Mr. Crump. As upon trial they were not +thought worthy of death, it was resolved to banish eight of the +principal offenders, who were to be sent to Maryland or Virginia, +or else sold to such persons who would agree to transport them to +the Spanish coasts, with the proviso that if they returned to +Antigua, they were immediately to be executed. + +A thousand pounds were granted to his excellency Thomas Pitt, +Earl of Londonderry, this year, in addition to the usual salary; +and the emoluments arising from a duty of 3s. 6d. per ton, upon +all vessels clearing from the island, having on board native +produce, was also settled upon him as long as he continued in the +government. As, however, the next year, (1729,) transient factors +were allowed exemptions from the charge of 3s. 6d. per ton, (on +the ground of their paying 2l. for every 100l. imported,) which +would tend to decrease the governor’s salary, a further sum of a +thousand pounds was granted to supply all deficiencies. As there +had been no government house erected since the affair of Colonel +Parke, the Antiguans renting a house for that purpose, which was +attended with some disadvantage, Lord Londonderry recommended to +the council and assembly the necessity of building a government +house, pointing out at the same time that the want of such an +accommodation for their governors might thereafter prove +disadvantageous to the Antiguans. This advice, however, appears +not to have been followed, for it was not until after 1800, that +the present government house was erected. The laws of Antigua +were also this year recommended to be sent to the agent in +England, to have them printed. + +Many other regulations were gone into, tending to the welfare of +Antigua; and it was also resolved that if any members of the +council and assembly were absent, and could not give a +satisfactory cause, such absentees were to forfeit 5l., and were +sometimes even expelled. During the government of this nobleman, +a bill passed the two houses of parliament, which had been long +pending, granting encouragement to the sugar colonies, of which +Antigua had become one of the most flourishing. Lord Londonderry +did not live more than a year and a half after his appointment; +and, upon his demise, the Right Honourable Lord Forbes was +nominated to the vacant government. The country voted a sum of +money for his reception, and a house was engaged for him; but, +after waiting for about six months, and no governor making his +appearance, it was given up, and the government devolved to +William Mathew the lieut.-governor. The same year, however, +Brigadier-general William Crosbie was appointed captain-general; +but it appears he did not accept the office, or the appointment +was cancelled by the home government; for in the following year +he removed to New York, where he became governor. + + + ------ + +[44] See further as to the Mackinnons, Appendix, No. 13. + +[45] Son to Mr. Pitt; famous for the diamond he brought from the +East Indies, and which he afterwards sold to the King of France. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + + + Governor William Mathew—Insurrection of the Negroes—A Legend of + the Ravine—Punishment of the Conspirators. + +In 1730, William Mathew, Esq., the lieutenant-governor, succeeded +to this government, vacant by the non-acceptance of Lord Forbes +and General William Crosbie; and, in the first year of his +appointment, fresh regulations were made for the payment of such +slaves as suffered death for crimes, according to the ancient +custom of the island. The affairs of Fort James were also looked +into. In 1680, Colonel James Vaughan, of Antigua, had granted to +his majesty Charles II. and his successors, a certain promontory, +generally known as St. John’s Point, for the purpose of building +a fort, and for the support of the matrosses. This had been done +as far as the erection of Fort James; but the other part of the +land was not used; and consequently, this year, (1730,) it was +determined that it should be given to the matrosses; only +reserving a part which might be wanted for the purpose of +building hospitals or magazines. In 1731, Antigua suffered very +much from a long drought; when the want of water was so +excessive, that a pail of that fluid sold for 3s. The following +year (1732) amendments were made in the court of chancery. By the +regulations of 1715, this court was made to consist of the +captain-general or governor-in-chief, and five or more members of +council; but as his excellency was not always upon the island +when such courts were held, great delays were occasioned, and it +was determined that in future the president of Antigua should, in +the absence of the governor, or lieutenant-governor, preside. + +After a temporary absence, the Lieutenant-governor William Mathew +returned to Antigua in the early part of the year 1733, assuming +the government as captain-general of the Leeward Islands, and +presented his additional instructions to the council and +assembly, directing that body to be no longer restricted, as +formerly, from making any additional allowance to the salary of +1200l. per annum, allowed by the home government, namely:— +“Whereas, it has been represented to us, that the salary of +1200l. sterling per annum, which we have hitherto thought fit to +allow out of the duty of four-and-a-half per cent., arising in +our Leeward Islands, for our governor-in-chief of these islands, +is not at present sufficient for his support and the dignity of +that our government, we have taken the same into our +consideration, and are graciously pleased to permit and allow +that the respective assemblies of our said islands may, by any +act or acts, settle upon you such sum or sums, in addition to +your salary of 1200l. per annum, as they shall think proper; and +you are hereby allowed to give your assent to any act or acts of +assembly to that purpose. Provided, such sum or sums be settled +on you and your successors in that government; at least on you +during the whole time of your government there, and that the same +be done by the first respective assemblies of our said island +after your arrival there.” + +In accordance with this new arrangement, the council and assembly +readily granted an annual sum of 1000l. Antigua currency. + +In 1734, copper coins were imported from England, and passed at +about the same rate they do at this day. Bayonets were also +introduced this year into Antigua, for the use of the militia, +they having been found to answer so well in the late wars in +Flanders. These weapons obtained their name from being first +manufactured at Bayonne, in France. + +The events of the year 1736 were such as to strike horror into +the hearts of all the white inhabitants of Antigua. The negroes, +who, as we have before seen, attempted an insurrection in 1728, +attributed their want of success to the fact of their having no +regular plan; and accordingly they chose one of their tribe, a +very powerful black man, to be their king; and vowed to render to +him the strictest homage, and follow his every order. This man, +whose real name was “Klaas,” although his master called him +Count, was a person of undaunted courage and strong resolve; and, +was it not on account of the demise of Governor Mathew’s son, +which frustrated their original plan of blowing up government +house (or at least the house which was hired for the governor at +Clark’s Hill) with gunpowder, the night a grand ball was to be +given in honour of the anniversary of the king’s coronation, no +doubt Antigua would have been another “Hayti,” and “Klaas” +another “Christophe.” + +There is still an old tradition, which relates to this melancholy +subject; and as it may not prove uninteresting to some of my +readers, I will give it in a newer dress. + + The Fate of Klaas. + + A LEGEND OF THE RAVINE. + +At a late period in the evening of the 3rd of October, 1736, two +horsemen might be seen riding slowly along the high road which +leads from the capital to English Harbour. The eldest of these +travellers was probably past the meridian of life; but his round +florid face bore not a mark of care, nor could a single wrinkle +be detected upon his open forehead. Age, indeed, had tinged his +hair with grey, and, perhaps, slightly bent his form; but had +neither depressed his spirits nor robbed his laughing blue eye of +its lustre. In person he was tall and robust; and although +jollity was written upon every feature, he possessed at the same +time that air of determination which would make few wish to +thwart him in his views, or offer an insult that was sure to be +resented. The animal he bestrode was of a coal-black, and, like +his master, bore his years well. Logo, as he was called, had +often followed the hounds in “merrie England;” and, when his +master came to take possession of a property in Antigua, his +faithful steed, the sharer of many a long day’s sport, was not to +be left behind. + +The companion of this first-mentioned traveller was, in every +respect, far different. Scarcely had seventeen summers passed +over his head; and his slight, but well-formed person, was in +direct contrast to the large and heavy make of his friend. His +rich brown locks clustered around his lofty brow unspoiled by +powder; but in his large dark eye, consumption had lit its fire, +and flushed, at times, his naturally pale cheek. + +“Come, Edward,” said the elder traveller, addressing the youth; +“we must mend our pace, lad: here’s Logo champing his bit with +every mark of anger at being kept with tightened reign: the old +fellow has too much mettle still left to like this hippopotamus +trot, when he has an hungry stomach, and the prospect of a +well-stored stable before him.” + +“Ay, uncle; and one there is at home, who must be as anxiously +looking for us, as Logo is for his stable.” + +“What, Marien? Well, I dare say the girl feels the loss of her +cousin Edward from the side of her spinet, if she don’t her old +father from his settle in the gallery. Women love those little +attentions you know so well to offer; and Marien would miss you +from tuning her lute, or turning the pages of her music book, as +I should old Logo, were anything to happen to him. Dame Nature +has made you, boy, to shine in lady’s bower, more, I think, than +in tented field.” + +The deepest hectic sprang to the face of the youth, as his uncle +uttered these words, and a half-smothered sigh broke from his +lips, which, catching the attention of his companion, caused him +to turn and look ardently at him. + +“Nay, dearest Edward, I meant not to distress you; I hope your +trip to these sunny shores may restore you to stronger health; +and then you may follow the steps of your brave father, and fight +your country’s battles. But we must not loiter any longer upon +the road; for, in truth, I like not the appearance of the night, +and we have no shelter near. I care not for myself, for I have +weathered too many a storm to shrink from a sprinkling; but you +are still delicate; and your cousin Marien will scold me for +having already kept you out in the heavy night dew of this +climate.” + +So saying, they gave their steeds the rein, and dashed on, +throwing the loose pebbles with which the road was strewed, on +every side. + +The night, indeed, was far from promising; the wind blew in +sudden gusts, and whirled the dead leaves on every side. A low +moaning sound came from the distant mountains, the sure +forerunner of a storm; while peals of thunder broke upon the ear. +The black clouds drifted rapidly along the sky, and several +meteors gilded the night with their evanescent glories. Suddenly +a deep silence prevailed, broken only by the sound of the horses’ +feet upon the flinty road, as the benighted travellers struck +their rowels into the sides of the animals, to urge them to +greater speed. But this boding silence did not last long; the +wind again rose with redoubled violence—the thunder rolled in +awful peals—and a sheet of vivid lightning covered the whole face +of the heavens; clap followed clap in rapid succession, shaking +the very earth to its centre; the rain came down in torrents, yet +still the red-winged lightning struggled through it, and kept up +its terrific fire. + +A moment’s pause in the storm gave the elder traveller time to +exclaim—“Well, Edward, my prognostications have proved true, have +they not? Poor Marien must indeed feel anxious;” when, just at +this instant, a dark object issued out of a kind of ravine which +appeared on one side of the road, and darted across the path +close to the horses’ heads. “What was that?” continued the +speaker. “Was it man or animal? My glance was so momentary, that +indeed I know not.” “A boy,” returned his companion, “an’ my eyes +deceived me, or it was Marien’s dumb page.” “What! Julio? +Impossible! What could the boy do abroad in such a night? unless” +—and the speaker paused; “unless, indeed, Marien sent him forth +to gain some tidings of us; for although the poor little fellow +was born deaf and dumb, he has the brightest intellect and +swiftest foot of any negro I ever knew. I have often promised to +tell you his story; and as the tempest seems to have worn away a +little, I may as well give it now, which will tend to make the +road seem the shorter. + +“Julio’s mother was the foster-parent of my own Marien, although +at that period she did not belong to me. But she was a great +favourite of my wife’s, and for that reason we hired her to nurse +our child; and after my wife’s death, I purchased her from her +old master, who was a friend of mine. Nuno was a very superior +negress; and was it not on account of her husband, ‘Count,’ whom +I pointed out to you the other day as the reputed king of the +negroes, I do really think she might have been living now. She +never would say _what_ he did to her, or indeed make any +complaint against him; but I am certain there was something +mysterious about it; for when afterwards she was confined with +Julio, she made it her dying request to me that Count might never +know the child was his, or the boy be told who his father was. +This ‘Count,’ as he is called, although I believe he bears +another name, made a great deal of talk in the country some few +years ago. It appears, his master had him severely flogged for a +trifling offence, and Count ran away; but he afterwards came +back, and all was forgiven, although his master might have had +him hung for it, without any loss to himself. There is a law of +the island, which punishes with death any negro who runs away for +longer than three months, and the country pays their value to +their owners. I heard a flying report of an intended insurrection +of the negroes while we were in town to-day; but for my part, I +give no credit to it. They have not forgotten the rebellion of +Crump’s negroes yet, and the punishment awarded to the offenders, +which will keep them quiet, at least for a little time. I have +heard, that Count was concerned in that affair; but none of the +culprits mentioned his name; and although, from the character of +the man, I should not think it unlikely, for the sake of poor +Juno, I would not accuse him. But to return to Julio. His mother +died immediately after his birth, and no one but ourselves, and +his mother’s brother, a slave named Cuffee, know who is his +father. Upon finding the poor child was deaf and dumb, our hearts +have been drawn the closer to him; and as soon as my affairs are +arranged in this island, I shall return to England, and intend +carrying Julio with me.” + +By this time, the travellers had gained an ascent, and before +them was spread a cluster of negro-huts, various out-buildings, +and works of a flourishing estate; while on the top of another +eminence stood the hospitable mansion of the owner. In a moment, +all was bustle. “Massa come home!” was shouted from one to +another, as a party of black boys and men started from their +slumbers upon the dry trash, and ran to take the horses. After +seeing Logo properly attended to, the travellers walked to the +house, where, at an open jalousie, a slight figure, whose +graceful outline bespoke it Marien’s, was seen watching their +progress. The family party having once more met, and a thousand +inquiries as to their ride &c. having been made, Marien touched a +silver bell, and a domestic entering, orders were given to send +in Julio. “By-the-bye,” exclaimed the elder gentleman, “didst +thou send forth Julio in search of your _absentees_ to-night, +Marien?”—“No, dearest father; Julio has not left the anteroom +since dinner, that I am aware of. Anxious as I was to gain +tidings of you, the night was too inclement to send the poor +child abroad. But why do you ask that question?”—“Oh! nothing; +only that our bright-eyed Edward thought he saw him cross the +road at the ravine down yonder; but I think it must have been a +dog, or something of the kind. However, to be certain, I +mentioned it to you.” At this moment the door opened, and Julio +entered. He had, perhaps, attained his eighth year; but from his +diminutive form, a stranger would have thought him even younger. +His dress was a kind of white tunic embroidered with crimson, and +a broad belt of gilded leather, with tassels of bullion, gathered +it in folds around his slender waist. Smart silk stockings +encased his legs, and white leather shoes, ornamented with gold, +graced his little feet. When abroad, a small crimson cap, in +which was placed a single ostrich feather, reposed upon his head: +its snowy plume strangely contrasting with his ebon complexion. +It was Marien’s whim to dress her page in this fantastic manner, +and her indulgent parent never thwarted her in any of her little +pleasures. + +The deficiencies of poor Julio’s external faculties did not +extend to his intellects. The slightest action of Marien’s was +noticed by him, and her every wish gratified, if possible. Did a +shade pass over her brow, he flew for her lute, or arranged her +books at the spinet; did a smile illuminate her face, Julio +jumped for joy. It was his task to gather for her the sweetest +fruits, and range the tangled copse and dell to cull the fairest +flowers; and when she walked abroad, he attended the steps of his +young mistress, and swept from her path every noisome insect. +Bright were the eyes of Julio, and joyous was the look expressed +in his dark round face; but on this evening, when, at the summons +of his mistress, he stood before her, every one was struck with +the alteration in his appearance. His cheek was blanched to an +unearthly hue—his eyes, bloodshot and dim, sought the floor; +while a shudder seemed to run through his frame, as if he saw +some dreaded form. To the anxious inquiries of the party, +expressed by significant gestures, the boy only shook his head, +while a darker shade of sadness passed over his brow. Thinking +that a slight degree of illness was the cause, Marien kindly +dismissed him to his repose, in hopes the morrow’s dawn would +restore him to his usual gaiety, and rising from her seat, placed +in her father’s hand a small billet. “A grand ball at Government +House, eh! to be given in honour of our good king’s coronation. +What say you to that, young people? Wilt thou pay thy devotions +at the shrine of the laughter-loving muse? No doubt, all the +beauty and fashion of Antigua will be there. But come, the hour +is past midnight; and if I keep our Marien up so late, she will +lose the last of her roses she brought from Old England.” So +saying, the party separated for the night; and the scene changes +to another spot, at an earlier hour. + + * * * * * + +In one of the deepest parts of a ravine grew a variety of tangled +bushes, which clothed it to its very bottom with their verdant +foliage. Disrupted rocks were thickly scattered about, over which +glided the speckled snake, while cricket and frog kept up an +incessant chirping. About the commencement of the storm already +described, a dark figure was seen slowly, but firmly descending +the steep bank of the ravine, whose nearer approach bespoke him a +son of Ham, one who wore the chain of bondage. In height he +measured about six feet, while his broad chest and muscular arms +shewed his Herculean strength. His complexion was of the deepest +jet, and his large black eye shone with the fierceness of a +firebrand. A mantle of dark blue cloth was wrapt around his form, +leaving his arms and legs bare; and his head was bound round with +a scarlet handkerchief, the ends of which floated in the breeze +with graceful negligence. In one hand he bore a massive club, +which assisted his steps in his descent; while the other rested +upon a horse-pistol, which, heavily loaded, lay hid in the folds +of his garment. Upon gaining the bottom of the ravine, he looked +cautiously around; and then, as if satisfied all was right, he +raised a conch-shell to his lips, and blew a low but clear blast. +This repeated thrice, he seated himself upon one of the rocks; +and burying his face in his hands, mused in silence, unmindful of +the threatening appearance of the heavens. But a few minutes +passed, when he again started to his feet, and blew a louder +blast, which at a short interval was answered by a low whistle; +and the crackling of dry leaves (as if trodden under foot) +proclaimed the approach of other visitants. Drawing the pistol +from its confinement, the first occupant of the ravine stepped a +few paces forward, and, in a voice rendered thick by contending +passions, demanded the word. “Death to our foes!” was the answer; +and in another moment, about forty negroes stood around their +king. “Welcome, brave friends, to this lone spot; for here at +least we can feel we are free, and bid defiance to the hated +whites. But where is Morah? Surely she will not desert us, +Tomboy?” And he directed his looks to a short stout man, who +ranked as his general, and answered to that name, and who had +taken up his post at the right shoulder of his sable majesty. +“Oh, no; Morah knows too well to desert Klaas at his need. +Believe not that,” returned the man. “We should have been here +long before, but she was knocked up with her walk, and we were +obliged to wait her will. But see!”—and touching the arm of +Klaas, he pointed to two lusty youths who were coming down the +bank, bearing between them some object, which could scarcely be +pronounced human. Placing their burden safely at the feet of +Klaas, the young men drew back, while he, giving her his hand, +raised and placed her upon a rocky seat near himself. The woman, +(for so she proved,) although looking more like the habitant of +another world, must have numbered her hundredth year. Her face, +which had lost its naturally black hue from age and sickness, was +puckered up in a thousand wrinkles; while her toothless gums were +seen through her thick open lips. The few hairs which time had +left her were bleached to a snowy white; but her black eyes had +lost none of their brightness: they gleamed from beneath her +overhanging brow with a supernatural ray. Her form was bent +almost double, and the skin hung about her hands and arms like +black and shrivelled parchment. An old blanket partly covered her +attenuated person, which she firmly grasped with her long bony +fingers; but it afforded her no defence against the inclemency of +the evening; for she shivered and trembled at every blast. Such +was Morah, the old Obeah woman,[46] who was hated, yet dreaded, +by nearly all her tribe. + +“Morah,” said the leader of the band, after she had rested for a +few minutes, “Morah, dost thou not know me? hast thou forgot the +purpose for which we have met? The time is short, remember.” + +“Oh, no, no! me no forget,” said the old crone; “me know you very +well; you’re ‘Count,’ the negro king, as you call yourself, but +your massa call you ‘Count the Runaway,’” and she laughed +demoniacally. + +“Call me Klaas,” shrieked the negro; “oh! call me not Count—the +name of my servitude—the name those detested whites gave me when, +torn from all my heart holds dear, and forced into their ships, +they brought me to this country, and sold me, for a miserable +pittance, to the man I despise—the man who, for a small fault, +had me flogged until the blood gushed down my back. Yes! flogged +_me_, who was born heir to a kingdom, and who followed the chase +in my own bright land, free as the zephyr which kisses its sunny +mountains, until the fortunes of war made me the despised, +degraded slave I am. Call me not ‘Count,’ I say; for every misery +I have ever borne is recalled by that hated name. Why was it I +spurned poor Nuno from me, and embittered her after life? +Because, in a moment of repose—when the weary toil of the day was +over—seated before our hut in the bright moonbeam, I talked to +her of Africa, and of my hopes of soon escaping from my degraded +state, she raised the demon within me by calling me ‘Count,’ when +I had taught her to use no other name but ‘Klaas;’ and thus +bringing all my wrongs before me, I vowed to sacrifice our child +to the gods of my country should its eyes ever see the light. Oh, +then, call me not ‘Count’ in this wild ravine, where everything +breathes an air of freedom, although I am obliged to bear it (but +not for long, I hope) before the abhorred Christians. Oh! call me +not ‘Count.’ unless—” and he flung his arms on high, while his +eyeballs rolled in fire, and every nerve quivered with emotion— +“unless you wish to see me, like the hunted lanté turn on all +alike. But enough;”—and by strong effort he mastered his +turbulent passions, although the perspiration flowed from off his +forehead in large drops, and his breast heaved like the stormy +billow;—“I came not here to-night to recite my wrongs, or the +wrongs of these my comrades; but to plan our redemption from +them, and the destruction of our enemies. To business, then. But +first let me ask you, Morah, has Obeah given the sign?” + +“An’ think you me come here to-night had he not?” returned the +old woman, doggedly; “ay, that he has, and a good sign it is; but +p’raps you no want white man dead, eh? And again the hag uttered +her horrible laugh, which seemed still more so in the midst of a +clap of thunder, while her miserable form looked more unearthly +in the lightning’s flash. + +“Death to our foes!” broke from the lips of the leader, which was +repeated by all the band; and then breaking up the circle in +which they had been standing, they proceeded to prepare the +different articles used in their superstitious orgies, under the +inspection of old Morah, while Klaas and his general, Tomboy, +conferred apart. + +A large hole being dug in the middle of the ravine, and all +things properly arranged, the king and his companion were called; +when, joining in a rank around the opening, the mysterious rites +began. Morah, squatting at one end of the aperture, called upon +Obeah, under the title of Nzambiampongee, to assist them in the +extirpation of their foes; and after many a mumbled incantation, +proceeded to bury in the hole small quantities of gunpowder, +rusty iron, a little money, and a portion of human hair; while +Klaas added to the heap by throwing in a few bujis.[47] After +another incantation was chanted by them all, the hole was +carefully covered over with black dog-bush,[48] and the earth +once more thrown in and pressed down. At this moment a +night-raven screeched, and Morah interpreted it as a kindly sign +from Obeah; whilst a beautiful speckled snake, gliding over the +spot, was greeted by Klaas as his country’s god. This ceremony +over, Morah departed, and other business was discussed. Seated +upon his rustic throne, Klaas issued his mandates to his +attentive subjects, who, stretched around, looked up to him as +their presiding divinity. + +“In eight days’ time,” began their king, in a distinct and +audible tone, “there is to be a ball given by the governor, in +honour, they say, of their king, and as all our tyrants are +expected to be present, it has been determined to make that night +the scene of our grand endeavours, that, at one stroke, shall +destroy our enemies, and make us once more free. Under yonder +bushes, where the earth looks fresh, are buried the kegs of +gunpowder which we have, at various times, been enabled to +collect; and the night before the ball takes place do you, +Quashey Coonah, make it your business to remove them carefully up +to Clark’s hill, where Harry, who has been lately hired there, +will have them placed under the cellar. Frank, I look to you to +take care of what arms we have procured, and also to distribute +them. You will also have those bills sharpened—they may prove +very useful. I make it my duty to fire the train about the time +the moon rises above the top of yon mountain, while Tomboy will +lead the party who is to prevent any of the whites escaping. +Hercules will lay in wait with his band at the entrance of the +town; so that, when the flames rise high, and the inhabitants +hasten to give them assistance, he may fall upon them and prevent +them. I have sent him and Jemmy to meet a large party of negroes +up to windward to-night, who, no doubt, will aid us with their +force; and as many of them are in the habit of going out shooting +for their masters, they may be able to add a little to our stock +of powder. Ned, do you try and obtain what arms you can; in such +a cause, any means are fair. + +“Ah! that I will, King Klaas; and look what I have brought you +to-night,” and turning round, he drew from its sheath a blade of +the finest steel; “what say you to Massa Colonel’s own good +sword. He told me to take care of it to-day, after he had done +looking at it, and to put it carefully up; and so I have, ah! +ah!” and Ned laughed until the water ran down his cheeks. + +“That’s right, my fine fellow!” exclaimed Klaas; and taking it +from the hand of his comrade, he examined, with intense interest, +its shining surface. After some moments had passed in this +employment, he replaced it carefully in its sheath, and, with +something like a sigh, exclaimed,—“Well, I have been driven to +this. They might have made me their friend, but harshness, +contempt, and insult, has conspired to render me what I am; and +for this bright weapon, perhaps the gallant Colonel Morgan has +often drawn it in a far less worthy cause. But hist! I hear the +sound of horses’ feet, and it is time we part. At the close of +three more days, meet me here again to receive final orders; till +then, farewell; and remember our motto—‘Death to our foes!’” So +saying, Klaas rose from his seat, and grasping once more his +club, prepared to depart. At this moment, however, a slight +rustle was heard among the brushwood, as if some person was +retreating, and Klaas, drawing his pistol from his bosom, started +forward in that direction, followed by the others. “What could it +be?” was the anxious inquiry, when, after a strict search, no +object met their view. “What, indeed!” replied their chief; “if +it was any of our friends, why did they not come forward; but if +it was a foe—a spy—our plans of vengeance will be defeated, and +we ourselves dragged to a felon’s death;” and he ground his teeth +at the thought. As nothing else could be done, they once more +bade good night, and departed to their respective homes, leaving +Klaas and his general to make one more attempt to discover the +cause of the noise. + + * * * * * + +Six times had the chariot of the sun rolled along the heavens, +and bright-eyed Phœbus sought his golden couch, since the +conspirators gathered around their king in that wild and silent +glen. Among the inhabitants of Antigua nothing was talked of but +the governor’s ball, which was to be upon the grandest scale +imaginable. Many a young heart beat high at the prospect of its +gaieties, and many a bright eye grew brighter at the thoughts of +the conquests to be made on that eventful night. The few shops +which dealt in European fashions were crowded from morning to +night with fair visitants, or their _femmes de chambre_; and +laces and bugles, catgut and tiffany, were in constant demand. +The busy sempstresses plied their needles with double speed; and +various were the flounces and furbelows, pinkings and quiltings, +they invented. In the midst of this bustle and activity, this +anticipation of joyous festivities, a plaint of distress was +borne down upon the gale: the governor’s best-beloved son—the +hope and pride of his parents—tossed his fevered head upon the +couch of sickness; and in a few short hours, that beautiful and +blooming youth lay a stiffened corse. + + * * * * * + +In a large but well-arranged apartment, whose open _jalousies_ +admitted the evening breeze, loaded with the fragrance of the +Arabian jasmine, were seated three persons. Two out of the group +ranked under the lofty title of “lords of the creation;” but the +third was a young and beautiful creature, whose elegant figure +and flowing ringlets bespoke her one of Nature’s fairest flowers. +Reclining upon a _fauteuil_, she drew from a lute sounds so soft +and sweet that every sense was held in thraldom; and anon, when +she joined her liquid voice, and sang of other days, few were +there who would wish to break the spell. But the spell was +ordained to be broken—broken in a sudden manner. The door opened +hastily, and a negro, darting into the middle of the room, +exclaimed, in a voice of terror—“Massa, me must speak with you!”— +“What’s the matter?” returned our elder acquaintance, rising up, +“what’s the matter, Cuffee? You frightened us by your sudden +entrance, and sent my Marien’s roses back to her heart.”—“Beg +your pardon, massa, and yours, young missis, but me have +something to tell you make your ears ring again: but, massa, +where’s Julio?—please let him come in.” And without waiting for +an answer, he left the room in search of the boy. “Marien, +dearest,” said her father, “take your cousin’s arm, and retire +for a little, until I have heard what the mad fellow has to say: +his foolish nonsense has frightened you more than I like to see.” +And fondly pressing his daughter’s hand, he led her to the door. + +In a few minutes Cuffee returned with the boy Julio, who wore the +same downcast look as he did on the evening of the storm; and, +holding the boy by the hand, gave his master the following +narration. Julio, who, from being deaf and dumb, appeared to +possess the other senses in a higher degree, had one evening +observed a strange negro loitering about his master’s estate, and +hiding behind the bushes when any one passed. Thinking this +peculiar, the dumb boy determined to watch his proceedings, and +if he discovered anything wrong, to endeavour to acquaint his +master with it. After spending more than an hour in this +employment, the stranger departed, and Julio, unable to +comprehend his motives, and fearful of not being understood, kept +his discovery to himself. Some weeks had elapsed, and he had +almost forgotten the circumstance, when, on the evening before +the storm, he saw the same person lurking about the same spot; +and, watching him unobserved, perceived he was shortly joined by +a slave, of the name of Quelch, who, for repeated bad behaviour, +had been punished by his master a few weeks before. After they +had consulted for some time together, the stranger pointed in the +direction of the ravine; and putting his hand under his cloak, +drew forth a long sharp-pointed knife, which he shewed to his +companion, giving at the same time a peculiar look. The knife +being returned to its owner, the negroes parted, leaving Julio +with the determination of watching Quelch more strictly. + +On the next evening, leaving his young mistress engaged with a +book, the boy left the house with the intention of going to look +for his master; and, upon gaining the high road, he saw Quelch +entering an opening on the other side. Following his steps, he +hid himself among the bushes, and thus became a witness of that +lawless meeting, where, although he could not hear the words +uttered, he saw enough to inform him some evil was intended. +Frightened, and uncertain how to tell his discovery, his first +care was to reach home; and, harassed in mind and body, the poor +child stood before his mistress in the manner described. The next +morning, he sought his uncle Cuffee, and, by significant gestures +and passionate mutterings, at length made him understand the +above relation. Cuffee’s first care was to inform a friend of his +of the name of Robin, and these two negroes watched the ravine +every night in hopes of discovering what poor Julio could not +inform them—the names of the conspirators. All, however, remained +silent: the ravine had no occupants: and Robin and Cuffee were +almost inclined to think they had misunderstood the boy, when, +one evening, just as they had gained their accustomed post, they +thought they heard the sound of voices; and, creeping upon their +hands and knees, espied the whole band, with Klaas, or, as they +called him, “Count,” at their head, plotting their dreadful +schemes. Knowing that this negro king was the father of Julio, +Cuffee liked not to inform against him; and the next morning +bringing intelligence of the death of the governor’s son, and +consequently the prorogation of the ball, he was in hopes the +negroes would get disheartened at the failure of their plans, and +forego their horrible intentions. Still he determined to keep an +eye upon their movements; and a few weeks after, through the +medium of another slave, named Manuel, he discovered that the +conspirators intended to put their designs into execution on the +15th of December; and that they were to have a final meeting in +the ravine, to receive orders from their king. + +These were the tidings Cuffee conveyed to his master’s ear— +tidings which made his stout heart beat faster, and caused a +shade of care, for once, to cross his brow. The time was short: +the next night was the one on which the negroes were to meet, and +Mr. ———, after leaving a kind message to his daughter, to excuse +his absence, started immediately for the capital, accompanied by +Robin and Cuffee, to lay the information before the proper +authorities. + + * * * * * + +The evening was calm. There was no moon, but the stars shone +bright, and, by their refulgence, parties of men were seen +walking cautiously along in the same direction. Every now and +then they stopped as if to listen, and then proceeded again, as +no sound met their ear. Leaving the high road, they struck across +a wild and sterile plain, until, arriving at the bank of a kind +of rocky defile, where the sable conspirators held their +nocturnal meetings, they separated; and taking up their position +on all sides, and holding their very breath, they presented more +the appearance of marble statues than living men. After remaining +in this situation for some time, a noise was heard as the tramp +of a body of horse passing over a flinty road—no uncommon +occurrence at that period. The sound came nearer and nearer, and +presently a large band of soldiers appeared in sight, led by a +middle-aged officer, and accompanied by several gentlemen. Riding +for a short distance past the ravine, the word was given, “Halt!” +and in a moment the horses stood motionless. “Dismount!” broke +from the lips of the commander, and the men, all heavily armed, +sprang to the ground. Walking quickly forward, they joined the +watchers around the ravine, while their leader, followed by many +others, bounded down the bank, and exclaimed, in a stentorian +tone, “Surrender! or you are dead men.” All was confusion among +the assembled conspirators. Hemmed in on all sides, and daunted +by the gleaming arms and pointed muskets of the soldiers, who +came so silently but surely upon them, the negro band were driven +to despair. Klaas alone maintained his firmness, and shouted in a +voice of thunder, “Fire the gunpowder, lads, fire the gunpowder, +and let us die as brave men, and not as cowards. Who will mourn +the fate which will be shared by our hated tyrants!” But this was +not to be. Overpowered by numbers, their arms tightly pinioned +behind them, their mouths gagged, and held between two soldiers, +negro after negro was marched off—the ravine was left to its +usual silence—and the reign of “Klaas,” the “Slave King,” was +over. + + + ------ + +So ends the legend. The conspirators being conveyed to the +capital, various were the punishments awarded them. Klaas, or, as +he was more generally called, “Count,” Tomboy, and Hercules were +broken alive upon the wheel. In their last moments their +fortitude did not forsake them; and their last words expressed +their hatred to the whites. Some were gibbeted alive in a place +called Green’s Bay. Frank, who belonged to E. Chester, Esq., and +several more, were burned in Otto’s pasture, at the outskirts of +the capital; and the rest, who were looked upon as the dupes of +their reputed king, were transported to the Spanish coasts. +Quelch was pardoned: he played the traitor’s part, and amused the +ear of Klaas and his comrades with some chimerical scheme while +the soldiers passed by who accomplished their destruction; and +old Morah, the Obeah woman who attended their meetings, escaped +punishment by falling a prey to death before her trial. So signal +was the victory obtained, and so severe the punishment of the +conspirators, that the remaining slaves became intimidated, and +quietly bore their yoke without seeking for deliverance. In 1739, +the country emancipated Cuffee and Robin for their discovery of +this insurrection, paying to their masters their respective +value, and presented Manuel with a reward for his services in +that affair.[49] + + + ------ + +[46] A dealer in necromancy. + +[47] A small white shell, about the size and shape of an olive, +used as the general currency in Guinea. + +[48] A wild shrub, supposed to be of great use in witchcraft. + +[49] For some further particulars, see Appendix, No. 14. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + + + Governor William Mathew—Sir George Thomas, Bart.—James Verchild + —Honourable William Woodley—Sir Ralph Payne—Hon. Craister + Greathead—General Burt—The circumstances of his death—Sir + Thomas Shirley, Bart. + +After the suppression of the insurrection related in the last +chapter, it was resolved in future to keep a better watch over +the negroes, and be more strict in the government of them. Slaves +were not to be allowed to congregate about the streets of St. +John’s; and if they refused to disperse, when ordered to do so, +it was justifiable to fire upon them: the country paying for +those who were shot. If any of the negroes were suspected of +treasonable practices, conspiracies, or insurrections, they were +to suffer torture, not extending to death; but in case any of +them died under the pain of having a limb cut off, &c., the owner +of such slaves received the value of them from the public +treasury. + +The inhabitants appear to have been quite alarmed at the state of +affairs, particularly as there were but few white people still +upon the island compared with the negroes. In 1740-1, it was +again taken into consideration how to increase the number; and +after some deliberation, it was determined to give further +encouragement for the importation of white servants, by adding a +bounty of 40s. to that already given. It was also ordained, that +every owner or renter of slaves should, for every thirty negroes, +have a white man in his employ, under a penalty of 20l. for each, +according to the number of slaves. This gave rise to the custom +of building “free tenancies,” which were houses given to white +persons to reside in, without receiving rent for the same; and by +this means, the proprietor escaped the obligation which the law +enforced of employing so many white servants or overseers. + +In 1741, Rat Island, as it is called, although in reality a +promontory, was purchased by the country, and barracks and +fortifications erected thereon. War having broken out between +England and France, the Antiguans suffered very much in their +commerce. Commodore Lee had been sent out to protect the trade, +but, it appears, he did not act like a British officer; for when +stationed off Antigua, he allowed a French fleet of merchantmen +and their convoy to pass his vessels without molestation, and +actually captured some of the Antigua coasters. In 1747, +complaints against him were sent home, and Commodore Legge was +despatched to Antigua, with full power to try the case. The +Antiguans were obliged this year to purchase and maintain a +vessel to protect their small crafts, so harassed were they by +the French privateers. + +The lieutenant-governor of Antigua, Colonel George Lucas, died +this year, (1747,) at Brest, where he was detained prisoner, +having been taken by a French vessel of war, on his way to +England the year before. The following year, (1748,) a petition +was sent home, praying his majesty for satisfaction for the +injury suffered by the incursions of the French. About this +period, the court-house was commenced to be built, on the spot +where the market used to be held. Hitherto a house was rented for +that purpose, which was found to be very inconvenient, for many +reasons; and as there was no particular place appointed for the +offices of the secretary or provost-marshal, it was found +expedient to erect such building as soon as possible, and +appropriate a part of it for those offices. + +In 1752, George Thomas, Esq., succeeded his excellency William +Mathew, Esq., in the government of Antigua, and the rest of the +Leeward Islands, as captain-general. The following year (1753) a +fund was raised to purchase land, for the purpose of building +additional barracks for the accommodation of the regiment of foot +stationed in Antigua, and also building a guard-house in the town +of St. John’s. In the same year, an additional support for his +excellency, George Thomas, was appointed to be paid to him during +his government. The erection of a new church at Parham was +commenced in 1755; a yearly tax having been imposed upon the +inhabitants, for the expense of the erection, and for keeping it +afterwards repaired. This year, too, it was found, that the white +inhabitants had so materially decreased in number, +notwithstanding strenuous measures had been taken since 1716 to +encourage the importation of them, that it was thought necessary +to offer further inducements to white persons to emigrate from +England to this colony. In order that this object should be more +fully carried out, heavier penalties were also this year enforced +upon proprietors and renters of negroes, if they neglected to +have in their employ a white Protestant person for every thirty +slaves; for many owners had evaded the law, by paying the +penalty, rather than be obliged to maintain a white servant. The +number of white inhabitants at this period was but little more +than 3000, while the negroes amounted to about 32,000. In 1757, a +portion of land was appropriated for building a house for the +accommodation of the train of artillery in the town of St. +John’s. + +In 1758, the French threatened an invasion of Antigua. War had +broken out between England, and France; and, as was always the +case in such times, the French began to plague their English +neighbours in the West Indies. The Antiguans, hearing of their +intentions, hastily equipped several privateers to cruise about +the island, which were fortunate enough to take some prizes, and +intimidate the French. It was found by experience, that these +privateers injured the French more in their commerce than even +the men-of-war; and for this reason, the country gave great +encouragement to the fitters-out of such vessels. + +The following year, (1759,) Commodore Moore commanded the Leeward +Island station, and the brave Captain Tyrrel was ordered to +protect the island of Antigua. This gentleman, whose courage and +activity were equal to his conduct and circumspection, had, early +in the month of March previous, demolished a fort at Martinique, +and destroyed four privateers riding under its protection. On his +return to Antigua, he discovered a large fleet of the enemy’s; +and giving immediate chase, attended by the “Weazle” man-of-war, +he quickly came up with them, and after a desperate fight, +scattered and dispersed them. Capt. Tyrrel was wounded in the +face, and lost three of the fingers of his right hand. This year, +too, the island of Guadaloupe was taken by the English; and the +Antiguans (on the faith of a proclamation issued by the governor, +pledging the country to pay the value of such slaves as might be +killed or desert) sent a large complement of negroes to act as +pioneers, and assist in drawing the artillery. During the next +year, several prizes were taken by the Antigua privateers; and +Captain O’Brien, of H. M. S. “Griffen,” assisted by Captain +Taylor of the “Temple,” took three large vessels off Antigua, and +brought them into English Harbour. + +The year 1760 is celebrated for the introduction of methodism +into Antigua, by a Mr. Gilbert, which, from a very small +beginning, has overspread the whole island, and proved of +infinite value to the inhabitants. In 1761, assurance was +prohibited on all French vessels and merchandise; and also all +vessels trading to France, or the French colonies, during the +war. During this year regulations were made respecting the +manumission of slaves. Antigua certainly set a bright example to +the other islands, in days of slavery, of never withholding from +its negroes _that_ privilege. The following year, 1762, the +necessity of having the laws of the island printed was again +brought before the council and assembly, which was unanimously +agreed to. The same year Antigua again supplied a complement of +strong negroes, to serve as pioneers, &c., under the command of +the Right Honourable the Earl of Albemarle, in an intended +expedition against Martinique. The year 1765 was the last that +Sir George Thomas continued in the government of the Leeward +Caribbee Islands.[50] + +James Verchild, Esq., was appointed to succeed Sir George Thomas +in the government in 1766; and during that year harbour-masters +were appointed. Antigua still appearing deficient in white +inhabitants, in 1767 further regulations were made, which would, +it was hoped, tend to increase the number, and retain in the +island many families who were upon the point of leaving it. The +cause of these persons emigrating, it appears, was on account of +their not being allowed to reckon the female members of their +family, in the place of a white servant to so many slaves, as the +law required, as was the case in Jamaica and St. Vincent’s; it +was therefore deemed expedient this year to give way in this +respect, and permit two women to count as one man. + +In 1768, William Woodley, Esq., was appointed commander-in-chief +of Antigua, and the other Leeward Caribbee Islands. During his +administration, a dreadful fire broke out in the town of St. +John’s, which did great damage, but of which a further account +will be given in another part of this work. Large sums of money +were granted, and a collection made for the sufferers at +Liverpool. Precautions were afterwards taken, by regulating +certain buildings about the capital; but unfortunately those wise +regulations have long since fallen into disuse. In 1769, the snow +“Rodney” put into Antigua, in distress. She had been despatched +from England with convicts, who were to be employed in the State +of Maryland, but meeting first with bad weather, and afterwards +long calms, all their provisions were consumed; and when they +fortunately made Antigua, eleven of the convicts had died from +starvation, and the survivors had eaten their very shoes. + +In 1771, Sir Ralph Payne, K.G., succeeded to the government. His +excellency was a native of St. Kitts, and was esteemed for many +qualities. The Antiguans were quite pleased with his nomination, +supposing he would have the interests of these colonies greatly +at heart. The first year of his administration the common gaol +was rebuilt, which had been burnt down in the late fire; and a +portion of land, contiguous to it, purchased for the purpose of +enlarging that part appropriated for the use of the debtors. The +year 1771 is celebrated as that in which the “Sugar Ants” first +made their appearance in Antigua. They were supposed to have made +their way from Dominica to this island; and, minute as they are, +they proved a most formidable enemy, by destroying an immense +quantity of sugar-canes. This year also marks the appointment of +Sir George Pownall to the situation of provostmaster-general of +the Leeward Islands, under letters patent, dated 7th June, in the +eleventh year of the reign of his majesty George III. This grant +had been made to the father of Sir George, after the death of the +former patentee, Mr. Richard Phelps—“to be held with all fees, +rights, profits, privileges, and advantages,” for the lives of +Mr. Pownall, and his two sons, Sir George Pownall, and Mr. John +Lillington Pownall. + +In 1772, Antigua suffered very much from the effects of a +hurricane; great damage was done to the shipping both in St. +John’s Harbour, and also in English Harbour. The “Chatham,” +commanded by Admiral Parry, the “Seahorse,” and some other +vessels of his majesty’s service, were driven on shore, and +several merchantmen were sunk. In 1774, Sir Ralph Payne was +ordered home, much against the wish of the Antiguans; and a +petition was forwarded to England praying his majesty to +re-appoint him. + +Craister Greathead, Esq., another West Indian, succeeded Sir +Ralph Payne as commander-in-chief in 1775, but he appears to have +given St. Kitts the preference, principally residing in that +island. Nothing of importance occurred during his administration; +happily for the Antiguans, war was principally confined to +another quarter, which gave them a little time to look about +them, and redress their domestic grievances. + +In 1777, General William Mathew Burt was appointed to the +government, and a suitable residence prepared for his reception. +The following year, war, blood-stained war, unfurled his red +banner in these “gems of the sea”—these beautiful West Indian +islands. On all sides of Antigua did the battle rage; island +after island surrendered either to French or English prowess; and +the fears of the Antiguans were raised for the safety of their +little domicile. Nor was war alone the only impending evil she +had to dread; the heavens withheld their bounty, and the country +fainted beneath a burning sun; famine, it was supposed, would be +the result, and had it not been for the interposition of his +gracious majesty George III., by advancing 20,000l. sterling to +procure subsistence for the negroes, their fears would have +proved too true. Yet although this kind loan to the country +averted much evil, the series of calamities they had already +suffered caused so much sickness, that in the course of the next +year, 1780, it was the opinion of Dr. Samuel Athill that upwards +of eight thousand negroes died. + +In 1778, fresh regulations were made for the better government of +slaves, and for establishing certain days, viz.—the whole time +from sunset on Christmas-eve, to sunrise of the 28th of December, +as their holidays. No other days were to be allowed the slaves by +their owners in place of those specified; and no slave-holder +could refuse to allow them such holidays, under a penalty of +100l.: one-half of the fine to go to the informer, the other half +to the public treasury—during these holidays martial law was to +be in force. + +About this period Lord Rodney took command of the fleet which was +stationed in these seas, and was fortunate enough to beat off the +French, and thus spare the Antiguans the horrors of an invasion, +which was but too successful at St. Kitts. The name of this +gallant officer is still remembered with gratitude and affection +by West Indians; and not many years ago, the stranger who visited +Barbados was highly entertained with an old black woman, who +passed by the title of “Lady Rodney,” and who wore upon her dark +fat arm a picture of the Admiral, which he gave her at parting. +But alas! like the noble lord, she has passed to another world, +and no longer do the young _midds_ of her majesty’s service, who +visit Barbados, recognise her shrill cry of “hab best guaba fine +pine, and hot ginger drink for noung buckru me lob.” + +The fortifications of Goat Hill, and Great George Fort, at +Barnacle Point, were completed during the administration of +General Burt, as well as several other forts, which were very +necessary in this season of warfare. About this period slaves +were forbidden to vend sugar, rum, molasses, or sugar canes, +besides many other articles. + +The circumstances attending the death of Governor Burt were very +extraordinary. Upon a certain day his excellency honoured a +gentleman of the island with his company to dinner, and during +the repast he was as gay as any at that festive board. Soon after +the cloth was withdrawn, when the laughing wine sparkled in the +crystal chalice, and, surrounded by all the good things of this +world, the convivial party threw off all cares, they were +surprised to hear the governor call to his servant to bring his +sword, which he always carried abroad with him. Wondering at this +command, yet too well bred to make inquiries, the company waited +in silence until the order was performed. The sword was brought +and handed to the governor; when, unsheathing it in an instant, +he exclaimed, in a loud voice—“Tell that fellow to quit the back +of my chair, or I will run him through!” The company were more +amazed than ever. What could the governor mean? no one was behind +his chair; no one was in the room but themselves and the +domestics. Uncertain what to do or say, they still remained +silent; when the governor repeated, in a still louder tone, “Send +away that man, or I will run him through!” It was represented to +his excellency that he laboured under a mistake, that no one was +behind his chair; but it was of no avail, all that could be got +from him was, “Send away that man, or I will run him through!” In +this state he was carried home, and every art tried to restore +him to his proper senses; but all was of no avail, he never +recovered the shock; and in a short time after he fell a prey to +that insatiable monster, Death, who so justly says— + + “I visit the halls of the great and gay, + And snatch them from all their delight away; + I rest at the villager’s humble door, + For welcome alike are the rich and the poor.” + +It has been said that the governor was poisoned, and that the +mixture, or whatever other form it was administered in, was so +prepared as to have the effects of unsettling his reason; but +possibly it was a case of _delirium tremens_, without the +assistance of any deleterious drug or herb. + +This circumstance is related in a different manner; and as I am +not aware which is the most correct, will lay them both before my +readers, that they may judge for themselves. General Burt, it is +said, was dining at a party at “Pensive Hall,” (the name of the +great house upon Martin Byam’s estate, now belonging to Messrs. +Shands, of Liverpool, England,) when he saw an apparition, which +informed him, that ere twelve moons had waxed and waned, this +mandate should be issued to him—“Thou shalt die and not live!” He +related the circumstance to the party, and expressed his firm +belief in it. His friends removed him to the Great House upon +Weir’s estate, (the present seat of Francis Byam Ottly, Esq.,) +and by convivial parties, strove to overcome his melancholy +forebodings; but all was of no effect. He finally sailed for +England, and died upon his passage, the _very day twelve months_ +he saw the apparition. + +After the death of General Burt, in 1781, Major-General Sir +Thomas Shirley, Bart., was appointed to the office of +commander-in-chief. No events of importance marked the first year +of his government, except that the gallant Admiral Vernon +obtained a complete victory over the French fleet, between this +island and Guadaloupe, and followed up his success by many other +naval conquests. General Prescott, commander of the 69th +regiment, and the Antiguan troops, landed at St. Kitt’s, and +drove the enemy before them with great slaughter. + +In 1782, St. John’s again suffered severely from a destructive +fire, which broke out in one of the most densely-populated parts +of the town. It was this disaster which gave rise to the +establishment of the “Friendly Fire Company,” every member of +which pledged himself to keep in good order a certain number of +buckets; as also to practise themselves in the use of their +engines. Soon after the formation of this society, the “Phœnix +Fire Office,” in Lombard-street, London, sent out proposals for +insurance—the first which were ever made in Antigua, and for many +years, that office was the only one which would grant security +upon West Indian property. + +In 1784, it was resolved to make some alterations in the oaths +required of white servants. Prior to this year, they were obliged +to swear to their being Protestants, as well as take the oaths of +allegiance; from which cause many quiet and useful persons were +debarred from receiving the rewards held out to other white +emigrants, on account of their not being nurtured in the +Protestant religion. It was therefore enacted that no other oaths +should be required but those of allegiance to the reigning +monarch and his successors. A nightly watch was also established +in the town of St. John’s, and a tax levied upon the inhabitants +to defray the expenses of it. It was in this year, also, that it +was contemplated to allow slaves a trial by jury; but it does not +appear to have been carried into effect until 1798. The former +method of trying these sable defaulters was to bring them before +a justice of the peace, and if his worship considered the offence +worthy of the highest punishment, he called to his aid a +fellow-justice, and between them they condemned the culprit to +death, causing such sentence to be immediately executed. + +Regulations were again very judiciously made for the better +erection of kitchens, blacksmiths’ shops, bakeries, &c., in order +to prevent, as far as possible, the repetition of those fatal +fires which had so lately devastated great part of the capital. +Such buildings erected within the precincts of St. John’s were, +in future, to be constructed of stone or brick, and the roofs to +be cased with tiles or slates. Like many other wise purposes, +these regulations have long ago fallen into disuse; and at the +present day, in an old wooden shed, in the midst of a populous +neighbourhood, a blacksmith drives his trade; and as you pass the +open door, his huge fire may be seen vomiting forth its tongues +of flame, while showers of bright sparks, struck from the glowing +iron, often find a resting-place amid the surrounding heaps of +combustibles. Surely such practices ought to be noticed by “the +powers that be,” particularly when we have lately had such +distressing proofs of the havoc made by that destructive element. +In 1784 the churchwardens were empowered to sell certain portions +of public lands, and to purchase other lots, for the more +convenient erection of a parish hospital. Amendments were also +made in the act passed in 1766, for the prevention of damage to +the harbour of St. John’s, and for appointing a harbour-master, +who was to be “a person bred to the sea, and otherwise +sufficiently skilled and qualified to take charge of the port and +harbour of St. John’s, including the cove.” + +In 1786, a tax was raised upon the inhabitants of St. John’s, to +defray the expenses of cleaning and repairing the streets of the +capital. This must have been very requisite, if they were really +in the state described in the following passage, (extracted from +a letter written from Antigua August 1, 1786.) “The streets are +spacious, but unpaved, _nor is there the least care taken to keep +them clean_. The prickly pear bush, and other shrubs, are +suffered to grow therein, to the annoyance of the passengers, the +secreting of every species of nastiness, and to the great +increase of vermin, insects, and reptiles, with which this place +abounds.” Public billiard and other gaming-tables were +prohibited, under pain of forfeiture; much to the good order and +welfare of the island. + +In 1787, our late beloved and lamented sovereign William IV. +(then Prince William Henry) honoured Antigua with a visit. During +the period of his stay there, he endeared himself to every heart, +by that kind condescension and sympathy of manner which marked +his every stage through life. As no doubt it will be interesting +to my readers to have some account of the manner in which his +highness passed his time, I will insert the following letter, +written by John Luffman, the author of the map of Antigua, and +published, among other of his epistolary productions, in 1789. + + “St. John’s, Antigua, Jan. 16, 1787. + +“Dear Sir,—Prince William Henry arrived here the latter end of +last month in the Pegasus frigate. His appearance has put this +little community into a ferment. Addresses were immediately +presented to him from the legislative body, and likewise from the +merchants, expressive of loyalty to his royal father, and of the +happiness and honour his highness had conferred on them by his +gracious visit. The address of the legislature was read and +presented by a Mr. John Burke, solicitor-general of the Leeward +Islands, and speaker of the assembly of this island; but, +notwithstanding this gentleman has been for years hackneyed at +the bar, and is a bold orator; yet, on this occasion, to the +astonishment of every bystander, he was nearly bereft of the +power of utterance. The merchants’ address was read and presented +by a Mr. John Scotland. His highness received these effusions of +loyalty to his illustrious parent, and of respect to himself, +with great satisfaction, and returned gracious answers. Each of +these bodies gave a public dinner and ball for his highness’s +entertainment. The prince opened both balls with Miss A——— +(Athill), a beautiful young lady of respectable family; and his +affability, politeness, and condescension, to every person who +had the honour of his conversation, was as conspicuous as it was +pleasing. The ladies put their best smiles upon their faces, and +their best adornments upon their persons; indeed, every +individual seemed emulous of shewing respect to the royal +visitor. Many offers of particular attention and civility have +been made to his highness, which he in general declined, wishing +rather to appear in the humble character of a private gentleman, +than in the dignified situation of a prince. How long he means to +honour this isle with his presence, I cannot with certainty +learn,—it will probably be several months; the people here, I +believe, hope and _wish it may be for years_. The negroes look at +the _Grande Bocrah_ (so they call the prince) with astonishment, +and sometimes incommode him as he walks the streets; but his +highness possesses all _that admired frankness and noble +liberality_ so characteristic in a British seaman, and will +frequently condescend to talk with them. Capt. Nelson, of the +“Boreas,” Capt. Holloway, of the “Solebar,” and the other +principal naval officers on this station, are his highness’s +chief attendants on all occasions. + + “I remain, &c. &c.” + +In 1788, two Jews were tried at the court of grand sessions, for +a robbery committed upon one of their tribe. “Marcus” (the name +of the one most culpable) was condemned to suffer death by +hanging, but was afterwards pardoned; while “Vanban” (the name of +the other culprit) was sentenced to stand in the pillory for a +certain number of hours. This punishment, however, did not appear +to make due impression upon the guilty Israelite, for a spectator +of the exhibition (in a letter written to a friend) describes him +as standing there with the utmost assurance, “holding, with one +hand, his hat before his face, and with the other, supporting an +umbrella to prevent the sun warming his head.” + +In the latter end of June, 1788, Sir Thomas Shirley quitted the +government, and sailed for England in the “Roehampton,” commanded +by Captain Ross. His excellency, it appears, felt aggrieved at +some treatment he received from the legislature, and accordingly, +upon his departure, he refused the vote of civility from that +body, and proceeded on board the vessel, attended only by his +private secretary. Mr. Nugent assumed the command as +lieutenant-governor, and soon after his arrival, a new road, +leading to Five Islands Division, was made, and great care taken +to drive piles in that part of the town known as the “Big +Market,” in order to prevent, if possible, any further +encroachment of sea, which had, within the last few months, +almost destroyed the old highway. + +In 1790, Sir Thomas Shirley again resumed the government of the +Leeward Islands, and soon after his arrival, it was enacted by +the legislature, that it should be lawful for the vestry of St. +John’s to levy a tax (not exceeding 2l. per cent. on value of +goods sold) upon every transient or non-resident trader who shall +visit the island, which tax was to be applied to the maintenance +of ministers, the poor of the parish, or any similar purposes. +The following year the fortifications at Dow’s Hill were +commenced, the appearance of which, at this day, proves the +erector’s knowledge of rampart and bastion. Amendments were also +made (1791) as regarded the keeping of rum-shops, or selling any +spirituous liquors. Prior to this period, no free negro or +mulatto could keep such an establishment, or sell any strong +drink or wine under a heavy penalty; or if even they were +concerned in such a business with a white person, it was +punishable in both; but under this government the case was +altered, for upon applying to the court of king’s bench, persons +of their caste and colour could obtain a licence by giving +security. An act was passed (containing 227 clauses) for the +better regulating the island courts, and due methods effected for +an improved administration of justice. It had been formerly the +practice in Antigua to burn such felons as were within the +benefit of clergy, in the hand, but this year the punishment was +commuted to public or private whippings, inflicted once or +oftener, but not more than at three different periods. This was +the last decree signed by his excellency: he appears to have been +an able and just governor, and well calculated for a +representative of royalty. After the departure of his excellency, +John Nugent, Esq., resumed the command as lieutenant-governor +until the following year, when the Honourable William Woodley was +re-appointed. + + + ------ + +[50] For genealogy of this gentleman, and when created a Baronet, +see Appendix, No. 15. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + + + Governors: William Woodley—John Stanley—Major-General Charles + Leigh—Archibald Esdail—John S. Thomas—Robert Thomson. + +In 1792, William Woodley, Esq., was again appointed +commander-in-chief; and, soon after his arrival, the increase of +the importation of white servants was again taken into +consideration. + +Antigua had never reckoned a large population of whites; indeed, +from various causes, they were continually decreasing. This could +not be attributed to the want of encouragement given to settlers, +but from the situation of the island itself. Although Antigua is +naturally fortified by rocks and breakers, which defends it from +the attacks of large vessels; yet there are so many creeks and +harbours (which, with a small population, it was almost +impossible to protect) that the French and Caribs found it an +easy matter to land in their canoes, and destroy and plunder the +country, and ill-treat the inhabitants. From these circumstances, +emigrants were unwilling to settle here, but preferred going to +some of the other islands, which were less liable to these +incursions. To counteract these evils, and increase the number of +white inhabitants, various plans, as already shewn, had been +adopted by former governors,—fines were imposed upon proprietors +if they did not employ one able-bodied white man to every thirty +slaves, supposing that would tend to augment the population. But +as it was found that the law was still eluded, by owners paying +the penalty rather than maintain so many white servants, it was +agreed, this year, by the governor, council, and assembly to +increase the fine to 53l. 6s. 8d. for every deficient white +servant to forty slaves annually. Possibly this might have had, +in some degree, the desired effect; for, in 1800, we find there +were about 3000 white inhabitants to 36,000 negroes, which had +not been the case for the last forty years. + +In 1793, the militia was regulated, and formed into “one squadron +of light dragoons, who were to serve on foot and horseback; two +regiments and one independent company of foot; and one battalion +of artillery.” The dragoons were to be named by the governor and +council; and although not to be appointed without their own +consent, when once entered, they were not at liberty to remove to +another corps, unless promoted by the governor to a commission. +Only one person from an estate could serve in the dragoons, which +squadron was to consist of never more than one hundred and eight +men—non-commissioned officers and privates included—or less than +sixty. This was the first year any free negro or coloured person +was allowed to serve in the militia, when they were appointed to +the under services of artillery, and to act as pioneers, and made +subject to the same fines as privates of foot. It appears this +was also the year uniforms were appointed for the militia, which +being well arranged, made a good show upon their monthly +field-days. Antigua was visited this year by a malignant fever, +which caused a great many deaths. It was supposed to have been +brought from Grenada in H. M. S. Experiment, and conveyed ashore +in some of the sailors’ bedding. + +John Stanley, Esq., succeeded Mr. Woodley in the government, and +arrived the latter end of the same year, (1793,) but he did not +reside often in Antigua, giving St. Kitts the preference. In +1794, Antigua sent a complement of men, and some negro slaves, to +assist in the reduction of Martinique and Guadaloupe; and upon +the taking of those islands, the governor, council, and assembly, +issued a proclamation, forbidding any free persons of colour, or +negro slaves belonging to those places, from coming to, or +remaining in, this island. During the next year an annuity was +granted to the Honourable Edward Byam, the president of Antigua, +for his many services to the island, which has been alluded to in +a former chapter. A sum of money was also raised for defraying +the expenses of the war, which had been very heavy for the last +three years. + +Major-General Charles Leigh was appointed commander-in-chief in +1795, but did not continue in the government more than twelve +months. During this period, it was agreed to allow such of the +poorer classes of white persons who might be wounded (while +serving in the militia) so severely as to affect their +after-life, 70l. annually; if killed, their widows to receive +40l. annually, during their widowhood; and their children, 20l. +annually, until they attained the age of fourteen. Additional pay +was also provided for the gunner and matrosses employed in the +several forts, and new regulations for the better ordering of the +militia, which in these seasons of danger was very necessary, for +the West Indies were still in an unsettled state, and their old +enemies the French were always on the look-out for opportunities +of increasing their possessions in these seas. Major-General +Leigh becoming disgusted with the West Indies, he determined to +return to England, and accordingly embarked on board a vessel +bound for that place, on the 3rd July, 1796, without permission +from his majesty. + +At the departure of Major-General Leigh, there happened to be +none of the lieutenant-governors of the Leeward Caribbee Islands +in the West Indies; and accordingly, Archibald Esdail, Esq., a +counsellor of St. Christopher’s[51] claimed the administration of +the government, and acted as such until his death, which happened +about three months after; but he did not visit Antigua to take +upon him the administration of the government, as he ought to +have done by direction of the reigning monarch. Upon his decease, +the lieutenant-governors being still absent, John S. Thomas, +Esq., another resident of St. Christopher’s, represented himself +as first counsellor, and exercised the office of governor until +April, the following year, (1797.) Nothing of any consequence +occurred during his short administration, and very little can be +said about him in this place, for, like his predecessor, he never +honoured Antigua with his presence. The Kittefonians appeared to +have had it all their own way at that period, for no sooner had +Mr. Thomas breathed his last sigh, than another member of that +community, Robert Thomson, Esq., followed the example set before +him, represented himself as the oldest counsellor, and, +consequently, entitled to the vacant government; in which office +he continued until the arrival of the Right Honourable Lord +Lavington, (who was formerly governor under the title of Sir +Ralph Payne,) in 1801. During the three years Mr. Thomson was +governor, he visited Antigua for about three days, in March, +1800, so that the Antiguans had not much of their +commander-in-chief’s society; but the council and assembly appear +to have gone on very well without him, and framed some very good +laws. + +The first year of Mr. Thomson’s government, Antigua had a visitor +in the person of that indefatigable, but unfortunate traveller, +Mungo Park. Mr. Park had embarked on board the “Charlestown,” an +American slaver, commanded by a Captain Harris, who was bound to +Antigua with his live cargo. Upon nearing the island, the vessel +struck upon a rock and narrowly escaped shipwreck; it was, +however, at length got off, and brought into St. John’s harbour, +where part of the cargo was sold. Mr. Park remained in Antigua +until the arrival of the “Chesterfield” packet, in which he took +passage to England. He speaks of Antigua as the loveliest of all +lovely isles. + +Whilst Mr. Thomson was residing at St. Kitts as +commander-in-chief, the Antiguans were busy in again raising +funds to defray the expenses of the war, which had been, and +still were, very great. It was also enacted, that if any free +coloured, or white person, killed or wounded a slave belonging to +themselves or any one else, such offenders were to be considered +as murderers, and, consequently, as worthy of punishment as if +their victim possessed the fairest skin. That the life of a negro +was no longer to be considered “in law” as the “life of a dog,” +but that he was at length to be looked upon as human. + +Antigua has always been liable to droughts, and, in such season, +serious losses have occurred from the slaves dying for want of +good water; to remedy this evil, as far as laid in their power, a +tax was imposed upon all sugar plantations and houses in the +island, which did not possess one or more cisterns. + +This year (1798) appears to have been the first time that slaves +were really tried by jury, which was then made to consist of six +reputable white inhabitants. If upon trial they were found worthy +of death, the justices of the peace were to acquaint the +governor, or whoever might at such time be in command of the +island, with the sentence, in thirty-six hours after it was +pronounced, under a penalty of 20l. The provost-marshal was also +obliged to attend such trial, under a fine of 20l.; and for his +trouble he was to receive 3s. for summoning each juror, and 33s. +for his attendance. + +In the middle of this year, a general council and assembly was +held at St. Kitts; and amongst other affairs discussed, it was +determined to pass certain regulations which would tend to +ameliorate the condition of slaves.[52] All owners of slaves were +to furnish a certain quantity of provisions for each slave, under +a penalty of 10s. per head weekly, which was to be distributed +among the negroes at the discretion of the master, and old and +infirm slaves were to receive their full allowance. Perhaps it +may not be uninteresting to some of my readers to know what was +the weekly allowance the law allowed for slaves, and +consequently, will insert it:—“Nine pints of corn or beans, or +eight pints of peas, or wheat or rye flour, or Indian corn flour, +or nine pints of oatmeal, or eight pints of Cassava flour or +Farine, or eight pounds of biscuit, or twenty pounds of yams or +potatoes, or sixteen pounds of eddoes or tanias, or thirty pounds +of plaintains or bananas; and also one pound and a quarter of +herrings, shads, mackarel, or other salted provision, or double +the quantity of fresh fish or other fresh provisions,” all of +which were to be of good quality. Owners of slaves were not +allowed to pay them in money, unless there was absolute necessity +for so doing, under a fine of 20l.; but when circumstances +obliged them to recompense their slaves by cash, each negro was +to receive the sum of 4s.[53] weekly, and have two half days +allowed them to come to market for the purpose of laying it out. +The clothes allowed slaves for a year were, two jackets of +woollen cloth, and two pair of trousers, made of Osnaburghs, for +the men; and two woollen wrappers, and two Osnaburgh petticoats, +for the women. If preferred by the slave, and agreed to by the +master, a blanket and a cap were given in place of one suit of +these clothes. When employed in agricultural work, half an hour +was allowed for breakfast, and two hours for dinner, and they +were not to be called to work before five in the morning, nor +after seven in the evening, unless in crop time, or from evident +necessity! If any owner of slaves cruelly whipped or imprisoned a +slave without sufficient support, they were liable to +imprisonment, or to be fined at the discretion of the justices +before whom the case was tried; and if they deemed it necessary +for the further protection of the slave, they could cause such +slave to be sold at public auction. If any owner of slaves used +unnecessary severities towards them, or put upon them iron +collars, chains, or weights, such owner was liable to a fine not +exceeding 100l. When any slave was attacked by illness, medical +assistance was to be procured without loss of time; and whatever +nourishment the doctor ordered, such as wine, &c., was to be +given, under penalty of 50l. In cases of sudden death among the +slaves, (when they had not been visited by a medical man +forty-eight hours before,) notice was to be sent to the coroner +or justice, when an inquest, of not less than three persons, was +to be held on the body; should the owner neglect to do this, +another fine of 100l. was imposed. With regard to the “marriage +rites” of slaves, if their union can be called so, which was only +nominal, owners were to encourage them to have only one husband +or wife; and if faithful to each other, the woman was to receive +four dollars for her first child, (provided it was alive six +weeks after its birth,) and five dollars for each succeeding +child under the same circumstances, and the slave and his wife to +receive one dollar each at the end of the year. Should their +master fail to do this, it was punished by a fine of 50l.; while +the female who, in this state of conjugal fidelity, had borne six +children, was exempt from any but light work upon her youngest +child having obtained its seventh year. + +Religion appears also to have been encouraged among them; for no +owner or manager of negroes was to restrain them from attending a +place of worship on a Sunday, under a penalty of 5l.; and if any +clergyman refused to baptize a slave which was supposed to be +sufficiently informed, such clergyman was to forfeit 30s. To +insure further their comforts, it was ordered that no estate was +to be without a commodious sick-house, furnished with proper +conveniences for the use of the sick, and a sufficient number of +attendants, under direction of a white person, to minister to +their wants. In omitting to do this, the owner of such estate was +liable to a penalty of 100l. for the first offence; and 20s. for +the latter. They were also obliged to return an annual account of +the births and deaths of their slaves, and how the sick were +treated, under fine of 100l. + +When a female slave proved _enceinte_ of her first child, her +master was to provide her a house containing two rooms, and not +compel her to go to the sick-house, under penalty of 20l. During +pregnancy, they were not to be employed in the general work of +the estate, but lighter occupation was to be found them; and no +punishment was to be inflicted but imprisonment. So anxious did +they appear for the comfort and well-being of their slaves, that +it was further enacted, that sufficient clothing and provisions +should be provided for them, even if the estate was in debt; and +the costs for such articles was to be liquidated before any other +claim. + +A melancholy catastrophe occurred during this year, at Antigua. +Lord Camelford, then acting as commander of his majesty’s sloop +“Favourite,” had a private quarrel with Lieutenant Peterson, of +H. M. S. “Perdrix;” and some very unpleasant recriminations +passed between the parties. Soon after this, Lord Camelford gave +Lieutenant Peterson an order, which he unfortunately refused to +obey, at the same time making use of some disaffected +expressions; and the consequences were, that Lord Camelford shot +him. His lordship was tried by a court-martial, and honourably +acquitted; but he must have carried a blighted conscience with +him, for— + + “Alas! they had been friends in youth; + But whispering tongues can poison truth; + And constancy lives in realms above; + And life is thorny; and youth is vain: + And to be wroth with one we love, + Doth work, like madness, in the brain.” + +It was this Lord Camelford, who, when travelling through Italy +some years after, pointed out a spot in one of the fair valleys +of Savoy, as the place where he wished to be buried; and +accordingly, his remains were deposited there, amid Nature’s +loveliest works. The end of Lord Camelford was untimely; he fell +in a duel, by the hands of Captain Best, a native of Barbados, +whose ideas of honour obliged him to challenge a professed +duellist, although he was himself a complete novice in such +affairs. Captain Best’s first fire, however, took effect, and +Lord Camelford fell, mortally wounded. The quarrel originated +with an unfortunate woman, a second Millwood in character; and +Lord Camelford, who was the aggressor, confessed to his second, +before the duel took place, _that he knew he was in the wrong, +but he would not retract words he had once uttered_. It is said +that Captain Best, the successful duellist, was never a happy man +afterwards. He met with heavy domestic afflictions; but in his +last moments he said to a friend, that all his sorrows would have +appeared trivial, could he have wiped from his recollection all +traces of that unfortunate duel. + +In 1798 sheep-stealing was made a capital crime in Antigua. It +had been considered so in England since 1740; and the Antiguans +found it necessary to punish such offence as that statute +directed. In 1799, an assize of bread was constituted, which was +intended to prevent bakers from taking undue advantage of the +public. Many other regulations were agreed to, upon this head, +such as not allowing any one to sell bread without licence; +obliging bakers to put a mark upon their bread, and if changing +such mark without further licence, to forfeit 50l. If such bread +was imperfectly baked, to be fined as if deficient in weight; if +damaged flour was used, the bread to be destroyed by a +magistrate, and a fine imposed upon the baker of 20l.; and if a +diseased person was employed in the bakehouse, another 20l. +penalty was enjoined. + +In 1800, a law was passed to ascertain the number of negro slaves +in Antigua; and the total number of births and deaths upon an +average, for the last three years; when, upon taking the census, +the number of negroes was found to be 37,000. About this year the +legislature thought proper to increase the salary of the colonial +agent to 200l. sterling, considering that the sum appointed for +his recompence in 1698, namely 100l. sterling, was an +insufficient compensation for the trouble. The agent at this +period was the late Anthony Brown, Esq. Several serious accidents +having occurred during the last few years from the custom of +throwing about squibs, or other fireworks, it was determined that +should any one in future, let their sex or quality be what it +might, offend in this respect, such offender should be fined 40s. +If any slave made or sold fireworks, they were to suffer such +correction as the magistrate before whom the complaint was +brought should deem proper. + +Thus ended Mr. Thomson’s public career, after having held the +government for nearly four years. As before remarked of Mr. +Thomas, very little can be said about him; for he made St. Kitts +head-quarters, in opposition to the orders which had been sent +out by his majesty, to constitute Antigua the residence of the +commander-in-chief; and did not repair to this island to take +upon him the administration of the government. + + + ------ + +[51] Perhaps it may be scarcely necessary to mention that St +Christopher’s is as frequently called St Kitt’s as its real name. + +[52] This has been known throughout the West Indies as the famous +“Melioration Act.” This appears to have been the last time the +general council and assembly for the Leeward Islands met. + +[53] A shilling currency is equal to sixpence sterling. It must +be borne in mind, that all these specified sums are Antigua +currency. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + + + Governors: The Right Honourable Ralph Lord Lavington—William + Woodley—James Tyson—John Julius—Hugh Elliot—Sir James Leith— + Henry Rawlins—S. Rawlins—Major-General Ramsay. + +In 1801, the Right Honourable Ralph Lord Lavington was +re-appointed to the office of commander-in-chief, to the +gratification of the Antiguans, who, as before remarked, were so +pleased with his government in 1771, when he was Sir Ralph Payne. +Lord Lavington came to Antigua about the latter end of January; +and soon after his arrival, it was agreed for the country to +allow him an annuity of 1000l. to be paid quarterly out of the +public treasury of the island; and a further sum of 300l. to be +paid in like manner until a government house was built for his +reception. And that his excellency might better support his +dignity, another annuity of 700l. was granted him, as long as he +remained within his government. About this time the practice of +slaves stealing sugar and retailing it in the markets, or selling +it to shopkeepers privately, was so general, that it was found +necessary to lay a duty upon that article when retailed. If any +person sold less than 100lbs. of sugar without having a licence +for six months, and the further entering into a bond with one +security for the sum of 50l., such person was liable to a penalty +of 50l. for the first offence. + +It was this year that slaves were condemned to work in the +streets, for the first time, as a punishment for offences. If any +slave was committed to jail for refusing to give their owner’s +name, they were put to such work until claimed; when convicted of +a crime less than felony, they were to be kept to hard labour in +the streets for the space of three months; and if they had been +sentenced to death, and afterwards pardoned by the governor, his +excellency could annex to such pardon an order for the guilty +slaves to work in the streets for any time he thought proper. +These culprits were made to work in a gang, chained two and two +together, and, at the close of the day, when their toil was over, +they were conveyed to the common jail, and closely confined until +the next morning, when their labours were resumed. When a slave +was pardoned on condition of working in the street-gang for a +certain time, their owners were paid a shilling a-day until the +release of their slave. + +Doubts having arisen with regard to the validity of certain laws +passed during the administration of A. Esdail, J. S. Thomas, and +R. Thomson, on account of their not repairing to Antigua to take +upon them the administration of the government, it was found +necessary to obviate all doubts by framing another law, to +confirm them, as also all civil and military commissions which +had been granted during their government. + +The treaty of peace which had been signed between France and +England in 1801 was not of long continuance. During the latter +end of 1802, the French government began to act in a very +menacing manner towards England; and from the military and naval +preparations which were being carried on by Bonaparte, it was +evident that war was intended. On the 13th of May, 1803, affairs +were brought to a crisis, by Lord Whitworth, the ambassador at +the French court, quitting Paris, by order of his sovereign; and +immediately after, the French ambassador left England, and war +was declared between the two powers. Notice to this effect was +directly forwarded to Lord Lavington, by Lord Hobart, (late +governor of Madras,) who at that period was one of the principal +secretaries of state; and upon the arrival of the despatches, +Antigua was put into a state of defence. Not wishing to declare +martial law in force through the whole island, yet at the same +time seeing the necessity of part of the militia being on +service, it was thought proper to ordain, that in future it would +be lawful for the governor, with the concurrence of the council +and assembly, to call out a portion of it for the purpose of +keeping guard, &c., and, by proclamation, requiring the whole +body to hold themselves in readiness. It was also deemed +necessary to revive an act, (which had expired upon the treaty of +peace being signed at Amiens, March 25th, 1802, between England, +France, Spain, and Holland,) laying a powder-tax upon all vessels +trading to and from Antigua. Accordingly, all commanders of ships +were obliged to pay into the hands of the receiver appointed one +full pound of powder per ton, to the size of the vessel; half in +cannon, and the other half in pistol powder. + +In 1804, Mr. Wilberforce’s annual motion for the abolition of the +slave trade, which was supported by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, was +carried by 124 to 46 voices; and a bill presented, limiting the +period when ships would be allowed to clear out from any English +port for this inhuman traffic, to October 1st of the same year. +This bill passed the third reading in the house of commons, but +was rejected in the house of lords on account of the lateness of +the session. In Antigua the negro population had decreased 1000 +since the last year. + +In the early part of the following year, a French squadron, +consisting of six sail of the line, and two frigates, contrived +to elude the vigilance of Lord Nelson’s blockading squadron; and +leaving Rochefort (France), where they had been hemmed in for the +last two years, proceeded to the West Indies. After having made a +descent upon Dominica, and levied a heavy contribution upon the +inhabitants, obliging the town of Roseau to surrender upon +certain terms, the squadron proceeded for Antigua. Great were the +fears of the inhabitants when this intelligence reached them; the +court of king’s bench and grand sessions were prevented from +sitting their usual days on account of the alarm; the militia +were called out, and the whole island put into a posture of +defence. The French squadron, however, passed Antigua, and landed +upon Nevis, and after laying the inhabitants under contribution, +proceeded to St. Kitts, and lightened a little the pockets of the +Kittifonians. The alarm had scarcely subsided, when news of the +arrival of the Toulon fleet, under Admiral Villeneuve, in these +seas, was received. Again Antigua prepared for war; but the +ferment did not last long; Lord Nelson quickly followed the +enemy; and upon his arrival at Barbados on the 4th of June, heard +that Admiral Villeneuve had only reached Martinique. The name of +this gallant officer so intimidated the French admiral, that he +immediately quitted the West Indies, and was followed by Lord +Nelson, who was in hopes of overtaking him, and chastising the +French for their audacity. + +The departure of these squadrons gave the Antiguans a little +rest, and enabled them to settle their island business. As peace +was not likely to ensue at present, and knowing how liable they +were to alarms like the foregoing, the governor, council, and +assembly ordained, that in future whenever the court of king’s +bench and grand sessions were prevented from sitting on account +of the fear of an invasion, it would be lawful for any three or +more justices, provided three out of the number should be of the +quorum, to meet at the court-house, and by proclamation, adjourn +the sessions to a period not less than ten, or longer than +fourteen days. An act also passed about this time, containing +sixty-eight clauses, respecting the better regulating the militia +in these times of danger. + +By order of his gracious majesty George III., Lord Lavington +invested Sir Samuel Hood with the order of the Bath, as some +reward for his gallant achievements in these seas. Upon this +occasion his excellency Lord Lavington made a very powerful +speech, which has been justly praised, but which is too long for +insertion here. Antigua was visited (1805) by the very clever +author of “The Chronological History of the West Indies,” Capt. +Southey. This gentleman mentions seeing a female slave, with an +iron rivetted round her ankle, which had two bars, sharp at each +point, crossing each other, and projecting about a foot in four +directions. Her owner informed Capt. Southey it was to keep her +at home, which was impossible to do without it. This historian +alludes to the melioration act, which passed in 1798, prohibiting +such punishments except, (and, as Mr. Southey justly remarks, the +exception neutralizes the prohibition) _such as are absolutely +necessary_. + +On the 13th of November, died Mr. John Baxter, the head of the +methodists in Antigua. Mr. Baxter, who was by trade a shipwright, +had been sent out from Chatham dock-yard to English Harbour in +1778, and upon his arrival exerted himself in gathering together +the little society of methodists which Mr. Gilbert had +established, but which since his death had been scattered about +for want of a pastor. A further notice of Mr. Baxter and his +praiseworthy exertions will be found in another part of the work. + +In 1806, the abolition of the slave trade was again brought +before the English parliament, and considerable progress was made +towards its accomplishment. A bill was also passed prohibiting +the exportation of slaves from the British colonies after the +first of January in the succeeding year. On the 22nd of January, +1807, the total abolition of the slave trade was accomplished, +and the bill ordained that no slaves should be landed in any of +the British colonies after the 1st of March, 1808. + +Thus this great work was ended, which had been annually discussed +since 1787; and Mr. Wilberforce reaped the reward of his labours. +For two hundred and forty-four years had England allowed this +blood-stained traffic, and shut her ears to the cries of the +distressed Africans; but a more glorious era had dawned—liberty +was exerting her power, and paving the way to the future freedom +of that despised race. + +About the middle of the year died the Right Honourable Ralph Lord +Lavington, Baron of Lavington, one of his majesty’s most +honourable privy council, knight companion of the most honourable +order of the Bath, captain-general and commander-in-chief of his +majesty’s Leeward Caribbee Islands. His lordship, it is said, was +a very hospitable man, and very fond of splendour; his Christmas +balls and routs were upon the highest scale of magnificence; but +he was a great stickler for etiquette, and a firm upholder of +difference of rank and _colour_. It is asserted, that he would +not upon any occasion, receive a letter or parcel from the +fingers of a black or coloured man, and in order to guard against +such _horrible defilement_, he had a golden instrument wrought +something like a pair of sugar tongs, with which he was +accustomed to hold the presented article. In his household he was +also very particular. He had, of course, an immense number of +attendants, but he would not allow any of the black servants to +wear shoes or stockings, and consequently his ebon footmen used +to stand behind his carriage as it rolled along, with their naked +legs shining like pillars of jet, from the butter with which, in +accordance to his excellency’s orders, they daily rubbed them. +Lord Lavington entered upon his government the latter end of +January, 1801, and resided at Antigua, with the exception of a +short visit to Monserrat, until the day of his death. He died +regretted by the “magnates of the land:” his tomb may still be +seen at an estate called Carlisle’s,[54] but the garden in which +it stands is overgrown with weeds, and the surrounding walls are +falling to ruins. Were I the possessor of Carlisle’s, this should +not be the case. If only in respect to the old and noble family +of the Paynes, Lord Ralph’s last resting-place should not be thus +dishonoured; a few flowers should shed their sweets around; a few +trees should shade that old grey tomb. There is a very handsome +monument erected to his memory in the church of St. John’s, which +will be further mentioned in the description of that edifice. +Lord Lavington’s family, on his father’s side, had long been +resident in St. Christopher’s, where they were of great eminence +and distinction, having filled some of the highest offices in +that island. They originally came from Lavington, in the county +of Wilts, from whence the title, and are said to have been of +great antiquity, tracing their descent from Ralph de Payne, a +follower of William the Conqueror, who took his name it is said +from Payne in Normandy. His lordship’s intimate connexion with +Antigua is derived from his mother, Alice Carlisle, of a family +originally from the neighbourhood of Bridgewater, in +Somersetshire, and whose lineage will be found in the Appendix, +where it is given from the same source I have derived other +genealogical information. + +After the decease of Lord Lavington, William Woodley, Esq., again +resumed the reins of government; but he did not repair to +Antigua, being in a delicate state of health. Sir Alexander +Cochrane, with a squadron under his command, visited the island +during this year on his return from taking the Danish West India +colonies of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. + +In the month of March, 1809, Wm. Woodley, Esq., the then acting +commander-in-chief, departed this life; and James Tyson, Esq., +represented himself as the first counsellor, and accordingly took +upon himself the administration of the government, without +repairing first to Antigua, as he ought to have done. + +In 1809, it was found necessary to award certain punishments to +dealers in witchcraft. Obeah,[55] as it was termed, raged to a +great extent among the negro population in these islands, and led +many of them into the deepest crimes. To strike a blow at this +infatuation, it was ordained, that if any negro pretended they +had communication with any evil spirit by whose aid they could +cause death, &c., such slave upon conviction was to suffer +capital punishment; and if any slave prepared a mixture which was +intended to cause death, although the poison did not take effect, +such slave and their accessories were also liable to the same +punishment. + +In the latter part of 1809, John Julius, Esq., another resident +of St. Kitts, elected himself to the office of +commander-in-chief, but neither did he repair to Antigua to take +upon him the administration. + +About this period, the Antiguans, out of respect to their late +respected governor Lord Lavington, agreed to allow his widow, +Lady Frances Lavington, an annuity of 300l. sterling during her +life, which was to be paid out of the treasury. + +The following year, 1810, Hugh Elliot, Esq., was appointed to the +government of Antigua and the rest of the Leeward Islands. During +his administration, it was again ordained, that no medical man +should practice in this island without a licence; and no licence +should be granted unless such persons as applied produced a +certificate from the Surgeons’ Hall, or from one of the +universities in Great Britain, shewing his admittance in them. +One reason for this regulation was, on account of the numerous +cases of poisoning among the negroes; and it was conjectured that +they procured deleterious drugs from some of the low venders of +medicines, who, like Shakspeare’s half-starved apothecary— + + “If a man did need a poison + ——— would sell it him.”[56] + +This wise regulation appears to have emanated from the governor, +who saw the absurdity, if not _guilt_, of allowing the public to +place their lives in the hands of the low “self-educated +physicians,” of whom, in those days, the medical body was pretty +generally composed. + +Nor was this the only salutary step proposed by his excellency +during his administration. Although, as before mentioned, the +general assembly of the Leeward Islands had, during a meeting at +St. Kitts, in 1798, passed the “Melioration Act,” with the hopes +of restricting the owners of slaves from excessive cruelty in +their dealings with their negroes. No limits had been put to the +_number of lashes_ to be given at _one time_, and for _one +offence_, and accordingly some maliciously disposed persons had +evaded the law, and treated their slaves in a most barbarous +manner. The governor had full proof of this soon after his +arrival, in the case of a member of the council, at Nevis, who, +setting aside the laws of humanity, had caused “300 lashes of +cart-whip, or nearly that number, to be inflicted in the public +market-place (without the sentence of a magistrate) upon a +considerable proportion of a gang of thirty-two negroes, who were +all, more or less, severely punished, without having been +convicted of any act, which, by the most forced construction, +could be deemed mutinous, or dangerous to the community at +large.” + +In the governor’s communications with the Earl of Liverpool, in +1810, upon this subject, he alludes to the “Melioration Act,” and +deplores that the punishment of whipping was not restricted to 39 +lashes, as in the 14th clause of the “Consolidated Act,” passed +in Jamaica, in 1792; and further proposes, that the clause in +question should be _immediately annexed_ to the “Leeward Island +Melioration Act.” + +That such was not done upon the passing of the act, cannot be +laid to the charge of the representatives of Antigua, who fully +coincided with Mr. Burke, the attorney-general of the Leeward +Islands, in his proposal that such measure should be adopted, but +which proposition was not carried into effect by the general +council and assembly. + +In 1812, this suggestion of his excellency’s, limiting the number +of lashes to be given in the chastisement of a slave, was fully +carried into effect. The Antiguans had had another example +brought before them, where a Tortolian slave-master had murdered +several of his negroes, in a most shocking manner, and cruelly +ill-treated others; and the Antiguans appear to have been wishful +of exterminating that plague-spot cruelty from their little +island! For this reason, they forbad owners, jailors, or any +other person who had the superintendence of such inflictions, to +give their slaves _more than 39 lashes_ at one time, and for one +offence; nor were they to repeat the punishment within 14 days, +under a penalty of 100l. No slave was to receive more than six +lashes at one time, for one offence, unless the owner’s attorney, +manager, or overseer, should be present It is strange, very +strange, that so many dreadful deeds should have been practised +in Antigua, and still so many laws been framed for the protection +of the slaves, even long before the period I am now writing +about. What answer are we to give to this enigma? Alas! alas! in +many instances, we must again exclaim with Captain Southey, “_The +exceptions neutralize the prohibitions_.” + +In 1813, his excellency Hugh Elliot left the government, and John +Julius again entered upon the administration, but he did not +reside at or visit Antigua. This was the first year a police +force was established; it consisted of five reputable white men, +who had been recommended to the commander-in-chief, (or in his +absence, the president of the island,) assisted by about as many +discreet black or coloured persons. One of these white men was to +be called “Clerk of the Police,” and it was his duty to attend +the sittings of magistrates on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, +and summon accused parties and witnesses. These police-officers +had several duties to perform—such as taking up slaves who were +found selling any article in the streets, on the working days, +unless they could produce a pass from their owners; to forbid +them selling fresh butter or milk, unless in possession of like +certificate; and to turn out of the town, upon the ringing of the +church bell at half-past nine at night, all country negroes, and +oblige such as resided in the capital to retire to their houses. + +In the middle of June, 1814, Sir James Leith arrived in Antigua, +to fulfil the office of captain-general and governor-in-chief +over the Leeward Caribbee Islands, but he did not remain here +much longer than a year, for, having suffered from indisposition, +he obtained leave of absence, and embarked for England, where he +shortly afterwards died. Nothing of much importance occurred +during the period Sir James resided in the government. Admiral +Cochrane was still stationed in these seas, and kept so strict a +watch upon the enemy, that they were unable to distress this or +the other islands. + +After the departure of Sir James Leith, another resident of St. +Kitts, Henry Rawlins, Esq., acted as commander-in-chief. During +his administration, an act was passed, founded upon that +celebrated one of Lord Ellenborough’s against cutting and +maiming, punishing with death those who discharged fire-arms with +intent to injure any one, setting fire to cane pieces or +buildings, or perpetrating any other malicious deed. + +In the year 1814 was signed the treaty of peace between France +and England, and once more Antigua was freed from her alarms and +watchings. Henry Rawlins dying, Stedmans Rawlins exercised the +government in 1816. Neither of these gentlemen, however, resided +in this island. The yellow fever again made its appearance, and +carried off a great many persons, particularly among the +soldiers. + +In 1816, the general government of the Leeward Caribbee Islands +was discontinued, and the Prince Regent, during the unfortunate +indisposition of his father, appointed Major-General George W. +Ramsay, governor-in-chief of Antigua, Monserrat, and Barbuda, who +arrived in Antigua in the middle of the year. Soon after General +Ramsay’s arrival, it was agreed by the council and assembly to +allow his excellency 5000l. currency per annum, which was to be +paid quarterly, from taxes and fines for the deficiency of white +servants, or duties on retailers of rum; and should these be +insufficient, from other moneys in the public treasury. It was +also enacted, that in the event of the death or absence of the +commander-in-chief, the treasurer should pay to such person, to +whom the government devolved, the sum of 3000l. currency per +annum, as long as he remained in command, the better for him to +support his dignity. + +About this period, it was currently reported in the mother +country, that the West Indian proprietors were in the habit of +holding _free_ black and coloured persons in slavery; and that, +from the facilities afforded them by a state of peace, they also +evaded the slave trade abolition laws, by smuggling negroes into +these islands. To confute these reports, the Antiguans thought it +best to introduce a registry of slaves, to be filled up at +certain periods, with the name, sex, colour, and age of every +slave, and how they were become possessed of. This registry was +to be sworn to before a justice of the peace, by the proprietor +or his representative; and if any person omitted making such +return of their slaves, they were liable to a penalty of 200l. +for every slave. + +During the temporary absence of his excellency Major-General +Ramsay, T. Norbury Kerby, Esq., the treasurer of the island, held +the government. It was thought proper, about this period, (1817,) +to restrict the existing privilege of exporting slaves, and make +it punishable to sell or send a slave off the island. If any +slaves were thus exported, they became forfeited to the king, as +well as the vessel which was to convey them away, and any +officers of H.M. Customs could seize such ship and slaves. This +did not, however, prevent any owner from carrying their domestic +slaves off the island with them, or from hiring or employing +their slaves as mariners; but they were to have their name and +description indorsed on the clearance of the vessel which carried +them away, under penalty of 100l., to both owner of slave and the +master of the vessel. + +In concluding this chapter, I must be allowed to remark, that, +let Antigua be what she may, since she has seen her error, she +has never withheld manumission from her slaves; and, as we have +just noticed, was the first among the West Indian Islands which +endeavoured to spare that class the further pang of +transportation. + + + ------ + +[54] This estate belonged to his excellency Lord Lavington, and +until within this last few years went by his name. + +[55] For further particulars respecting Obeah, see Chapter XXXII. + +[56] In 1676, a similar law had been brought into force, but from +some cause had fallen into disuse. The penalty for practising +without a licence was, at that period, confined to a forfeit of +5000lbs. of sugar. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + + + Governors: Sir Benjamin D’Urban—Sir Patrick Ross—Sir Evan + Murray McGregor—Mr. Light—Sir W. G. MacBean Colebrooke—Major + McPhail—Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy. + +After the death of Major General Ramsay in 1819, his gracious +majesty George III. appointed Sir Benjamin D’Urban to the vacant +government, who arrived at Antigua in the following year, 1820. + +During the administration of Sir Benjamin D’Urban, the census was +taken, when the population was found to consist of 37,031 souls— +viz., 4066 coloured, 1980 whites, and 30,985 negroes. + +A very efficient militia was also raised, consisting of 15 +staff-officers, 87 commissioned-officers, and 843 +noncommissioned-officers and privates; making in all, 945. + +The year 1825 is celebrated for the arrival of the first English +bishop in the West Indies. During the preceding year, George the +Fourth appointed, by letters patent, (bearing date 24th July, +1824,) two bishops for the cure of souls in the British West +Indies; the one to be styled the Bishop of Jamaica, &c., the +other, the Bishop of Barbados and the Leeward Islands, having in +his diocese the islands of Barbados, St. Vincent’s, St. Lucia, +Grenada, Dominica, Antigua, Monserrat, Nevis, St. Christopher’s, +and the Virgin Isles—Trinidad and Tobago, with their respective +dependances. + +Upon the arrival of Bishop Coleridge in the West Indies, he +remained for a short time at Barbados (as head-quarters), and +then proceeded upon a tour to the respective islands which +constituted his see. Prior to the appointment of a bishop in +these colonies, the clergy officiating there were considered +under the superintendence of the bishop of London; and that +prelate, as well as the archbishops of Canterbury and York, could +ordain “any person who should, on examination, be deemed +qualified for the cure of souls, or officiating in any spiritual +capacity in his majesty’s colonies, or foreign possessions, +although such persons might not have possessed the title required +by the canons of the church of England, of such as are to be made +ministers. + +Alas! how many were ordained, and deemed qualified for the “cure +of souls,” in the West Indies, who, by precept and practice, led +their unhappy parishioners further into the power of the _enemy +of souls_! who, whatever they might preach, _lived_ in open +violation of the laws of God and man; and who, after indulging in +the grossest sensuality throughout the six days of the week, +presumed to enter into the pulpit on a Sunday, and, _pro +tempore_, descant most learnedly and profoundly upon the +_beauties of morality_! But enough of such disgracers of the +sacred office—they have passed away to render an account of their +stewardship before a holy and a righteous bar; nor should I have +alluded to them, did I not wish to impress upon the minds of the +Antiguans the blessing they enjoy in possessing a more +enlightened and evangelical race of clergymen. + +To return to the bishop: a sum of 4200l. sterling per annum is +placed at his disposal, to be distributed among the several +ministers, catechists, and schoolmasters, as salaries, &c., with +the proviso, that no minister shall receive more than 300l. +sterling per annum, from such fund. + +By his patent the bishop ordains, confirms, and performs all +those several functions peculiar to his office, as one of the +successors of the apostles. The bishop is made a body corporate; +has a common seal granted him, and is considered subordinate to +the archbishop of Canterbury. An ecclesiastical jurisdiction over +the clergy is also conferred upon him, and on the commissaries by +him appointed; but such jurisdiction does not interfere with the +provision of any local law which has received the royal +confirmation. “In case of the absence of the bishop and his +commissaries, the governor of Barbados is authorized to appoint +any two clergymen to institute benefices, and to license +curates.” + +Sir Benj. D’Urban being recalled, Sir Patrick Ross was appointed +governor and commander-in-chief. His excellency arrived at +Antigua in the year 1826, and during his stay there, ingratiated +himself with the _heads of the island_, by his courteous manners, +and his humane desire to spare their feelings upon the +all-engrossing topic of approaching emancipation. + +The year 1828 will be remembered by many Antiguans, as that in +which the “Dandy Fever” prevailed. This most distressing and +painful illness took its name from the strange gestures into +which its excruciating agonies threw the unfortunate sufferers, +and who, in their awkward attempts at walking, were likened by +some facetious spirit to that nondescript race of men—the +dandies! + +The year 1831 was the scene of an insurrection among the negroes. +The cause of this disaffection among the black population was, +the suppression of the Sunday markets, and the omission, on the +part of the authorities of the island, to provide a day instead +of the Sabbath, in which the negroes might bring the produce of +their gardens and poultry yards into the capital to sell. + +The Sunday markets were indeed a nuisance most properly got rid +of, for they engendered all kinds of dissipation among the lower +classes on the Lord’s day; yet is it to be wondered at that the +negroes felt aggrieved in having the only day they could call +their own taken from them, as it were, and no other portion of +the week allotted to them? + +From muttered threats, and sullen looks of discontent, the +negroes proceeded to acts of open violence. Incendiarism raged to +a great extent; no sooner was one fire extinguished, than another +was discovered in an opposite quarter. Martial law was in force; +and the officers of the militia had then ample opportunities of +shewing forth their valour, and winning laurels in the field of +Mars. + +Great were the marchings and counter-marchings upon this +occasion; mysterious the signs and counter-signs! Then there was +such buckling on of spurs, and bracing on of swords—such displays +of epaulets and aiguillettes, as would have surprised any one not +accustomed to West Indian militia “turn outs.” Generals galloped +here, and colonels there; at one moment a party of gallant +dragoons, armed to the teeth, and mounted—some on gaunt steeds of +sixteen hands high, and others on diminutive ponies, dashed along +the streets; at another, the governor and his brilliant staff +might be seen hurrying forward as fresh intelligence arrived of +other fires breaking out. + +At length something like order was restored. Many of the negroes +were apprehended; and the supposed ringleader, after being +brought to trial, was condemned and executed. He met his fate +with resignation, but protested to the very last that he died +innocent of the offence (arson) imputed to him; the other +culprits were punished by public floggings and imprisonments. +Thus was the insurrection of 1831 quelled, and peace once more +established. Saturday was appointed for the principal market day; +and the planters agreed to allow their people to visit the +capital every, or every other week, to vend their little wares. + +In 1832, Sir Evan Murray McGregor was appointed to the government +of the Leeward Islands, including Dominica. Sir Evan was a member +of the McGregor family, so celebrated in Scottish history, and of +which the redoubted Rob Roy was a chieftain. His excellency was a +man of the strictest political principles, and of a most +enlightened mind. He saw and felt the degradations laid upon the +coloured people; and as far as lay in his power he mitigated +their sufferings. It was not until his administration that +coloured persons served as jurors. + +His kind feelings towards this portion of his majesty’s subjects +were not altogether agreeable to many of the self-constituted +“exclusives;” and various were the schemes and projects to turn +him from his purpose of rewarding the merits of the coloured +class. But Sir Evan possessed an inflexible spirit, and neither +frowns nor caresses could prevent him from dispensing justice to +all, be their colour what it might. + +Acting upon these principles, his excellency, in 1834, appointed +Mr. Loving, a gentleman of colour, chief of police, with a salary +of 600l. per annum. This dreadful innovation of the governor’s +met with the strongest resistance from those persons who were led +to look upon a man’s merit as inseparably connected with his +white descent; and no efforts were spared upon their part to +endeavour to persuade Sir Evan to rescind the appointment. This, +however, was not to be effected, and many a breast burned with +secret indignation against the man who had dared to throw down +the partition wall between the _immaculate_ whites, and a +descendant of Afric’s despised children! + +But it was not colour alone that formed the grand objection to +this gentleman’s appointment. Mr. Loving had been for some time +the editor of a paper, and in such capacity had raised his voice +against the system of slavery, and advocated in a firm, but mild +spirit, the cause of emancipation, in a country where nearly all +its principal inhabitants were slave-holders. Upon the strength +of the old adage, “What can’t be _cured_ must be _endured_,” Mr. +Loving was allowed to remain quietly in his situation, until time +brought about mighty changes, and made the Antiguan +slave-holders, like himself, friends to freedom. + +The following year, 1833, was noted for the severe shocks of +earthquake felt at Antigua, as well as at most of the other +islands throughout the chain. These earthquakes were followed by +a season of dry weather, which crushed the hopes of the planters, +and rendered in great measure the fertile little island a barren +waste. + +1834 is celebrated throughout the British West Indies as the year +of the abolition of slavery, and more particularly by the +Antiguans, who, laying aside all claims to apprenticeship, gave +their negroes _immediate freedom_. For this consummation had many +worthy men toiled and sighed—for this had Sharpe, Clayton, +Wilberforce, Buxton, Lushington, and many others, written and +spoken, until wearied nature had often sunk, almost exhausted—and +now the bright day of liberty had arrived, and the great and +glorious triumph, which for so many years had been as a beacon +before the minds of philanthropic men, had been achieved; but +alas! of those who would have sung jubilee on the fulfilment of +their wishes, many had yielded up their noble spirits, and passed +to the silent tomb. + +The year following emancipation (1835) was the scene of a violent +hurricane, which raging with extreme fury throughout the greater +part of the night, caused great loss to many of the inhabitants. +Soon after the hurricane, the yellow fever broke out with great +malignancy, and hurried many a young and gifted one from the +family circle. + +During the period Sir Evan McGregor administered the government, +he endeavoured to restore the custom of holding a general council +and assembly, to convene at certain times, at one of the several +islands within his jurisdiction; and also to make the island of +Dominica head-quarters. His excellency’s view and wishes upon +this subject were, however, overruled by the home government; +although it was permitted him to make Dominica his place of +residence should such be his desire. Soon after his removal to +the latter colony, he received the higher appointment of Governor +of Barbados, to which seat of government he repaired, leaving +Antigua to a kind of interregnum, which was filled up by the +president of the island. + +During his excellency’s administration, he also recommended the +legislature to enact a law to govern elections—a deficiency in +the laws of Antigua complained of by a large portion of the +inhabitants; the qualifications of voters being entirely governed +by resolutions of the house, as best suited the purposes of its +members. In contested elections, freeholders, it is said, were +frequently left to unconstitutional resolutions of the assembly, +who, paying no attention to former precedents, adopted such +measures as would best secure the interests of their own +party.[57] There are, however, laws for the protective privileges +of freeholders for other distinctive purposes, such as exemptions +from arrest, &c. + +In 1836, Henry Light, Esq., arrived at Antigua to play his part +upon the stage of colonial life as lieutenant-governor. His lofty +pretensions to liberal principles, and his condescending +greatness to the _mixed blood_ in admitting a few members of that +class to “his table,” evinces much insincerity, for in his +private despatches to Lord Glenelg, he reprobates, with but one +or two exceptions, that body of persons, in terms as ill-founded +as they are illiberal. Nothing of importance occurred during Mr. +Light’s sojourn at Antigua; he has subsequently been appointed to +the government of British Guiana, where he has had an opportunity +of shewing forth his philanthropy, as well as of acquiring fame. + +The year 1837 marked the appointment of Sir William MacBean +George Colebrooke to the office of governor-in-chief of the +Leeward Islands. Of the same liberal principles as Sir Evan +McGregor—firm, dignified, and polished—of courteous demeanour and +pleasing address, Sir William was formed to command respect, and +conciliate the affections of all classes. In his official +proceedings, he was ever actuated by prudence; and with the +welfare of the colonies, over which he presided, at heart, he +pursued his way in that open, straightforward manner, which, to +an honourable mind, is of such inestimable value. + +In the first year of Sir William Colebrooke’s administration, a +bank was established in Antigua by royal charter; thus rendering +obsolete an act which had been passed in the early part of the +reign of George III., for preventing the circulation of paper +bills of credit in the colonies. Prior to this period, no +governor could assent to such circulation, under forfeiture of +1000l., the being dismissed his government, and declared +incapable of holding any other public office or place of trust. + +In the following year, his excellency deemed it proper to abolish +the militia; a measure which saved the treasury of the island a +considerable sum annually; and accordingly, on the 1st of July, +1838, that body ceased to exist, and an end was put to all +martial glory and deeds of arms among the store-keeper captains +and planter colonels of Antigua. It was not until some time after +the revocation of the militia, that the legislature remembered to +call in the arms from the privates; and accordingly, when such +orders were issued, great defalcation was discovered; the few, +however, collected, were consigned to a far different purpose +from what they were originally intended—being formed into a fence +before the arsenal, where they remain, with their bayonets +pointing to the skies, as mementos of the warlike acts of the +island. + +Sir William Colebrooke entertained similar opinions as Sir Evan +McGregor, upon the expediency of there being one general council +and assembly among the islands under his jurisdiction; and +consequently, strenuous exertions were made by him, to carry his +plans into effect. The acquiescence of the home government to +this measure was so relied upon by his excellency, that before +accounts could be received from England, despatches were +forwarded to the other Leeward Islands, calling upon the members +of their respective legislatures to visit Antigua, in order to +hold the first general council and assembly. The legislators of +St. Christopher’s were the first to obey the summons, and some of +that body were actually in the boat about to convey them on board +the vessel in which they had taken passage for Antigua, when the +packet with the European mails was observed in the offing. +Anxious to receive their letters before their departure for +another colony, they determined to wait until the post-master +distributed them—a resolution which saved them a fruitless +voyage; for, from despatches from Sir William Colebrooke, they +learned that the English parliament had refused to acknowledge +any general assembly. + +In 1840, Sir W. Colebrooke returned to England; and Major +McPhail, the lieutenant-governor of Dominica, was called to +administer the government for the time being. His excellency was +also a man of liberal principles—one who was inflexible in +performing his official duties without partiality, and earnestly +desirous of promoting the public good, and effecting a kind +feeling among all classes. As a private character, his courteous +and pleasing demeanour endeared him to all who held communion +with him; and when he quitted the government, he carried with him +the best regards and earnest wishes of every member of the +Antiguan community. Nothing of particular moment occurred during +his administration, with the exception of the dreadful fire in +1841, (further noticed in these pages,) and the strictness with +which the police laws (respecting the capture of animals found +strolling in the public streets) has been carried into force. +Great has been “the hue and cry” among the swinish multitude; and +day after day has the intelligence arrived that another +unfortunate pig has been imprisoned within the walls of the +pound, without any regard to the feelings of the said quadruped, +or its family. Even Sunday—that day of rest—was no rest to them, +or the parties whose duty it was to capture them; and so far was +the disturbance carried, which such exploits caused, that some +good people took the trouble to write and disseminate papers, +calling upon policemen, magistrates, &c., to observe to keep holy +the Sabbath, and not allow pigs to be hunted before the very +doors of the churches and chapels, even when service was being +performed. + +Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, who has succeeded as +governor-general of the Leeward Islands, is a branch of a high +and noble English family. The accounts which have preceded him of +his many virtues, bids fair for Antigua enjoying, in the person +of her majesty’s representative, a good and liberal governor—one +who will dispense justice without regard to caste or complexional +prejudice—rewarding merit wherever it may be found—measures +which, it is said, have been overlooked by many of his +predecessors until within these last few years. + +Sir C. A. Fitzroy is lineally descended, in the female line, from +Brigadier-General Crosby, (who had been appointed to the command +of the Leeward Island government, in 1730,) as will be seen on a +reference to his genealogy, in the Appendix. + + + ------ + +[57] It must be remarked, that the house passed these resolutions +after a member had been duly returned upon former precedents, so +that if the returned member was obnoxious from his liberal +principles, fresh regulations were determined upon in order to +dispossess him of his seat. These are the evils incident upon +having no laws to govern elections. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + + + My first voyage to Antigua—Visit upon deck—The booby’s welcome— + Nearer approach—Harbour of St. John’s—The Black Pilot—North + Sandy Island—Wreck of the mail-boat—Dangerous navigation—Long + Island—South Sandy Island—Panoramic views from the vessel’s + deck—Light winds—Disappointment made pleasing—Anchorage for the + night + +Having noticed the most important of its historical events, I +must now be allowed to give some description of the appearance of +Antigua, and of my first visit to its shores. After a voyage of +many weeks, early one morning we were agreeably saluted with the +cry of “land!” Sleep was immediately banished from my eyes, and +with a beating heart I waited until the day should “pour in +apace,” and allow me the pleasure of viewing for the first time +one of those tropical islands I had often thought of with +delight. A fair wind filled our sails, and we rapidly gained upon +the distant object, which (when I first peeped up the companion +ladder) looked like one of those shadowy clouds I had so +frequently seen resting, as it were, upon the bosom of the ocean, +at the utmost verge of the horizon. + +By this time the sun was fast mounting up the sky, and shone with +all its fervour upon the glassy waves below; and as we +noiselessly glided on, the mountains began to assume a distincter +form, and proved beyond doubt that we were near the end of our +voyage. + +A bustle upon the deck, the trampling of many feet, the rattling +of ropes, and the sound of strange voices, and a stranger +dialect, announced the arrival of the pilot; and unable any +longer to suppress the longing desire I had to behold Antigua +from a more eligible situation than my peep-hole, I hastily tied +on my bonnet, and spite of the increasing heat, sought my +companion upon the deck. Seated upon a hen-coop, which had been +arrayed in all the glories of bright green paint, I prepared to +look about me; when suddenly I felt a peculiar sensation, which +told me, that, like “Achilles,” I was anything but invulnerable +in my heel. A “booby,” or gannet, an aquatic bird, which had been +captured the night before, and placed in “durance vile” within +the self-same coop, was bidding me welcome to her native clime, +by unceremoniously inserting her bill into that very susceptible +part; and as I was not stoic enough to receive such favours +unmoved, she expressed her displeasure by a doleful unharmonious +scream. “Well,” thought I, “this is not the pleasantest welcome +possible,” and turning my eyes towards the land, “nor this the +most interesting looking island in the world.” In fact, it looked +dull and dreary; its mountains appeared barren and sunburnt; and +the distance prevented me from seeing the valleys and dingles +which in some degree redeem it from insipidity. + +Our gallant vessel, however, still kept on her way, and— + + “Walk’d the waters like a thing of life;” + +and as we approached the land, the scene changed for the better. +Bright green patches of the sugar-cane appeared amid the brown of +the foremost mountains; while the more distant of the chain +presented that harmonious blending of a thousand dyes, which +poets love to sing, and painters love to study. As it happened to +be that season of the year when the sugar harvest was in +progress, the white sails of the various mills glittered in the +sunbeams, and upon the eminences the manager’s house (or in the +language of the country, the “great house”) looked down upon its +little hamlet of negro huts, picturesquely embosomed in trees. + +On, on we glided; the merry breeze piping in our ears, and the +snow-white foam curling and writhing around our prow, until at +length we came so near that we could see and almost count the +waves as they dashed upon the silver sands of the surrounding +bays. In one part a number of tall cocoa-nut trees stretched +their long arms to the blast, whilst upon every side of us the +light skiffs of the fishermen danced like cockle-shells upon the +buoyant waters, and their dusky masters intently pursued their +trade of entrapping the finny race. + +Our good breeze did not desert us; and rapidly and surely we made +way, until we passed over the bar, and entered the harbour of St. +John’s. What a busy scene now presented itself to my view; the +various ships from England, Scotland, Ireland,[58] and America, +distinguished by their several flags; the boats and droughers[59] +hurrying backwards and forwards with their loads; whilst the +hallooing of the sailors, and the screaming of the negro +watermen, conspired to render it the very imagery of discord. + +The town of St. John’s, with its white houses and green +jalousies, lay stretched before us, surmounted by its neat and +pretty church; and upon our left the Fort of St. James and Rat +Island. While looking at the latter, up went a flag, which, +fluttering in the breeze, announced to the good people of St. +John’s the arrival of a ship from “_home_” as the Antiguans +always call England. Several boats now joined us from the shore, +conveying friends to welcome us to Antigua; a harbour-master, (a +very agreeable and worthy personage by-the-bye,) to make certain +inquiries; custom-house officers, (of a superior class of men to +those who board vessels in the Thames, and are so disagreeably +distinguished by their undeviating devotion to that herb, which +Sir Walter Raleigh, in his excessive overflow of human kindness, +is said to have introduced into England,) to see that if you +smuggled yourselves on shore, you did not smuggle your goods; and +plenty of black boys, to grin and chatter, and get all the +biscuit and beef they could. + +But I must not omit to give a more particular account of the +black pilot. A very pompous personage he was, and one who no +doubt stood vastly high in his own estimation, as he lent upon +the rail of the vessel, with his large straw hat, and gigantic +snuff-box, giving orders to the sailors, and in the interim +discussing the news of the island. “Hab fine rain last night; you +bring good _wedder_—(war for you ’tand staring dere for, you +black nigger ?)—yes, feber berry bad last month, many buckra die— +(war you go do, run de ship on de shore?)—Crop bery good dis +year; ship load fast ’nough—(why you no haul dat rope good?)—Yes, +gubbernor bin bery bad; better now tho’.” And thus he ran on, +until, the proper place gained, down dropped the ponderous +anchor, a boat received us, and in a short time landed us “all +well” upon one of the wharfs of Antigua, amid blacks and whites, +porters and boatmen, and boys and girls clad “à la Venus.” + +The harbour of St. John’s is reckoned one of the finest and most +commodious in the West Indies. The entrance is defended by Goat +Hill Fort on the south, and St. James Fort on the north; across +the mouth of it runs a shoal, known as the bar, which extends +from a bay called Hog John, to Fort James. The depth of water +upon this bar is only from seven to fourteen feet; and +consequently, ships, when they are partly laden, pass over this +shoal, and take in the remainder of their cargo off Dickenson’s +Bay. The principal trade of the island is carried on at this +port, the harbour is generally full of shipping; and during the +hurricane months, many vessels from the neighbouring islands come +here for safety. The approach to it is, however, intersected with +numerous rocks, and about three miles from its mouth lies a small +island, surrounded by reefs and breakers, to which the name of +“Sandy Island” has been attached. It was upon these reefs that, +in 1826, the “Maria” mail boat was wrecked, and, with her hapless +crew, went to the bottom. She had been down to St. Thomas and the +other Islands with the mails for England;[60] and upon her +return, putting into Monserrat, took on board the Wesleyan +missionaries, and their wives and children, who had been to St. +Kitts to attend their yearly district meeting, and who were +desirous of returning to Antigua, the scene of their labours. +They had left St. Kitts a few days before, in a small vessel +hired for the purpose; but finding it rather “crank,” they were +unwilling to proceed, and determined to wait at Monserrat for the +arrival of the “Maria.” + +But who can look into futurity? who can tell what may be in store +for him? The _crank_ vessel reached Antigua in safety; the mail +boat and all on board, with the exception of one solitary female, +perished in the treacherous waters, almost within sight of their +own homes—within hearing of the church bell. I never pass the +spot without shuddering, and fancying what must have been the +feelings of that _one_ who was spared to tell the dreadful tale. +A woman of lively imagination and affectionate disposition, she +saw friend after friend washed away by the remorseless waves. The +pride of manhood!—the shrinking delicacy of woman!—the +helplessness of infancy!—all of no avail!—a splash—a bubble—and +all was over, and their bodies filled the maw of some rapacious +monster, or rested in some coral cave beneath the waters, there +to remain until that great day, when sea and earth must give up +their dead. Of the ill-fated voyagers, all who remained were, she +who was destined to be the sole survivor, her husband, and the +master of the vessel. Worn out by mental agony, and unavailing +exertions to attract the notice of the many fishing-boats and +other vessels which were constantly passing within their sight, +but which either did not perceive or would not assist them, the +master of the vessel gave himself up to the dominion of the +“giant despair,” and losing his hold of the wreck, was quickly +carried away by the waves. One more victim was required—and that +was the dearest, the best beloved—her husband died in her arms, +and after holding him for many a painful minute, and struggling +for mastery with the billows to retain the much-loved corpse, +nature became exhausted, and she sank into a state of +insensibility. In this state she remained until the crew of some +passing vessel raised an alarm upon their gaining shore. A party +of gentlemen went in search of the supposed wreck, and finding +the inanimate female, quickly conveyed her to the main land, +where every care was lavished upon her, and happily not without +success. + +No one can read the affecting details of the sufferings of this +unhappy crew (an account of which Mrs. Jones, the name of the +lady, afterwards published) without feeling deep sorrow at the +event. At the same time, no one dares to ask “why was it so?” All +we can allege is, + + “God moves in a mysterious way.” + +This melancholy catastrophe was known at St. Kitts as soon as (if +not before) it was at Antigua: the dead body of a child (one of +the unfortunate passengers) conveyed the first direful tidings. + +Sandy Island is by no means the only sentinel which Nature has +placed to guard her favourite land from the sudden inroads of the +enemy, the whole of the north side of Antigua being surrounded by +rocks and breakers, which make it dangerous navigation. On this +account ships generally come down the south side of the island, +although some masters of vessels, from the impulse of a daring +spirit, or from a want of knowledge, pursue the other course, and +often have to lament the issue. + +On the northern and eastern sides of Antigua a great number of +small islands are scattered, and it is from some of these that +the smooth yellowish free-stone, of which the Court-house is +built, is obtained; this free-stone is proved to be composed of +carbonate of lime and oxyde of iron. The principal of these +islands are, Pole-cat Isle, Goat’s Isle, Guana[61] Isle, Maiden’s +Isle, Cochran’s Isle, and Long Island. + +In 1700, Long Island, then the property of the Honourable Edward +Byam, was sold by him, and it is now in the hands of the +Honourable Bertie E. Jarvis. Since the Emancipation Act came into +operation, a great part of it has been let out at an annual rent +to the negroes, who plant it with provisions. It is noted for a +peculiar breed of sheep, its rabbit-warrens, and the number of +sea-side grape trees (_Coccolobo uvifera_) which grow in all +directions. In former times, there was a mill and sugar works +upon it, (the ruins of which are still to be seen,) and more than +a thousand hogsheads of sugar have been known to be shipped from +thence in one year. This apparent improbability has been thus +accounted for: large quantities of sugars used to be smuggled +from Martinique and Guadaloupe, and landed safely and silently +upon Long Island, which is particularly favourable for such +adventures. These sugars were afterwards shipped to England as +the _produce of the island_, by the following evasion of the law. +It was customary at that period, to swear before one of the +magistrates, as to the quantity of sugar made and intended to be +shipped; and the certificate was then taken to the collector of +her majesty’s customs, who, seeing the signature of the +magistrate, allowed all was correct. The parties who were +possessed of this smuggled sugar, and who were wishful of +transporting it to its destined market, would come before a +justice and assert that the seven or nine hogsheads which they +intended shipping on board such vessel were the real growth of +Long Island; the customary oaths were therefore administered, the +magistrate signed his name, and the cocket was presented to the +shippers to hand over to the collector. On the road to the +custom-house, however, with ready pen they added a _ty_ to the +seven or nine (or whatever it might be) in the space which was +cunningly left for that purpose, making it of course _seventy_ or +_ninety_; and as no questions were asked by the collector, they +were in this manner enabled, from 100 hogsheads of the actual +growth of the island, to ship from time to time more than the +above number of 1000 hogsheads. This practice of evading the law +(while they soothed their own consciences) gave rise to these +shipments being called the “T. Y. sugar,” as will be remembered +by many to this day. + +Guiana and Cochran Island also produced sugar at one time; and in +1725, it was enacted by the legislature, that if the proprietors +of those islands, as well as Long Island, suffered any loss from +the inroads of the enemy, they should be reimbursed from the +public treasury as well as any other inhabitant of Antigua. + +Following the line of coast from the north, before we once more +make the harbour of St. John’s, we meet with, another “guard,” in +the shape of a small island, bearing direct west from English +Harbour, with a reef running three miles into the sea, and which +is known as _South_ Sandy Island. This is also very dangerous to +unwary mariners, particularly when the storm king rides the +blast, and “warns the devoted wretch of woe and death.” + +But, with all its rocks and breakers, beautiful, very beautiful +are the scenes which present themselves to your notice, as, +seated upon the deck of some vessel, whose graceful sails are +filled with a fresh and favourable breeze, you skirt along the +sunny shores of lovely little Antigua. It has happened, in some +of my frequent trips around the island, that, although the breeze +has been fair, it was so light as scarcely to lift the canvas +from the mast. But yet, the disappointment of not gaining land so +soon as we expected has been amply compensated for by the +beauties we have had more time to discover. Overhead is the +sweet, clear blue of the sky, here and there dotted with a cloud +so fair, that it might serve to pillow a sleeping Juno; and +beneath, the crystal waters sparkling like gold in the beams of +the blazing sun. In some parts, the green mountains descend to +the very shore; while in others a calm and silent glen opens upon +your sight, and the zephyr comes laden to you with the scent of +its various flowers. Numerous creeks run far inland, and appear +amid the surrounding verdure like chains of silver; and here and +there a few negro huts lie nestling among a clump of splendid +trees, with their neat-looking provision-grounds spread before +them. As you pass Grace Bay, the land looks sprinkled over with +gold, from the flowers of the aloe, (_aloe vulgaris_,) which +grows there in vast profusion; and the shore is bordered with +sand, on which Amphitrite and her train might love to dance, and +wreathe their flowery locks with the dropping seaweeds. And thus +we while away the day, enjoying an ever-changing panorama, until +the glorious sun reaches the west, and throws his rich beams on +every cloud which “throngs to pavilion him.” Suddenly he appears +to touch the bosom of the flaming waves; and then sending forth +one long vivid line of glory, sinks to rest on his golden couch. + +Now comes “still evening” on, and Hesperus and all “the starry +host” people the heavens, until at length the moon + + “Shews her broad visage in the crimson’d east,” + +and robs them of their brightness. And there she paces through +those azure fields, not with the cold, pale aspect she wears in +my own severer clime, but with the glow, the fervour, with which, +in other days, she was wont, as “fabling poets” sing, to visit +Endymion on the flowery heights of Latmus. Lovely is it, at such +a time, to lean over the vessel’s side, and watch the limpid +waves, as they throw up their sparkling foam. All turbulent +passions die away—a pleasing calm ensues—and then, casting aside +all heathen folly, and allowing the mind to revel at its will, +come thoughts, indistinct, but beautiful, and dreamy imaginings +of that happy land, where + + “The crystaline stream, bursting forth from the throne, + Flows on, and for ever will flow; + Its waves, as they roll, are with melody rife, + And its waters are sparkling with beauty and life, + In the land which no mortal may know.” + +But earth’s chains are still about us, and the fairest scenes may +prove the most deadly. A kind voice warns me of the increasing +cold of the night-breeze; and as the last inch of the cable +slides through the hawse-hole, and the tremor of the vessel, as +it is suddenly stopped in its course, shews we have anchored for +the night, I leave the cool air upon deck for the confinement of +the cabin, with a prayer of thankfulness upon my lips for my +frequent safe trips across the “blue waters,” and a hope that +to-morrow’s dawn will bring us safely to shore. + + + ------ + +[58] The Scotch and Irish, in addition to the Union Jack, hoist a +distinctive national signal. + +[59] Droughers are small vessels used for conveying the produce +of the island from the neighbouring bays to the shipping. + +[60] At that period, the mails from the different islands were +conveyed to St. Thomas’s, in small vessels employed for that +purpose, from whence they were despatched to England in one of +her Majesty’s packets. + +[61] Formerly called Guiana Island, from the English settlers who +emigrated thither from Guiana, when that country was surrendered +to the Dutch by the treaty of Breda. The name is now corrupted to +Guana. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + + + The extent of Antigua—Opinion of some planters—Want of + agricultural labourers—Emigration not always profitable to the + negroes—“Seizar’s” letter upon the subject—Return of emigrants— + Soil of Antigua—Geological matters—Petrifactions—Climate of + Antigua—“Yellow fever”—Beautiful evenings—the appearance of the + heavens—Evening visitants. + +Antigua, as already shewn in another part of this work, contains +about 60,000 acres: of which, probably, four-fifths are in a +state of cultivation. It was the opinion of many planters, soon +after emancipation, that the mountainous estates must, in great +measure, be neglected, as the steadiness of the negroes is not +always to be relied upon; and from the difficulties of the land, +the plough would be almost useless. These prognostications have +not been fulfilled—at least, no such instance has ever come under +my notice; on the contrary, in my rides through the country I +have seen many spots of land, which once bore only grass or wild +shrubs, planted with canes, and bearing the title of “a sugar +estate,” which, I feel assured, had slavery continued, would +never have been cultivated. + +Still agricultural labourers are wanted; many of the negroes that +were thus employed, while in a state of bondage, think it a +disgrace to follow such patriarchal occupations now they are +free. They therefore quit the country, take up the business of a +mason or a carpenter, or something of the sort; and the result +is, that not being competent, they are unable to procure work, +and are idling about the street all day, until some vessel from +the southern colonies, looking out for emigrants, holds out the +temptation of _high wages_, which is ignorantly caught at by the +negro; and he leaves his native island, his wife and children, +without remorse, until sickness seizes him, and he is returned +upon the country an emaciated being, unable to work at all. + +Emigration is not always profitable to the negro, even if he +retains his health. Many, many of them, would gladly return, were +they not bound for a certain number of years by the captains of +the emigration vessels, (who make a complete trade of it by +selling their indentures,) or else taken so far up the country as +too often prohibit such resolve. A clever letter appeared in one +of the West Indian newspapers some time ago, supposed to have +been written from a negro at St. Kitts to his friend of the same +dye, who had emigrated to Demerara, which I will insert for the +amusement of the reader:— + + “Sink Hitts, July ——. + +“Deer Pomp Eye, + +“You no I tould you how it wood be, but you all ways were a wild +nagur, and wood neber hear reeson, and lubbed to follow your +hedstrong ways. But now you are suffering for it, an I hope +you’ll repent, as good Massa Parson says. You no you had no right +to run away and leabe you yong pic’nees here to starbe. It was a +most wicked act, but I ’spose the Capen who took you away will be +made to support ’em as he ought. You are all no better dan +Caraline who sent our fren Mushel’s pic’nee widout him knowing at +all ’bout it, to Jimmy Radder (Demerara), having sold him me +magin to de Capen. What you say ’bout de Spaniards is all bery +true, an likely to happen, an me tink wid you our Capens are not +to be trusted, for you no what our fren Fletcher did for which he +get hang—how he carry off Nagers from Nevis, and trowed dem in de +sea and drowned dem. Now me no tink dese Capens will trow de +Nagurs in de sea, but me tink it bery like dat dey will hab +private signell wid de Spaniards, who will way lay an take de +nagurs away at sea—for de Spaniards will gib de Capens two times +as much for de free Nagurs to make slabes of dem, as de Capens +can get in Jimmy Radder. I hab seen de skul of Fletcher, for me +be sumthing of a _free-no-low-gist_ (phrenologist), and I assure +you de skul of dese Capens hab gist de same _bumps_. And not only +dis, Massa Pomp Eye, but dere is de law of Englan dat a vessel +shall carry passengers cording to he size, dat is, so many Nagurs +to so many tun, now dese Capens do break dis law an dese vessels +is lible to be seezed and comphiz catted. Dis law was made as me +told, to make all de peeple cumfurble dat all may hab room to +walk ’bout an lie down, an sleep, an eat, an go safe, an to +perwent de Capens from sack wry facing dem passengers, and no +noting ’bout dere bizness, for see how dey cram de Nagurs in like +toze in de shu, an only de oder day a vessel ful of Nagurs sprung +a plank off Mons’ rat an was sinking fast an de Capen noed noting +at all ’bout it until a noder ship met him an told him he was +going down and dat all he poor Nagurs wood be drown. Oh! Pomp +Eye, de Nagurs here be great fool for leabing dis bootiful +country for sich muddy place as Jimmy Radder. Here dey hab plenty +of fish from de sea, an dem dere be sich bootiful riber from de +monting, an sich nice water to drink,—and dere is plenty of wood +to cut, and dere is salt-fish, an pork, an beef, an all so cheap— +an here nagurs be sirvalized, an de men an wimmin were cloze +which dey do not do in Jimmy Radder, an on Sunday dey all go +church an hab fine tings on. I’m told dat in Jimmy Radder dey +can’t boil or roast dere plantins widout de wurrums (worms) +crying and crawling out, an dat derefore dey mash ’em up all +togedder in de pot an so eat dem. Brutes! Is de nagur of Jimmy +Radder like our Nagurs? Hab dey any beerds? I heer dey hab scales +like de fishes from lying in de mud an water, an dat dere +shoulder bones stick out like de fins of one fish. An dis is de +reeson our wimmin nagurs go to Jimmy Radder, _for de wimmin +always lobe de monsters_. Don’t fret you self Massa Pomp Eye +’bout de dollars for I neber expect ’em. Me no ’tis all de same +in de end, if you be paid one quarter dollar here for working, an +on half dollar dere, for de tings for eat an drink are twice as +deer dere as dey be here, widout being half so good eder. No, no— +me be content—me no like snakes an wurrum an dose tings you hab +in Jemmy Radder—me lobe me fader land, an no like _mud_. Here we +all be Cristan an can reed and rite, an no be naked savages like +aw you. Your poor yong ones send dere lobe to you—but dey shant +want bread to eat, as long as your fren Seizer libes.—So good bi, +an rub you body wid rum to get rid of de hagur, (ague.) + + “Your fren, + + “Seizar.” + +So much for “Massa Seizar’s” letter. I am not aware who is the +actual writer of it; but the reasoning he puts into “Seizar’s” +mouth is sound, and by the form in which it is presented may not +improbably produce more effect than a graver production. + +The soil of Antigua is composed of two distinct sorts; the one, a +rich black mould on a substratum of clay; the other, a stiff +reddish clay, mixed with sand, upon a substratum of marl. The +former of these is very productive when not suffering from those +excessive droughts to which this island is particularly subject; +but the latter is generally overrun with that species of herbage, +known as “Devil Grass,” (_Cynodon dactylon_,) which it is almost +impossible to exterminate. Still, Antigua is one of the most +fertile of the West India islands, and produces, in proportion, a +larger crop than most of her sister colonies. The land requires, +it is true, a quantity of manure, which is one reason for estates +keeping such large herds of cattle as they do; but with the +assistance of that, and the blessing of the “o’ercharged clouds,” +she seldom disappoints the hopes of her planters; while her sugar +stands as high as any in the English markets, and her _rum_ has +long been known for its pre-eminent qualities. + +The mountains contain beautiful varieties of fossils, and other +geological curiosities. Among these may be found in the +south-west chain, masses of trap, breccia, wacke, porphyry, &c.; +and in the inland parallel chain, splendid specimens of coralline +schist, agate, jasper, chalcedony, amydoloid, cornelian, and +silicified wood are to be met with, of which I need only raise my +eyes to those collected before me to say how beautiful they are. +These are generally found embedded in a matrix of a deep green +colour, which of itself is very pretty, and when well arranged in +buildings with the native free-stone, have a very good effect. + +In the northern districts are found fragments of limestone, +containing fossil shells, spars, and crystals of quartz. This +chain, running north and south, is supposed to pass under the +sea, forming a reef, and reappearing at Monserrat: it is said +that the fish found upon this reef are particularly poisonous. + +“Church Hill,” as it is termed, from the fact of the church being +erected upon it, has been found to be composed of schist, +enveloped in marl, and is particularly rich in its fossil shells. +Thanks to the new flight of steps which have been lately erected, +and the modifications made around that sacred building, (which +has obliged the workmen to blast the rock,) I have been enabled +to collect some fine varieties. Among these are conchs, cockles, +&c., in which the striæ are perfect, and some of them are +beautifully crystalized. + +In almost all parts of the island petrifactions are to be met +with. Among the most beautiful of those I have seen, may be +enumerated red cedar, with agate intermixed; roots and branches +of cocoa-nut trees; plantain stalks, with beautiful lines of +agate running through them; a species of palm; a root of the +dagger, (_aloe vulgaris_;) the black mangrove, a branch of a +tree, supposed to be the ceibar, or silk-cotton, with cornelian; +besides many other varieties. Ochres of various colours are also +to be dug in some districts; and in most parts of the island are +quarries of stone; but they are not generally made an article of +traffic. + +In some parts of the island are salt ponds, which might be worked +to advantage here as well as at St. Kitts and Turk’s Island; but +the Antiguans are not of an enterprising spirit; at least, all +their attention is bestowed upon the cultivation of the +sugar-cane, and if that succeeds, they are perfectly satisfied. +Were it otherwise, there are many productions which might prove +important and beneficial articles of commerce. Tobacco grows +spontaneously about the country; coffee has become naturalized, +and grows wild; it is said to be inferior in quality to that +which grows in the other islands; but would not culture do much +for it? Cotton, ginger, palma Christi,—all are disregarded; even +the pimento is left to decay in its loveliness, and its fragrant +fruit serves but to feed the feathered tribe; except when, at +Christmas, its odorous boughs are gathered to flavour the +plum-puddings of the negroes, or decorate the churches and +houses, as the holly does in England. + +Although the islands of the West Indies, being all situated +between the Tropics, are, as regards climate, very similar, yet +Antigua is generally reckoned more salubrious than any of the +others. Possibly, the reason of this may be attributed to the +dryness of the soil, for we have no rivers, and very few marshes, +as in many of the other islands, to exhale any degree of +humidity. The towns are now also kept very clean and wholesome, +particularly the capital, so that island seldom suffers from any +pestilential diseases. The “Yellow Fever,” that dreaded scourge +of the West Indies, has, however, frequently raged here to great +extent, particularly in former years. In 1793 it was very violent +in its effects—nearly the whole of the inhabitants of St. John’s +fell ill with it, and many deaths occurred. It broke out in the +shipping in the harbour, and was supposed to have been brought +ashore in a blanket, which had been wrapt round a person who had +fallen a victim to it. In 1816 it again appeared, but not to such +extent; but after the hurricane, in 1835, it raged with much +virulence,—snatched many a young and beloved one from the family +circle—separated parent and child—severed the holy bands of +matrimony, and laid its victims in the cold and silent grave. + +It was supposed to be occasioned by the different effluvia which +tainted the air after the gale; particularly that from the filth, +which had for so many years been accumulating at the bottom of +the harbour, and which, from the violence of the wind, had been +completely stirred up. + +The warmest months of the year are June, July, and August. The +sun, when not obscured by the density of the clouds, shines with +a burning lustre; and did he not + + “——— kind before him send + The genial breeze, to mitigate his fire, + And breathe refreshment on a fainting world,” + +the heat would be insupportable. + +The meridian height of the thermometer, during this season, is, +in the shade, about 80°, and the other parts of the year 70°; but +I have observed the mercury to be, from the end of June to the +end of August, from 86° to 90°, and often even higher. The sun is +vertical at Antigua on the 7th of May and the 5th of August; and +consequently on those days the inhabitants are ascii at noon. + +September, and the two succeeding months, are generally reckoned +the most unhealthy periods of the year. At one moment, the sun +darts its rays with an intensity almost insupportable, while the +sea-breeze (that friend to sufferers from “all-conquering heat”) +dies away, and a slothful calm prevails; at other times, the sun +is hidden by black portentous clouds; the air is chilly and +unwholesome, and rank and noxious vapours are abroad. + +The longest day consists of about 13 hours; the shortest about +ten. In these latitudes, there is scarcely any aurora, or +twilight, so that it is scarcely light until the sun is up, and +soon after he sets, it becomes dark. + +Suffering as the inhabitants do, from the great heat of the days, +the delightful evenings are particularly enjoyed. No sooner has +the sun hidden his rays in the bosom of the ocean, than the +land-breeze arises; this, blowing as it were from the centre of +the island, towards the sea, appears to come from all points of +the compass at once. Evening is the time for walking; and often +have I seen beautiful faces, and bright eyes, gleaming in the +moonbeams. + +Every author who has written about these “sunburnt isles,” has, I +think, mentioned the beauties of a West Indian night, and well +worthy is it to be praised. The sky is of a deeper and more +lovely blue, almost approximating to violet; and the atmosphere +is so much clearer than in England, that many stars are visible +to the naked eye which there require the aid of a telescope. The +larger planets glitter with a refulgence unknown to more +temperate latitudes— + + “With purest ray, + Sweet Venus shines,” + +and appears almost like another moon. Mars rolls on in eternal +solitude, shewing his broad red face to our wondering gaze. +Bright-eyed Jove, with his “atmospheric belt,” almost blinds us +with his lustre; while the galaxy (or milky way) looks like— + + “A circling zone, powder’d with stars;” + +thus they glide on in their beauty— + + “Bright wanderers o’er the blue sky free;” + +but oh! when our own attendant planet, the “Silver Queen of +night,” rises in peerless majesty, shedding a flood of glory over +all the surrounding landscape, the scene is inexpressibly lovely. +How often, when enjoying her beams, and gazing on her “spotted +disk,” have I thought of those lines of Mrs. Charlotte Smith— + + “And while I gaze, thy mild and placid light + Sheds a soft calm upon my troubled breast; + And oft I think, fair planet of the night, + That in thy orb the wretched might find rest.” + +The stillness and calmness of an English summer’s evening have +been often and often described by our poets; here, however, no +quietness is to be met with, but on the contrary all is bustle +and noise. Sounds of every description fill the air, as soon as +“evening grey” sets in. Parties of negroes, men, women, and +children, gather together in groups, worthy the illustrative +pencil of Cruikshank, to gabble away their _nancy stories_, +relate their quarrels, or discuss the other business of the day. +Bats of every size and shape fly backwards and forwards in search +of their prey, or pay you an unceremonious visit through the open +_jalousies_ of your houses. Crickets and frogs raise their shrill +pipes, which grate most unmusically upon the ear; cock-roaches +(those disgusting pests of the West Indies) crawl over the +floors, or ceilings of the apartments, or at times take the +liberty of brushing in your face, or nestling in your hair; +mosquitoes hum their monotonous song, or insert their proboscis +into every accessible part of your flesh; while the land crabs +clatter about, just like an old woman in pattens. The houses are +lighted up as if for an illumination, the windows are thrown open +to admit the evening air, and the fair inhabitants amuse +themselves by playing upon harpsichords, or similar musical +instruments, “Blue Bells of Scotland,” “Home, Sweet Home,” and +other popular melodies. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + + + Scenery of Antigua—Pilgrimage to “Tom Moore’s Spring”—The + Goddess Mnemosyne—Fig-Tree Hill—The “Bower of Bliss”—“Old Road” + —The Strand—The cross sexton—The parochial school—Old Road + Church—Tomb of Col. Williams—Moravian settlement—Salt ponds— + Copses—“Crab Hill”—Sandy Valley—The Valley Church—The rising + moon—Arrival in town—Night, and night dreams. + +With respect to the scenery of Antigua, it is said to be neither +“grand nor magnificent,” that “its mountains are too much like +mole-hills,”[62] and in many other ways has it been depreciated; +yet there are some spots of real beauty, which would strike the +eye of even a painter or a poet. To see some of these to the +greatest advantage, I would advise all such readers as have it in +their power to take a drive or a ride (whichever they prefer) +some fine morning to “Fig Tree Hill,” and return by “Crab Hill.” +They will then meet with spots of such transcendent loveliness, +as will cause the most unpoetic to exclaim, “Beautiful! +beautiful!” But as some of my readers, perhaps, may never have +the chance of taking such a tour, in pity to them, I will attempt +to describe what I saw in my pilgrimage to “Tom Moore’s Spring.” + +It was a lovely morning (as most West India mornings are) when we +started upon our journey. The sun shone bright and clear; indeed, +far too clear for actual comfort, had we gone as “pilgrims grey,” +with “scalloped hat,” and “sandled shoon,” and resting on our +“staves;” but we preferred the less romantic, but more pleasant +way of taking it quietly in our carriage. Quickly we passed +through the town of St. John’s, leaving its busy inmates, its +shops and stores, its “Scotch row” and Scotchmen, and all its +noise and bustle, for the quietness and freshness of the country. +Upon gaining “Otto’s Hill,” at the outskirts of the town, I +looked back upon the beautiful harbour of St. John’s, its blue +waves just rippling the surface, its barques and brigs, schooners +and sloops, bowing their heads as if in graceful homage to some +sea-god from old King Neptune’s court; and its sloping shores +displaying a carpet of luxuriant green, for a little rain which +had fallen not long before had clothed the fields in a garb of +lovely verdure. While thinking upon all these beauties, and the +images they called up, my poetic fancies were crushed by the +horrible noise of a long string of “cattle carts” and their sable +drivers, coming into town with a load of molasses for “Brother +Jonathan,” or some other worthy. This brought me down from the +seventh heaven, and made me just then find out that it was very +_hot_, and the road disagreeably dusty. However, in our +pilgrimage through life, we meet with many crosses, and many +_dusty spots_; and therefore, in our pilgrimage to “Tom Moore’s +Spring,” we could but expect the same. + +The country certainly looked very pretty upon this eventful day, +for every spot was green, and as we passed the numerous estates, +an air of gladness seemed to be abroad. The breeze blew soft from +off the mountains we were approaching, and greeted our olfactory +nerves with the odour of the yellow acacia, which grew along the +side of the road in vast profusion. In a short time, we reached +the banks of a small rivulet, the only real stream Antigua can +boast of, for the few others we passed owed their source more to +the late rains than anything else. This rivulet was bordered by +bamboos, and other species of wild cane, while larger trees, in +many parts, shewed their gnarled roots, and bent their long +boughs to kiss the swift gliding waters. Various aquatic plants +grew along its margin, while in the stream itself sported my own +country’s water-lily, bright nymphæa. Near to the spot stands a +rural little temple of worship, with its plain white walls, and a +little cross upon its roof, and across the rivulet is thrown a +rustic bridge. This is a favourite resort for country +washerwomen, and as we passed, many of them were busily engaged +in their very necessary avocations; but as none of them presented +the appearance of a nymph or a naïad, I will not introduce them +to my readers. + +We had heard of the bad state of the roads before we left our +home, of the hills we had to mount, and the dingles we had to go +down; of the terrible ravines on one side, and the bare rocks on +the other, and of places where the least swerve of the carriage +would send us over, and then, according to our informant, “it +would be no use to go look for you.” At every turn of the road, +then, we looked for some trial, and “screwed up our courage to +the sticking-point,” that we might be enabled to overcome them; +but after travelling for some time, and meeting with nothing very +terrific, we began to console ourselves, and remark, that the +difficulties appeared to lie in the imagination. At length, we +came to a pretty steep hill, which we surmounted in due time, and +again sped on our way joyfully, thinking that all was very fair, +when lo! up rose before us, if not a _mountain_, at least, a +_giant hill_. Here would be the “tug of war,” so we called a +council. “What is to be done?” was the first query. “Why, either +_go on_ or _go back_” was the answer. The old adage of “out of +two evils, choose the least,” came into our thoughts. There was +the hill behind, and the hill before, so we agreed to lay the +various “for’s” and “against’s” before us in a very orthodox +manner. + +To commence then: if we go on, we must mount this hill, but when +we have accomplished that, we shall have no other of great +consequence; we were near half way, so we should have almost as +far to go back as to go on; on the other side, if we returned, we +should still have a hill before us, and not have the consolation +of visiting the celebrated “fig-tree.” Having come to the +conclusion of our arguments, the word was given “forward,” and +forward we attempted to go; but there were some of our party +whose opinions had not been asked, but who, no doubt, felt as +great concern in the decision as any one else; I mean those very +noble animals ycleped “horses,” and for reasons my readers may +easily conceive they appeared resolved not to proceed. After a +few words of encouragement, however, and a few caresses, they +agreed to lend us their aid, and once more we started. + +During the period that all this momentous business was going on, +we had totally neglected the appearance of the weather, and had +not a drop or two of rain fallen, and the sound of a distant clap +of thunder echoed round us, I dare say we should not have thought +upon such a subject. Here, then, was romance; a thunder-storm, +and “Sawcolt Hill”—it only wanted an old castle and a horde of +banditti to make it a scene worthy the pen of a “Radcliffe.” The +lambent lightning played for awhile, and the thunder bellowed +through the boundless sky, and then passed slowly away to the +west, very much to my satisfaction. “Sawcolt Hill” was ascended, +and descended, and the road became more beautiful at every turn, +until at length we stood by the side of the noted freshwater +spring. And what then were my reflections? I thought it was +lovely in everything but its name—“Tom Moore’s Spring!” Who, in +the name of all that’s romantic, could call such a spring by such +a name? Had it been the “fairy’s spring,” or the “spring of the +mountain sylph,” or something of the kind, it would have sounded +as it ought, and some charming legend might have been attached. +But who could ever inquire after “Tom Moore?” Why, the name of +such a being puts all fancies to the flight! + +Thus far had my thoughts wandered, when suddenly, an ideal form +passed before me; her sweet and classic countenance—her eyes +which mocked the heavens in their dye—her long and silken lashes +which drank the dew of her vermilion cheeks, all conspired to +render me entranced. A blue mantle floated from her shoulders, +and a thousand graces hovered round her steps. As she glided +away, she placed one of her taper fingers upon her ruby lips, +and, in a voice of liquid sweetness, uttered the word, +“Remember!” I knew her for the goddess “Mnemosyne,” and I tried +to follow her behest. My beautiful goddess assisted me, and +brought to my recollection that “Bulbul of a thousand songs,” +that sweet rhymer who charms us with his “bower of roses by +Bendameer’s stream,” as with his melodies of the “Emerald Isle,” +he who bears the well-known appellation of “Tom Moore.” I +remembered all this to my shame, and determined in future never +to utter one word against it, did all the springs in Antigua bear +that name. After making this resolution, I turned once more to +inspect “Tom Moore’s Spring.” The water is as clear as crystal, +and of a refreshing coolness; and as it trickles from beneath the +roots of a large bamboo growing by, each drop looks like liquid +pearl. It has never been known to be dry, let the season be what +it will, and consequently must be of inexpressible value to the +adjoining estates. It was formerly built round with a stone wall, +but that has long ago fallen to ruin, and no one has troubled +himself to erect it again. I blame none, however, upon this +score, for, in my opinion, it looks more romantic as it is; +nature has done much for it, and art would only spoil her work. + +After leaving the spring, another height presented itself, +clothed with luxuriant woods. This was “Fig-tree Hill,” and no +description I have ever heard of it has sufficiently set forth +its beauty. Upon one side of the road is a deep ravine, whose +irregular descent is hidden by trees of every description, which +cover it to the bottom, and again ascend upon the opposite bank, +until they reach the top of the neighbouring mountain; on the +other side are sloping hills, carpeted with the gayest emerald. +This beautiful hill takes its name from several large fig-trees +which grow around; and from its highest point can be distinctly +seen, upon a clear day, the four islands of Guadaloupe, +Monserrat, Nevis, and St. Kitts. + +After remaining upon the height for some time, and enjoying the +extensive prospect, we prepared to descend; but how to describe +the loveliness of the path, I know not. We alighted and walked +down, that nothing might escape our observation. Trees of all +species abound, and— + + “With confessed magnificence deride + Our vile attire, and impotence of pride.” + +The lofty “red cedar,” the beautiful “white-wood,” the +glossy-green “loblolly,” the treacherous “manchineel,” which +invites your approach by its beautiful fruit, while it infects +you with its poisonous odours; the enormous “ceibar,” (or silk +cotton,) the native “walnut,” (which in every tree presents such +varying shades of green,) and the splendid “tamarind,” shade each +side of the road, and cover the surrounding hills. + +In many places, huge masses of fantastic rocks rear their bare +fronts to the heavens; some taking the form of old castles, with +their frowning battlements and strong ramparts; and others +looking as if about to fall into the valleys beneath. + +Just at the termination of the first descent is one of the +sweetest spots in Antigua. It is one of tranquillity and repose. +The fierce beams of the sun are excluded by the umbrageous +foliage of the trees, around whose trunks various creepers +entwine themselves, and throw their slender limbs from one to the +other of these + + “Green-robed senators of mighty woods,” + +forming many beauteous alcoves, carpeted with the lowlier +flowers; whilst the “purple wreath” hangs its tasseled blossoms +on all sides, and gives an air of lightness to the whole. A +little silver stream (one of those the offspring of the balmy +showers before mentioned) crossed the road in this part; and +after leaping over roots of trees, or any other slight impediment +which fell in its way, and thereby causing a thousand translucent +waterfalls, at length lost itself in the impending woods. Oh! it +was a lovely scene, and put me very much in mind of Spenser’s +“Bower of Bliss;” particularly when + + “Was heard a most melodious sound + Of all that could delight a curious ear; + Such as might not upon terrestrial ground, + Save in this paradise, be heard elsewhere. + Full hard it was for him, who did it hear, + To guess what sort of music this might be; + For all that pleasing is to living ear + Were there soft mingled in one harmony: + Birds, voices, instruments, winds, waters, all agree.” + +This was a true delineation; for although most tropical birds are +devoid of song, the “painted warblers” might here be said to hop +“from spray to spray.” The pretty little humming-bird fluttered +among the flowers, extracting from them, with its long and +slender beak, the liquid honey; and the doves courted each other +with soft, but melancholy cooing, from many a leafy brake. Upon +my remarking I never before heard birds _sing_ in the West +Indies, our negro-servant joined the conversation with—“Oh, +missis! if you was to come here early in the moring, before the +sun high, you would hear the birds singing in such a manner, that +it would make you feel quite dismal all de day.” The first time I +ever heard of the song of a bird producing such an effect. + +But to return to my description of this sweetest of all sweet +spots. Did we live in “days of yore,” when fairies were wont to +visit our world, and astonish the benighted swains with their +glittering processions, we could fancy this one of their +favourite retreats; but, alas! those harmless goblins have long +disappeared, and with them all moonlight revels. The negroes, +however, are determined it shall not be without some aerial +visitants, so have peopled it with a tribe of _jumbies_, who, +according to their account, are very different in behaviour and +appearance to the pretty little elves. + +After carving our names upon the trunk of a noble tree, which +appears to grow out of a rock, we proceeded on our journey +through the same lovely scenes, which now became interspersed +with palm-trees, until we entered upon a plain, on one side +studded over with ruined Carib houses, and on the other, laid out +in luxuriant cane-pieces, belonging to the Hon. Rowland E. +Williams, the descendant of a long line of noble ancestors, and +whose paternal domain extends throughout the lovely scenes I have +been endeavouring to describe. A few minutes’ drive brought us to +“Old Road,” so called because it was the first high-road made in +Antigua. + +This town, if town it can be called, is, as regards architective +arrangement, a perfect nondescript; for streets there are none, +but here and there a straggling house. There is the _beach_, +indeed, which may justly be termed “_the strand_;” but, unlike +that far-famed street in London, boasts no splendid shops—no +arcades or bazaars, with their “euterpeons”—no brilliant lines of +lamps, or crowds of well-dressed and busy passengers. A plentiful +supply of bushes and “rock-stones” (as the Creoles call all +descriptions of stones) make up for those deficiencies; and the +murmur of old Father Ocean is the only music heard. Of the houses +which are to be found, a few of them are in repair; but the +greater part are falling to ruin, and have become a receptacle +for hordes of green lizards. One of these buildings struck me as +rather peculiar in appearance. Nothing remained of it, it is +true, but the walls of rough masonry, with huge gable-ends +pointing to the skies; but still it seemed as the work of another +race of beings. Upon making inquiries about it, an inhabitant +informed us her grandmother (who had died several years before, +at the advanced age of 116) remembered it in the same ruinous +state from her earliest years; but we could learn no further +particulars. + +Our principal object for visiting “Old Road,” was to see a +tombstone in the church, laid down to the memory of Col. Rowland +Williams; and consequently, as soon as we arrived, our first +inquiry was for the person who kept the keys of the church, and +who acts in the capacity of sexton. While waiting for this +official, we walked down to the beach. The harbour is a very fine +one, and forms a complete rotund, except in the opening, where +the sea stretches out beyond ken. A line of smooth silver sand +borders the sea, diversified with clumps of mangrove, manchineel, +and sea-side grapes; while here and there a cocoa-nut tree rears +aloft its proud head, as if scorning to herd with the lowlier of +its kind. For some time we amused ourselves with picking up +various small shells, matted sea-weed, and corallines, which were +scattered about the beach in profusion; but the heat, +notwithstanding the fresh sea-breeze, was beginning to be felt +oppressive; when turning the angle of one of the old buildings, a +man with a bunch of keys in his hand appeared in sight. + +Although not always the case, still very generally, the face is +the index to the mind; and when I first saw that man, I felt +prejudiced against him. He came forward with a slovenly gait, and +downcast looks, and to our inquiries for the keys of the church, +he returned for answer, “Yes, but I can’t let you in.” On asking +the reason, the rejoinder was, “Because the parson told me not to +let any one go into the church.” This was by no means cheering +news for us; it was far from satisfactory after riding fifteen +miles, to be turned away without seeing the very object we came +to look at. Every kind of persuasion was used to induce him to +comply. I joined in urging him to “ope’ the door, and bid us +enter,” but alas! I found him as insensible to the voice of +woman, as to everything else. “Can we go into the churchyard?” +was then inquired. “Yes,” was the surly answer; and following his +steps, we soon reached that quiet spot. + +Even here he apparently viewed us with suspicion, thinking, +perhaps, we not only looked capable of _sacrilege_, but of +carrying away the church also; for although he still had the keys +in his hand, and the rain began to fall, he not only remained +inexorable, but looked as if he should be quite as well pleased +if we quitted the place altogether. “The rain was falling fast,” +and obliged us to retire to the shelter of a large white-wood +tree, which no doubt was coeval with the first settlers, and +beneath its spreading branches we remained for some time, until +one of our party determined to try some other expedient, to gain +the wished-for admittance, and for that purpose left myself and +attendant in our shady retreat. + +After the lapse of about a quarter of an hour, a well-known voice +was heard; and at an opening in the leafy covert, the person it +proceeded from appeared, accompanied by a female. This was the +parochial school-mistress; and a kind-hearted creature she +appeared to be. She immediately sent in search of the cross +sexton, and promised to take upon herself the responsibility of +letting our party into the church; but the man was not to be +found—he had left the town, and carried the keys with him. With +native politeness, Miss Austin (as the worthy school-mistress was +called) invited us to rest in her house until she could make +further inquiries after the “keys;” and following our +conductress, we shortly arrived at her residence, where (with a +very warrantable kind of pride) she informed us, her mother was +born, and married, and had reared eight children. Long before we +gained the house, the hum of little voices was heard; and upon +approaching the open door, about forty children, who formed the +school, rose up, and commenced singing, “We make our obeisance to +you, ma’am,” to the tune of “L—a—w, Law;” while a parrot, +suspended from a beam, if she did not _sing_, at least +_screeched_ in chorus. After looking at these little negroes for +some time, and inspecting the simple decorations of their +school-room, we were ushered up stairs, and introduced to Miss +Austin’s two sisters. + +I cannot help speaking more fully of the polite behaviour of this +trio. I came among them a perfect stranger, my name even being +unknown, and in all probability never again to meet in this +world; but every little attention possible was lavished upon me, +the choicest produce of their garden tendered, and without the +least parade. I have mixed with society in a far higher grade, +where courtly manners prevail, and every art is tried to invest +each action with a polished grace; but often, very often, has +less native good-breeding, fewer sterling qualities of the mind +been displayed than I found in the sisters of “Old Road.” They +are not like the generality of persons in their line of life; +hospitality indeed is, I believe, a virtue which most of them +possess; but there was no aping of their betters, as is too +frequently the case with this class of people; no flying away, +when we came so suddenly upon them, to put on a brass chain, or a +string of glass beads; or to take off an untidy wrapper, to +enrobe themselves in a smart gown; their neat dresses and +snow-white collars, like beauty, needed not “the foreign aid of +ornament.” + +Many a beautiful tree grew around their humble dwelling, and many +a sweet-scented flower almost entered the open windows. When we +had rested for a short time, we proceeded to the garden, to see a +lime-tree. Knowing as I did the blighted state of these trees in +Antigua, I expected to see a diminutive shrub; what, then, was my +surprise, upon entering the little paddock, (for it had more the +appearance of that than a garden,) to see a noble tree, covering +the space of about fifty square feet, loaded with its fragrant +fruit to the very ground. Well worthy was it to be looked at! +well worthy to be praised by an abler pen than mine!—no +indefinite article could be used to this shrub; it must be called +_the_ lime tree, and nothing else. While looking, again and +again, at this beautiful tree—pressing its odorous leaves, and +inhaling the scent of its golden fruit, the youngest sister +remarked, “The archdeacon was here the other day, to catechise +the children, and upon seeing this tree, said it looked as if the +blessing of God was upon it.” And in truth it does appear so, for +it flourishes on in its beauty in the midst of a burning sand, +whilst most of its species are blighted and seared. + +After leaving the lime-tree, we returned to the house and heard +the children read a chapter in the Bible, and repeat the gospel, +which they did very correctly, although some of them had not +numbered their fifth year, thus proving the pains their tutoress +takes with them; and then, putting up with our disappointment, +left for home. As we were passing the church, Mr. Sexton appeared +to have altered his mind in some degree, for (but with a very +indifferent grace, it must be owned) he condescended to open the +church door, and allow us entrance. The church, which is composed +of hewn stone, is built in the form of a cross, and is noted for +being the first place of public worship erected in Antigua. There +is nothing very remarkable in the interior; the walls are plain +white, and the floor paved with brick; but it is a quiet little +church, where the good people of that neighbourhood may worship +their God in peace. Over the altar is an old painting of Moses +and Aaron in their robes; and under the communion table reposes +the ashes of him who may be called the founder of the church; for +he gave the land, and liberally contributed towards its erection. +This was Col. Rowland Williams, who, as before-mentioned, was +celebrated for his various good qualities, as well as humanity, +in a period when the West Indies were generally enveloped in +moral darkness. The epitaph upon his tomb-stone is inscribed in +Latin; but as many of my readers no doubt prefer the English +translation, I will insert it, which I am enabled to do through +the kindness of the Rev. H. G. Hall. + + Here safely lie in Mother Earth + The mortal remains of Rowland Williams. + We are but dust and ashes! + He was the first male infant of European extraction + Lawfully born in this island. + When he attained to manhood, he conducted himself + As a man, + Being equally in military, as in civil life, an honour + As well to himself, as to his connexions. + In the field, he was a bold commander; + In the senate, he was a wise councillor: + What avails strength without wisdom? + He was a loyal subject of his king, a protector of + His country, + A true father to his children, hospitable to his guests, + A friend to his friends. In a word, + He was all things to all men. + Throughout his whole life he displayed, + With health of body, soundness of mind. + Possessing the strictest honesty and much wealth. + He fell a tardy victim to death, + Having survived about eighty years. + He was buried the twentieth day of ——— 1713. + Since it is certain that we must die, + We should without delay take warning against it. + +Near the altar is an elegant and chastely ornamented white marble +tablet, erected to the memory of Mrs. Williams, daughter of Sir +Patrick Ross, K. C. B., and wife of the Hon. Rowland E. Williams, +the great-great-grandson of the above Col. Williams. This +exemplary lady died at the early age of 32; respected by all +classes, and deeply regretted by those who were honoured with her +friendship. The following lines are engraved on the tablet:— + + “Death, ere thou canst claim another, + Fair, and good, and wise as she, + Time shall hurl his dart at _thee_.”[63] + +After copying these inscriptions, and casting one more glance +round this rustic church, we returned to our carriage, and +proceeded on our journey to “Crab Hill.” Before relating the rest +of our adventures, I must remark, that the line of conduct +pursued by the sexton of “Old Road” is not common in Antigua, +such officials being generally very obliging. + +Near to “Old Road” is a pond, which is formed by the hand of +nature into a complete bason. It is surrounded with some fine and +noble trees, which form a screen, and is embellished with a +variety of odoriferous flowers, which bloom and die unknown and +uncared for, illustrating those beautiful lines of Gray’s— + + “Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, + And waste its sweetness on the desert air.” + +Near to this spot is a natural excavation, called the “Devil’s +Punch Bowl,” which, although I had often heard it spoken of as +something very grand, did not cause me much pleasure or +astonishment, being, in fact, nothing more than a deep hole, with +a little turbid water at the bottom. + +About a stone’s throw from “Old Road,” on the top of the hill, +stands a Moravian settlement, with its neat white house and +chapel; there is always an air of comfort around these +settlements, which speaks to an English heart; and the Moravians +themselves are a quiet, well-meaning people, diligent in the +discharge of their ministerial duties, and earnestly desiring +their people’s welfare. May they meet their reward! + +After passing the fort of “Old Road,” the next place which +attracted our notice was the salt ponds, with their fringe of +mangrove trees and little islands. Innumerable soldier crabs were +hurrying to and fro,—some looking out for a new coat of mail, in +the form of a new shell, and others hunting for their prey, which +is very frequently the weak and small of their own class. The sea +now burst upon our sight, and added to the beauty of the scene; +its surface was as smooth and clear as a mirror, except where the +breakers played over a long reef, which runs far out from shore, +and threw up their lovely but dangerous spray in measured +showers,—no wonder the ancients fabled their goddess of beauty to +have sprung from this sparkling object. + +After passing the rectory of St. Mary’s, our road lay through +copses, whose overhanging boughs formed a beautiful and verdant +arch. The sunbeams, penetrating through them, danced in sportive +glee upon the chequered ground, while between the boles we caught +picturesque glimpses of the ocean. I could not help noticing one +peculiarity in passing through these woods, that almost every +tree is decorated with that species of parasite called wild +pines;[64] the great varieties of cactus was also remarkable. + +After journeying along the road for about a mile, we came in view +of “Crab Hill,” noted for the dangers it presents to travellers, +should their horses prove restive, or night overtake them. Here +again we alighted, determined that nothing should escape our +gaze. The road rises about 180 feet from the sea, in an abrupt +precipice clothed with the dwarf acacia and “milk-bush”—those +ever-to-be-found productions of Antigua. A low wall of stones, +loosely piled, borders the edge of the road, which would prove +but a sorry guard against any accident. In the steepest part of +the hill, we looked over, and watched in silence the beautiful +but treacherous waves, as they laved the rocky base of the +precipice. Here and there a blasted parasite clung to it, and +feebly strove to hide its ugliness; and one or two sea-birds sat +watching for their prey, and pluming their rumpled feathers. At +the sound of our voices they started, and after turning upon us +their bright quick eyes for a moment, as if to ask why we +obtruded upon their solitude, flapped their wings and soared +screaming away through the vaulted ether. + +We enjoyed the scene for some time longer, and then remembering +we were still many miles from the capital, and the sun had almost +completed his daily journey, we resumed our seats and set our +faces towards home. A ride of a few more minutes brought us to a +place called “Sandy Valley,” which proved not to be, like some +places, a _misnomer_, for there is sand enough for any one’s +taste, and fine glittering sand it is too. The sea bounds one +side of the valley, and a stagnant marsh the other. + +Leaving this, we passed by the valley church and school, +cultivated cane-pieces and neat-looking “great houses,” negro +huts and provision grounds, and an open country, for we were +rapidly leaving the mountains behind us. On our right, we passed +a methodist settlement, and another belonging to the Moravians, +and hard by a fresh-water spring; but I began to feel very tired, +and consequently did not find out beauties which otherwise might +have attracted my attention. A pretty sloping hill lay before us, +and as we passed, the “full-orb’d moon” rose above it, and + + “O’er the night her silver mantle threw.” + +A sudden turn in the road placed her lovely face behind us, and +languidly reclining in a snug corner, I mused in silence upon the +beautiful scenes I had passed through in our pilgrimage, until +roused by a bustle in the road, just at the entrance of the +capital, where men and boys, long poles and ropes, and that very +respectable quadruped, dignified by Antiguans with cognomination +of “a cattle,” formed the _figurantes_. The poor creature had +been landed from an American vessel that morning, at a +neighbouring bay, and exhausted, I suppose, with the discomfits +of its voyage, had fallen down on its way to the butcher’s. I +don’t think its sufferings were of long continuance, for the next +morning I heard the black bellman announcing to the public, that +“A fine fat ’merican ox was slaughtered at the shambles of +‘Seizar’ James.”[65] + +But to conclude our adventures; we rapidly passed through the +grass-market and the town, heard the jingle of many a piano and +the squeak of many a flute, (I mean no disparagement to the +performers,) almost ran over a pig or two, who, spite of a late +prohibition, were walking out to enjoy the cool of the evening; +and at length safely alighted at our residence in “Spring +Gardens.” + +In the course of an hour or two, I willingly resigned myself to +the dominion of sleep, and dreamt of mountains and +thunder-storms, springs and fairies, precipices and lime-trees. + + + ------ + +[62] “The highest mountains are not more than 1500 feet above the +level of the sea.” + +[63] The above lines are taken from an epitaph written upon the +Dowager Countess of Pembroke, sister to the celebrated Sir Philip +Sidney one of the favourite courtiers of Queen Elizabeth, and +author of a romance entitled “Arcadia,” which he dedicated to his +sister the Countess. On this account it is frequently called “the +Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia.” This lady was noted for her +great learning, in an age when classical knowledge was the common +accomplishments of the court ladies. Her principal work was a +translation of “Antonius,” a French tragedy. + + “Underneath this marble hearse, + Lies the subject of all verse. + Sidney’s sister, Pembroke’s mother. + Death, ere thou hast kill’d another, + Fair, and learn’d, and good as she, + Time shall throw a dart at thee.” + +[64] There is one great peculiarity in this plant which deserves +notice. The leaves are cellular, and so formed as to make sure +reservoirs for the drops of rain, which fall into them from the +top, through small openings. The seeds are furnished with a downy +substance, by which means they float through the air, and take +root upon any part of a tree or shrub upon which they chance to +fall. The leaves always grow erect, by which means they safely +hold the rain water. Dampier mentions piercing these plants with +his knife, and catching the water in his hat when suffering from +thirst. + +[65] It may be proper to note, that such events are not of +everyday occurrence in Antigua. Not more than two “cattle” are +slaughtered in the capital in a week, and when such deed is +committed the bellman announces it to the public. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + + + The seasons at Antigua—Heavy rains—Long droughts—The + water-merchant—A fortunate shower—Drought in 1837—Desolate + appearance of the country—Famishing cattle—Definition of “_fine + rains_”—Anecdote—Heavy shower—Joy—Earthquakes—1835—Meteors— + Dressing for the ball—The alarm—The ball-room—Hurricanes— + Devastations. + +The seasons at Antigua may be divided into the _wet_ and _dry_. +The wet season generally commences in July, and continues, with +intermissions, until October; and in February we look for it +again. The rains in England are but summer dews, comparatively +speaking, to the torrents which the overcharged clouds pour down +upon these “Isles of the West.” No one but an actual observer can +form any idea of the violence of these storms. In a moment the +streets are inundated, and the falling of the large drops upon +the shingled roofs of the houses is quite deafening. + +But at the same time these rains constitute the Antiguan’s +greatest blessing, for not only do they revive the parched and +thirsty earth, cool the atmosphere, promote the growth of the +sugar cane, and dress nature in her loveliest garb; but from +having (as before mentioned) only two or three fresh-water +springs in the island, and those far inland, their chief supplies +of that necessary fluid are derived from these showers. Large +cisterns are dug and carefully lined with some kind of plaster, +either terrace, brought from Monserrat or St. Christopher’s, or +Roman cement, to contain it; and as rain water has the property +of purifying itself, it is generally translucent and wholesome. + +Antigua has, however, at various times, suffered long and +dreadfully from drought. In 1779, the long want of rain was +painfully felt; and in 1789 it occurred again, but with redoubled +severity. Famine, it was supposed, would be the result. As many +as five thousand head of horned cattle are said to have died; and +men and women fell down in the streets from exhaustion. I have +felt what it is to suffer from this cause in a small degree; the +water we have been obliged to drink when the cisterns were dried +up was nauseous in the extreme—only stern necessity would have +induced persons to partake of it. + +Sometimes, when nearly all the ponds in the island are dry, (as +was the case in 1833,) it becomes necessary to despatch vessels +to the nearest islands for a supply of water. This season of +general distress proves, at times, a rich harvest to those +adventurers who possess, or can hire, a small vessel, and load it +with water, for which they charge very high. + +A circumstance occurred in the above-mentioned year, in relation +to this practice, which it may be worth while to relate. During a +long succession of dry weather, and when there was but very +little water to be found in Antigua, one of these +_water-merchants_, if I may be allowed to use that expression, +went to Monserrat (a small island a few hours’ sail from Antigua) +for a cargo of this useful beverage. Upon his return he asked an +extravagant price for it; the poor people murmured; but what was +to be done? Water must be had; and in the end the hard-earned +wages of many a one found their way into the pockets of this +“Aquarius.” + +Finding his profits so great this time, and the dry weather +continuing, he determined to make another trip, and if possible, +add a little more of the “Honey of Hybla” to his stock. He +arrived at Antigua with his elementary cargo in the evening, and +immediately commenced his traffic. But in this instance he +outwitted himself; for raising his demands as the necessity of +water appeared the greater, the people were unable to comply, and +determined to wait until morning, in hopes of procuring some at a +cheaper rate. + +In the meantime the clouds began to darken, and appeared to rest +upon the top of the mountains. The wind whistled mournfully among +the trees—the air became chill—the mercury fell, and in a few +moments the windows of heaven were opened, and the long-looked +and wished-for rain descended, not in measured drops, “soft and +slow,” but in torrents. Now was the season of exultation; every +vessel capable of containing fluids was put in requisition, and +the mortified _water-merchant_ was obliged to get rid of his +cargo the best way he could. Near to our residence is a kennel, +which in dry weather is totally devoid of moisture, but during +these heavy rains it becomes a small rivulet. To this stream then +rushed a motley group; men, women, and children, dogs and poultry +—all participating in the general joy; even the swinish multitude +grunted forth their approbation, and ran to lave their snouts in +its cool waters. + +It was laughable to see the little black children as they +scampered about, shaking their hands, and screaming with delight +as they enjoyed their natural “shower bath,” which proved a more +effective one than even Mrs. O’Flinn’s. Talking of “shower baths” +brings to my recollection an anecdote related of a late merchant +of St. John’s. + +Mr. B———, the merchant in question, had been for some time +suffering from indisposition, and his medical attendant advised +him to try the renovating influence of a shower-bath. +Accordingly, such a machine was duly procured, and the next +morning put into requisition. In the course of the day the +physician called to ascertain the state of his patient after his +ablution, and with winning voice, inquired how he liked his +“shower-bath.” “Oh, doctor!” replied the sick man, with rueful +look and lengthened visage, “I verily thought I should have +fainted, the shock was so great.” “Indeed,” said Dr. M———, in his +usual bland manner, “I am sorry it had such an effect; why did +you not follow the Irishman’s plan, and take your umbrella?” The +next forenoon brought with it the customary medical visitor, who +again inquired into the merits of the bath. “Why,” quoth the +invalid, “I cannot say the shock was so great, but I do not think +I shall derive any benefit from it; in fact, only my feet +received a wetting this time, for I followed your advice _and +carried my umbrella!_” + +But to return to the subject of droughts. Severe as the drought +was in 1833, it was nothing compared to what we suffered in 1837, +from the same cause; and, indeed, for the greater part of the +preceding year. The old people remarked that they never +remembered its being so dry since 1789, (which was particularly +distinguished as “the year of the drought.”) What miseries the +Antiguans then suffered, I am of course from experience unable to +say; but if they exceeded those endured in that eventful year, +1837, they must have been terrible indeed. + +Almost every pond and cistern in the island was dried up, +scarcely a blade of grass was to be seen; and when walking over +pasture land, it crackled beneath the feet as if it had been +baked. The poor cattle presented a most deplorable appearance, +wandering about as they did in search of food and water, and +expressing their urgent wants, by faint, melancholy lowings. + +The poorer class of inhabitants, also, felt it very much, obliged +as they were to drink the spring water, which is but very little +better than salt. The little fresh water they were able to +procure occasioned them great labour, for after toiling hard all +the day, they were obliged to devote the greater part of the +night to fetching it from distant parts of the islands, carrying +it in tubs upon their heads. + +It was a pitiful sight to see the country, it presented such a +scene of barrenness. The cane-pieces looked burnt up; nothing was +to be seen but dry and withered leaves, in place of their +accustomed rich green; the provision grounds became mere wastes, +and all agricultural employments were at a stand. + +Days and weeks thus rolled on, and still the same blue cloudless +sky—the same burning sun. Or if a cloud did arise, and skim the +vast concave, and the hopes of men grew strong, it passed away +without giving the long-looked-for blessing. Again, and the scene +changed. Huge dense clouds might be seen, piled one upon another, +and slowly extending themselves over the sky until they reached +the zenith; the upper ones looking as if crowned with snowflakes, +while those nearer the earth were black and heavy like a +“funereal pall,” and appeared as if about to discharge their +burdens. “Now we shall have it!” was the cry; “at last, we shall +have rain!” Delusive hopes! doomed to be overthrown; these again +passed away, and left no boon. + +Every day presented appearances more and more alarming, the +little supply of water was rapidly diminishing, and men and +brutes were becoming exhausted by thirst. Days were set apart by +the legislature for public prayers and fasts, and a sum of money +granted for the purpose of hiring vessels to go to Monserrat for +water. This water was sold by the pail, but from being brought +over in molasses’ casks, it tasted extremely disagreeable. + +The late Sir Evan Murray McGregor, then governor of Barbados, +hearing of the necessities of the Antiguans, (over whom he had +formerly held sway in the character of commander-in-chief of the +Leeward Islands,) sent a man-of-war with a cargo of this precious +element from that island; but under some pretence or the other, +it was refused by the legislature. The cause of this +extraordinary line of conduct was said to be this. Sir Evan was +not generally a favourite governor with the aristocratic party: +he was a man of strict principles, and one who poised the scales +of justice with an impartial hand between rich and poor, white +and coloured. He would not herd with the _great people_—go to +their houses, eat their corn-fed mutton and turtle, drink their +_Château Margeau_ and Champagne, and then wink at their +proceedings, and gloss over their errors, like some of his +predecessors. Upon this account he was not liked, and when in the +kindness of his heart he sent the present of water, it was +refused in a very cold manner. Some of the members of the +assembly were against this arrangement, and said, for the honour +of Antigua, that they would rather have lost double the amount +than it should have been returned. + +But to return more particularly to the drought. Not only did the +inhabitants suffer from want of water to drink, and for general +use, but the country provisions, such as yams, potatoes, &c., +upon which the negroes principally depend, unavoidably failed; +and as all importations were raised so much in price, the lower +classes were almost starved. + +The planters endured great inconvenience, not only from the +dryness of the soil, which ruined the sugar-canes, but also from +having to pay the same number of labourers their regular wages, +without having anything for them to do, yet at the same time +being obliged to retain them, lest when the wet season did come, +and their assistance was really required, they might not be +procurable. + +I heard a circumstance related which occasioned a smile, even in +this time of distress. A certain good lady of St. John’s sent one +of her domestics to the sea side for a pail of salt water. It +happened to be ebb-tide,[66] and upon the servant returning, she +exclaimed to her mistress, the greatest astonishment being +depicted upon her countenance, “Why missis, war you tink? It dry +so till sea himself dry now. War eber we go do, me no no.” + +Oh! how anxiously did we watch the barometer day after day, in +hopes of its indicating rain. The inhabitants of the different +parts of the island meeting one another, the first question asked +was, “What weather have you had? do you think we are likely to +get any rain?” + +A proprietor of a large estate in a distant part of the island, +but who resided in the capital, met one morning a labourer of his +coming from the country, and of course asked what news there was, +and how they were coming on. “So, so, massa,” returned the negro— +“we hab fine rain last night.” “Say you so, my fine fellow?” +quoth his master, his heart enlarged at the prospect of his canes +flourishing, “well, here’s a quarter-dollar for you, as a reward +for your good news.” + +In the course of the same day, the manager of the estate arrived +in town, and upon seeing the proprietor, was congratulated by him +upon the “fine rains” he had so fortunately experienced in the +country. “_Fine rains!_” said the manager, in surprise, “do I +hear you aright, or are you joking? (although I think you’ll find +it no joke in the end;) we have had no rain at all, and I came +into town this morning to consult with you upon the subject; for +from the excessive drought, the canes are all burnt up, the +cattle dying in all directions, and the labourers themselves are +dropping down exhausted from want of water.” + +The proprietor stormed and raved—that fellow Cato told me you had +had fine rains last night; and I was so pleased to hear it, that— +that—I actually gave the black rascal a quarter-dollar for his +information. “Here, John! go and call that fellow back,” turning +to a domestic, “and tell him to make haste—do you hear?” In the +course of a short time Cato returned, rolling up his eyes until +only the whites (or rather yellows) were visible, holding his +little flannel cap in one hand, and in the other, what was once +designated as a _pipe_, and uttering a mysterious noise, which +was intended as half interrogative, half conciliatory, waited +until his master, who was puffing and blowing, and looking +“unutterable things,” should speak. + +At length the storm burst—the torrent descended. “How dare you +tell me such a story this morning, sirrah? How dare you, sir? +answer me!” “War ’tory, massa,” inquired the self-convicted, but +waggish negro, the left foot at the same time performing +countless evolutions, and the flannel cap twirled round the thumb +with increased velocity. “What story? you arrant rogue! why, the +story you told me this morning about having fine rains in the +country.” “Me no tell no ’tory, massa,” retorted the negro, +determined to stand his master’s ire undaunted, and, like many +other guilty ones, striving to have the last word. “Me no tell no +’tory; war for me go tell ’tory? me no ’peak de trute.” “You +speak the truth, indeed! Here’s the manager, who tells me there +has been no rain at all, but, on the contrary, that my stock are +all dying from want of water; and yet you dared to tell me you +had fine rains last night.” “Yes, massa, and so we _hab fine +rain_; me tell de trute. An more den dat, de rain _fine so_ till— +t-i-ll (prolonging the word) me hardly able to see him, he so +fine!” Both owner and manager found it difficult to maintain +their gravity at this definition of _fine rains_; while Cato, +with a grin of self-congratulation at having so adroitly got +himself out of a bad scrape; and grasping more firmly his +quarter-dollar, which he imagined to be in some danger, set off +for his own residence. + +“Hope deferred, maketh the heart sick;” and so indeed it was with +us, when day after day passed, and still no appearance of rain. +But One, who does not “willingly grieve the children of men,” +remembered us in our great affliction, and when we least thought +of it, sent us the needful blessing. I never saw such a fall of +rain before; and many of the oldest inhabitants said the same +thing. In about an hour from the time it first commenced, the +streets were streaming with water; indeed, the one in which we +reside looked more like a small river than anything else, for not +a vestige of dry ground appeared. + +Report said two or three children were carried into the sea by +the violence of the stream which rushed through the streets; but +upon further inquiry, I found, as is generally the case, report +did not speak truth. It originated from an old woman, seeing some +chickens (which had been brought to market for sail, with their +legs tied together) floating down the stream, when she exclaimed, +“Eh! eh! look de fowl pic’nee;[67] he sure he go get drowned!” +This travelled, and lost nothing by its peregrinations, until at +length it became magnified into the loss of several children. + +In a very short time, all the ponds and cisterns in the island, +which for so long a time had been perfectly dry, were filled to +overflowing, and care and distress gave way to joy and +thankfulness. + +About June, July, and August, Antigua is liable to be visited by +storms of thunder, and lightning, and earthquakes. The lightning +in this part of the globe is very vivid; and the thunder bellows +through the air in terrific peals, every hill and mountain +reverberating the sound. Often have I seen the lightning playing +down the spiral branches of the cocoa-nut trees, presenting a +sublime but awful appearance. + +But although these storms are so violent, and consequently so +harrowing to the feelings, they are nothing in comparison to the +earthquakes with which we are sometimes visited. Every nerve is +shaken by these terrible convulsions of nature; the very brute +creation seem to feel their influence. + +In April, 1690, Antigua suffered very severely from this cause. +Nearly the whole town of St. John’s was destroyed; and the +sugar-works upon the various plantations in the country almost +all overthrown. In many parts of the island, the solid earth was +rent open; rocks were hurled from their places, and the very +mountains defaced. The line of hills which skirts the harbour +suffered from the concussion in a remarkable manner: one of them +was rent completely in twain; and now, after the lapse of so many +years, presents the appearance of two heights, with a deep dingle +running between them. Soon after this awful occurrence, two +comets made their appearance. + +The first time I felt an earthquake, I took it to be the approach +of a heavy carriage; but by the increased, rumbling and tremour +of the earth, was quickly undeceived. It was but a slight shock, +however, and I began to think an earthquake was not so dreadful +as my fancy had depicted it to be. + +It was reserved for the year 1833 to prove to me what an +earthquake really was, and make me fully aware of its terrifying +powers; and although nearly nine years have rolled by since that +period, and consequently the remembrance of it has lost some part +of its vividness, yet the occurrences of that night has left so +deep an impression upon my mind, that it will never be wholly +obliterated. + +Between eight and nine in the evening, a shock of an earthquake +was felt; but as it did not continue long, no particular +attention was paid to it. We had retired to-bed, and were in our +first sleep, when we were suddenly awakened by that peculiar +hollow noise which is always the forerunner of one of these +convulsions. The noise became louder and louder; the earth heaved +to and fro; the house shook from its very foundation; and books, +glasses, and other light articles fell from their resting-places. +This lasted with undiminished force: but a few minutes elapsed +before another violent shock was felt. In the midst of this, the +church-bell commenced ringing, and drums beating an alarm, while +the whole face of the heavens, glowing with a fiery red, soon +informed us that a conflagration augmented the horrors of the +night. + +There were twenty-one distinct shocks felt between twelve at +night and five in the morning, but the earth continued in a +tremour for twenty-four hours afterwards. Thus it was we passed +through that wearisome night; but when morning broke in the east, +and the bright sun arose, and chased away the clouds of darkness, +how many hearts swelled with gratitude towards Him who had so +mercifully protected us through its dangers. + +The fire broke out at an estate called Otto’s, situated in the +suburbs of St. John’s. It was supposed by many to have been +occasioned by a meteor striking a wooden building, which +supposition acquires more credence from the following fact. An +elderly female, of the name of Moore, who had acquired some +notoriety from her preaching, both in England (particularly in +Cateaton street, London) and the West Indies, was sitting up +late, on the night in question, employed in writing her +“Memoirs.” She mentions having seen a particular appearance in +the heavens, which she described as looking like a bright scarf +of fire gradually gliding down the sky in the direction of the +estate, until, upon apparently gaining the earth, it vanished. + +The attorney of the above-mentioned estate also witnessed a +similar phenomenon a few weeks afterwards. In this instance, the +meteor descended upon the branch of a cocoa-nut tree, which grew +near his house, and set it on fire; and had it not been for the +courage and activity of a negro who was present, and who +succeeded in felling the tree, great danger might have resulted +from it. + +Most of the Leeward Islands suffered from earthquakes the same +night; but at St. Kitts, (about sixty miles to the west of +Antigua,) they appear to have felt them more severely than in the +other islands. A ball was held that evening at the Court House, +and the company were dressing for the occasion when the first +shock was felt. + +Two young ladies, the daughters of a respectable merchant of +Bassterre, (the capital of St. Kitts,) met with so great a +fright, that they were obliged to forego paying their court to +the “dancing muse.” The duties of the toilet were scarcely +finished, when, as before observed, the earthquake commenced. In +a moment the ceiling of the apartment was rent, and, as they +supposed, a heavy fall of rain penetrated through the aperture, +and extinguished the lights. + +The youngest of the ladies, terrified at the concussion, and not +knowing the extent of their danger, threw herself upon the +ground, calling loudly for help. The trembling domestics quickly +came with a lamp, when, horror of horrors! they found the +delicate white satin in which their young mistress was enrobed, +completely saturated with _blood_! The other members of the +family, alarmed by the screams of the servants, assembled in the +room, and with eagerness inquired where the wound was. This was +not to be discovered; and, accordingly, another elucidation of +the mystery was sought for, and no long period elapsed before it +was found. Their father, as before observed, was a merchant, and +the attic over the room the young ladies occupied had been +converted into a temporary wine-store. From the severe shock of +the earthquake, a cask of port wine got staved; and what had the +appearance of _blood_, was nothing less than its contents which +so liberally bedewed the ball-dress of the fair sufferer. + +But the first shock did not intimidate many, however, and +consequently the ball-room was crowded with visitants. “Nods and +becks, and wreathed smiles,” flew around; innumerable lamps +illumined the room, but their blaze was eclipsed by the radiance +emitted from the dark brilliant eyes of the Houris, who, on the +“light fantastic toe,” glided through the mazes of a quadrille. +All was joy fulness, and every heart responded to the genial +influence of the scene, when another shock more violent, and of +longer continuance, converted this feeling of pleasure into the +opposite one of woe. Instead of the lively scene described, all +was now tumult and distress. Some of the ladies fainted, others +threw themselves upon their knees, while the greater number +rushed out of the apartment, which now looked hateful to them, +and hastened to the beach. + +Shock followed shock in rapid succession, and the poor +“Kittefonians” thought their little island was doomed to +destruction. Nor was it from the quaking of the earth that all +their terror proceeded; the sea rose so high, and the waves +rolled in such a tumultuous manner, that an inundation was +feared. In such a situation the inhabitants were almost paralyzed +with fear; some went on board the different ships in the harbour, +while others remained all night upon the beach, exposed to the +“pitiless pelting” of the storm. + +I chanced to visit St. Kitts a short time after this awful +occurrence. The inhabitants were still trembling from +apprehension; and upon the slightest motion of the floor, the +colour fled from the lips of many of the fair sex, and left them +of a pallid white. I was present, upon one occasion, when a +gentleman requested a young lady to favour him with a song. “Oh, +no, sir! you must excuse me,” said she, lengthening her very +pretty face, and throwing an air of gravity into her countenance; +“we never sing since the earthquake.” If no other good was +effected, it had the power of alienating her mind (for a season +at least) from some of the vanities of the world, if a simple +song can be called one. + +Another dreadful visitation of elementary strife, to which +Antigua, as well as the other West Indian islands, is liable in +the months of August, September, and October, are the hurricanes, +or _tornadoes_. When they come, they are armed with every terror— +rain, thunder, lightning, and sometimes earthquakes, attend their +progress. The sea feels their influence, and, by its swelling and +roaring, expresses it— + + “The waves behind impel the waves before, + Wide-rolling, foaming high, they tumble to the shore.” + +The years 1670, 1681, 1707, 1740, 1772, 1780, and 1792, are those +in which the severest hurricanes have occurred at Antigua. The +hurricane of 1670 was most memorable. It raged with intense +severity for four hours, and in that short space of time +destroyed the new town of St. John’s, which had been rebuilt +since the French invasion, and levelled almost every house with +the ground. The ships lost in the harbour were the “Robert,” of +Ireland, William Cocks, master; the “Merchants’ Adventure,” of +the same place; the “Margaret Pink,” from Tangiers, and another +large ship called the “Five Islands,” besides several smaller +vessels which had come there for shelter. A wreck was also driven +ashore, in which was found the corpse of a boy, some palm oil, +and elephants’ teeth, supposed to be from Guinea. That of 1707 +was also very severe, being considered one of the most violent +ever experienced in the Leeward West India Islands, although +Antigua suffered more than any of the neighbouring colonies. It +blew down houses and entire sugar-works, tore up the largest +trees by the roots, and devastated whole fields of sugar-canes; +indeed, so tremendous was the hurricane, that it caused an almost +general destruction. The oldest inhabitants of the present day +unite, however, in saying that they never experienced one so +awful as that of 1835. + +About four in the afternoon it commenced to look very wild, +although the wind was moderate; the sky was of a deep saffron +colour, and the sun shone with a fiery red. Between five and six +in the evening the wind rose, and continued increasing until +about seven, when the havoc began. + +Houses were levelled in an instant with the ground; many of the +small dwellings were completely lifted from off their slight +foundations, and carried by the wind to some distance. One old +woman in particular had a narrow escape of her life. The house in +which she resided was raised about five feet from the ground by +the violence of the wind, hurried along with the greatest +velocity for about the space of twenty feet across the road, and +then placed in what was once a pond. Luckily, however, for the +good old dame, the pond had been filled up, or, in all +probability, her aerial flight would have finished her course of +existence in this transitory sphere. + +The hurricane raged with unabated force until a little before +nine, tearing up large trees by the roots, and snapping asunder +others as if they had been twigs; when, suddenly, in a moment, +the wind dropped. Not a sound was to be heard—not a single breeze +was abroad: A deep, solemn silence reigned around—a silence which +harrowed up every feeling of the soul, for it spoke of dire +mishaps. + +This continued for some time, when again the wind returned with +redoubled fury, as if its strength was recruited by the short +respite it had gained, and shook the very earth. The hurricane +raged until the sun got up, and then slowly and sullenly it sank +to rest; until towards evening, nothing was to be heard but its +sobs and sighs. + +A great many small vessels belonging to Antigua were sunk during +the gale, and many poor mortals that night found— + + “Their death in the rushing blast, + Their grave in the yawning sea.” + + + ------ + +[66] Although in Antigua the tide does not ebb and flow more than +from six to twelve inches in ordinary instances. + +[67] “Pic’nee” is the negro term for children. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + + + Description of the town of St. John’s, the capital of Antigua— + Situation—Arrangement of the streets—Hucksters—Houses—Springs— + Small shops—Stores of the retail dealers—Grog-shops—Merchants’ + stores and lumber yards—Definition of lumber—Auction sales— + Scotch Row and Scotchmen—Incongruous display of goods—Fire in + 1797—Ruins—Fire in 1841—Its devastations. + +St. John’s, the capital of Antigua, is situated on the west side +of the island, and contains about 979 houses. It is built upon a +slight declivity, and commands a beautiful view of the harbour, +which is one of the prettiest in the West Indies. + +The town, which is well arranged, covers a space of about 150 +acres of land; most of the streets are wide and well-kept, and +intersect each other at right angles—the principal ones running +in a straight line down to the sea. There is one peculiarity +attending the construction of these streets, which is, that there +are no causeways; and consequently, the pedestrian traveller has +to elbow his way amid trucks and handbarrows, gigs, carriages, +and horsemen, droves of cattle, or cargoes of mules, just landed +from other countries, cattle-carts, or moving houses. + +At the corners of the different streets are seated hucksters, +(black or coloured women;)[68] some with their shallow trays, +containing cakes of all descriptions, parched ground nuts, (the +_arachis hypogœa_,) sugar-cakes, and other confections, and +varieties of fruits and vegetables; others have piles of cottons, +coloured calicoes, bright-tinted handkerchiefs, &c., placed by +them, or carefully spread along the sides of the most frequented +streets, to attract the eye of the passer-by. As most of the +Antiguan houses are raised a few feet from the ground, which +necessarily requires the use of a step or two, the hucksters are +very fond of monopolizing such appurtenances; and it is no +uncommon thing to be obliged to wait until they remove their +different wares, before you can enter the house, or else take the +chance of breaking your neck over heaps of potatoes, or come in +closer contact than is advisable with bottles of ginger-drink, or +pots and pans of gorgeous colours, from the well-known English +potteries. + +The houses are generally built of wood, painted of a white or +light stone colour, with bright green _jalousies_, or glass +windows and green Venetian blinds. The greater number have +covered galleries running along the sides or fronts of them, in +which the good people love to assemble in the cool of evening, +and while away the hours in converse sweet, or scan over the +island newspapers—two of which issue weekly from respective +presses, to enlighten the worthy inhabitants as to what is +passing in their little colony. + +Some of these dwellings are very commodious, and make a good +appearance, particularly when shaded by a few beautiful trees, or +standing, as many of them do, in a small garden, embellished with +Flora’s splendid children. But as for following any of the _five +orders_ in their architectural adornments, that is quite out of +the question; or at least, it is an order of their own invention +they prefer, and which may be called the Antiguan. + +Within these last few years, a few houses have been erected, with +low roofs and parapet walls; the usual plan is to have that +necessary part of the dwelling raised in the fashion of an +English barn, or an Egyptian pyramid. One peculiarity which +strikes the eye of a stranger in these dwellings, is the absence +of chimneys—the kitchens being, in most instances, detached from +the house; and the heat of the climate, as a matter of course, +renders all grates or stoves, and their accompanying flues, +unnecessary. + +Since the serious droughts in 1833, springs or wells have been +dug in various parts of the town, which, although the water is +brackish, are of great use for many domestic purposes, +particularly to the lower classes, who do not possess a cistern. +These springs have been lately modified by having water-engines +attached to them, and enclosed by a low wall and wooden +palisadings, painted of a bright sky-colour. Methinks, however, +that Master Sol will soon spoil their flaunting beauty. It is a +pity the directors of these improvements did not choose green +instead of the other colour; for, from the whiteness of the +streets, and the extreme glare of the sunbeams, we require +something to relieve and cool the eye; and much as we admire the +lovely tint of the heavens, light blue palings do not equally +fascinate our gaze. + +In different parts of the town are numbers of small shops, of +about six or eight feet square, in which varieties of trades are +carried on. In one may be seen a cobbler—no! I beg their pardon—a +_cordwainer_; himself shoeless, busily employed in forming, from +his not very fragrant materials, a pair of creaking high-heeled +boots, for the use of some black exquisite. A bunch of human hair +attached to the end of a long stick, and moving with every +breeze, bespeaks the abode of a barber and hair-dresser; while a +multiplicity of shreds of cloth, half-finished vests, a goose, +and other _et ceteras_, with a group of mortals seated _à la +Turque_, proves beyond doubt that the inmates are of that +particular class of beings, nine individuals of which are +required to form one ordinary man. Others, again, of the +receptacles of trade, are stocked with provisions, such as small +quantities of salt pork, corn, flour, candles, butter, (of the +consistence of honey,) a few dried peas, or horse-beans, and any +other little matters; while some contain _dry goods_, as it is +customary, in this island, to term all articles of drapery. Small +as these tenements are, many of them are divided by a lathed +partition, forming on one side a butcher’s shamble, where an +array of sheep’s heads, miserable specimens of legs of mutton, +and saffron-coloured pork, may be met with, which, carnivorous as +it must be allowed we all are, few like their eyes to dwell upon; +while, on the other side, gown-pieces, and “blue checks,” with +other “odds and ends,” claim the frequenters’ attention. + +Next to these small shops, come the stores of the retail +provision dealers, which are upon a larger scale, and of course +better supplied with goods. Then there are the _grog shops_, as +they are termed, where to the heterogeneous mass of eatables, +crockery, and tin-ware, is added the more exciting articles of +brandy, rum, gin, porter, wine, &c.; and where of an evening, +amid fumes of every description, (from Yanky cheese to Virginia +tobacco,) and dim smoky oil lamps, parties of soldiers, sailors, +dingy-looking blacks, and unfortunate females—ay! and men of +better rank of life, who ought to blush to be found in such +places—love to congregate, and barter health and money, for dirty +goblets of those fiery liquids. + +When passing, in an evening, these _store-houses for crime_, they +forcibly bring to my mind thoughts of Pandemonium. The dusky +lamps, at one moment sending forth their long flaming tongues, +the next, only serving to make darkness visible; the crowds of +negroes, with their gleaming eyes and glittering teeth, +presenting the appearance of so many attending demons; the groups +of white soldiers or sailors, looking more pallid in the +flickering lamp-light, and greedily quaffing the deleterious +fluid, which, sooner or later, preys upon their very vitals—and +then the various sounds of cursing and quarrelling, idiotic +laughter, discordant singing, and incoherent talking, as the +miserable frequenters arrive at the different stages of +intoxication,—conspire to render it more like a council-chamber +of tormented spirits, than the self-chosen place of amusement of +rational creatures. + +The next grade of these places of merchandise are, the merchants’ +stores or warehouses, with their attached lumber-yards. These +are, in most instances, large, dismal-looking buildings, whose +unwashed rafters afford safe protection to innumerable spiders of +every size, or present a desirable spot for the freemasons (the +ichneumon bee) to erect their clayey dwellings upon. One corner +of these vast emporiums is latticed off, forming a +counting-house, decorated with a coat of white, green, or yellow +paint, and shewing its chequers of red tape, for the purpose of +sticking orders, letters, or bank-notices for payments, due at +the Colonial or West India Bank. Here, on a high-legged stool, of +dingy look, sits the merchant, dressed in his round, white +jacket, snowy pantaloons, Panama or Paget hat; and, with pen in +hand, and a pinch of _Lundy-foot_ between his fingers, (to assist +his ideas, I suppose,) calculates the probabilities of his +_’specs_, which in other days afforded such golden harvests as to +give rise to the belief, that the streets in the West Indies were +paved with doubloons and dollars. + +But let it not be imagined that this worthy and numerous class +employ all their business-hours in calculating their gains and +losses, poring over the leaves of a dusty ledger, or puzzling +their brains over their “bank accounts.” Oh! no, no—the Antiguan +merchants are far too wise for that—many a bowl of “pepper-punch” +is brewed; many a long cork of approved brand is drawn, and the +“rosy red” _Vin de Bordeaux_ is poured into the tendered crystal; +and many a bottle of champagne, or “Tennent’s pale ale,” is +unwired, uncorked, and its creamy excellence effused for them. +Nor is the tongue idle; well-seasoned jests and brilliant +repartees abound; news is discussed, wit flies like arrows, and +many a rosy face grows more roseate, and many a laughing eye +becomes dewy before they part. + +But I must say something more about the stores—what a scene of +confusion they present to the unaccustomed eye!—what varied and +multiplied articles do they display! In one part are hogsheads of +salt cod, herrings, and other salted fish; bins of Indian corn, +rice, peas, and salt; flour, tobacco, barrels of blacking, and +kegs of lard. In another part may be found barrels of beef and +mess-pork; hogsheads of prime Cumberland hams, kits of ox +tongues, and barrels of biscuits; sparkling Moselle, hock, +seltzer-water, and lamp-oil; preserved meats and soups, and kegs +of crackers; pitch, tar, rosin, and oats; block-tin tureens, +spirits of turpentine, and Cognac brandy; crates of earthenware, +rose nails, and hogsheads of tin-ware; with London pickles, +agricultural implements, and hair-brooms. On another side of the +store lie huddled together hogsheads of Barclay’s brown stout, +boxes of soap, bundles of wood-hoops, and cases of gilded +cornices; boxes of raisins and currants, paving flags, and masts +and oars; firkins of Cork butter, hogsheads of lime, and patent +corkscrews; Hyson teas, Durham mustard, loaf-sugar, and Havannah +cigars; potatoes, onions, Bologna sausage, and blacksmiths’ +coals; artificers’ tools, anti-corrosion paint, currycombs, and +_gold watches_; the whole wound up with Rowland’s Macassar oil, +floating soap, and quack medicines, consisting of Morrison’s +pills, and Swain’s Panacea, which, if we believe the labels, are +to cure every ill “that flesh is heir to;” while from the ceiling +dangle in graceful negligence, coils of rope, and horses’ +halters. + +To prove to any of my readers who may be sceptical of the truth +of such a _various_ assemblage of goods, as I have stated the +merchant’s stores contain, I will give a _correct copy_ of a +cargo handed about to the different merchants, as brought by an +American vessel arrived to-day:— + + CARGO ON BOARD BRIG “RANDOLPH,” FROM PHILADELPHIA. + + 12 barrels pitch 1 box fine beaver hats + 118 covered hams 100 boxes cheese + 2 casks of shoulders 3 doz. Windsor chairs + 30 barrels pilot bread 16 nurses’ rocking chairs + 10 do. navy do. 8 ladies’ cane do. + 30-3 do. sugar biscuits 1 doz. children’s do. + 20-3 do. soda 49 barrels potatoes + 20-3 crackers 18¼ gross lucifer matches + 50 kegs lard 1 mahogany spring-seat sofa + 30 blls. mess pork 1 do. wash-stand, marble top + 100 kegs butter 3 boxes stationery + 13 boxes lump tobacco 4 backgammon boards + 20 do. champagne cider 12 bridles + 20 doz. buckets 22½ doz. black ink in boxes + 50 boxes soap, 24 lbs. 1 mahogany spring-seat, rocking chair + 700 do. 16 lbs. 2 wooden arm chairs + 50 do. mould candles + 17 do. do. + + Offers in cash, or negotiable notes, 1 o’clock. + +From the store we will take a walk into the lumber yard. But +before I proceed to describe it, it will be necessary for me to +make another digression, and let those of my readers who may be +yet ignorant of the real meaning of the term know what “lumber” +is. Upon my first acquaintance with West Indians, I was +particularly surprised to hear them talk so much about _lumber_, +and of Mr. This and Mr. That dealing in such commodity. As my +mind has ever been apt to roam far and wide, I no sooner heard +the merits of this peculiar article (if I may so call it) +discussed, than my schooldays’ tasks presented themselves to my +recollection, and I mentally murmured with Dr. Johnson, “lum-ber, +lumber, old useless furniture.” + +Having arrived at this definition, again I fancied myself amid +broken chairs and tables, sofas minus a leg, shattered +looking-glasses, musty, dusty, rusty, grates, antique bottles, +and similar chattels, where in one of my hoyden days I had +scrambled to look for a bird-cage in which to imprison a poor +half-fledged skylark, captured for me by a little ragged +_protégé_ of mine, known by the true English name of “Bill.” + +Yet still I was not satisfied; for what, thought I, can West +Indian merchants find so particularly valuable in all these +divers specimens of mutilation, as to induce them to deal so +largely in them? I could only answer mine own query by exclaiming +“’tis strange! ’tis passing strange!” Time wore on, however, and +I arrived at Antigua; then my wonder soon ceased, and I found out +that in fact a _lumber merchant_ signifies nothing less than a +dealer in _timber_. + +Having endeavoured to give the Antiguan definition of lumber, I +will now proceed to describe “the yard.” It is generally entered +by passing through the store, at the hazard of putting your foot +into pools of rosin or varnish, slipping over stray peas, or +half-breaking your neck over heaps of brickbats. At length the +yard is gained, and drawing a long breath, as much from heat as +exercise, I look around. On each side of the door are huge stacks +of staves, piled up in a very uniform manner, used for making +hogsheads or tierces for packing sugar, or puncheons for the +conveyance of rum. In other parts of the yard are bundles of +cypress or cedar shingles,[69] white and pitch pine boards, +planks and scantlings, all packed in appropriate order; that is, +when they are not landing cargoes, and the master has an eye to +tidy appearances; but if this is not the case, the different +species of lumber are tumbling about in all directions. + +Then there are large sheds erected in various parts of the yard, +for the purpose of securing “hard-wood” (as mahogany, +mill-timber, &c.) from the effects of the weather. There is also +very generally a pigeon-house or two to be met with, and their +pretty inmates may be seen gliding about, picking up the +scattered grain, or, perched upon one of the lumber stacks, watch +your every movement with their bright round eyes, while their +variegated breasts glitter in the sun-beams like so many gems. At +the bottom of the yard large gates open to the sea, furnished +with a huge crane; and here it is that all those incongruous +articles which fill their stores, and bring wealth to their +coffers, are landed. + +When the merchants are visited by certain fears and twitchings, +relative to the fact of their not being able to dispose of their +diversified merchandise, they “call an auction;” and under the +auspices of the red flag,[70] and with the assistance of the +auctioneer’s lungs and hammer, instead of harlequin’s magic wand, +turn all these “creature’s comforts” into pounds, shillings, and +pence. + +In some parts of the town are auction rooms, where, with the same +laudable zeal for “charming variety,” things as distinct from +each other as the nadir is from the zenith, are put up, the +mysterious words “going, going, _gone_” uttered, and finally +knocked down to the attendants—whites, blacks, and coloured. + +Having mentioned the stores of those philanthropists, who, for +the mere consideration of a little dirty _pelf_, undertake to +provide so liberally for the inner man, it will be necessary to +take a look at those temples of fashion, fancy, and fascination, +commonly known in this island as “Scotch shops,” or in other +words, Antiguan haberdashery stores. + +In a particular part of St. John’s, running north and south, lies +a well-made broad street, which, from being inhabited principally +by Scotchmen, is known by the appropriated name of “Scotch Row.” +Capital stores (when I _am_ at Rome, I like to do as Rome does, +and give everything its approved title) flank each side of the +street, and display their glittering wares to the admiration of +passers-by; and from whence (with but few exceptions) emanate +those dresses and ribbons of a thousand dyes, with which the +_fair sex_ of _every colour_ delight to enrobe their lovely +forms. + +Here, as in the merchants’ stores, may be found articles of the +most opposite natures. In one part lies a delicate white satin +bonnet, with its bunches of “orange flowers,” to grace the head +of some blushing bride, or decorated with the snowy plumes torn +by the swarthy African from some swift-footed ostrich; while by +its side reposes a broken ewer, or an iron pot. + +You may, in truth, buy anything and everything in these “Scotch +shops,” from three farthings’ worth of tape to the most costly +articles. Dresses of all kinds; ribbons, laces, flowers, and +bonnets; coats, vests, pantaloons, umbrellas, and shoes; blondes, +scarfs, mantelets, perfumery, and _tenpenny nails_; paint, +frying-pans, and carpets; jewellery of every description, +dripping-pans, and Seidlitz powders; Epsom salts, ginger-beer, +and white lead; horses’ halters, cherry-tree chairs, and +preserved fruits; children’s dresses, lanterns, horse-whips, and +coffee; sugar-loaves, saddles, bonnet-shapes, and white-handled +knives; ladies’ corsets, Valenciennes edging, and Westphalia +hams; pigs’ tongues, truckle cheese, and bird-seed; dish-covers, +bottle-baskets, hooks-and-eyes, and brimstone; harness, cattle +medicines, and lozenges; “Mechian” razor strops, and Metcalf’s +toothbrushes; with brandy, champagne, Madeira, sherry, port, +sauterne, Rhenish wines, bottled stout, pale ale, glasses to +drink all these good articles out of, and I know not what +besides. Loaves of sugar dangling by the side of zephyr scarfs, +or candle-boxes _vis-à-vis_ with ostrich feathers. + +Oh! ye tradesmen of Regent-street, so polite and perfumed, and +such _calibre_, who stand behind your glossy counters with the +air of “my lord duke,” or glide with noiseless steps and mincing +airs over your Persian carpeted floor,—what, _what_ would you +think of our Antiguan shops? Or how would those over-fashionable +gentlemen at Storr and Mortimer’s be astounded, when tendering +for approval to “beauty bright” those costly gems which carry us +back to the days of the Arabian nights, if they came in contact +with a brass kettle or an iron pot! + +I often wonder how the pale-faced, straight-haired clerks (for +they are not termed _shopmen_ in this part of the world) manage +to get on among such a multiplicity of dissimilar articles; or +that from being asked for so many contrary goods during the day, +they do not make many and greater mistakes. A lady drives up in +her carriage to the door of one of these labyrinthan _depôts_ of +vanity, and in that “low soft voice so sweet in woman,” asks to +be shewn some orange flower chaplets, and essence of +_Frangipanier_. The poor clerk, his brains turning round like a +revolving light, flies to obey her commands; but lo! in his hurry +and confusion, he catches up a _frying-pan_, and with streaming +brow, presents the inelegant article to the lady’s astounded and +horrified gaze, instead of the delicate perfume. + +The master of these gay and changeful stores, is as diversiformed +as his goods are various. In the morning he stands behind his +counter, and “bows to” and “ma’am’s” any black member of the +_canaille_ that condescends to purchase a few yards of +“half-a-bit” (2d. sterling) ribbon to sandal her mill-post ankle; +while in the evening, in all the glories of white pantaloons, new +coat, smart buttons and embroidered stock, he figures away at an +aristocratic dinner party. + +Times are indeed altered with these Scotchmen. In former years, +when Sawney left his mountain home, his trouty lochs, and oaten +bannocks, for the hot suns and debilitating climate of these +“Isles of the West;” he did it for the sake alone of _siller_. As +to ambition—faugh! he hated the very name, or else, like the cock +in Esop’s fable, he spurned the glittering bauble, of which he +knew not the worth. They plodded on from year to year, increased +their stock of goods, and added many a round dollar to their +worldly wealth, and then sat down contentedly to enjoy the smoky +flavour of their usquebaugh, forming no greater acquaintance with +the governor, than as they saw him proceed to the court-house in +discharge of his high office, or knowing no more of +government-house than the outer appearance. + +But the Scotchmen of the present day scorn the lowly ideas of +their predecessors. They ape the man of fashion, call their +haberdashery store a merchant’s warehouse, and foregoing the +vulgar title of draper, take to themselves the loftier name of +_merchant_. Nor is this all. They attend the governor’s _levees_, +play the amiable at a quadrille party, frequent the billiard +table, or perchance take wine with his excellency, and grin and +bow with approved precision. Their shops prove an agreeable +morning lounge for the superiors of the island, and in a glass of +_sangaree_, or a flowing bowl of _pepper-punch_, the difference +of grade between the entertainer and the entertained is +overlooked. + +That “there is no rule without an exception,” is a true +apophthegm; and among the many emigrants from the “land o’ +cakes,” some very respectable individuals are to be met with. + +I believe it a correct statement to assert, that “Scotch Row” +begins with one of this superior class, and ends with him who has +been called “The father of the Scotchmen,” not from his age, but +from his high conduct. + +Mr. H——— is a man in whom great urbanity is blended with strong +determination of character. He possesses varied talents, and is +no mean disciple of St. Cecilia’s; and although, perhaps, not +altogether ranking among the _literati_ in the fuller sense of +that term, yet he + + “——laughing can instruct Much has he read, + Much more has seen: he studied from the life, + And in the original perused mankind.” + +Philosophy to him, however, is no gloomy subject; no solemn +stalking about wrapt up in his own stately ideas, and scorning, +with cynic’s eye, any harmless mirth. In the words of one of +Britain’s poets, I may say of him— + + “——nor purpose gay, + Amusement, dance or song, he sternly scorns.” + +Nature seems to have intended him for a higher occupation, than +to stand behind a counter and sell a few yards of tape, or a +paper of pins. + +The streets of the capital have all their proper appellations, +although no painted board announces such a fact to the traveller. +The east and west streets, beginning southerly, are—South-street, +Tanner, Nevis, Ratcliff, St. Mary’s, High, Long, Church, Newgate, +Wapping, North, Bishopsgate, St. John’s, St. George’s; north and +south streets, beginning easterly, are—East-street, Cross, +Church-lane, Temple, Steeple-street, Corn, Market, +Friendly-alley, Gutter-lane, Newgate-lane, Popeshead, Thames, +Coney-Warren-lane, Subscription-alley, Craw-lane, +Wilkinson’s-street, and Mariner’s-lane. Some of these lanes and +alleys are famous for their _grog-shops_, particularly that +establishment known by the appropriate name of “The +Hole-in-the-Wall,” for the only entrance is a low arched door-way +scooped out of its massy walls. + +One part of the town bears the somewhat lofty title of “The +Parade.” In former years it answered as a kind of exchange, where +the merchants congregated together during “’Change hours,” and +discussed the business of the commercial world. Cargoes of all +descriptions were here disposed of; dollars and doubloons in one +moment changed owners, and human flesh and blood was openly +bartered. For a long period, however, the Parade visibly declined +in importance, and became but the shadow of itself; but within +these last few years, it has, phœnix like, sprung up with renewed +vigour, and presents to the passenger’s eye many good and +bustling stores. + +St. John’s has, at various times, suffered severely from +conflagrations—a circumstance not to be wondered at, when we +consider the great number of wooden buildings, and the +carelessness of persons in throwing about particles of fire. In +1769, an accident of this nature occurred, which was most direful +in its consequence. It arose from the negligence of a woman who +was employed in ironing, and who omitted to extinguish the fire +in a coal-pot, after finishing her labours. + +It may be necessary, perhaps, for the comprehension of some of my +readers who may not be conversant with West Indian domestic +subjects, to mention more fully the construction of a coal-pot. +In some of the islands these utensils are composed of clay, +moulded into the form of buckets, and baked in a moderate fire; +but the Antiguan coal-pot is nothing more nor less than a deal +box, clamped with iron or tin, and lined with bricks plastered +over. A few pieces of old iron hoop are placed horizontally +across the box at stated intervals about halfway from the bottom, +and upon these is placed a layer of charcoal. The irons are +arranged upon the top, and the coals ignited; no bellows are +used, except what Nature has afforded in the owners’ own lungs; +or when their breath fails, and the fuel still proves refractory, +their large straw hat is displaced from their heads, and +brandished before the mouths of their little stoves, with sundry +ejaculations of “Eh! eh! war do de co-als to-day, me b’lieve dem +no want to burney.” + +But to return to the fire in 1769; it burnt with fearful +rapidity. The gaol, custom-house, indeed nearly the whole town, +fell a prey to the destructive element, 260 houses being levelled +with the ground, and some of the finest stores and richest +merchandise destroyed. Government granted 1000l. for the relief +of the sufferers; and their kind friends in Liverpool collected, +during the following year, the sum of 346l. 2s. 6d., which was +thankfully and gratefully received. + +Many other fires have occurred since then, the vestiges of which +remain to this day; one in particular, known by the appropriate +name of the burnt wall, is still pointed out to the notice of the +stranger. Part of this land has been lately purchased by the +Wesleyans, who have erected a small chapel upon it, which answers +also for a school-room, and where preaching is held on Friday +evenings. + +But the conflagration which happened on the 2nd April, 1841, has +effaced the memory of all other events of the same nature. It +broke out in the house of a person carrying on the business of a +straw bonnet-maker, after the family had retired to rest, and it +was only discovered in time for the inmates to make their escape +by jumping from the upper windows. + +A few moments after it was first perceived, the walls fell, and +the flames burst forth with a fearful rapidity, curling and +twisting themselves in all directions; seizing upon every thing +within their reach, and illuminating the heavens with their +awfully grand lustre. The church bell tolled forth its solemn +warning; drums beat an alarm; and, in the words of an old writer, +when describing the fire in London in 1666, “dreadful screams +disturbed the midnight quiet, and raised the affrighted people +from their beds, who, scarce awake, all seemed to be a dream. +Each one appeared but as a moving statue, as once Lot’s wife, +viewing her flaming Sodom, was transformed into a pillar.” + +So saith “Samuel Wiseman,” and his graphic description answers +equally for the fire of Antigua, as it did in yore, for that of +London. + +House after house, store after store, fell beneath the raging +element; or, when built of stone, only their bare and blackened +walls were left standing. No sooner was one house on fire, than +the flames were pouring into the windows of the next; scathing +the trees as they passed, dismantling them of their verdure, and +leaving them only a seared and withered trunk. Again the Custom +House fell a victim, and to this cause many deficiencies in the +statistical part of this work may be attributed; for, from the +suddenness and violence of the fire, many valuable records were +lost. + +Still the fiery deluge rolled on,—at one moment the sky was +almost hidden by the dense masses of smoke; at another, bright +spiral lines of flame shot up into the air, and cast a lurid +light on all around. I am sorry to record it, but the negro-men +behaved very ill, refusing to lend assistance, (in most +instances,) but employing their time in plundering from the +sufferers. To the glory of the women, be it spoken, _they_ did +not follow the example of their kinsmen, but cheerfully and +firmly laboured through that awful night. The crew of two French +ships of war, which chanced to be lying in the harbour, also +assisted, aided by the sailors from the English and island +vessels; and the gentlemen of the town, headed by the +lieutenant-governor, Major McPhail, (who flew to the scene of +danger stockingless and almost slipperless,) worked with +undaunted courage and good-will; and by dint of energy, and +pulling down several small houses, so as to make room for the +flames in their gyral evolutions, at length succeeded in gaining +the mastery over their formidable enemy. + +But, alas! when morning came, and threw a steady light upon the +picture, what a melancholy sight was presented to the view. A +long line of building, including the best and finest houses, +entirely destroyed; lumber-yards and warehouses despoiled of +their goods, and the very streets strewed ankle-deep with burnt +salt-fish, peas, rice, flour, and similar articles! In some parts +might be seen groups of negroes carousing around some gutted +dwelling, tearing out the burning provisions, and, amid all this +desolation and the mournful feelings of men, who, in one short +night, had lost that for which they had toiled for years, +shouting forth from their stentorian lungs snatches of some +bacchanalian song, or allowing their vacant heartless laugh to +vibrate painfully upon the silent morning air. + +Ever and anon, the smouldering fire sent up some fitful glare; or +a brilliant coruscation of sparks, shot forth from some still +burning log of pitch-pine, gilded the surrounding scene with +their beautiful but dangerous showers. The fire burnt down to the +sea-side; seizing upon the very timber of the wharfs and cranes, +and destroying them to the water’s edge. The amount of damage has +been estimated at 250,000l. sterling; but the loss is more than +can be calculated, for it has despoiled and depopulated one of +the finest and busiest streets in the town, and which, from the +depressed state of trade, will be long, very long, before it is +again rebuilt. + +More than eight months have silently rolled by since that awful +cry of “Fire” awoke the Antiguans from their tranquil slumbers, +and sent a thrill of dismay through the hearts of all. And there +stand the ruins, blackened and cracked by the intense heat which +caused the very glass to pour down in streams, which, when +congealed, appeared like icicles; or else, only shewing by the +open space, where the ill-fated dwellings stood—where the voice +of happy infancy once uttered many a jocund shout—or where the +soft full tone of riper years carolled many a light and gladsome +lay. Long grass and luxuriant weeds have already grown up in the +spot once dedicated to business or pleasure, and the bat and the +lizard have made it their own. + + + ------ + +[68] The whites, or Buckra’s, as they are called in the West +Indies, however indigent in circumstances, pride prohibits them +from engaging in such industrious pursuits. + +[69] Used for covering the tops of houses, as tiles or slates are +in England. + +[70] A flag is always hoisted upon places where a sale is held. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + + + Description of the church of St John’s—Period of its erection— + Present site—Panoramic views—Form of structure—Length and + breadth—Interior—Decorations—Monuments—Organ—Tower—Bells—Clock— + Churchyard—Tombs and sepulchral inscriptions—An acrostic—“Adam + and Eve!” + +The first place of public worship erected in St. John’s was the +parochial church, commenced in 1683-4. It was a small wooden +building, standing about sixty yards further to the south than +the present church; and, if we are to believe an old writer, +totally destitute of beauty or comfort. During the administration +of Gen. Walter Hamilton, it was found to be in such a dilapidated +state, that in 1716 the necessity of erecting a new church was +submitted to the legislature; and with the concurrence of the +members of that body, an act was passed the same year, granting a +provision for building a new place of worship, (to be dedicated +to St. John,) and imposing a yearly tax for the purpose of +keeping the said church in repair. It was not, however, until +between the years 1721 and 1723, during the period that John Hart +was administrating the government of these islands, that the +erection of the church was commenced. Mr. Robert Cullen was the +architect, and by his suggestions, its site was laid to the north +of the old building; thus occupying the very spot where the +militia were stationed in 1710, when ordered to fire upon +Governor Park, in that unhappy difference between him and the +country, and which ended so fatally to himself. + +The present parochial church is pleasantly situated upon an +ascent, at the head of the town, and commands from every side a +wide and beautiful view of the surrounding country. From the west +door, the eye ranges over the bustling town, with its motley +groups of passengers—dwells for a time upon the long line of +ruined buildings destroyed by the fire already described—scans +the lovely harbour, with its graceful shipping, the interesting +bay of the Five Islands on the one side, and, on the other, a +long line of cocoa-nut trees and brilliant sand, bespeaking the +situation of Dickenson’s Bay—and then roves on to the offing, +where a large extent of ocean of the sweetest blue stretches out; +and where, perhaps, a far-off sail may be seen, which looks in +the distance like the white wing of some passing gull. + +From the south door, another beautiful and panoramic view may be +obtained, particularly towards the close of the day, when the sun +has almost completed his daily journey, and, shorn of his fervent +beams, throws on every cloud his myriad dyes. The part of the +town then presented to the gaze of the beholder slopes by a +gradual descent towards the suburbs, bounded by Otto’s Hill (an +estate belonging to the representatives of Bastien Baijer) and +the surrounding country. At the extent of the horizon runs a long +range of mountains—the more distant ones presenting a greyish, +gloomy colour, while others have their tops irradiated with a +brilliant fringe of gold or purple, as the different clouds +appear to rest upon them. Of this chain, the declivities of which +afford every species of beauty, and every gradation of varying +green, the lower ones are generally in a state of cultivation; +and their undulating surface presents in some places groups of +lovely trees, or breaks into patches of sugar-canes, clusters of +negro-huts, and sugar-mills. + +The church itself, which is built of brick, washed of a light +yellow, is cruciform; the north and south vestibules forming the +arms of the cross. The extreme length, from the inner west door +to the altar-piece, is 130 feet; and the breadth, exclusive of +the vestibules, (or porches,) is 50 feet. In the interior, +eighteen plain wooden pillars divide the nave from the north and +south aisles; the sixteen lower ones forming the support to the +north and south galleries. The roof of the nave is a semicircular +vault, painted to represent the heavens, with all their drapery +of light and fleecy clouds; and when viewed from the west door, +has a very pretty effect. + +The chancel roof is of the same pitch, but of a pyramidal form; +it is painted in the same manner as the nave, and is supported by +four square fluted columns. + +The altar is very beautifully devised. In the centre are the +tables of the ten commandments, gold-lettered upon a black +ground. On each side are full-length paintings of Moses, and of +Aaron, in his “holy garments.” That of Aaron is very finely +executed; the face is such as we can imagine that of the great +“high-priest” to have been, majestic, but beautiful; and the +“robes,” the “breast-plate,” the “ephod,” the “curious girdle,” +and the “golden censer,” are very correctly painted. The outer +tables of “The Belief” and “Lord’s Prayer” are handsomely gilded— +the inscription being executed in letters of black; and over the +commandments, in the centre of the altar, is a medallion painting +of cherubs. The several compartments are divided by gilded +pilasters; the cornices, architraves, and friezes, are very +pretty and tasteful; and in the inter-columniations are one or +two triglyphs. + +The communion-table is covered with dark purple velvet, fringed +deeply with gold; and on either end lie cushions to match. The +communion-service plate is very handsome; the large salver, +measuring eighteen inches in diameter, was presented to the +church by John Otto Baijer, Esq., about the year 1724. It +displays a representation of the “Lord’s Supper,” the figures in +beautiful _basso-relievo_, and bears the following inscription:— + + Donum Domini Johannis Otto Baijer + Ad Templum Divi Johannis Antigua. + +The two smaller salvers and the cup are inscribed as follows:— + + In usum Templi Divi Johannis in Antigua + Gulielmus Jones Parochialis hujus olim Rector + Donum Dedit. + +Besides the communion-plate, the table supports a pair of tall +silver lamps, with ground-glass burners, bearing the inscription— + + Donum Domini Petre Lee ad Templum Divi + Johannis in Antigua. + +And on each side of the table stand quaint-looking chairs, for +the accommodation of the bishop and archdeacon, which have been +used for that purpose since the dismantling of the “Bishop’s +Pew.” + +The pulpit and desk are of dark oak, as also the railings to the +stairs; and, like the communion-table, have each their drapery +and cushions of dark purple, with deep gold fringe and tassels, +and the “I. H. S.” encircled with its golden rays. Formerly the +pulpit, surmounted by a sounding-board, stood further down the +nave; but after being removed once or twice, the desk has been +separated from the pulpit, and they are placed at the entrance of +the chancel, on each side the aisle. + +About the centre of the church is suspended a brass chandelier, +consisting of ten branches, which have been lately fitted up with +ground-glass burners; it was a gift (by will, 2nd May, 1740) to +the church, from Phillip Darby, an old inhabitant of Antigua, and +rector of St. John’s. + +At the entrance of the church from the north vestibule stands a +small marble font, of a semi-spherical form, ornamented with four +heads of cherubs, and supported by a corniform pedestal. It is +intended to be placed at the extreme end of the middle aisle, +immediately before the west entrance, and opposite the altar—a +site far more applicable for it than where it now stands. + +The church is lighted by fourteen windows: six in the north +aisle, six in the south aisle, and two in the east end of the +building. Formerly they were all fitted up with _jalousies_; but +within these last few years, the eight nearest the altar have +been reglazed with ground glass, arranged in a Gothic pattern. +These windows are divided into six compartments; and are so +contrived, that, by aid of a turnscrew, they can be opened to a +certain height. They certainly add to the _beauty_ of the +edifice, but deteriorate from its _comfort_ by rendering it +warmer than it otherwise would be: a circumstance not desirable +in this fervid climate. + +Several fine monuments grace the walls of this sacred building; +but the oldest sepulchral inscription is upon a stone slab, in +the chancel, to the memory of Mrs. Gilbert, wife of Mr. Gilbert, +who introduced methodism[71] in Antigua, and who died in 1747. + +In the south aisle are the following monuments:— + +An elegant mural monument of white marble upon a black ground, +erected to the memory of Mrs. Elizabeth Ottley, wife of Richard +Ottley, Esq., and daughter of Ashton Warner, speaker of the house +of assembly in 1716. The ornamental part of this monument +consists of the figure of a seraph with outspread wings, leaning +upon a sepulchral urn, bearing a coronal of undying laurel leaves +in its right hand; and in its left an inverted torch, partly +extinguished, emblematical of the uncertainty of human life. The +inscription is as follows:— + +“Near to this place is laid, with the remains of her honoured +parents, the body of Elizabeth, the pious, amiable, and +much-beloved wife of Richard Ottley; who departed this life, in +the Island of St Vincent, on Thursday, 28th August, in the year +of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six, in the +thirty-second year of her age. + +“She was the daughter of Ashton Warner, Esq.,[72] +Attorney-General of Antigua, by Elizabeth, his wife, and was born +the 7th June, 1735, O.S.; married 25th October, in the year 1753, +and left issue surviving her, one son and three daughters—viz., +Drewry, Elizabeth, Mary Trant, and Alice. + +“She possessed a graceful person, an excellent understanding, and +a sweetness of disposition that engaged the esteem of all that +knew her, and performed with so much complacency the several +duties in her family, and those of a good friend and neighbour, +that it may be truly said she died universally lamented, and a +real loss to that infant colony. Her inconsolable husband (in +whose arms she expired, after bearing with admirable fortitude +and resignation the excruciating pains of a long and difficult +labour) caused this monument to be erected to her memory. + +“The son with whom she died reclines upon that breast which would +have nourished him had the Almighty so permitted.” + +A very chaste and elegant white marble tablet, forming a Gothic +arch, erected to the memory of the Honourable Sam. Otto Baijer, a +descendant of Bastien Baijer, who signed the capitulation in +1666, bearing the following inscription:— + + As a last mournful token of affection, + This Tablet is erected by + Elizabeth Mary Otto Baijer, + To the memory of her beloved Father, + The Honourable Samuel Otto Baijer, + Of Pares Estate, in this Island; + Who died at Philadelphia + On the 20th of December, 1835, + Aged 54 years. + + Also to the memory of her Mother, + Elizabeth Mary Otto Baijer, + Who died in 1813, at Dove Hall, + In the Island of Jamaica, + In the 27th year of her age. + + Also to the memory of her Brother, + Rowland Archibald Otto Baijer, + Son of the above-named + Samuel Otto Baijer and Mary Elizabeth his Wife, + Who died at Pares Estate, in this Island, + On the 24th of November, 1837, + Aged 25 years and 8 months, + And whose remains repose near this spot. + +A small, unpretending marble tablet:— + + Sacred + To the Memory of + Elizabeth Jane Harman, + Who died on the 16th April, A.D. 1828, + Aged 21 years. + “We have this treasure in earthen vessels.” + +A pyramidal monument, supported by fluted pillars, and bearing a +small sarcophagus, surmounted by two figures of children or +cherubs, holding in their hands a scroll, on which is written +texts from Scripture. The inscription is as follows:— + +“Supported only by a meek obedience to the decrees of Eternal +Wisdom, and a firm trust in the Atonement of a gracious Redeemer, +William and Ruth Atkinson, once inhabitants of Antigua, and now +of Dominica, as an inadequate evidence of their intense and +aggravated anguish for the poignant and crushing trial they have +undergone in the loss of both their children, pay this melancholy +tribute, when advancing into manly, lively virtue, such as fills +the parents’ soul with solid comfort. + +“George Atkinson, their first and last spared hope, had nearly +reached his twelfth year. This blooming prop of their declining +age—when, by a mild and artless truth, joined to innate goodness +and suavity of temper, he had irresistibly won the esteem and +love of all—quitted this life without a struggle on Sunday, 5th +Dec. 1779. + +“William Atkinson, their youngest, died in infancy. + + What poets paint, what marbles feebly tell, + Defective far are all; + Such woes are only to be known + To real feeling souls. + Where equal growing filial worth’s bewail’d, + The name of Son thus lost, all consolation fail’d. + 1782.”[73] + +A small tablet, representing a white scroll upon a black ground, +surmounted by a laurel chaplet, bearing inscription: + + In memory of + Auther Teagle, + Who departed this life + On the 20th November, 1839, + Aged 43 years. + “Thy will be done.” + +In the north aisle are four monuments; the first, beginning from +the east, erected to a late curate of St. John’s. It consists of +a white marble tablet, and above, the figure of an angel soaring +upwards, and encompassed with clouds. The tablet bears the +following inscription:— + + To the memory of + The Rev. William Thomas Bernard, A.B., + Of Trinity College, Dublin, + Late curate of this parish, + Where, after a short residence of four months, + In the faithful exercise of his ministry, and + The manifestation of much private worth, + He died of fever, Nov. 2nd, 1835, + In the 26th year of his age, + Most deeply and generally regretted, + This tribute of esteem and affection + Is erected, + Partly by his much afflicted Sister, + Ellen M. Baily, + And partly by the Right Rev. William Hart Coleridge, D.D., + Lord Bishop of this diocese, + The clergy of Antigua, and other friends in the + Island, who mourn his early loss. + +Beneath the tablet are his coat of arms, with the motto— + + “Bear and Forbear.” + +A white marble monument, with a deep border of variegated brown +marble, to the memory of a descendant of Sir Thomas Warner. The +ornamental part consists of a female figure enveloped in +widow-like drapery, and leaning upon an urn. The inscription is +as follows:— + + This monument + Is erected to the memory of + The Honourable William Warner, Esq., + Who was a member of His Majesty’s Council, + And Treasurer of this Island. + Honourable by his office of Counsellor, + But + More honourable as a man: + For if + Virtue alone is true nobility, + And if justice, moderation, temperance, meekness, + Consummate honesty, charity, generosity, and +Conjugal affection, are virtues that are held in any estimation + Among men, + This man, + Who lived in the exercise of them all + Was truly honourable. +He died on Friday, 11 October, 1771, in the forty-third year of +his age, +Universally regretted, and lamented by all orders and degrees +among + Us. + To commemorate her anguish for his loss, and as a public + Testimony of her love and duty, his disconsolate widow hath + Caused this memorial to be raised. + Gloria in excelsis Deo! + +A very elegantly designed white pyramidal monument erected to the +memory of an only child. A chastely sculptured female figure +leans upon a “storied urn,” with a beautifully chiselled wreath +of flowers thrown around her. This monument has been +unfortunately injured, one of the hands and part of the arm of +the figure being broken off. + + In memory of her only and beloved daughter, + Sarah Kelsick, + Wife of Mr. John Kelsick, merchant in Antigua, + Who died on 20th day of March, 1785, + In the 19th year of her age. + This monument was erected by her disconsolate mother, + Sarah Eccleston, + Wife of Isaac Eccleston, Esq., + 1792. + From the parent, the husband, the friend, + Her social and amiable virtues + Claim the tribute of affliction, + And though early cut off, + She must ever live in the memory of those + Who had the happiness of her acquaintance. + Vivit post funera virtus. + +The next is an elaborate and splendid monument, erected by the +country to the memory of Ralph Lord Lavington; and however +peculiar the taste which dictated the design, the execution, at +least, possesses merit. The top figure represents his lordship in +a sitting posture, habited in the old court dress, and his plumed +hat lying at his feet. The inscription is traced upon a light +grey marble, hollowed out so as to allow of the insertion of a +small sarcophagus, bearing his coat of arms, with a +beautifully-executed branch of oak-leaves thrown across it. + +Two female figures recline on each side; the one on the left +hand, representing Astrea with her scales by her side, and the +hilt of the sword of justice, very minutely and beautifully +sculptured, protruding from behind the sarcophagus; her +finely-formed and classic face is up-turned towards the old lord. +In the other figure we behold the genius of the island, mourning +for the loss of a favourite governor. She holds in her right hand +a scroll, upon which is inscribed—“Resolved, that a monument be +erected to his memory,” while with her left hand she shades her +features as if in deep grief. At the feet of these figures rolls +the sea, the waves, surmounted with their foam, very well +executed. This costly monument bears the following inscription:— + + Sacred + To the memory of + Ralph Payne Lord Lavington, + Of the kingdom of Ireland, + One of His Majesty’s most honourable Privy Council, + Knight of the most honourable Order of the Bath, + and Captain-general, and Commander-in-chief of + The Leeward Islands. + +Upon the base of the monument is the following brief biographical +inscription:— + +“He was born in the Island of St. Christopher’s, of an English +family, distinguished for its loyalty and public spirit. His +education he received in England, and it prepared him for the +distinctions which awaited his return to his native isle, when he +was elected a member of the House of Assembly, and on its first +meeting unanimously called to the chair of the House, in which +high situation he gave an early display of those superior talents +and eminent qualifications which afterwards secured him the +confidence of his king, and the esteem of his country. On his +return to England in 1762, he was elected a member of the House +of Commons for the borough of Plympton, Devonshire; and from his +perfect knowledge of colonial affairs, he was appointed in 1771—a +period of national interest—to be captain-general and +commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands, at which time he was +also invested with the most honourable Order of the Bath. He +remained in the exercise of his government until 1774, when he +returned to England, and was appointed a member of the Board of +Green Cloth. During the period of his residence in England, he +sat in five parliaments, and in 1795, his Majesty was graciously +pleased to raise him to the dignity of a peer in Ireland, by the +style and title of Baron Lavington of Lavington. In 1799, he was +sworn one of his Majesty’s most honourable Privy Council, and +again appointed to the chief command of the Leeward Islands, in +the wise and able administration of which important trust he +passed his latter years + + And closed his venerable life. + This nobleman + Was revered for his public qualities, + As he was beloved for his private virtues. +He blended the dignity of his high office with the affability of +his disposition and the gracefulness of his manners, +And at once commanded the respect, and conciliated the affections +of all ranks of people + Within the circle of his government +As a sincere and lasting testimony of their veneration and +regret, + The Legislature of Antigua + Have erected this monument +He died at the Government House of this Island, on the 3rd day of +Aug. 1807, aged 68; and was interred at his own estate, called +Carlisles.” + +The whole of this very handsome monument is enclosed in an arch +of plain black marble. I should have mentioned that the +ornamental parts of this tomb are all in pure _white_ marble. + +The remaining monument is erected to the memory of Mrs. Musgrave, +who was unfortunately thrown out of her carriage (the horse +becoming restive and breaking the shafts) and killed upon the +spot. This unhappy catastrophe occurred in one of the streets of +St. John’s, and a representation of the event, absurd as it may +seem, is sculptured upon the monument (which is of white marble) +in basso-relievo. In the background is the animal, apparently of +the cart-horse breed, scampering away with the broken shafts and +traces hanging around him; in the foreground, is the figure of a +man, kneeling and supporting in his arms a female, whose listless +posture portrays the dire event. The face of the female is well +executed, the features expressing acute suffering, while they +tell the hand of death is upon them; but the figure is execrable +in its proportions, the hand and arm being quite as large as the +leg and foot of the man, if not larger. The inscription is as +follows:— + + “No warning given! unceremonious fate! + A sudden rush from life’s meridian joys! + A wrench from all she loved.”[74] + Sacred to the memory + of + Eliza Musgrave, + Wife of William Musgrave, Esq., + Of the Inner Temple, barrister-at-law. + She departed this life + On the morning of the 12th Feb., 1815, + Aged 24 years, + Beloved and lamented by all who knew her. + Her God she reverenced; + Towards her neighbours she never wilfully offended; + To her husband she was everything + His fondest wishes could picture or embrace. + He idolized her while she lived, + And his respect for her exalted worth + Survives beyond the grave. + The remembrance of her many virtues + Remains indelibly inscribed + In his dejected bosom. + + “Friends, our chief treasure, how they drop! + How the world falls to pieces round about us! + And leaves us in the ruin of our joy! + What says this transportation of my friends? + It bids me love the place where now they dwell, + And scorn this wretched spot it leaves so poor.”[75] + +The aisles of the church are paved with a coarse species of +marble, laid down in alternate diamonds of black and white. The +chancel is raised by two steps, and has a stone pavement. The +body of the church contains 152 pews, but with the assistance of +the galleries, of which there are three, affords about 1800 +sittings. The governor’s pew is very neatly fitted up with +crimson damask, and contains some gaily coloured ottomans; over +the pew are the royal arms of England. Service is performed in +the church on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and our exemplary +rector, with true Christian indefatigability, administers the +sacrament monthly, at eight in the morning, and after the usual +morning service. + +The organ with which the church is furnished, was erected (partly +by subscription) in 1760, at the cost of 450l. sterling, the +vestry making up what was wanting. It is still a very fine +instrument, and our talented and respected organist, G. Hart, +Esq., fully recompenses us for any defects it may labour under by +his inimitable execution.[76] + +At the west end of the nave rises a plain quadrangular tower, +surmounted by an octagonal cupola. The elevation to the apex of +the cupola is sixty-five feet; the altitude of the tower itself +is fifty feet. This tower was not erected until 1789, some years +after the parent church, but from being constructed of the same +materials, presents a uniform appearance; the cupola is built of +wood, the perpendicular compartments being _jalousied_. John +Delap Halliday, Esq. gave 500l. towards its erection.[77] + +Within these last few months, two windows have been pierced at +the east side of the tower, in the small chamber where the works +of the clock are placed. These were made at the suggestion of Mr. +Jones, the keeper of the clock, and which prove very beneficial +to him when inspecting and cleaning that necessary appurtenance. +Before that period this chamber was perfectly dark, which not +only rendered the air within it extremely damp, but presented an +obstacle to the due regulation of the instrument contained in it; +for candles are but a sorry substitute for the clear light of day +when employed in such delicate business as rectifying the +machinery of a horologe. Under the care of Mr. Jones the works +are kept beautifully clean, which of course will produce a good +effect. This instrument was the gift of John Delap Halliday, (as +may be seen by the inscription upon the works,) of Antigua, and +the maker of it Charles Penton, London, 1788. The windows are +glazed, and present exactly the same appearance as those to be +found in the suburban dwelling-houses around that mighty +metropolis, London. + +The tower contains two bells; the tenor one inscribed—“Edmund +Powell, Golden Grove, 1684,” and was kept for the use of the +coloured classes in other days. The large bell was presented to +the church by John Delap, (before he assumed the name of +Halliday,) Esq., 1788. It bore the following inscription:—“The +gift of John Delap, Esq. The Rev. James Lindsey, rector; Thomas +Hanson Halloran, and Daniel Hill, churchwardens. Charles Penton, +London, fecit. John Warner, founder, of London, 1788.” It was +taken down the 11th of February, 1840, on account of a serious +injury beyond repair, shipped for London on board the “Antigua +Packet,” and exchanged for a new one of the same size, which now +serves to call the people to church, and to speak the demise of +the inhabitants; but it is silent at a wedding, for in this +country no merry peal of bells announces that event which +elsewhere is ever the signal for joy and festivity. + +Having attempted the description of the church, I will now +proceed to mention the churchyard, which lies upon a gentle +slope, and contains numerous tombs, with their iron or wooden +railings. The most beautiful tomb in the ground was erected to +the memory of the Honourable Otto Baijer, by his widow, who +afterwards died on her passage to England in 1726. Her remains +were brought back to Antigua, and now repose by the side of her +loved husband. It is of pure white marble, although stained by +exposure to the weather, and is elegantly ornamented with various +fruits and flowers in basso-relievo. + +The oldest sepulchral monuments, of which I could make out the +inscriptions, are to the memory of Troughton, 1704; Col. Philip +Lee. 1704;[78] Capt. Bastien Baijer, 1715; Thos. Oasterman, Esq., +1724; Frederic Cope, 1739; and Mrs. Warner, the wife of Ashton +Warner, Esq., 1748. + +The inscription upon the tomb of Frederic Cope demands, however, +further mention. It is an acrostic; the _poetry_ I leave to the +judgment of my readers. + + THE INSCRIPTION. + + “F ar removed from every human eye he is, + R egardless now of earth, partakes of heaven’s bliss; + E xalted was his lively soul whilst here below, + D elighted ever tender friendships for to show; + E asy and cheerful through every scene of Life; + R eady to forgive all; but unto me, his wife, + I ndulgent to the last degree, for ever kind— + C alm was his spirit, virtuous was his mind. + + C areful he ever was to take no bribe in Law; + O h! full, full well the abject hate of mortals saw. + P artial he never was, just to each man’s fame, + E ach initial letter will now declare his name.” + +He was born in London, of honest parents, on the 21st day of May, +1711, and died, in Antigua, on the 8th ———, 1739. + +A fine large marble tomb, to the memory of the Honourable Ashton +Warner, who died 11th of February, 1762, stands near to this very +original sepulchral acrostic; and at no great distance a single +stone to the memory of some admiral (the inscription obliterated) +with its anchors and flags, and escutcheons. + +On the east side of the north vestibule stands the tomb of +Major-general George W. Ramsey, governor-in-chief of Antigua, +Monserrat, and Barbados, in 1816, who departed this life, +November 1st, 1819, in the 58th year of his age. The iron railing +has become rusted and bent,[79] and the tomb bears many a +blackened mark. + +Near to the last resting-place of governor Ramsey, stands another +very handsome tomb of white marble, erected to that well-known +and eccentric character, Patrick Kirwan. He was a native of +Galway, and as true an Irishman as ever handled a shillelah, or +vowed devotion to “the shamrock so green.” Mr. Kirwan resided in +Antigua for many years, as a planter and proprietor of estates, +where his “bulls and blunders” are still remembered and repeated +with delight. Upon one occasion he sent for a sun-dial from +England, which he intended to have erected near his dwelling; but +upon its arrival, it looked so smart with its golden rays and +gnomen, that “Pat” pronounced it the very height of profanation +to have such a pretty “cratur” exposed to the relentless shafts +of master Sol; and so to preserve its beauty, and keep all +secure, he had a tight snug shed built over it, which eventually +forbid the entrance of any straggling sunbeam which might feel +inclined to call upon it, to learn the hour. Poor Mr. Kirwan! his +Irish blood was always leading him to commit blunders, which were +sure to raise a laugh at his expense. During a partial rebellion +of the negroes, at a period when he was manager of an estate, a +few miles from the capital, he one morning presented himself +before the proprietor with a very flushed face, and excited mien— +“Good morning, Mr. Kirwan,” said his employer. “What brings you +to town so suddenly—you look alarmed, I hope nothing is the +matter?” “Faith, an there is though!” retorted the Irishman, “and +if the blessed St. Patrick himself had been here, he would have +looked alarmed too. Why, there’s a perfect _resurrection_ of the +negroes upon your estate!” “A what?” inquired the surprised +proprietor. “A perfect _resurrection_,” repeated Pat, “and I have +come to ask you what I must do?” His employer could scarcely +repress a smile at this strange intelligence. At length, however, +he summoned gravity enough to reply, “If that’s the case, Mr. +Kirwan, the best advice I can give you is, to put a _hoe_ into +their hands as fast as they rise, and set them to work +immediately.” + +But with all his “_bulls and blunders_,” Mr. Kirwan was +deservedly respected, and his death universally regretted. He +died in 1819, in the 66th year of his age. The inscription upon +his monument informs us “By his direction this tomb was erected.” + +At the entrance of the east gate is a mural stone monument, +erected to the memory of James Cullen, by his brother Robert +Cullen. This monument is pointed out to strangers on account of +the peculiarity of its form, with the assertion that the person +who built the church is buried there, and that the coffin is +obliged to stand in a perpendicular position. This, however, is +not correct; the monument certainly stands there, but the place +where the body is entombed is 23 feet further to the west; and +instead of being raised to the memory of the architect of the +church, that individual erected it to perpetuate the memory of +his brother. This fact is engraven upon the monument; but so +unexploring are the Antiguans in general, that I think but few of +the inhabitants are aware of the real truth, but still think the +coffin stands upright. + +This strange practice of putting up the grave-stone at a distance +from the grave is not the only instance of the kind to be met in +the churchyard of St. John’s. At one of the west gates lies a +stone slab, to the memory of the late organist; and upon reading +the inscription, I supposed that the body reposed beneath. But +not so: that lies far away, with “not a stone to mark the place.” +Upon asking a pew-opener the reason for placing the slab in that +situation, his reply was, “It does so nicely, you know, for the +people to walk on, and looks well.” + +The churchyard is entered by five iron gates, of handsome +patterns. At the north, a flight of stone steps leads up to the +church, while from the south gate, the building is approached by +an easy and gradual ascent, paved with brick. The pillars of the +south gate are surmounted by stone figures, representing St. John +the Baptist, and St. John the Evangelist. These figures were +intended to receive the vows of the good catholics at Dominica; +but as it happened to be war time, when they took their departure +from “_la belle France_,” on their passage they fell in with an +English man-of-war, who most unceremoniously took them into +keeping, and brought them to Antigua; where, by universal +consent, they were placed as sentinels in their present position, +instead of being decked out in gold and silver leaf, and mock +jewels. The negroes, however, refuse to recognise them by their +own titles, but have unanimously dubbed them “Adam and Eve”—the +Baptist, I suppose, playing the part of the lady, as his garments +are longer and more voluminous than those of his companion. + + + ------ + +[71] See Chapter XX. + +[72] A descendant of Sir Thomas Warner, who planted the first +English colony in Antigua. + +[73] This strangely-worded inscription is copied verbatim. + +[74] Slightly altered from Young’s “Night Thoughts.” + +[75] Young’s “Night Thoughts,” Night 7th. + +[76] To the organ is attached a choir, composed of the boys and +girls from the parochial school. + +[77] From this John Delap Halliday descends the present Admiral +Tollemache—viz.— + +Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Earl of Dysert, born June, 1708; married +Grace, eldest daughter of John Earl of Granville, by whom he had +(among other issue) a daughter, Jane, married, 1770, John Delap +Halliday, of the Leasowes, county of Salop, and of Antigua, Esq., +by whom she had issue, I. John Halliday, Admiral R.N., and who +has assumed the name of Tollemache, and who married Elizabeth, +second daughter of John, 3rd Earl of Aldborough, by whom he has, +among other children, Elizabeth, the present Countess of +Cardigan; and II. Charlotte, married Henry, fourth son of 6th Sir +William Wolseley, of Wolseley, county Stafford. + +[78] The gentleman who presented the pair of silver candlesticks +for the communion table. He was an Irishman by birth and +education; but after having served in the wars in Flanders, he +emigrated to Antigua, and became Speaker of the House of Assembly +in that island in 1702. + +[79] It is said to have been done by lightning. + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + + + Court-house—Bazaar—Arsenal—Police-office—Government-house— + Barracks—House of correction—Gaol—Methodist chapel—Methodism, + its rise and progress in Antigua—Moravian chapel—Rise and + progress of the Society of United Brethren—Scotch kirk. + +After the church and churchyard of St. John’s, the next public +building which calls for attention is the court house. This, as +before stated, was erected in 1747, William Lowry being the +mason, and Duncan Grant the carpenter. Who these worthies were I +know not; but a glance at the court house proves they were +efficient workmen. In order to raise funds to defray the expenses +of its erection, the legislature obtained a loan of 746l. 12s. +4½d. currency, from the executors of Samuel and Thomas Watkins; +and Jonas Langford (a proprietor of Antigua, and whose estates +still go by his name) lent 1253l. 7s. 7¾d. currency, which debts +were to be paid off by levying a tax of 2s. 6d. per head upon all +slaves in the island for six years. + +The place where it stands was originally the market; but that +site being the one most approved of for the erection of a public +building, the market was removed to a street nearly facing it, +where it has since been held. + +The court house is a very noble-looking pile for a West India +colony, and indeed would not disgrace the boasted streets of +London. The plan of the structure is very uniform and neat. It is +built of a fine-grained freestone, the produce of some of the +small islands already described, which was furnished by contract +for the purpose by Mr. Robert Bannister, a former planter of +Antigua. + +The principal entrance (to the south) is approached by iron +gates; and after crossing a small court-yard paved with large +flag-stones, you enter a small corridor, supported by circular +stone columns, with plain capitals. At each end of this corridor, +a flight of stairs leads to the upper apartments in the east and +west wings, the one appropriated to the use of his excellency the +governor, when he retires for the purpose of preparing his +speech; the other to the clerk of the assembly; below are the +marshal’s office, and the office of the colonial secretary. + +The ground-floor of the main building comprises one large room, +extending the whole length and breadth of the edifice. The east +end being fitted up for the sittings of all courts of justice, +has its bench for the judges, covered with crimson, and a chair +for the governor (when present), over which are the national +arms, where the “lion” grins with approved ferocity, and the +“unicorn” shews its golden hoofs. Around a huge circular table, +which might have feasted “king Arthur” and his gallant “knights,” +even better than the stone one which is shewn as having answered +for that purpose, are placed the sittings for the barristers, +attorney-general, solicitor-general, and benches for the grand +and petty juries. Exactly opposite the seat of the +solicitor-general, a ready pen has scrawled upon the table a +striking likeness of “his satanic majesty.” I hope his aid was +not necessary in that part of Astrea’s court, at the time his +lineaments were portrayed! This part of the interior is enclosed +within a semi-circular mahogany railing. At the lower or west end +of the apartment are congregated all the _canaille_—the very +riff-raff of the town—who flock to hear speeches they understand +as much as a Greek syllogism; the respectable spectators are +admitted within the enclosure. The barristers plead in gowns, but +not in wigs, very much to their comfort I should apprehend, in +this warm climate. + +The upper floor of the court house is divided into two apartments +by wooden partitions, leaving a lobby between; but these can be +removed at pleasure, making the whole one room, as on the +ground-floor. The east apartment is appropriated to the governor +and council, when sitting; at other times for the use of the +grand jury, or petty juries in criminal causes. A long table +covered with “green cloth” runs across the room, and around which +are placed very handsome chairs, of unique patterns, (oak, with +cane backs, and green morocco seats and elbows,) the one destined +for the use of the governor being of larger dimensions, and +having the arms of England painted upon it. + +The west room is used for the meeting of the house of assembly, +and is furnished in the same manner as the other apartment, only +that under the royal arms (which are attached to the north side +of the room) is a kind of rostrum, furnished with its proper +seat, and intended for the accommodation of the speaker of the +house of assembly. + +On returning by the west flight of stairs, my eyes were directed +to a padlock in the wall, which formerly secured the ladder made +use of at executions; but happy am I to say, such scenes are now +of very rare occurrence in this island. + +I should have observed, that balls and dinners are sometimes held +at the court house; as well as Bible and missionary meetings; and +also fancy sales for charitable purposes. The last fancy fair, or +rather bazaar, held there by the Church-of-England Association, +was a very crowded affair. It took place on the day after +Christmas-day, a day of all others devoted by the Antiguans to a +display of dress. Not only all kinds of fancy and ornamental +articles, fabricated by the fair hands of the Antiguan ladies +were to be found there, but what pleased some part of the company +much better, a well-filled lunch-table was spread, when pullets +and guinea-birds, turkeys and ham, were joined to a whole army of +tarts and puffs, fruits and confections. It was a motley group +that frequented the court house that day: Iris would have found +herself outvied in colours, and Fancy might have taken a new +lesson. In one part of the room might be seen a member of the +council, with his lady hanging upon his arm, and next to him a +black labourer _with his lady_, in the same position; the latter +couple making, in many instances, a far greater show than their +aristocratic neighbours.[80] The military band was stationed in +the lower apartment, and played during the day the most +fashionable and favourite airs. The profits arising from this +sale were appropriated to the purposes of assisting to defray the +expenses of the new public cistern lately erected. + +Opposite the north side of the court house is the arsenal, +erected in 1757 or 1758. It is, as might be supposed, a strong +building, and stands in a court yard, enclosed with iron +railings. To the east of the arsenal is the old guard-house, +erected in 1754, during the administration of Sir George Thomas. +It is a plain building, with two projecting wings; but it is now +very much out of repair, not being used for any purpose. +Adjoining the guard-house is a long stone building, with its +grated windows, formerly used as the gaol of the island, but +within these last few years turned into the police office,—the +goal being removed to the suburbs of St. John’s. This is a very +great improvement; for this building, standing in one of the +greatest thoroughfares of this populous town, and directly facing +the market, the culprits who were immured for petty crimes, and +kept in that part of the gaol, could look through their grated +windows, hold converse with the passers-by, and thus disseminate +their evil counsels among the idle and profligate of both sexes, +who were always lounging about that spot. The dungeons where the +felons used to be confined were gloomy dens indeed, and ran along +the outer walls of the prison. One of these dungeons has been +lately made into an engine-house, a door being broken through its +massy walls facing the street. Upon passing this vault during its +transformation, a sigh broke from my lips as memory carried me +back to those fearful days when so many miserable creatures, who +bore the name without the freedom of man, used to inhabit them, +and often, it is said, from very trivial causes. Like Sterne, I +fancied I could behold them in all their misery,—their bodies, +perhaps, wasted with disease,—their eyes blood-shot and wild with +despair,—their features sharpened by anguish of mind:—no one to +soothe their grief,—no one to hear their complaint,—and without +the _hope_, but not perhaps without the _fear_, of an hereafter, +they left those cheerless vaults to be launched into eternity by +the hangman’s hands! The picture was too dreadful; but sounds of +laughter and gladness were abroad, our carriage rolled on amid +crowds of blacks of every sex and age; and although at times I +suffer, as many others do, from their impudence of manners and +behaviour, yet I felt in my heart a pleasure at their being +_free_. The present building was erected in 1772, the former gaol +having been burnt to the ground in the great fire of 1769. + +The next edifice worthy of notice is government house. It is +situated in a pleasant and open space in the suburbs, and +embraces a wide extent of prospect, while from its open windows +as pure a breeze may be inhaled as attainable from any dwelling +in the capital. Although possessing nothing very grand in its +exterior, or internal arrangements, no marble pillars or lofty +arches, yet it is a pleasant, genteel West Indian residence, +possessing some good apartments, and having its stabling and +other out-buildings upon a respectable scale. During the period +his excellency is residing in the capital, the “Union Jack” +floats from the top of the flag-staff, opposite government house; +and then all loyal subjects pay their respects to their young and +beautiful queen’s representative. + +The custom house, as has already been mentioned, was destroyed in +the fire of 1841. It was a very respectable edifice, and well +suited to the purpose. The building now used in its stead is +hired at the annual rent of 100l. sterling. The treasurer’s and +registrar’s offices are also private property, for which a +moderate rent is given.[81] + +From the custom house, I proceed to mention the barracks, very +delightfully situated in a kind of open heath, to the east of the +town. These consisted of two distinct buildings a few paces from +each other; but the north wing of the lower one becoming +dismantled and ruinous, it was resolved in 1831 to repair it, and +appropriate it to the use of a gaol, instead of the building +already described in the vicinity of the court house. + +In this gaol, far greater attention is paid to the unfortunate +inmates than was formerly the case. The prisoners are furnished +with two wholesome and sufficient meals a day, but no clothing or +bedding is allowed, unless by order of the medical man attending +them. The females are separated from the men, and the debtors +from the felons; although in former years they all used to herd +together. + +Since the year 1829, the Rev. Robert Holberton, the excellent +rector of St. John’s, has voluntarily visited the prison every +Sunday between the hours of seven and eight a.m., to read +prayers, and deliver a religious discourse to the inmates; and in +all cases where an unhappy being has so outraged the laws of +humanity and justice as to forfeit his life to pay the penalty of +his crimes, that divine has ever stepped in with his message of +mercy, prayed with them, and sought to soften their stony hearts; +to lead them to that only fountain capable of washing away their +deadly sins, and finally accompanied them to the last sad scene +of their mortal career. + +One part of the gaol is converted into a house of correction, and +the prisoners confined there are employed in breaking stones, or, +under the surveillance of an officer, in working in the roads, or +assisting in any other public works. A treadmill was sent for +from England some time ago, but after costing the country a large +sum, strange to say, no use is made of it. A shed is built over +it, and there it remains quietly in the gaol-yard, and is likely +to do so to the end of its existence. The reason for not using +this machine, however, is said to be on account of the power +required to work it, which necessarily calls for the exertions of +a large gang; and although the house of correction is generally +crowded with occupants, yet there has seldom been a sufficient +number of culprits at one time condemned to that peculiar +punishment, to set the treadmill going. + +The north end of the building is appropriated to the use of the +officers of her majesty’s troops, stationed for the time in the +island; and notwithstanding its near proximity to a prison, must, +I should think, be a very pleasant domicile. The privates are +quartered at the other barracks, further to the east; and beneath +the shade of a large tree growing near, their red-faced wives may +be seen busily employed in washing their habiliments, while their +sun-burnt children scramble about and chase the butterflies, who, +gorgeous in colours, sport about the margin of a neighbouring +pond. + +The next building to be mentioned is, the new Ebenezer Chapel, +belonging to the Methodist society. The corner-stone of this +edifice was laid by the Honourable Nicholas Nugent (then speaker +of the house of assembly, but who now resides in England as the +colonial agent) in 1837. A religious service was first held in +the old chapel, and then, forming into a procession, consisting +of ministers of the different sects in Antigua, some of the +aristocrats of the island, the leading members of the Methodists, +and the scholars of their Sunday-schools, they marched to the +spot appointed for the erection of their new place of worship. A +bottle containing the customary inscription was placed in the +cavity the stone lowered to its proper situation, the three blows +of the mallet struck, addresses delivered, and the ceremony was +over. + +It is a spacious building, the front being constructed of +free-stone, the gift of the Honourable and Rev. Nathaniel +Gilbert. It is pierced with two tiers of windows; the upper ones +arched and of larger size than the lower tier, which are very +disproportioned to the extent of the edifice—a circumstance which +tends to render it warmer than it otherwise would be. The +ground-floor is appropriated to the use of the infant and Sunday +schools, as also their “tea-parties,” held for charitable +purposes; above is the chapel, which is approached by an outward +flight of stone steps. The interior is fitted up in the usual +plain style; but boasts a smart display of blue and white paint. + +The pulpit, painted to represent oak, is an irregular octagon, +supported by four fluted columns, and covered with purple +drapery, bordered with yellow fringe, instead of gold; below is +the reading desk. The pulpit is so lofty, which renders it +inconvenient for such of the congregation as occupy the body of +the chapel to follow the movements of the officiating minister. +The galleries run round all sides, and are supported by plain +cast-iron pillars, bearing each its neat-looking lamp. The last +gallery is exclusively appropriated to the use of the children of +the Females’ Friend Society and the Sunday-school scholars; and +here, also, is placed the seraphine belonging to the chapel, +which serves to lead the vocal part of the service. Altogether, +the chapel is an excellent building, superior to anything of the +kind I have seen in the West Indies, and makes a good and +commanding outward appearance, particularly when lighted up of an +evening; but to my eye it looks more like reading rooms, or a +philosophical institution, than a place of worship. + +Methodism was first established in Antigua in 1760, by the +Honourable Nathaniel Gilbert, speaker of the house of assembly. +In 1758, Mr. Gilbert visited England, carrying with him some of +his negro servants; and during his stay there, he formed an +acquaintance with the Rev. John Wesley, the venerable founder of +Methodism, who baptized two of the negroes. Upon Mr. Gilbert’s +return to Antigua, he signified to those individuals who resided +near him, that he should feel happy in meeting them at his house +on certain evenings, when he would expound the word of God to +them, and endeavour to enlighten their minds upon religious +subjects. This invitation was eagerly accepted by many of the +negroes and coloured people, and Mr. Gilbert was led to increase +his views, and form a regular organized society, which in a short +time amounted to two hundred members. + +This proceeding of Mr. Gilbert produced the greatest astonishment +among the inhabitants of Antigua. A man in his rank of life to +herd with negro slaves, and their coloured offspring, who, +although perhaps they might be free, bore about with them the +marks of their despised race!—oh! wondrous! incomprehensible!—the +man must be mad, thought they. But when he, unmindful of their +censure, proceeded in his acts of love towards these poor +outcasts from the pale of society, their wonder knew no bounds; +their feelings took another turn, and what at first was surprise, +gave way to reproach and contempt. Mr. Gilbert, however, was not +to be moved by what mankind said of him; he knew the consequence +before he commenced his labours; and reckless of scorn or +reprehension, he steadily pursued the path he had chalked out, +knowing full well in whom he trusted. Thus he proceeded, until +death called him from this world, and summoned him to reap his +reward in heaven; when, strong in faith, he left his infant +society without a shepherd to watch over its welfare. + +Mr. Gilbert derived his origin from a family of considerable +distinction in the west of England, where one of its members—Sir +Humphrey Gilbert—associating himself with his kinsman, the +celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh, became one of the most eminent +circumnavigators of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Dying, he left +a son, Raleigh Gilbert, Esq., who, among other individuals, +obtained from King James I. a large grant, in what was then +termed Plymouth—the foundation of the afterwards glorious colony +of Virginia, in North America—and where, in 1606, he emigrated, +along with the Lord Chief Justice Popham; George Popham, Esq. +(his son); William Parker, Esq.; and Thomas Stanham, Esq. Soon +after this period, we find Raleigh Gilbert, under the title of +Captain Gilbert, in command of a vessel manned with 100 men, and +provided with ordnance, stores, and provisions, sufficient for +the establishment of a plantation, which he (in conjunction with +Captain Popham, a joint patentee, and in command of another +vessel, similarly provided) began on the banks of the river +“Sagadock,” in the year 1608, and where they erected a fort, +called Sir George’s. Captain Popham, his zealous coadjutor, +having died in this place, Captain Gilbert returned to England, +where he took possession of an estate, fallen to him by the death +of his elder brother, Sir John Gilbert, President of the +Virginian Company. Another member of this family, we find, about +the same time, leader of an abortive expedition to form a +settlement upon the shores of the Bay of Chesapeake, in Virginia, +and who, it appears, was well acquainted with those several +islands which now form the Leeward Caribbee government. The +following extract is taken from a work published in 1741 (second +edition):— + +“In the same year, Captain Gilbert, in the ‘Elizabeth,’ of +London, made a voyage to Virginia, but not with the like success. +He traded with the savages in the Charibbe Islands—viz., St +Lucia, Dominica, Nevis, St Christopher’s, &c., and thence +proceeded to the Bay of Chesapeake, in Virginia, being the first +that sailed up it, and landed there. The Indians set upon him and +his company in the woods, and Captain Gilbert and four or five of +his men were killed by their arrows, upon which his crew returned +home.” + +We cannot undertake to say from which particular member of this +distinguished family the Gilberts of Antigua sprang, but they +were among its earliest settlers, and constituted some of the +greatest ornaments of the colony, in which for so many years they +have been proprietors. The present most noble Marquis of +Northampton, President of the Royal Society, descends, in a +female line, from this family. His mother, the late marchioness, +(married, August 18, 1787, to Charles, late Earl and Marquis of +Northampton, and died, March, 1843,) being the daughter of a Miss +Gilbert, (daughter of Nathaniel Gilbert, of Gilberts, Antigua, +Esq., grandfather of the present Honourable and Reverend N. +Gilbert,) by her husband, Joshua Smith, of East Stoke Park, co. +of Wilts, Esq. + +But to return to Methodism. Unpromising as the state of this +little society might seem, the good seed already sown was not +destined to perish. The Great Shepherd cared for it; and when +least expected, raised another pastor in the person of a Mr. John +Baxter, a native of England. Mr. Baxter was a man who moved in +humble life, and who worked in the capacity of shipwright, in +Chatham Dockyard; but he was justly esteemed by all who knew him, +a pattern to the society to which he belonged, and a +highly-respected leader among Mr. Wesley’s sect. In 1777, a +proposal was made him by some of the directors of the Chatham +Dockyard, to sail for Antigua, and work as foreman of the calkers +in the naval establishment of that island. To this Mr. Baxter +assented; but not so his friends: they made use of every argument +in their power to make him forego his purpose—representing, in +the most glowing colours, the distance he would be from all he +loved; the dangers of the ocean, over which he must pass; and the +difference, perhaps insalubrity, of climate he would have to +contend with. But all without avail; he felt an unconquerable +desire to visit that portion of the globe, and accordingly, +bidding his friends farewell, he left England, and arrived in +Antigua on the 2nd of April, 1778. + +As might be expected, he found the infant Methodist Society in a +very languishing state. Upon hearing of his arrival, and of his +being a member of the same sect as their beloved benefactor, the +little band waited upon him, and after welcoming him to their +shores, begged him to tell Mr. Wesley he had many children in +Antigua whom he had never seen, but who were earnestly desirous +of his aid. On the following Sabbath, Mr. Baxter met them in the +services of religion, and from that day constituted himself their +pastor; which office he performed until his death, assembling +them together on Sundays, and performing the full service, as in +England, and on the other week-days, after his labours in the +dockyard were over, visiting the different estates, and teaching +the poor slaves the road to salvation. + +His exertions were greatly blessed; and by the following year, +1779, six hundred negroes were joined to the congregation. He now +contemplated the erection of a chapel, and for that purpose +instituted collections among his people, and adopted every other +consistent method to acquire funds to carry out his plans. + +Mr. Baxter’s situation was productive of great discomfort to +himself; his duties to be performed in the naval-yard were very +laborious; and after a long day’s work, his evenings were spent +in travelling from plantation to plantation, the harbinger of +Gospel news. He had no one to assist him in his self-appointed +task, but for some years laboured on alone. In 1782, he mentions +in a letter to a friend, “There is no white person in the +congregation but myself. At St. John’s, thirty coloured persons +receive the Lord’s Supper.” + +Assistance, however, was not so far off as he supposed. About +this time an Irish family (who were all members of Mr. Wesley’s +sect) were persuaded by an unprincipled captain of a trading +vessel, to sell all their little property, and emigrate with him +to America. Deceived by his plausible manners and fair speeches, +they acquiesced in his proposals; and turning all their goods +into money, the whole family, consisting of an elderly father and +mother, a son, and some daughters, embarked on board his vessel, +and sought with him their better fortune in a far-off land. But +their false friend having inveigled them into his power, under +various pretences, robbed them of their little all, and then +deserted them, in a strange country. After suffering many and +bitter privations, they found their way to Antigua, where they +eventually became valuable assistants to Mr. Baxter. + +In the meantime, Mr. Baxter’s great object, the erection of a +Methodist chapel in St. John’s, was rapidly being accomplished; +and on the 8th of November, 1783, that worthy man, with an +overflowing heart, had the happiness of preaching his first +sermon in it, to a full and serious audience. In the space of the +three following years, the society increased to 2000 persons. + +In 1786, Dr. Coke, the Wesleyan missionary and historian, left +England, for the purpose of spreading gospel tidings in America. +Meeting, however, with violent gales, the ship in which he took +passage was unable to make her destined port; and after +encountering a series of disasters, as a last and only resort, +was obliged to put into Antigua, in distress. Dr. Coke was +delighted to find the Wesleyan society in that island in so +satisfactory a state—a circumstance he was unprepared for; and in +his letters to England, expresses in warm terms his pleasure upon +the subject. + +The first conference was held at Antigua, in the year 1787; but +the annual conferences, or district meetings, were not +established until 1793, when, on the returns being made, the +society was found to consist of 6570 members; out of which there +were 36 white, and 105 coloured persons. Although the Methodist +society had progressed so far, and embraced so many members, yet +its proceedings were reviled and insulted by the greater part of +the white inhabitants. All kinds of petty insults were heaped +upon its pastors; while their place of worship was made the scene +of vulgar waggeries and ribald jests. One favourite amusement +with many of the young men of that period was, to procure a live +goat, and after hampering its legs, fling it into the midst of +the assembly, while engaged at their devotion at the Methodist +chapel. At other times, in order to vary the sport, the goat was +secured against the chapel door; and as the minister pronounced +the amen, or the members raised their hymns of praise to God, the +poor animal was beat and kicked until it joined in chorus with +its deep and unharmonious cries, which were received with bursts +of applauding laughter by its foolish captors. + +Mr. Baxter, although a very _good_ man, was not, I have +understood, possessed of very superior talents; and accordingly, +many of his discourses produced much merriment among that class +of persons who frequented his chapel for the sake of passing +criticisms, as well as killing time. He had a favourite servant +living with him, whose name was John Bott, and who attended to +the lighting up of the chapel, as well as performing his home +duties. Upon one occasion, John neglected to snuff the candles; +an omission which caused his master so much uneasiness, that, +after endeavouring in vain to read the portion of Scripture +selected, he was fain to interrupt himself in the midst of a +passage—“And Nathan said unto David—John Bott, snuff the +candles!” This intervention, as may be supposed, caused a tumult +of laughter; nor (said an ear-witness) could his own people +restrain their risible faculties. But to return. About 1793, Dr. +Coke paid Antigua another visit, and preached upon many +plantations; one of which was Sir George Thomas’s, at North +Sound. The old chapel at Parham was erected in 1802; the returns +of the society made that year were, 4000 persons. + +The year 1805 was marked by the Methodists as that in which their +friend and pastor, Mr. John Baxter, closed his mortal career, +after a well-spent life—twenty-seven years of which he passed in +Antigua.[82] He died November the 13th, 1805, and was interred in +the churchyard of St. John’s; but if any stone marked the place +of burial, time has obliterated the inscription, or else +shattered the tomb. The visitor may look in vain for such a +memento. It appears strange to me, that the Wesleyans of Antigua +have never erected monuments to the memories of Mr. Gilbert and +Mr. Baxter. I am sure there are members enough to do this; and it +would be but paying a proper tribute of respect to the memories +of those excellent men, and founders of that sect in this island. +Perhaps, they may take the hint, and allow the walls of their +handsome chapel to be graced with two neat marble tablets devoted +to that purpose. + +But to proceed. Since Mr. Baxter’s death, the Wesleyan society +has been rapidly progressing, not only in Antigua, but in all the +other West India Islands, although Antigua is still looked upon +as the parent church; and in 1842, the society in that island +consisted of about 2700 members. Beside the chapel in St. John’s, +they have places of worship at Parham, English Harbour, +Willoughby Bay, and elsewhere. + +Thus, from a small beginning—from a few black slaves gathered +together by night beneath the roof of a white man—this society +has spread far and wide, like some huge wave, until now it boasts +a vast increase of number, of every variety of shade, from the +ruddy son of Britain, down to the jetty offspring of Afric’s +soil. Great success has attended the preaching of this sect; and +although an episcopalian myself, and consequently more attached +to that form of worship, I cannot let the opportunity pass me +without offering my mite of praise to the character of their +undaunted and fervent ministers, tendering my hearty wishes for +their further progress, and, at the same time, expressing my firm +belief that they have, through God, been the means of preventing +much crime, and saving many, very many, from the fearful +retribution, the inevitable attendant on a misspent life. + +From this view of the Methodist Chapel and Methodism, I proceed +to mention the Moravian settlement. The Moravians, or rather, +“United Brethren,” as many of my readers may be aware, revived +under the celebrated Count Zinzendorf, a native of Germany, who, +with some of his followers, visited England in the reign of +George II., and formed several settlements of their sect in +different parts of that kingdom. They also established colonies +in Greenland, Labrador, and other parts of North America, and in +South America. + +In 1731, Count Zinzendorf visited Denmark, for the purpose of +attending the coronation of Christian VI., who, by the death of +his father, was called to the throne of that kingdom. During his +residence at that court, some of his domestics became acquainted +with a negro, named Anthony, from one of the Danish islands. This +man related many instances of the moral darkness in which the +West Indies were enveloped, and of the distressed state of the +negroes; which being repeated to the count, he felt an invincible +desire to send missionaries to that part of the world, to +proclaim the “tidings of great joy” to those poor benighted +negroes. + +In 1732, this desire was carried into effect; and two +missionaries were despatched from “Herrnhutt,” (the principal +Moravian station, in Lusatia, Germany,) to St. Thomas. Other +missionaries followed them; and in 1733, they planted their +standard in St. Croix. In 1754, the society in London sent +missionaries to Jamaica, who were followed by some of the +brethren from America; and in 1756, Samuel Isles, a true and +exemplary Christian, came from St. Thomas, where he had been +residing as missionary for eight years, and established the first +Moravian settlement in Antigua. + +Their labour of love was at first very slow in its progress; but +they succeeded, in 1761, in raising a chapel, for the +accommodation of the negroes, on a spot of land, purchased for +the purpose, in St. John’s. Still their society rather decreased +than flourished, until, about 1768, there were only fourteen +members in the church at St. John’s. Disheartening as these +circumstances were, like true soldiers of the Cross, they would +not lay down their arms; and at length, their faith and patience +met with their reward. A wonderful revival took place, and in +1775 “the number of their stated hearers amounted to 2000; and +never a month elapsed without an addition to the church of ten or +twenty by baptism.” + +By the year 1787, 5465 negroes were admitted into the church. +Their first settlement was situated at St. John’s; but in 1782, +they had formed another at Grace Hill, or, as it was first +termed, Bailey Hill; a delightful spot, about ten miles from the +capital. The number baptized at St. John’s, in 1789, was 507; +while at Grace Hill, 217 were admitted into the church by that +ceremony. By this time, five preachers were settled in Antigua; +and in the course of the two following years, the society +enrolled 7400 members. At the present period, 1842, the number +may be estimated at 11,000. + +Their settlement at St. John’s is situated in Spring Gardens, at +the extreme north end of the town, and looks the very picture of +neatness and domestic comfort. The present chapel, erected in +1773, is a plain building—devoid of any great architectural +beauty, it is true, but interesting from its very simplicity, and +from being built by the negroes in times of slavery. The rapid +increase of their numbers, already mentioned, rendered it +necessary to provide a larger place of worship; which fact being +mentioned to their negro converts, they immediately commenced +procuring some of the materials, by each bringing a few stones +with them, when they came to their evening meetings in the week. +Those of them who were masons and carpenters worked with the +greatest energy “in their free hours, after their daily tasks +were done; and those who could not assist in the labour provided +victuals for the workmen.” Since that period, the chapel has had +many enlargements and alterations made to it. The dwellings of +the preachers are gathered around it; and their neat, +cheerful-looking burying-ground, in which grows many a beautiful +tree, bounds the settlement to the east. Everything about them +looks green, and fresh, and lovely; and their wives, in their +neat caps, and Quaker-like style of dress, and the often very +pretty, but quiet contour of their features, appear in perfect +harmony with the other parts of the picture. I must say, I like +the Moravians: they seem to have so much open-heartedness about +them—such patriarchal simplicity of manners. Among themselves +they are ever kind and courteous, forming, as it were, one large +family of affectionate brothers and sisters. They have done much +good among the black race, for whose welfare the mission was +particularly intended; and many happy deaths among them attest +the truth. Besides their settlement in St. John’s, they have +several in other parts of the island; namely, at Grace Hill, +Grace Bay, Newfield, Cedar Hall, Lebanon, Gracefield, and Five +Islands. + +Among their ministers, men of learning and talent may be found. +Their superintendent, the Rev. Mr. H———, is a great biblical +scholar, possessed of superior faculties, and a good nervous +preacher; but some of their missionaries, although far from +deficient in erudition, from being natives of Germany, and not +thoroughly acquainted with the English language, are almost +unintelligible to English ears. I cannot say I admire the singing +part of their service; at a given signal they all seem to dart +off at the highest pitch of their voices, and keep on without +regard to time or melody. However, I understand they have also a +seraphine for the use of their chapel, which may tend to modulate +the discordant voices of their congregation.[83] I hope these +last few remarks may not be understood as unkind or sarcastic. +Far be it from me to scoff at _any sect_. True it is I note their +peculiarities; but if founded on the conscientious belief of the +propriety of their own form of worship, I would not raise a laugh +at the fantastic movements of even the “Jumpers” or the “Shakers” +by any animadversions of mine. + +The last and remaining edifice I have to mention, is the +half-finished kirk of the Scotchmen. The foundation-stone of this +place of worship was laid with the usual ceremonies by Sir Wm. +Colebrooke, the late governor, on the 9th of April, 1839. It is +situated upon an ascent on the eastern outskirts of the town, and +from it may be seen many a lovely landscape, which Claude +Lorraine would not have scorned to imitate. It progresses but +slowly; but still it has been known for the tortoise to outrun +the hare, and win the race, and therefore the Scotch kirk may yet +exceed some of its contemporaries. In its present form I can say +but little about it, except that the same fault cannot be found +with it as there has been with the Methodist chapel—the small +size of the windows—for the Scotch kirk appears to be all windows +and doors. If, however, the Scotchman will make haste and finish +the building, I will promise to write all about it; in the +meantime, as I have already made this chapter of leviathan +dimensions, I will make my courtesy, and—exit for the night. + + + ------ + +[80] This social assemblage of “white” and “black” is one of the +good effects of emancipation. Some years ago this dark-skinned +race would have been kept from within the precincts of the walls +by the point of a bayonet, as it was the custom on similar +occasions to have a guard. + +[81] The dates of papers in most of these offices commence from +1668, after Antigua was restored by the French, and Lord W. +Willoughby settled in the government by his majesty Charles the +Second. + +[82] Mr. Baxter gave up his situation in the dock-yard after the +erection of the chapel in St. John’s, and removed to a small +house erected in the chapel-yard, and continued to fill the +office of the established minister until his death. + +[83] This is a misinformation. There is no seraphine in the +chapel, but a small but very sweet-toned organ in the +school-room. Upon a late visit to the chapel, however, I find +that the congregation is very much improved in their style of +singing. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + + + Morning—Institutions—Daily Meal Society—Its rise and progress— + Lazaretto—Destitute Females’ Friend Society—Its origin and + purpose—Friendly societies—Bible Society—Missionary + associations—Temperance Society—Juvenile Association—Ladies’ + Clothing Society &c.—Banks—Library Society. + +Another morning is come—a bright glorious morning: the sky is as +deeply blue as the breast of the kingfisher, except where here +and there a snowy pyramid of clouds mounts slowly up the heavens. +Through the open windows of my apartments, a rich flood of +sunshine pours in, and plays upon the floor in many a fanciful +chequer. The bright red flowers of the “Scarlet Cordia” hang in +tasteful branches from among their broad green leaves, and +attract the attention of the little humming-bird, who, in their +changeful plumage, flit around, and rob the flowers of their +liquid sweets. The breeze is as gentle as an infant’s sigh, a +dreamy stillness is abroad, and—but what was that?—rain, I +declare! A gloom has silently and suddenly overspread the sky; +the late white-robed clouds have become covered with a darkened +hue; the wind has raised its pipe; the rain comes pouring down, +and chases away my feathered favourites. I can write no more of +bright skies and glowing sunbeams, and therefore I must proceed +in my task, which the beauty of the morning drove from my +thoughts; and having already attempted a description of the +buildings of St. John’s, I shall now endeavour to give some +account of its institutions. + +The first to be placed upon the list, not from the number of +years it has been established, but from its extent, is the Daily +Meal Society, for information respecting which I am indebted to +the Rev. Robert Holberton. This society, intended for the purpose +of “supplying the sick and needy, of St. John’s and its +neighbourhood with a daily meal,“ was established in the year +1828, the management of its affairs being “undertaken by a +committee of seven gentlemen in the town, (the present Speaker of +the House of Assembly being the treasurer;) three of the clergy, +(the Rev. Robt. Holberton being the secretary;) and five of the +medical gentlemen.” They hold their meetings in the +churchwarden’s office, and on the 18th of June, 1828, a female +superintendent was appointed at a salary of 50l. currency per +annum. A “soup-house” was erected in the yard attached to the +superintendent’s dwelling to the east of the church, the land +being allowed to the society, free of rent, for the space of +seven years by the heirs of “Donovan’s Estate.” A ship’s boiler +having been presented to the society, it was immediately put into +requisition, and the first meal distributed the 2nd of August, +1828, to thirty-six persons. + +Up to that time there was no parochial relief for any black or +coloured person; and consequently, when the establishment of such +a society became known, the sick and aged among those classes +eagerly sought for shelter, and an alleviation of their +distresses. The medical gentlemen of St. John’s having offered to +attend gratuitously, in monthly rotation, the cry of these +unfortunate people was responded to; and five small houses, +adjoining the “soup-house,” having been first rented, and +afterwards purchased by the society, fourteen of these afflicted +ones were received and succoured. Many a poor outcast found his +throbbing heart at rest when possessed of these humble +accommodations; many a sufferer had his pains alleviated, and the +oil of mercy poured into his wounds. Five or six successful +amputations were also performed there during that early period. + +The rise and progress of this institution is so interesting, that +I think I cannot do better than follow up the account of it, in +the words of the Rev. Mr. Holberton, published in a “Brief +Review:” “After the destructive hurricane of 1835, (when this +society was found signally useful in furnishing a comfortable +meal daily to the houseless poor,) the unappropriated residue of +a grant from the legislature, for restoring some of the damaged +houses of the poor of St. John’s, was handed over to the +committee of the Daily Meal Society, with the understanding that +shelter should be given to those whose houses were considered +past repairing. This testimony of public confidence, together +with a handsome private donation of 90l. sterling, occurring at +the very time when the land on which the institution had stood +for seven years was required by the owner, stimulated the +committee to attempt to re-establish it on a more extensive +scale.” + +Mr. Holberton proceeds to pass some high encomiums upon the Very +Rev. the Archdeacon Parry (late of Antigua) for the great +interest felt by him in the success of the society—encomiums, no +doubt, richly his due; but the rector was necessitated to forego +mentioning what it is in my power to do, that it was principally +through his own kind heart, and from his deep Christian +principles, which led him to exert every energy in its behalf, +that the Daily Meal Society had its origin, and is in its present +flourishing condition. + +Mr. H. proceeds: “Chiefly at his” (the archdeacon’s) “instance, a +successful application was made to the legislature for a piece of +land near the rectory, 300 feet long by 100 feet wide. This was +enclosed with strong palisades, and within were erected a +kitchen, or ‘soup-house,’ of stone, 30 feet long and 15 wide, a +wooden house, 60 feet by 20 feet, divided into six apartments, +capable of accommodating four persons in each. A well was also +dug 24 feet deep, and four of the wooden houses which stood on +the old site were transported to the new one. The expense of +effecting these objects amounted to 1300l. currency, of which +about 1000l. currency was raised by subscriptions. This +establishment was opened on 8th March, 1837, under the name of +the _Asylum_, and has been providentially raised up to meet, in +the most satisfactory manner, the various cases of distress that +have occurred since the general emancipation in 1834, and has +effectually done away with begging in the streets of St. John’s.” + +As leprosy is a frequent disease among the negroes, and, from its +contagious character, doubts had arisen upon the propriety of +admitting persons suffering from that dreadful complaint into the +asylum, it was determined in 1836 to open a subscription list for +the purpose of erecting another building for their reception. +That they might have the benefit of sea-air and sea-bathing, the +site chosen for it was by the sea-side. This building was +commenced in 1837, and “although, from want of funds, scarcely +one of the two wings could be completed, admission was given to +five leprous persons on the 25th of April in that year.” The +society, however, “was compelled to declare that, without +parochial allowances, the institution must fall to the ground. +The claim to such help was at once seen to be most reasonable and +highly needful, and the desired combination of _parochial_ with +_voluntary_ relief was speedily effected. The legislature +granting 600l. currency the following year, the debts were paid +off, and the building finished and publicly opened under the +title of the Lazaretto, on the 20th June, 1838.” + +The Lazaretto consists of “six rooms for females and six for +males, capable of accommodating three in each, besides one small +room for one person only. The enclosed yard has been, for the +most part, converted into plots for provisions, and for keeping +poultry in. Some bamboos have been planted, which will in time +afford materials for making baskets, about which one of the men +is industriously employed, and by the sale of his work contrives +to purchase clothes for himself, at half-price, from the Ladies +Clothing Society. All the inmates appear thankful and contented, +and some have shewn a readiness to receive scriptural instruction +that is very pleasing.” Poor creatures! some of them are, indeed, +objects for the deepest commiseration, but their sufferings are +alleviated as far as possible. Their residence is a delightful +situation; the sea-breeze comes so pure from off the bosom of the +ocean, that one would suppose disease must fly before it. From +the farthest point of the land runs a causeway over to Rat +Island, (the promontory already mentioned as being the site of +one of the forts,) made about the year 1748, and which is +passable at ebb-tide. Upon this promontory, which rises in the +form of a steep mount, a lunatic asylum has been built during the +past year, (1841,) the legislature having voted a sum for that +purpose, for the use of such inmates of the institution as have +shewn symptoms of aberration of mind. + +In 1838, the legislature gave a further grant of 500l. currency +to the society, for the purpose of erecting “a separate ward for +the male patients, with ten apartments capable of accommodating +four persons in each,” in that part of the establishment situated +near the rectory, which was finished and opened on the 15th July, +1839. An iron tank, capable of holding 7000 gallons of water, has +been imported from England, and placed in the yard of the same +portion of the institution. In 1840, the title of the society was +changed from that of “The Asylum” to “The Daily Meal Society’s +Infirmary and Lazaretto,” by which latter designation it is now +distinguished. + +This establishment is, indeed, the only infirmary and hospital in +the island, (with the exception of the cast-iron hospital at the +Ridge, near English Harbour, for the use of the troops;) and not +only the destitute poor of St. John’s, but the poor from all the +other parishes are admitted into it, as well as distressed and +destitute sailors. The best medical attendance is procured for +them; wine and other strengthening nourishment administered to +the sick; and three wholesome meals allowed to each individual +per day. Bedsteads and bedding are also supplied, there being “in +the female ward six, and in the male ward ten furnished +apartments, ready for the reception of patients at the shortest +notice.” + +Nor are these the _only_ accommodations this inestimable charity +affords to the poor and distressed of our species, there being +seven detached houses on the opposite side of the inclosure, +capable of containing two, three, or four persons in each. “In +these separate dwellings infirm persons are distributed, whose +complaints, habits, or tempers, render it expedient that they +should be kept by themselves. One house, fronting the +burial-ground, is reserved for the reception of the dead previous +to interment, and is used for a dissecting room when required. +Eighty inmates can be comfortably accommodated at the infirmary.” +The income for the last year, (1841,) including subscriptions, +donations, legacies, and parochial relief, was 1361l. 0s. 4½d. +currency, the expenditure, 1225l. 4s. 4d.; the latter sum would +have been of greater extent was it not from the kindness of many +of the Antiguan proprietors, in presenting each a barrel or two +of sugar. + +Thus have I gone with Mr. Holberton through the “rise and +progress of the Daily Meal Society.” Perhaps some of the truly +charitable inhabitants of dear old England may be induced to send +their mite across the waters in aid of this society, of whose +existence they may probably not have been hitherto aware; and as +I knew it was out of my power to use more cogent language— +language which speaks to the heart—nor advocate the cause so well +as our excellent rector, I have therefore quoted so largely from +his “brief review,” feeling assured he will pardon me, and hoping +my readers will bear with me. In conclusion, I will once more use +his words and say—“It is undeniable that the hand of God has been +over it to sustain it in its small beginning, to uphold it in +every difficulty, and to raise it to its present prosperity. To +God, then, be all the praise; and may the success with which He +has been pleased to crown the exertions of the society provoke +every member and friend of it to increasing diligence in these +works of charity, for which there will still be a continual +call.” + +The next charitable institution to be mentioned is “the Destitute +Females’ Friend Society,” or, as it is now termed, “the Female +Orphan Society.” This latter title is, however, a misnomer, for +but few of the inmates are orphans in the true sense of the word, +they being, but with few exceptions, the illegitimate children of +black or coloured women, (by white or coloured persons,) whose +parents, still alive, are, from penury, incompetent to maintain +them, or are living in a state of concubinage, and consequently +not proper guides to youth. + +This society, which is invaluable, and is well known in England +by its first name, although, perhaps, lost sight of in its +modernized title, was established about the year 1816. The origin +of it was as follows:— + +“The attention of a few pious and benevolent individuals of the +female sex was called to the situation of an indigent class of +coloured children of their own sex, (for whom there was then no +parochial relief;) and witnessing with feelings of poignant +regret their moral and religious degradation still more than +their bodily necessities, they were impelled to exert, in +connexion with a few other friends, all their united energies for +the amelioration of the condition of these unhappy children, and +thereby lessen the evils resulting to the community in general +from a generation growing up without religious or moral +cultivation. To effect these desirable objects, it was resolved +to make an immediate and bold attempt. + +“The attempt was bold, because it could not be carried into +execution by persons circumscribed in their means of doing it +without the concurrence and aid of others like-minded, and of +whose co-operation they were not assured. Encouraged, however, by +one whose heart devised liberal things, though possessing himself +little power to accomplish them from his own resources, but +favoured with influence over some who considered themselves as +stewards appointed by God to benefit their fellow creatures, and +assured by him of competent aid from England, if it could not be +obtained in Antigua, a commencement was made by a few +subscribers, chiefly respectable coloured persons; and several +children were immediately taken to be clothed, fed, and +instructed; and when the plan was made known to the community at +large, and to other benevolent individuals in England and +Scotland, the society, by their generous assistance, grew into +its present state of maturity. Such was its origin, and we cannot +but observe in it the benefit resulting from a social compact to +do good to our fellow creatures—the design to rescue from the +paths of the destroyer, and to train in those of piety, industry, +and useful occupation, the objects of their care. The success, +though not in every instance unfailing, has been considerable. A +few, there is reason to hope, are where sin and sorrow cannot +enter. Others, as useful domestics, or conductors of their own +households, testify to the truth of the fact. + +“Three of the elder girls have been sent into creditable +situations, with a prospect of comfort to themselves and +usefulness to their employers. Four more have been admitted to +fill their places. Seventeen are now in the house. The committee +would not arrogate to themselves any undue merit; but they +gratefully receive the meed of approbation awarded to them by the +frequent application they have for the admittance of children, +and for girls to fill the place of servants.” + +I have quoted so largely from the reports of the society (1841) +for two reasons—first, because the committee are, and of course +ought to be, better acquainted with its proceedings than myself; +and secondly, because its details are related with a striking +simplicity of style, which must speak to every breast not devoid +of the “milk of human kindness,” and I am sure no words of mine +would be able to influence further the minds of those benevolent +persons who, through the medium of these pages, may become +acquainted with its existence, and feel wishful of adding a +trifle to the funds of this invaluable society. + +That it is an invaluable charity none can deny, for it strikes to +the root of all West Indian misery—_illicit love_; and what can +be more acceptable to “the community at large” than the +endeavouring to inculcate into the minds of its youthful members +the doctrines of chastity and diligence in well-doing? The +twenty-sixth anniversary of this society was held on the 31st +December, 1841. The children, inmates of the house, are taught +reading, writing, and arithmetic, and are instructed in all the +arts of female plain-work,—straw-bonnet sewing and cleaning +forming one branch of their employment. Their earnings for the +last year were 107l. 0s. 7½d. currency, out of which, 5l. 13s. +10½d. had to be deducted for materials to carry on their +different works. The matron receives a salary of 60l. currency +per annum, and the children are clothed and boarded, and have +medical attendance found them; and when death sends forth its +summons, and any of the inmates fall a prey to its inevitable +shafts, their last resting-place is provided, and the funeral +expenses paid. + +The next institutions worthy of mention are the town and country +“Friendly Societies.” They are formed upon a similar plan to some +of the “poor men’s clubs” in England, and prove of great +assistance to the members in times of sickness and trial. The St. +John’s Friendly Society was established in 1829, under the +auspices of that zealous minister, the Rev. R. Holberton, and was +intended to promote good feelings among the lower classes, to +assist them in procuring articles of mourning, aid them in times +of deep distress, help those incapable of helping themselves, and +encourage sobriety and industry among them. + +After the abolition of slavery, in 1834, many of the negroes +removing from the estates to which they formerly belonged, and +other estates not finding medical advice for their labourers, as +in times of slavery, it was found necessary to enlarge the rules +of the society; and by increasing the amount subscribed by every +member, provide them with a doctor when ill, a certain sum per +week during indisposition, and upon demise twelve dollars for the +funeral expenses. + +The first country Friendly Society was established in 1832; but +since that period they have rapidly increased. “In 1834,” remarks +Mr. Holberton, “there were eleven societies, with 1602 members; +in 1835, 4197 members; in 1836, 4560 members.” The Moravians and +Wesleyans have each their Friendly Societies, formed and +conducted upon a similar plan. + +On the first of January, 1842, I visited St. John’s church, to +hear the anniversary sermon preached to the society. The members +met at the parochial school-room, where they formed into a +procession, the women first, and the men following behind, and +marched to the church, headed by the Very Rev. the Archdeacon, +the Rev. Mr. Holberton, the rector, the Rev. Mr. Piggott, and the +Rev. Mr. Saulez. The morning service having been performed, and a +very suitable and excellent sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. +Piggott, the members again formed into ranks, and marched back to +the school-room, where the report of the society was read, short +addresses made, and refreshments handed round, when the whole +party dispersed. I could not help remarking the smart appearance +of the members—such rainbow ribbons, and stylish bonnets—such +parasols and sandals—such blue coats and white trowsers!—as made +their appearance on that day would surprise any one. + +The next society, which by-the-bye ought to have been mentioned +first, as being the oldest in the island, is the Bible Society, +organized in 1815. It is comprised of every sect and shade in the +island, and its interests are managed by an efficient committee. +After the abolition of slavery in 1834, the parent society sent a +“munificent grant, by which a choice portion of the Holy +Scriptures was gratuitously circulated to about one-third of the +inhabitants of this colony. Nine thousand seven hundred copies of +the New Testament, bound together with the Book of Psalms, were +thus placed at the disposal of the committee.” + +The remaining societies are the “Missionary Associations” +connected with the Wesleyan mission, established in 1820, and +intended for the purpose of raising funds for the parent society +in England. The “Temperance Society,” introduced into Antigua in +the year 1836; the “Juvenile Association,” established 1815; the +“Ladies Clothing Society,” (or Dorcas Society,) and two other +associations belonging to the established church, and known as +the “Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge,” and the +“Branch Association of the Society for the advancing the +Christian Faith in the British West Indies, &c.” The Moravians +have also a Missionary society, established in 1839. + +Having now gone through the charitable institutions, I must +proceed to mention the “Banks,” of which there are two in the +island—the “Colonial Bank,” incorporated by royal charter, 1836; +and the “West Indian Bank,” in 1840. The first of these banks +issues a very neat note, (from five dollars [1l. sterling] and +upwards,) bearing a lithographed representation of the royal +arms, and encircled with a very prettily designed border; but the +“West Indian” disseminates the most frightful “paper money” I +ever witnessed. Some of their notes are _red_, and others _blue_; +who was the designer of the “arms” which grace the head of them I +know not, but they appear to be in direct opposition to all laws +of heraldry. The shield (of an oblong figure) is divided into +_three_ quarterings: 1st, or, an eagle (apparently) sable, +beaked, rising from the sea; 2nd, gules, a ship full-rigged, +argent; 3rd, azure, a castle, argent, battled. The supporters are +two dwarfish cocoa-nut trees, (palm?) apparently springing from +the same root as their companions, two gigantic pine-apples; the +whole surmounted by the crown of England. With regard to the +benefit which the establishment of these banks has rendered the +country, various opinions have been formed. + +After the “Banks,” the only remaining institution to be mentioned +is the “Antigua Library Society,” which according to its “rules +and regulations,” is devoted to “the gradual formation of a +permanent library of general literature, and the establishment, +in connexion with the library, of a reading-room, to be furnished +with newspapers, journals, pamphlets, periodicals, and other new +publications.” + +Now it is well known that we live in an age of puffing, as well +as steaming, and it may be imagined by some, that these caterers +for intellectual sweets have fallen short of their promises. Not +so, kind readers; take my word for it there are few better +organized societies of the kind to be met with, or whose +well-filled shelves bear a richer burden. Books to suit every +taste (and every _age_ I might say—for our friend “Peter Parley” +displays there the hidden treasures of the “earth, the sea, and +skies,” to the delight of the youthful reader,) may be found in +this Library Society. Theological, metaphysical, biographical, +historical, and lighter works, abound. Poetry is not excluded; +our own sweet bards, from good old Chaucer, that “father of +English poetry,” down to the soft strains of Mrs. Hemans, or L. +E. L., rank among its selections. + +Of modern works there are no end. There, the irresistible charms +of that “Wizard of the North,” the late Sir Walter Scott, with +his “Jenny Deans;” his high-minded “Flora McIvor;” his +unfortunate “Bride of Lammermoor,” and all his other “gentle +dames” and “lordly knights,” are displayed before the enraptured +reader. There Marryat amuses with his _naïveté_, and those +stirring incidents of a sailor’s life, he knows so well to +picture. There, “Boz” carries you perforce from the hut to the +castle, and makes you weep or laugh in each. There are Bulwer and +Ainsworth, who draw their gentlemen-ruffians in such a guise as +to lead one to admire even a housebreaker or highwayman; Cooper, +who makes us long to lead the life of a backwood’s-man; James, +with his darling peeps at “by-gone days;” the dear Miss Mitford +and Mary Howitt, whose simple annals and sylvan scenes almost +bring before us the lovely fields and sweet flowers of England; +Mrs. Gore, with all her pageantries; Mrs. Trollope, with her +playful but keen sarcasms; the Countess of Blessington, with her +elegant diction and pure imagery, as lovely as her own sweet +form; with many other authors of note, are equally at the command +of the subscribers to this Antiguan bibliotheca. + +This society has been established for many years, but it was not +incorporated by an act of the legislature until 1839, during the +government of Sir Wm. Colebrooke. The members are elected by +ballot, and after subscribing for ten years, they become free of +the library, retaining all the privileges without being called +upon for payment. + +The library is kept in the upper part of a large house, well +adapted for the purpose, consisting as it does of two good sized +apartments, with library tables, covered with respectable green +cloth, and pamphlets of all sorts and sizes; the sides of the +room are lined with bookcases. Altogether it is an admirable +society, and I strenuously advise all inhabitants of Antigua, +whose ideas are not absolutely tied down to “profit and loss,” to +become members; they cannot spend their spare money more +agreeably, nor while away their leisure to better purpose. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + + + Early rising and “Jamie Thomson”—Journey to English Harbour— + Windmills and Don Quixote—Groups of negroes and their equipages + —All Saints’ chapel of ease—The “Hamlet”—Village of Liberta— + Grace Hill—Patterson’s and Prince William—English Harbour + market—Streets and dwellings—Commissariat’s store and + government tank—Dockyard—The superintendent—Stores and + storehouses—Engineer’s workshop—Blacksmith’s shop and blowing + machine—Limes and roses—Recollections of England—Lieutenant + Peterson and Lord Camelford—His lordship’s pranks—The ordnance— + Clarence House and Dows Hill—The Ridge and “Shirley heights”— + Fort Charlotte and Fort Berkeley—Bats Cave—The Savannah and its + tombs—Indian Creek—Return to town. + +The church clock proclaimed the hour of five, as a gentle rap +came at my chamber door. Awakened from a pleasant dream, I +started from my couch, and heard with something like vexation, +that it was time to dress, in order to prosecute our intended +journey to English Harbour. + +Beautiful as is the breath of “early morn,” still there is +something very disagreeable in leaving your comfortable bed, and +it may be, your gorgeous dreams, for the dull realities of life, +and the necessary, but irksome duties of the toilet. I know I +shall be cried down by all lovers of Nature for my unsentimental +remarks. Thomson, enraptured with his subject “of early rising,” +exclaims with all a poet’s fervour— + + Falsely luxurious, will not man awake, + And, springing from the bed of sloth, enjoy + The cool, the fragrant, and the silent hour, + To meditation due and sacred song? + For is there aught in sleep can charm the wise? + To lie in dead oblivion, losing half + The fleeting moments of too short a life— + Total extinction of th’ enlighten’d soul! + Or else to feverish vanity alive, + Wilder’d, and tossing through distemper’d dreams, + Who would in such a gloomy state remain + Longer than nature craves—when every muse + And every blooming pleasure wait without, + To bless the wildly devious morning walk.” + +Now, all this sounds very pretty—very romantic indeed; and we +begin to fancy the poet amid some “bosky dell,” or upland lawn, +his shoes liberally bedewed with those glittering gems, which +“hang in every cowslip’s bell,” and his unpowdered locks +streaming behind him in the morning gale. But stay, gentle +reader! hast thou not heard that Thomson was himself a very +sluggard, and loved his warm bed far better than any sylvan scene +he could so well describe? And in truth, many and many a poet, +even to “Joanna Bailey,” the morning rhymester, has been of the +same mind. Then, why should I not tell the truth, and own my +sloth—although at the same time, when once abroad, no one feels +the nameless “melodies of morn” more than I do. + +But to resume my subject: the incidents of a day’s journey to +English Harbour. After partaking of a light breakfast, and +quaffing of that cup “which cheers, but not inebriates,” we +stepped into the phaeton, and drove through the town, leaving our +friends in “Scotch-row” busily employed in arranging their +incongruous goods to the best advantage. + +The day was very favourable to our undertaking, for it was fine, +but overcast. The sun was robbed of his extreme lustre by the +intervention of various clouds, which passed along the sky in +many beautiful forms. Some dark as ebon night; others of a +silverish grey; the eastern ones tinged with gold and purple; +while some again looked so white and fleecy, that you could fancy +them so many snow-wreaths spread out upon an ocean of blue. The +lights and shadows, too, of the far mountains, with all their +blended tints, were beautiful objects in the landscape; and the +occasional sight of a herd or two of cattle, standing in their +usual dreamy posture, completed the picture. We passed several +windmills (used in grinding the sugar-cane) with their sails +unfurled, and going round merrily in the breeze; but unlike Don +Quixote, I took them not for so many giants, nor wished myself a +knight-errant, that I might rescue the “beautiful and high-born +damsels” from their clutches. + +The road to English Harbour is, however, for the most part dull +and uninteresting; only here and there a pretty prospect attracts +the eye. But on this day (Monday[84]) it was rendered more +cheerful by the groups of negroes, who, of every age and sex, +were coming into town to purchase their weekly stores. Baskets, +trays, and boxes—all kinds of vessels, indeed—were placed in +critical positions upon their heads; but this appeared to cause +no impediment to their ambling gait, while the chatter and song +among themselves, and the smile and courtesy as they passed us, +with the accustomed “How d’ye, massa?” “How d’ye, missis?” shewed +that they considered their errand as one of pleasure rather than +of toil. Carts were also put into requisition by the more +extensive purchasers; some drawn by a ragged Canadian pony, +similar to the little Sheltie breed; others by a tall +grim-looking American horse, with its bones sticking out as bare +as “Rozinante’s;” and others again dragged along by a slight-made +Creole, its mane and tail the colour of flax. Cattle carts were +also bringing in loads of sugar, drawn by six miserable-looking +oxen two abreast, their poor necks weighed down by the heavy +wooden yokes. + +In one part of the road we passed All Saints’ chapel of ease, +belonging to the parish of St. John’s. It is a very plain +building, surmounted by a gothic pinnacle, answering the purpose +of a steeple, with an aperture in the middle, intended, I +suppose, for the admission of a bell. + +After passing a ruined estate, where the long grass grew upon the +walls of a roofless building, once used as a boiling house, and +accomplishing a steep descent, and one or two abrupt turnings in +the road, we came to a cluster of houses, known by the title of +“the hamlet.” Many of these rural dwellings are very neatly built +of native stone; and their little gardens appear to be well +stocked with the country produce, such as potatoes, peas, eddoes, +arrowroot, &c. A short distance from the hamlet is another +similar collection of dwellings, bearing the name of “the village +of Liberta,” (as a painted board informed us,) and equally +abundant in its bright green patches of edibles. The emancipation +of the negroes, and their desire to possess a portion of the soil +in perpetuity, gave rise to these villages, of which there are +many in different parts of the island. Here they erect small +houses, and plant ground provisions. Some of these little +dwellings are very neatly constructed, being raised a little +distance from the ground, and the front door graced with a flight +of steps and a small portico, while the open windows are +furnished with white curtains. + +Adjoining the “village of Liberta,” lies the Moravian settlement +of Grace Hill, snugly ensconced in its leafy fence, and, like +other settlements of the kind in this island, breathing an air of +happy tranquillity. + +Leaving Grace Hill, and travelling on some distance, we arrived +at an estate called Patterson’s, belonging to the Hon. John +Athill, and celebrated in Antiguan history, as being the spot +where the murder of the governor’s child was perpetrated, +(already narrated in the legend of Ding a Ding Nook,) on the +occasion of the abduction of his lady in 1640. The “great house” +upon this estate was honoured by a visit from our late lamented +monarch, William IV., who in 1798 passed a night there. + +We here once again came within sight of the sea, which greatly +added to the attractions of the scene, while on our left hand +rose Monk’s Hill, surmounted by its fortifications, and strewed +in some parts with ruined Carib’s houses. Passing through the +town of Falmouth, we gained a kind of marsh, dotted over with +clumps of aquatic shrubs, and here and there opening to the sea, +and in a few moments entered the village of “English Harbour.” +The market is just at its entrance, and consisted, upon the day +we visited it, of about ten or twelve persons, squatting on the +ground, and having before them shallow wooden trays, containing a +few country vegetables, a miserable-looking chicken or two, a few +strings of strong-scented fish, a store of sun-burnt bread, and +other similar luxuries! + +The houses are in general of very mean construction, and +destitute of paint. There are, however, some very pleasant +residences belonging to the crown, from which beautiful sea-views +may be obtained; for the village is built along the margin of the +sea, and in some parts the waves come rippling up to the very +street, and wet the feet of the passengers. Dogs and ducks were +enjoying themselves in the water,—the former dashing in and out, +and rolling in the sand, while the latter, with their eyes almost +closed, were resting upon their glassy couch, in all the luxury +of idleness. + +Before entering the dockyard, we passed the commissariat stores; +and on the opposite side of the road, a large tank, capable of +containing 240 tons of water, built by the legislature for the +use of the shipping, but from which the inhabitants of the +village are allowed to draw water, the dockyard being so well +supplied with those necessary reservoirs. This tank bears many a +sculptured name; among the rest, that of “Nelson,” that +laurel-crowned hero, who visited Antigua in 1784.[85] + +A pair of strong, well-secured gates guard the entrance to the +dockyard; which being thrown open, we drove in, and alighted at +the office of the superintendant of the establishment, +preparatory to inspecting the accommodations of the place. + +The dockyard consists of two separate departments. The first, +since entitled St. Helena, was commenced in 1726, during the +administration of John Hart, Esq., and at the suggestion of Capt. +Francis Cooper, commander of H. M. S. “Lynn,” and Capt. Arthur +Del Garno, commander of H. M. S. “South Sea Castle.” These +experienced and clever naval officers saw the advantage of having +proper wharfs, &c. for careening ships in Antigua, instead of +being obliged to despatch the vessels appointed to this station, +to the northern colonies, when any repairs were necessary, as +they had before been in the practice of doing. The land chosen, +as being most applicable to the purpose, consisted of two +portions, of ten acres each, which in 1718 had been granted to +Joseph Green, and William Greatrix, privates in H.M. troops, +disbanded in consequence of the cessation of war. These lands +were, however, forfeited to the crown by the non-settlement of +them, by the grantees; and they were consequently appropriated to +the purpose of establishing a dockyard, which is now not to be +equalled in this part of the globe. + +This establishment having proved of such advantage to Antigua, +and the rest of the Leeward Islands, his majesty, George II., +ordered that another wharf, with magazines, stores, and other +appendages, should be constructed. Accordingly, in 1743, a tract +of land was purchased from Thomas Bodkin; five acres of which was +to be appropriated for the site of the new naval buildings; and +the remainder to be allotted to poor white settlers, at the +discretion of the commander-in-chief, the council, and assembly +of Antigua. Such was the origin of the village of English +Harbour, which, on account of being principally crown property, +is disfranchised. + +The dockyard presents a fine and noble appearance; and under the +able superintendence of Joseph Hart, Esq., everything seems to be +conducted in the best possible manner; while the yard itself is +kept so beautifully clean, that a walk through it affords real +pleasure. The exertions of Mr. Hart may perhaps be better +appreciated when it is considered that only six labourers are +allowed him to perform all necessary duties; and that these men +are also liable to be called upon by the pilot, at a moment’s +notice, whenever that officer is employed in piloting vessels of +war in or out of the harbour. + +The storehouses upon St. Helena are principally used for storing +coals, and in consequence, her majesty’s steam-vessels frequent +more that side of the dock. The largest ships of war (that visit +these seas) can go alongside this wharf when necessary. + +On the south of St. Helena lies “Freeman’s Bay,” where such of H. +M. vessels as are intended to remain but a short time generally +anchor; the offing being more readily gained from thence than +when further in. + +The last-erected part of this naval establishment, or “the +dockyard,” as it is more generally called, is separated from St. +Helena by the blue waters of the dock, and contains various +buildings, of which I shall first mention the commissioner’s +room, and pay offices, (under one roof,) as that was the first +place I visited. The commissioner’s room is a very pleasant +apartment, with windows to the east and west, and folding-doors +to the south opening upon a small stone terrace, with a flight of +steps leading to the wharf beneath. From this terrace a +delightful view may be obtained. St. Helena lies exactly +opposite, its warehouses reflected in the clear, blue sea, which +flows at your feet; on your left, Clarence House, and the +adjacent country; while, on your right, the mouth of the harbour, +guarded with its forts, and the blue ocean, with its snowy +crested waves, blends with the sky in the distance. In the +apartment itself are considerable quantities of Psalters and New +Testaments, designed, I suppose, for the use of the naval seamen; +but those annoying pests, the cock-roaches, have made sad work +with the bindings. Leaving this room, we walked into the pay +offices, divided by blue railings, into the commissioner’s +office, master shipwright’s office, master attendant’s office, +and storekeeper’s office; as the several white-lettered +inscriptions informed me. These paying offices are all contained +in one apartment, measuring about 8 feet by 4 feet. They must not +be corpulent persons who occupy them, or they will be less at +their ease than poor “Hudibras” was in the “Wooden Bastile.” + +Descending another flight of stone steps, we crossed part of the +yard, and arrived at the naval officers’ quarters, a very +pleasant and handsome building, along which runs a pretty +verandah, commanding a similar view to that obtained from the +terrace of the commissioner’s room. Underneath these quarters, is +the principal tank, divided into twelve compartments, and capable +of containing 1000 tuns of water. From this tank pipes pass +under-ground, to the edge of the wharf, (a distance of a hundred +feet,) which being furnished with a cock, the water can be turned +into the casks at pleasure; or, when in great haste, another pipe +is fixed from thence into the hold of the ship, which in this +manner receives its proper allowance of water, at a distance of +100 feet from shore. + +A few paces from the officers’ quarters, stands a large building, +100 feet by 90 feet, used as a copper, steamer’s, and lumber +store; attached to which are four semi-circular tanks, capable of +holding ten tuns of water each. Passing from this, we came to the +cordage, sail, canvass, and clothing store, of a similar size; +and opposite to which, at the distance of about ten feet, is the +working mast-house, (100 feet square,) and joiners’ loft above. +In this building a party of men were busily employed in making a +new mast for H. M. schooner, “Fair Rosamond,” which, having met +with an accident, a few days before, had put into Antigua to +repair. Parallel with this building is another working +mast-house, and joiners’ loft above, of similar dimensions to the +former, used also for the accommodation of the yard engines. + +Peeping into a snug little box, called the porter’s lodge, and +passing the guard house, store for condemned articles, and paint +store, we entered the boat-house. By this time the sun had gained +its meridian height, and poured a blaze of light over the whole +yard, which, reflected from the white, sandy ground, dazzled my +eyes with its powerful radiance, and oppressed me with its +excessive heat. As I entered then this building, how delightful +did its cooling air strike upon me!—how sweet was the breeze +which passed over my brow, and allayed its throbbing! while the +gentle plash of the water sounded most musically to the ear. One +part of the boat-house is floored; the other has a channel cut in +it to the depth of 18 feet, for the admission of the water. The +roof is supported by 16 round stone pillars, of 12 feet in +circumference; and above is a loft, where ships’-sails are kept. +Leaving the boat-house, we entered the tar and block stores, +where we found a part of the crew of the “Fair Rosamond” employed +in making _spun-yarn_, used for the purpose of lashing, &c. + +About 20 feet distant, is a building containing painter’s cabin +for grinding paint, and the engineer’s office, beneath is a lead +cellar. We next visited the engineer’s workshop, where we were +agreeably entertained with seeing the cutting and punching +machine put into motion. I am not engineer enough to describe +this machine in a technical manner, and must therefore only +remark that, by means of an oblong wheel, if I may be allowed the +expression, worked by two men, it is capable of cutting through +the thickest piece of cold iron, with the same ease and quickness +a person would cut a scrap of paper, and at the same time, +punching holes of about the diameter of a shilling through +another piece of the same metal. We also saw a turning-lathe +capable of turning any description of iron from three inches to +28 in diameter. There were also innumerable machines, of other +forms, and for various purposes, which were put into motion for +our amusement; and a piece of the iron, which had been cut and +punched in divers figures, was tendered to me—a memento of an +engineer’s workshop in a West Indian dockyard. + +The next place we entered was one more suited to a hyperborean +climate than an Antiguan noonday—a blacksmith’s shop. Here, six +forges can be worked; and several Cyclops ply their skill amid +their dingy implements. To these forges, immense bellows “turned +their iron mouths,” and, impelled by swarthy hands, sent forth a +shower of glittering sparks. We also saw, two patent blowing +machines, manufactured by “Thomas, late Halley and Co.,” which, +by a peculiar arrangement, propels the blast upwards and +downwards at the same time. The master blacksmith worked them for +a few moments, but informed us they had not so much power as the +first pair of bellows we observed upon our entrance, which, from +its magnitude, ought to be called the “King of the Bellows.” He +bid us place ourselves before the mouth of this last-mentioned +pair, and we should be convinced of the truth of his assertions; +but as I felt no wish to be blown away in a gale of ashes, I +declined the invitation, humbly subscribing to his superior +knowledge in such matters. I could not help thinking, that had +Eolus known the use of these “blowing-machines,” what a far more +powerful wind he might have raised, than (as it is pictured he +did) by employing the sons of Astræus to blow so painfully with +their distended cheeks amid his mighty caverns. + +Leaving the blacksmith’s shop, we passed the sawpit shed and +smaller tank, and the shipwright’s house, and then turning an +acute angle, came to a very pleasant residence, occupied by the +superintendent of the yard, Mr. Hart. Here I met with some of my +favourite lime-trees, their pearly flowers redolent with perfume. +Mr. Hart kindly plucked for us some of the golden fruit; and +afterwards presented, what was dearer to me, from the +recollections they call up, three beautiful roses.[86] I may be +laughed at for being so fanciful, but I never see a rose, I never +inhale its rich fragrance, without wandering in imagination +through the flowery gardens of my own land. “Oh! England, my own +dear country! never did one of thy children love thee better than +I do! In the midst of sickness, in the midst of suffering—when +the fervour of a tropical sun burns through my very frame, and +the climate throws its languor around me—my mind still reverts to +thy verdant fields, I see again thy hawthorn-hedges with all +their snowy blossoms, thy carpeting of lovely lowly flowers,—I +breathe thy countless odours,—I hear thy sweet-toned birds, or +the soft chime of thy village bells, and feel upon ‘my very cheek +thy bland and healthy breeze.’” + +But to return to Mr. Hart and his roses. I kept them through the +hot day, bore them in safety to my home, and they now stand +before me. But, alas! their beauty is all gone,—their discoloured +leaves seem to mourn their own dishonour; and only that “the +scent of the roses hangs round it still,” I should scarcely know +what the vase contains. + +After resting in a cool apartment for some time, and taking a +glass of lemonade which Pomona herself would not have refused, +the carriage was ordered to the door, and we were in the act of +stepping in, when it occurred to us that this was a good +opportunity to visit the spot where Lieut. Peterson received his +death wound. + +I have already mentioned, in the historical part of this work, +this unfortunate incident, but, with the permission of my +readers, I must again allude to it. At the time of the +occurrence, Lord Camelford commanded the “Favourite,” sloop of +war, and Commodore Fahie the ship “Perdrix,” Mr. Peterson holding +the rank of first lieutenant on board the last-named vessel. +Commodore Fahie had left Antigua a short time before, to take +temporary command of the fleet, then anchored before St. +Kitts,[87] and during his absence, Lieutenant Peterson was, of +course, left in command of the “Perdrix.” + +It was the custom, in those troubled days of warfare, for boats +to row backwards and forwards across the harbour during the hours +of night, the sailors of the different ships in the dock, headed +by one of their officers, taking it by turns to keep this watch; +and the sleeper might often be roused from his dreams as the +deep-toned _all’s well_ resounded through the still night air. + +Lord Camelford and Lieutenant Peterson were unhappily at +variance; and, perhaps to mortify his rival, Lord Camelford +ordered Mr. Peterson to take the watch upon the very evening that +a gay ball was to be given at Blacks Point to the naval officers. +Unfortunately Lieutenant Peterson entertained the idea that as he +was in command of the _ship_ “Perdrix,” in the absence of +Commodore Fahie, he was superior officer to Lord Camelford, who +only commanded a sloop; and, in consequence of this false +impression, he positively refused to obey his lordship’s orders. + +The disastrous evening approached, and the lieutenant retired to +his quarters above the capstan-house, in order to dress for the +festive party. Arming himself with a pair of loaded pistols, and +telling his boat’s crew to attend him, Lord Camelford quitted his +retirement, and stationed himself directly between the capstan +house and the guard house, (now called the commissioner’s house,) +and there waited the approach of Mr. Peterson, whom he had +already summoned to attend him. + +Upon the unfortunate young officer making his appearance, +accompanied by some of his friends, his lordship again commanded +him to take charge of the watch for the evening—the command was +again refused—when, taking one of the pistols from his bosom, +Lord Camelford immediately fired, and the ball passing through +the breast of the brave, but inconsiderate lieutenant, he fell a +corpse upon the ground, the deadly stream welling from the wound, +and staining, as it flowed, the gay ball-dress which he wore. + +No sooner did the well-aimed weapon do its work, than, drawing +the other from its resting-place, his lordship turned to the +second lieutenant of the “Perdrix,” and pointing it at him, asked +if he would obey his orders, or meet the same punishment as Mr. +Peterson? Life is sweet! The second in command saw his friend +stretched at his feet with the red blood gurgling around him, and +fearing the same fate, he obeyed Lord Camelford, and took the +watch. + +Oh, duty! what a stern goddess thou art! or else how much art +thou belied, for the deed was laid to thy charge. He disobeyed +his superior officer, and in the midst of health, of buoyant +feelings, and without, perhaps, time to think of a _hereafter_, +he was to _die_. I can never more pass those sunken anchors which +mark the tragic spot, without thinking of the mournful fate of +this self-deceived mutineer, poor Lieutenant Peterson, or +fancying I can see him in his death throes, stretched upon that +sandy ground by the hand of him who had been once his friend. + +This circumstance was not the only one that caused Lord +Camelford’s name to be well known in Antigua. Upon another +occasion he went to Mr. Kitto, then superintendent of the +naval-yard, and informed him he wanted certain alterations made +on board the vessel of war he commanded. Mr. Kitto, in the +mildest terms, acquainted his lordship that he could not oblige +him, as it would be going beyond his warrant. To this refusal the +angry officer made no reply, but immediately going on board his +ship, he summoned his boatswain to his presence, and ordered him +to provide himself with a cat-of-nine-tails, and hold himself in +readiness to accompany him ashore. + +In the course of a short time, Lord Camelford, the boatswain, and +his mate, and a few of the crew of the “Favourite,” proceeded to +the dockyard, and a message was despatched to Mr. Kitto, desiring +his attendance. + +Upon the arrival of the superintendent, Lord Camelford again +demanded to know if he would accede to his wishes, at the same +time giving a pretty broad hint that, in case of refusal, his +back should be visited by the “Cat.” Mr. Kitto once more +observed, “It would be going beyond my warrant,” when, as he +uttered these words, at a signal from his lordship, the +unfortunate superintendent was seized, and twelve dozen lashes +inflicted with no unsparing hand by the boatswain of the +“Favourite.” + +This illegal and brutal conduct was not, however, passed over; a +complaint was laid against Lord Camelford, and the case was +investigated at the court house. Upon the day of trial, as may be +supposed, the court was thronged with spectators; the assault was +proved, and bail was about to be demanded, when his lordship +begged permission to retire for a short time. His request was +complied with; but no sooner had he gained the outer gate of the +court house, than, seizing a horse which some gentleman visitant +had fastened to the iron palisading, he mounted, and rode away in +direction of English Harbour as fast as the animal could be +urged. + +In a moment all was confusion. “The prisoner’s escaped!” was the +universal cry; and as the truth became known within the court +house, various were the individuals who hurried forth, mounted +their horses, and joined in the pursuit. The Honourable Edward +Byam was then president of the island, and with the same high +spirit of equity which has ever marked that family, and unbiassed +by the rank of the offender, he immediately threw up one of the +windows of the court-house, and shouted—“A hundred pounds for his +recapture—a hundred pounds for his head!” + +On kept Lord Camelford, (almost overtaken by one of the +constables, a very athletic man, of the name of White,) until at +length the horse he was riding fell down from exhaustion, and +obliged his lordship to take refuge in an adjoining cane-field. +Upon the party who were in pursuit gaining the place of his +retreat, a sudden stand was made. The rabble who had joined the +party, and some of the horsemen, were stationed around the +cane-field; while the constables, with a few attendants, and +several dogs, entered the precincts of the field, and literally +hunted the offending lord through its tangled mazes, until, +overcome with fatigue, and unarmed, he was taken by his pursuers. + +In the escape, Lord Camelford’s hat had fallen off, and he was +therefore placed upon a horse bareheaded; and in this manner, +surrounded by the officials, and followed by all the riff-raff of +“St. John’s and its environs,” he was brought back, and once more +placed before the court. Lord Camelford was ordered to find bail +for his appearance at the sessions. The amount of his +recognisances was 5000l.; Walter Colquhoun and Walter Riddle, +Esqs., standing sureties for his forthcoming. Upon his lordship’s +return to English Harbour, he drew bills for the amount, (for +which his sureties would have been liable by his departure, had +he not taken this precaution,) and then proceeded on board his +ship “Favourite,” made sail, and quitted the shores of Antigua, +with no very enviable feelings, it is to be supposed. + +The forfeited money was devoted to the purpose of sinking wells, +(or springs, as they are termed in the West Indian idiom,) for +the accommodation of the inhabitants of St. John’s; and +accordingly, a party of negroes were employed to prosecute the +work. + +They commenced their labours at the head of the town, opposite to +where the Scotch kirk is now building; but after digging to a +great depth, and still finding no appearance of water, they +became seriously alarmed, and unanimously refused to proceed, +giving as their excuse, “that dey heard all de cocks crowing in +de oder world!” + +To return to the incidents of our day’s journey to English +Harbour. After leaving the scene of Lieutenant Peterson’s death, +we once more walked round by the superintendant’s residence, +admiring as we went the neat manner in which the ponderous +anchors and various-sized buoys were arranged; and then bidding +the dockyard farewell, proceeded on our way to the Ridge, which, +as its name implies, is the upper ground of a gentle ascent, +appropriated to the erection of barracks, and other military +establishments, for the accommodation of her majesty’s troops. +Before I proceed to describe the rest of the Antigua “_lions_,” I +must be allowed to remark, that, although in my life I have +visited many public buildings in England, as well as in other +parts of the globe, I never met with more politeness, from the +lowest to the highest of the officials, than I experienced at +this English Harbour naval establishment. + +A few paces from the dockyard, on the road to the Ridge, we +passed the ordnance, consisting of two separate departments, +divided from each other by an arm of the sea—one used as a +store-place for guns and balls, the other for the reception of +powder. These deadly weapons were so neatly arranged, the +different sizes forming different tiers, and the balls were so +prettily packed in the form of pyramids—the day was so fine, the +sea so blue, and the buildings themselves so spruce, in their +uniform of light yellow picked out with black, that I was quite +enraptured with the picture—forgot the _use_ they were intended +for, nor thought how many heart-broken wives and desolate orphans +had wept, with tears like blood, the carnage such instruments had +effected. + +The road wound up the ascent, which is continued until the Ridge +is gained. On one side stands a very pretty residence, known as +“Clarence House,” belonging to the queen, and one of the +dwellings the superintendent of the naval yard has under his +control; and on the other side of the road rises “Dow’s Hill,” +surmounted by the country-seat of the governor. In this part of +the road, a stone, marked with an anchor, points out the boundary +of the naval ground; and on the other side of the stone, the land +appropriated to the military commences. + +Still following the ascent, in process of time we gained the +engineers’ quarters, the first building which marks the Ridge; +and opposite to it is the victualling office. Passing by the +officers’ quarters, the barracks for the privates, the several +storehouses, and the iron hospital, for the reception of invalid +soldiers, we stood upon the utmost verge of the place bearing the +title of _Shirley_ Heights, so named after one of the former +governors, Sir Thomas Shirley, Bart. A very beautiful view may be +obtained from this spot, well worthy of a painter’s study. Hills +and dales clothed in tropical luxuriance; rocky precipices and +lonely glens, where nature sits enthroned; steep mountains and +ample solitudes, that look as if the foot of man never disturbed +their primeval silence; and gentle slopes, dotted here and there +with neat-looking dwellings. Below, on your right, lies the +dockyard, with its uniform buildings, and the lovely harbour, +forming a complete basin, encircled with its white sands; while +beyond, the ocean presents one level sheet of burnished gold, +over which the fishing-boats were gaily bounding, and throwing +the shadow of their simple sails and slender masts far before +them. The mouth of English Harbour, which is 113 fathoms across, +was formerly defended in times of warfare by an immense iron +chain. That, however, is now no more; but the staples by which it +was secured still remain in the massive rocks, to prove the truth +of this assertion. It is now protected by two forts placed on +each side of the opening: Fort Charlotte, mounted with four guns, +18 and 24 pounders; Fort Berkley, mounting twenty-four guns. At +the latter fort is a magazine. + +After leaving the Ridge, we turned down a slight declivity, by +the victualling offices, on our way to Bat’s Cave, and the +Savannah. Our road lay through groves of loblolly, manchineel, +and acacia, which, twining their long arms together, formed +various natural colonnades; while the ground was strewed with +their matted leaves, in all stages of decay. Having alighted, we +walked through the interwoven path, carefully avoiding as we went +the different varieties of cactus, which spring up on all sides, +and guarding our faces from the long sharp thorns of the acacia, +and the boughs of the poisonous manchineel. The ground, rugged +and broken, was plentifully sprinkled with disrupted portions of +spar, which glittered in the sunbeams like so many gems, and put +me in mind of Sinbad’s walk in the “Valley of Diamonds.” Immense +ground-lizards were trailing their long bodies about, in search +of their daily food, so amply provided for them by the great +Benefactor of all; while others were basking upon these dazzling +fossils, to imbibe the heat of the meridian sun. + +After taking many devious routes among the impending bushes, in +order to discover the wished-for cavern, I was well pleased to +hear the cheerful voice of our pioneer shouting forth “Come this +way; I’ve found the right path.” Scrambling, as best we could, +over a huge bed of prickly pear, (one of the cactus family,) we +gained an opening in the copse, and stood before the mouth of the +cave. Two large trees, which grew on each side, extended their +gnarled roots (from which the earth had been washed) across the +opening, forming natural steps, by which we descended, and stood +within the cave. + +Huge masses of the rock which forms the cavern have fallen in, +and in great measure blocked it up, so that it now only presents +an arena of about 50 feet in circumference, although in time past +it was of considerable extent. From the main cavern, two passages +branch off in opposite directions. They are perfectly dark, the +only means of exploring them being by the use of flambeaux; but +to what length they extend has never been discovered. Mr. McLane, +a late resident of English Harbour, (now of Canada,) has made +several attempts to that purpose, all of which proved fruitless; +the greatest distance he ever proceeded was to the extent of two +sea-lines, about 120 yards. The only known occupants are bats, +which breed there in immense numbers, and often attain the size +of a common pigeon. A dank unhealthy vapour is emitted from these +openings, proceeding, no doubt, from the carbonic acid gas they +contain. This vapour soon extinguishes the light of a torch, +which is one reason this cavern has never been further +explored.[88] A streak of dark green runs down one side of the +cave, which was pointed out to me as indicating the existence of +copper; but upon examining a portion of the rock I brought away +with me, I found that the colour was occasioned only by a +vegetable substance adhering to the stones. + +In former times, Bat’s Cave was a great place of concealment for +the tribes of erratic Caribs, when visiting Antigua on their +predatory excursions; and tradition still points it out as the +scene of a barbarous carousal among that wild and savage race, in +one of their attacks upon this island. As, however, I am now +giving the narration of a day’s journey, I will proceed to +mention the other spots we visited, and leave the Legend, which +is rather lengthy, for the next chapter. + +Emerging from “Bat’s Cave,” and wending our way amid the same +rugged impediments, in process of time we reached our vehicle, +and stepping into it, proceeded to visit the ruins of the old +government house in the Savannah, the scene of the attack +narrated in the “Legend of Ding a Ding Nook,” and of a similar +attempt in 1654. After driving for a short distance over pasture +land, exhibiting a dreary view of brown and withered herbage, the +effects of the late dry weather, (rendered more striking by the +contrast of the deep green of the different trees,) which +crackled under the horses’ feet, we arrived at another tangled +maze of shrub and brushwood, where it was again necessary to +proceed on foot, in order to prosecute our intended search. +Forcing our way through this almost impenetrable thicket, +rendered in some places more impervious by the twinings and +intertwinings of the withe, (a native parasite,) stooping to +avoid some straggling branch, or springing over a thorny bank, we +gained an open glade; and walking up the gentle acclivity, stood +by the side of the ruins. + +They consist of what appears to have been a cistern, probably the +first built in the island, and a low wall of stone, marking the +foundation of the government house. Within this last-mentioned +ruin stand two tombs, the inscriptions upon which are as +follows:— + + Antigua. + Here lieth the body of Mrs. Elizabeth Warner, + Late wife of Edward Warner, + Of this island, Esq. + She was a woman of exemplary piety; + She was the best of wives, + The tenderest of mothers, + The faithfulest of friends, + And of a most charitable, compassionate disposition, + Whose death was generally and deservedly lamented + By the good people that knew her. + She departed this life the thirteenth of August, + 1723, + In the 37th year of her age. + + Here lies the body of + Mr. Henry Warner, + Who died on the 17th day of Sept, 1731, + In the 39th year of his age, + Much beloved and lamented + By all that knew him. + In memory of whom, his + Affectionate brothers, Edward and + Ashton Warner, + Erected this Monument. + +About these tombs grew many a sweet and fragile flower, and many +a gaily painted butterfly hovered around, and sported in the +blaze of the “great luminary;” while the “Turk’s caps” (another +species of cactus) shewed their crimson crests in all directions. +A broken bottle, the relic of some former maroon (_fête +champetre_) lay upon one of the tombs—not more fragile or fickle +in its nature than the mouldering dust which slept beneath, or +those who in the heyday of life stood looking on. + +Leaving the tombs and ruins to their usual solitude, we retraced +our steps; but in doing so, I could not help thinking that the +name “_Savannah_” was misapplied, or Dr. Johnson was wrong in his +etymology, for I am sure there is wood in abundance of one kind +or the other. A great number of wild cattle inhabit this part of +the country, deriving, it is said, a plentiful supply of +nutriment from the herbage found there. + +On our return to English Harbour, along the same road, we had a +glimpse of “Indian Creek,” so famous in “story,” which meanders +through verdantly-decked shores in a picturesque manner. It +derives its name from an engagement which took place upon its +banks, between a party of Caribs, (or Indians,) narrated in the +following “Legend.” + +Once more entering the village of English Harbour, we proceeded +to the house of W. C. Brooks, Esq., where we rested for some +time, experiencing those nameless acts of hospitality for which +the Antiguans are noted; and where I willingly laved my burning +temples with the fragrant “Eau de Cologne.” Really, this marching +and counter-marching, beneath a tropical sun, is no slight +matter, let my readers think as they may. “Sol” visits the face +with many a fiery mark, and if he _kisses_, he leaves his _sting_ +behind. I felt glad when we once more took our way to town; and +although no lovely moon was abroad, + + “——the floor of Heaven + Was thick inlaid with patines of bright gold,” + +which sufficed to light us gloriously on our way, and bring us in +safety to Spring Gardens. + + + ------ + +[84] It may be necessary to remark, for the benefit of my English +readers, that although Saturday is the principal _market-day_, +Monday is more generally used by the labouring class for coming +into the capital to provide their weekly supplies. So much is +this the case, that where you may see fifty labourers employed +upon a plantation upon the other days of the week, on Monday you +will scarcely find twenty. + +[85] As it may amuse the reader, we here transcribe an original +letter, written by our great naval hero at this period, which is +carefully preserved by its proprietor as an invaluable relic:— + + “English Harbour, Aug. 3rd, 1784. + +“As the captains of the navy at this port mean to establish a +mess for the hurricane months, by their desire I write to beg +that you will send us round, by the first opportunity, the +undermentioned articles—viz., one hogshead of port, one of the +best white wine that you have, twelve dozen of porter in bottles, +fifty pounds loaf sugar, one firkin of good butter, two baskets +of salt, two pounds black pepper. + + “I have the honour to be, your humble servant, + + “Horatio Nelson. + +“P.S. As we only wait for these things to begin our mess, the +sooner they arrive the better. Mr. Druce, the agent victualler is +a going to send provisions round for the Fury which will be a +good opportunity. + +“Addressed to ——— Kerr, Esq.” + +[86] It may be necessary to remark, that roses are very choice +flowers in Antigua, the climate not appearing to agree with them. +This is strange, as in the East Indies, where the heat is even +greater, whole fields are planted with this beautiful shrub, in +order to get their leaves to distil the far-fame “Attar.” + +[87] Of which island he was a native. + +[88] It is supposed that these passages extend to the sea-shore, +a distance of about a quarter of a mile. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + + + ZULMIERA, THE HALF-CARIB GIRL. + + A Legend of the Savannah. + +The sun was rapidly sinking in the west, but its declining beams +only threw upon every object a richer tone of colour, as a party, +consisting of three persons, emerged from a small shrubbery, and +halted upon the brow of a shelving hill. + +The foremost of the party was a man who probably verged upon the +mellow age of fifty; but his eagle-eye, and stalwart frame, told +that his years sat light upon him. He was what would have been +termed a handsome man; but a supercilious curl of his upper lip, +and an expression of scornful indifference, which, though +apparently suppressed, lingered in his dark hazel eye, added to a +brow furrowed by deep lines, and compressed by slumbering +passions, which only waited the spur of the moment to be called +into action, detracted from the otherwise agreeable character of +his features, and effectually forbid any approach to familiarity. +A deep and unsightly scar, the effects of a sabre-cut, which, +commencing from the right ear, traversed the jaw, injured yet +further his good looks. He was habited in a complete suit of +black velvet, of the richest texture; the sombreness of which was +in some measure relieved by diamond clasps, and small +knee-buckles of the same costly stones. A small collar of the +finest lawn made its appearance above the doublet; and a +black-sheathed “Andrèa Ferrara,” with basket hilt, dangling from +his side, and calf-skin boots, completed his costume. This dress, +fitting tight to his shape, shewed to advantage the large but +perfect symmetry of his person; while the dark brown hair, +sprinkled here and there with the grey badge of declining years, +cropt close around his temples; and the steeple-crowned hat +peculiar to his sect and times, bespoke him, what he was, the +friend of Cromwell—the roundhead governor of Antigua. + +The next person that gained the open ground was Bridget, the +beautiful daughter of the governor. If ever there was a +personification of extreme loveliness, it was known in Bridget. +Scarcely seventeen, her slight but rounded figure, and her sweet, +mild face, while it struck the beholder with admiration, and +riveted his attention, gave the idea of some embodied sylph. Her +complexion was of that ethereal tint of which the poet says— + + “Oh, call it fair, not pale.” + +The lily could scarcely outvie it in purity of colour, although +every emanation of her guileless heart called up the latent +rose-tint into her delicate cheek; while the small, pouting lip, +with all the rich glow of the coral, forbid effectually the +supposition of ill health. A slightly aquiline nose, a +classically-formed and dimpled chin, with a fair and open +forehead, in which every azure vein could be traced, were the +prominent features; blended with that mingled sweetness, that +feminine grace, and that inexpressible _something_, which really +and actually constitutes beauty. But her eyes—those soft, lovely +eyes—look at them, as she raises the long lashes, and you can +fancy, that were her features devoid of any pretensions to +comeliness, those liquid orbs would richly compensate for all. Of +the clearest hazel, every glance that fell from them spoke the +inmost feelings of her soul; and whether they beamed forth in +pity, or flashed with animation, they equally bespoke the +benevolence of her nature. + +Puritan as her father was, he did not deny his daughter, any more +than himself, the use of a few ornaments; and a bandeau of pearls +fastened around her graceful head vainly endeavoured to restrain +the abundant tresses of her soft, glossy, brown hair, which, +breaking loose, floated upon her shoulders in natural ringlets. +Her dress of dove-coloured satin flowed in rich and ample folds +to her feet, from whence the little slipper peeped forth; and, +gathered around her slender waist by a girdle of pearls, shewed +the admirable proportions of her figure. The stiff puritan ruff +of lawn, in which every plait could be counted, screened her +neck; but around her small white throat was fastened a carcanet +of her favourite gems, not purer in tint than her own fair skin. +A wimple of the same colour as her dress, and lined with pale +rose tiffany, was tied under her little rounded chin, but which, +in the joyousness of her nature, she had unfastened, that she +might more fully enjoy the beauties of the evening. + +The remaining individual that formed the trio was in every +respect far different from those already described; yet, as she +stood a few paces behind Bridget—to mark the difference in their +rank, although near enough to join in the conversation—her lofty +and commanding figure called equally for attention and +admiration. The clear olive tinge of her complexion, the large +black eye, which sparkled with dazzling light, and the long +coal-black hair, braided and twined round and round her head, +told that she was not of the same country, or the same people as +her mistress. Servant—slave as she was—she looked born to +command; and daring must that person be who would encounter for +the second time the flash of her offended eye. Formed in a larger +mould than Bridget, her figure still bore the utmost symmetrical +proportions; and the rounded arm and taper fingers might have +served as a model for the Goddess of Beauty: this female was +Zulmiera—the half-Carib girl. + +The mother of Zulmiera was a very beautiful Carib woman, who, in +that disgraceful partition of them among the English, (after the +massacre of their male friends at St. Kitts during Sir Thomas +Warner’s government of that island,) fell to the share of a young +Englishman, a follower of Sir Thomas Warner’s son, in his after +colonization of Antigua. Xamba accompanied her master to his new +residence, and there bore him a daughter; but dying soon after, +the infant was brought up in the governor’s family. After the +reduction of Antigua by Sir George Ayscue, and the establishment +of a republican governor, in place of the opposer of Cromwell’s +power, Zulmiera, who was rapidly attaining the full burst of +womanhood, was, at the earnest entreaties of Bridget Everard, who +was charmed with the untutored graces of the beautiful Indian +maiden, promoted to the office of her companion. It must be +allowed, that this appointment met not with the full approval of +the governor. Violently attached to Cromwell, and bearing bitter +hatred to the royalist party, and all malignants, he thought the +girl had been too long nurtured in their principles to make a +faithful attendant to the daughter of a republican. But Bridget +was his only child,—a motherless girl; and stern and unbending as +he was to others, his iron mood gave way before her playful +caresses. + +Still there was another and deep cause of dislike he had against +Zulmiera. Upon further acquaintance with this Indian girl, he +found her too haughty for his own arrogant spirit to deal with. +Too high-minded and forgetful of her real rank as a servant, and +apparently under the impression that, while attending upon her +mistress, she was in fact her equal, if not her superior. + +Zulmiera was, in truth, fully alive to this sentiment. She looked +upon herself as the descendant (on her mother’s side) of a long +line of chiefs—of those who had once been rulers in the land, and +who had received from their swarthy subjects the homage that +monarchs of a more civilized nation were wont to receive. + +Thinking thus of Zulmiera, no wonder that the governor distrusted +her. Nor was the girl ignorant of his opinion of her; and +consequently their feelings of dislike were mutual. She knew he +hated her; and he felt that in her heart she despised him. Still, +she loved Bridget—for who could not love that mild, fair girl?— +loved her with an intensity of fervour, unknown to the +inhabitants of colder climes—and would have shed for her her +heart’s best blood; for love and hatred were to Zulmiera +all-absorbing passions. Yet there was another who held the +_first_ place in Zulmiera’s heart,—one that was to the +half-instructed, half-Indian girl—her “idol god.” + +But to return to the movements of the trio. Having left the +concealment of the shrubbery, the whole party paused, and with +different feelings gazed upon the landscape stretched before +them. The slight declivity upon the brow of which they were +standing, had been cleared, and was now planted with tobacco, +whose broad green leaves, and delicate trumpet flowers, attracted +the attention of numerous gorgeous insects. This plantation +stretched to the end of a wild copse, where every native shrub +and brushwood grew together with the loftier trees, and formed an +almost impervious thicket. Beyond this copse, the waters of a +beautiful creek, which ran a short way inland, glittered like +gold in the beams of the setting sun; while on every side rose +undulating hills, begirt with many an infant plantation, +belonging to some of the earlier settlers. Further off, the broad +ocean stretched its interminable waves, its billows sleeping in +calmness; except in one part, where a long ridge of shelving +rocks fretted them into motion, and caused them to send forth +their angry roar.[89] + +At the bottom of the hill upon which they were standing ran a +bridle-path, which, winding in and out, branched off in two +directions; one passing through the populous town of Falmouth, +the other extending to the shores of a beautiful harbour,[90] +where some industrious settlers were cultivating the adjoining +country. Along this path a single horseman was seen slowly +advancing, in the direction of the harbour. As he gained the +skirts of the hill, he reined up for a moment his prancing steed, +and, looking towards the party, raised his plumed hat and bent +forward in graceful obeisance. The dark eyes of Zulmiera sparkled +with delight, and standing, as she did, behind the governor and +his daughter, unseen by them, she raised her hand and waved a +return, while, at the same instant, the rosiest blush sprang to +the cheeks of Bridget, and crimsoned her very throat. The +horseman again bent his head, and then, replacing his hat, shook +the broidered reins and galloped off in the direction he had +chosen for his equestrian amusement. + +Following with his eye the plumed stranger until he was lost in +the intervening copse, the governor turned to his daughter, and +fixing a steady, penetrating glance upon her, exclaimed, “Ha! +then the young malignant’s designs appear to be more open than +they were. But, mark me, daughter Bridget,” and his eye became +sterner and darker as the pupil dilated with his awakening +passion, and his haughty lip curled with increased scorn—“mark +me, Bridget, sooner than I’d see thee mated with one of his +malignant race, mine own hand should stretch thee at my feet a +breathless corpse!—yea, as Jephtha slew his daughter, so would I +slay thee!” The agitated and frightened girl threw herself upon +her father’s breast, and, amid tears and sobs, stammered out— +“Father—dearest father! think not so. Raphe de Merefield is +naught to me; he never spoke to me but with the most studied +politeness, and, indeed, he shuns rather than seeks my presence.” +—“’Tis well, then, maiden—my suspicions are unfounded; the wolf +has not entered the sheepfold to steal the tender lamb; but I +have observed him lately wandering about these grounds, and I +feared my daughter was the object. But listen!” and again his eye +flashed, his lip trembled—“verily, I know that young man well—ay, +better than he knows me—for his father was my neighbour and my +deadliest foe!—and what was more, the foe of Cromwell! He it was +that assisted that tyrannical man, Charles Stuart, in his escape +from Hampton Court, and after aided him in his long struggles to +maintain possession of a crown which had long been doomed to +destruction. He it was that beggared his brother to obtain money +to carry out that well-slain tyrant’s nefarious designs! And he +it was that, at the battle of Naseby, gave me this ugly sign of +recognition,” pointing to the scar which disfigured his cheek. +“But was he not discomfited? Yea, as the dry leaf he fell. Lo! as +David girded up his strength in the day of battle, so girded I up +mine; and as he smote his enemies with the edge of the sword, so +my trusty weapon stretched the haughty Philistine upon the +ground, never to rise again! Guess, then, if thou canst, how much +I love yon cavalier, who hath sucked in with his very milk the +taint of papistry—for did not that Babylonish woman whom men call +the Queen of England rear him up from his cradle? yea, and taught +him all her sorceries. Had my honoured friend and master, the +protector, followed my advice, this young traitor to the +commonwealth would never have escaped from England to disseminate +his malignant poison abroad. Cromwell should have crushed the egg +before it was hatched. But verily I wax hot and am impatient, not +considering the time approacheth when rebels and arch-rebels +shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the sun. +Despatches have reached me that it is Cromwell’s intention to +send, in the course of a few months, a squadron against St. +Domingo, and my instructions are to see that a proper troop be +raised in this island to join the expedition. I am resolved that +Master Raphe de Merefield be one of the gallants who shall serve +in that affair; a goodly bullet-shot or, albeit, a well-applied +stroke from the rapier of a Spaniard, may relieve me from his +machinations; or should he refuse to fight under the banner of +the commonwealth, verily, I know the malignancy of his father +cleaves so closely to him, that it will only be maintaining +Cromwell’s interest to have him properly secured, or we may see +another revolt when we least expect it.” Thus saying, the +governor walked forward a few paces, and shading his eyes from +the lingering sunbeams, scanned for a few moments the scene +before him. + +What passed in the mind of Bridget during the foregoing +conversation it is unnecessary to relate, but the emotions called +up in the heart of the Carib girl while hearing her lover thus +traduced were violent and various. Hate, scorn, and revenge, +fired her eye, and sent a torrent of hot blood through her veins, +which, rushing to her face, turned the clear olive to a fiery +crimson. Yet so well was she accustomed to master her feelings, +that before her young mistress was sufficiently recovered to +commence another dialogue, she stood the same apparently calm +being, her hands folded across her breast; and only that her eye +was more dilated, and her cheek still slightly tinged, none could +tell that aught had moved her. + +An exclamation from the governor, who had, for the last few +minutes, been intently gazing in one direction, arrested his +daughter’s attention, and, gliding to his elbow, she inquired if +he addressed her. “Look, Bridget,” replied her father, in a still +stern, but not unmusical voice—“look o’er yonder grove—dost thou +see aught moving?”—“Nothing, dearest father,” answered the +maiden, in her own sweet tones—“nothing but the bland zephyr +sporting amid the young green leaves, and playing its fairy music +upon them.” “Foolish enthusiast! But haste, girl!—fetch me the +wondrous instrument the lord-general gave me, and let me give yon +grove a sharper look—methinks it contains more inmates than we +wot of. I have heard of wild Indians and their deeds.” + +Roused by his remarks, Zulmiera started forward, and in an +agitated voice which she in vain tried to stifle, exclaimed, “Oh, +no, your excellency, naught is there, save, as the Lady Bridget +saith, the whispering wind or the fly-birds as they seek their +leafy bower.” “Back, girl!” fiercely retorted the governor—“back +to thy place; who taught thee to hazard thy remarks? Methinks thy +cavalier masters might have made thee know thy station better.” + +Again the blood rushed to the cheek and temples of Zulmiera—again +the eye flashed fire—but again she mastered her emotions; +exclaiming, however, as she did so, but in a voice too subdued to +reach her companion’s ear, “Rest till to-morrow’s night, proud +man, then wilt thou learn who governs here!” + +At this moment, Bridget placed in her father’s hand the lately +invented telescope,[91] when, raising it to his eye, he narrowly +observed the whole breadth of the copse; the distant creek and +the farther ocean; but nothing met his eye—nothing, save the wavy +green, or the wing of a weary sea-fowl as it sought its nest. +Slowly dropping the instrument, the governor once more gazed with +his naked eye in that direction. The sun had set some minutes +before, and as the last of his golden beams faded in the west, he +turned upon his heel, and, followed by the females, was once more +lost in the verdant shrubbery. + + + ------ + +[89] Now called the Memora’s. + +[90] Now called English Harbour. + +[91] Telescopes were said to have been invented during the reign +of James I., although some attribute the invention to Roger +Bacon, 1292. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + + + CONTINUATION OF THE LEGEND. + +It was a calm, delicious, West Indian night. The moon shone in +all her glory, bathing lawn and lea, upland and woodland, in her +silvery light. The waters of the creek we have already noticed +were rife with beauty; and the waves of the far-off ocean, as +they dashed in measured cadence on the beach, broke musically +upon the listener’s ear. + +A stately figure, enveloped in a dark mantle, glided from behind +a screen of lime and coffee trees; and gaining the open ground, +looked cautiously around. As if assured its movements were +unobserved, the figure darted off at a rapid pace in the +direction of a magnificent grove; but with steps so light, that +it would scarcely have crushed the lowliest flower. Upon reaching +the verge of the grove, it stopped; and placing a finger upon a +small gittern,[92] carried beneath the ample cloak, struck a +single note. The crushing of the younger twigs and leaves told +that the signal was heard; and springing from the covert, a young +man bounded forward, exclaiming—“Zulmiera! dearest Zulmiera! how +long thou hast stayed to-night!” + +The moon still shone with a clear and fervent light, displaying +every object in a distinct manner, and shewing the picturesque +dress of the impassioned stranger to the best advantage. His +figure was slight but perfectly formed, while his fair skin and +glowing cheeks bespoke his Saxon origin. His eyes were of the +clearest blue, and his long auburn locks, parted in the middle of +his forehead, flowed over his shoulders, in length and profusion +equalling a woman’s. A slight moustache shaded his upper lip, +which, slightly curved, displayed a set of teeth faultless in +size and colour. His dress, fashioned in that superb style which +the followers of Charles loved to indulge in, consisted of a +doublet of three-piled murrey-colour velvet, pinked and slashed +with white satin, and ornamented with elaborate embroidery, his +falling band, or collar, of the richest point lace, and his +nether garments to match with the doublet, were finished at the +knees with white satin roses and diamond studs. A small but +admirably tempered Toledo, the hilt of solid gold, and sparkling +with diamonds, was strapped to his side by an embroidered belt; +while a Flemish beaver hat, looped with a diamond button, and +surrounded by a snowy plume, shaded his somewhat boyish features. +A dark short cloak, lined with white tafiety, which he had flung +aside when springing to meet Zulmiera, floated from behind his +right shoulder, and served to give him still more an air of +graceful elegance. + +“Dearest Zulmiera,” said the young stranger, when seated upon the +trunk of a large tree, which, uprooted by a former hurricane, and +slightly covered by a little alluvial earth, had shot forth a few +sickly branches—“dearest Zulmiera, how long I have waited for you +—how much I have to tell you! I have watched each star as it +peeped forth from the heavens—heard the shrill pipe of the curlew +as it flew to its nest—but listened in vain for your light +footstep; say, dearest, what kept you from the trysting-tree?” “I +was in attendance upon my mistress until this late hour,” replied +Zulmiera, speaking in an ironical tone, and laying a strong +emphasis upon the word _mistress_, while a slight look of scorn +passed over her animated features; “or else doubt not I would +have met you long before; for where, Raphe, would the bird with +weary wing seek for rest but by the side of its own fond mate? or +why should yon white flower,” pointing to a night-jasmine which +was growing in all its wild luxuriance near the spot, and loading +the air with sweet and powerful perfume—“why should yon white +flower haste to open its pretty leaves, as soon as the day melts +away, were it not to seek the fond love of those beautiful stars +which are twinkling above us? Raphe, you are my mate, and your +eyes are my stars, in which I read my destiny.” + +To this fond but fanciful rhapsody, Raphe de Merefield made no +answer, except by pressing the beautiful hand which rested in +his; and the half-Carib continued: “But it was not to tell you +this, Raphe, that brought me here so late to-night. Come with +me.” And suffering himself to be led by her, they quitted the +deep recess in which they had been seated, and walked into the +open ground already mentioned. + +Looking up the ascent above the tops of the trees, which grew in +vast profusion, forming a complete barrier around, the moon-beams +fell upon the roof of an irregular but commodious building. This +was government house, and through an opening in the leafy +enclosure, the light of a taper was seen brightly shining from a +small diamond-pane casement, in one of the gable ends of the +edifice. “In that room,” said the romantic girl, directing +Raphe’s attention to it, “sleeps one, who, next to yourself, I +love most on earth; and scornfully, harshly as her father has +treated me, she must and shall be saved! Mark me, Raphe, an’ thou +lovest me, guard the Lady Bridget as thou wouldst a sister. Wild +spirits will be abroad ere the glad sun shall set and rise again, +or yon pretty stars be peeping at us; and though I think they +will care for mine as they would me, still, Raphe, I would have +thee prepared. When all is over—when you and I—but I need say no +more, except that Bridget shall not then be ashamed to love the +despised, the scorned Zulmiera,” and as she spoke, she threw back +her graceful head with the air of a Cleopatra, while the bright +crimson mantled in her cheeks, and increased the lustre of her +eyes. + +“What mean you, Zulmiera?” inquired the young cavalier, as soon +as he could make himself heard; for her utterance during the +preceding speech had been so rapid, and her manner so excited, +that all his former attempts to interrupt her had been useless. +“What mean you, dearest Zulmiera? Why this flashing eye—this +agitated mien? Is it because yon king-killing, canting Puritan, +called you _servant_, that these wild dreams (for I know not what +else to term them) are floating through your brain? Never heed +him, dearest; you will soon be my bride, my acknowledged wife; +and then let me see who dare call you servant, or taunt you with +your birth! Know that I love one tress of this black hair”—and he +drew her fondly towards him—“better than all the fair ringlets +and fairer skins of England’s boasted daughters. But draw your +mantle closer round you, and let us to our former seat, where I +will relate to you all my plans.—You know,” resumed Raphe, as +they gained their resting-place upon the old tree, “that after +the unfortunate battle of Naseby, upon which bloody field my +brave father fell, fighting for his lawful sovereign against +those long-eared Roundheads, (to which sect our notable governor +belongs!) my widowed mother, seized with an irrepressible panic, +fled from England, carrying me, then a stripling of about +fourteen, along with her. Our first place of refuge was Holland, +where the queen, whose godson I have the honour to be, had sought +safety some time before. But my mother, disliking the country, +and having received letters from her husband’s brother, my +revered uncle, whose namesake I am, offering her an asylum in +Antigua, she determined to avail herself of his kindness. Thus it +was I became a resident in this island; and during my frequent +visits at government house, when loyalty ruled there, I met my +dearest Zulmiera. You are aware, I believe, that my uncle, who +was formerly a merchant of the city of London, was joined with +Sir Thomas Warner in a grant of land situated in this island, the +grantor of which was the martyr Charles. Upon part of that land +the brother of young Phillip Warner is erecting a new dwelling, +and cultivating the surrounding country. It will be a fine place +when it is finished; and Warner deserves it should be, for he +made a gallant defence in 1651, when old Noll sent Sir George +Ayscue to reduce this island, because, forsooth, it stood out for +its lawful sovereign. But to resume my story, which the brave +actions of Mr. Warner drove from my head. To-day, I confided to +my mother our mutual engagement ; she has listened to the voice +of her only, her beloved son, and is prepared to receive you as a +daughter. To-morrow, I will call upon the governor—although I +hate the sight of him, from his high-crowned hat down to his ugly +looking calf-skins—and make my proposals in form. If he consents +with a good grace, well; if not, I feel assured my dear Zulmiera +will not fear to leave his house and protection for the home and +hearth of one who loves her as I do. I still hope that our own +King Charles (God bless him!) may overcome his enemies, and be +seated upon the throne of his fathers; then will we visit old +England, and in my own paternal mansion, I’ve no doubt I shall +get my handsome Zulmiera to forget her native island and all her +wild dreams.” So saying, with a look of strong affection and with +gallant bearing, he raised her hand to his lips. + +“Oh, Raphe!” said the agitated girl, as her lover concluded his +relation, to which she had listened with breathless attention; +“oh, Raphe! had I known this but even ten days agone, how much +might I, how much might we all have been spared. But I thought +your mother would never have consented that the governor’s +servant should mate with her noble son—and my own high spirit, +goaded on as it has been by the scornful usage I have met, has +led me to do a deed which may, perhaps, dash the cup of happiness +from my lips. But, then,” she murmured, as if more in communion +with herself than in reply to her companion, “but then to be a +queen, and Raphe (they promised that, or I would never have +consented) to be a king. No, it must be: I have gone too far to +turn back;” and she raised her head, and looke steadfastly, but +apparently half-unconsciously at the young man, who, surprised at +her behaviour and language, was gazing intently upon her. At +length, slightly shaking her hand to arrest her attention, he +inquired again the cause of her extreme emotion. Receiving no +reply from Zulmiera, whose large dark eyes were still fixed upon +his face, he became seriously alarmed, and, in an anxious tone, +entreated her to quit directly the night air, and seek that +repose she appeared to need so much, within the precincts of +government house. Allowing herself to be led in that direction, +they in silence gained the shrubbery; when, after asking in vain +for an explanation, and hearing her again and again express her +assurance that she was not seriously indisposed, Raphe de +Merefield bade her good even. As he turned to leave the spot, +Zulmiera appeared to recover herself, and drawing a long breath, +exclaimed “To-morrow, dear Raphe, to-morrow thou shalt know all— +till then, farewell!” + +For some moments after the departure of the young cavalier, +Zulmiera remained standing in the same posture; and then, +suddenly rousing herself, she gazed once more earnestly around, +and finding all still, stepped without the bounds of the +shrubbery, and retracing her steps, once more gained the border +of the copse. She was about to make use of an arranged signal, +when a dark figure came bounding over a natural mound, formed by +wild plants and brushwood, and in another instant stood before +her. + +Near seven feet in height, and of corresponding breadth of +shoulder, the stranger looked able to compete with a dozen men of +ordinary growth, while his whole appearance was such as to strike +terror into the heart of the beholder. Attired in a garment of +dark red cloth, which only covered his person from his waist to +his knees, the remainder of his body was painted in a most +hideous manner. A black leathern belt, passing over his brawny +shoulders, supported a huge naked broad-sword, doubtless obtained +in some predatory exploit, whose edge was blunted and hacked by +many a rough encounter, dangled by his side, or struck harmlessly +against his naked legs. His face, the features of which were +naturally good, was disfigured by grotesque colourings, and +horrible scars; while his long black hair, to which was fastened +small pieces of copper, brass buttons, and tufts of parrot +feathers, floated behind him in matted locks, and gave him the +appearance of a wandering gnome. An old regimental coat, from +which part of the lace had been cut, and which was another of his +war spoils, was tied around his neck by the two sleeves, serving +the purpose of a cloak; and upon his breast reposed—a silent but +melancholy memento of his habits—a string of human teeth, their +dead white contrasting vividly with his dark skin. This stranger +was Cuanaboa, the dreaded Carib chief. + +Rendering to Zulmiera his simple obeisance, he commenced the +conversation by remarking in a barbarous kind of dialect, “the +Boyez[93] gave the time to meet when the big star,” pointing to +the moon, “rose above the hill, and the lady promised to obey; +but now it’s shining o’er our heads, and the charm may be broken— +the bow may indeed be bent, and the arrow speed on its way, and +yet fall to the ground wide of the mark. We meet to-night, ’tis +true; but the time the Boyez appointed is long past, and now +perhaps our purpose may fail, and our enemies escape.” “Oh, no! +Cuanaboa, believe not so,” replied Zulmiera; “listen not to the +wild words of the old Boyez; thinkest thou _I_ care for what he +saith?” “Ay, lady, but thou art fallen from the faith of thy +fathers—thou hast lived too long with the Christians; but it +matters not now, let us talk of our plans. Myself and comrades +have agreed to lead the attack upon yonder house about this time +to-morrow night, and we look to you to draw from their weapons +those little round stones which kill so many of us, we know not +how. Guacanagari has joined me with twice so many men, (holding +up his hand, and spreading out his fingers,) and as fine a canoe +as ever was paddled along these seas. He landed with his party +just as the sun touched the waters; an hour badly chosen by him, +for too many eyes are then abroad. I hope, though, none saw them +but their red brothers, for they skulked along by the thickest +part of the woods; and now their canoe lies high and dry, beneath +the shelter of yon high banks, while they repose in safety in the +cave,[94] attended by old Quiba. Now, lady, as, when the white +men are subdued, and, falling beneath our clubs, or transfixed by +our arrows, serve us as sacrifices to Mayboya,[95] we are to look +upon you as our Queen——” + +“And Raphe as your _king_” interrupted Zulmiera, in hurried +accents. “You promised that, or I would never have agreed to what +I have; and had I known Cuanaboa as much as I do to-night, even +that scheme of grandeur would not have tempted me to turn +traitor, to promise, as I have, to open the doors, where I have +lived so long, to give entrance to the enemy, and to lull their +fears, while the worse than blood-hounds were upon their steps. +Oh, Cuanaboa! I might have been so very happy, had I only waited +in patience for a little time—happier as plain Mistress de +Merefield, than I shall be, perhaps, as queen of the Caribbees; +but it is no use repining now; I have given my word, and, right +or wrong, Zulmiera will stand by it.” + +The long eyelashes fell over her burning eyes, and the beating of +her heart sounded audibly, and shook her very frame; but +recovering herself, she continued—“There is another subject to be +discussed, Cuanaboa; the daughter of the governor is my dearest +friend, and therefore she must be preserved unharmed throughout +the fray, guarded with the most scrupulous care, and I look to +you to place her in safety. Dost thou comprehend what I say?” + +“Yes, lady; and I was going to remark, when you interrupted me, +that as you wish certain of the enemy saved alive, particularly +the fair youth you mentioned just now, it would be well for you +to give your orders to Guacanagari; and for that purpose I would +advise you to visit the cave to-morrow evening, when we intend +holding a serious assembly and dance, previous to commencing the +attack. Guacanagari will be rejoiced to meet you, and he will be +as fond of the maiden and the youth as I am;” and a very sinister +expression, but unobserved by Zulmiera, passed over the face of +the Carib chief. “Besides, lady, it is but right that Guacanagari +should know his queen—never Carib had one before.” + +“I will attend,” replied Zulmiera. “And now, as it is past +midnight, ’tis time we parted;” so saying, she bowed to the +Carib, and drawing her mantle around her, walked away with all +the dignity of a sovereign. + +Keeping his dark eye fixed upon her as long as she continued in +sight, no sooner had the intervening shrubs screened her from his +view, than, throwing himself upon the ground, the Carib broke +into a shrill laugh. “And so the haughty beauty thinks that a +people who have scarcely known control, will bend their shoulders +to the dominion of a girl and a white-faced boy!—ha! ha! If the +wild kites chose a king, would it be a colibri?[96] No! Should +the Caribs follow the custom of the strangers who have come among +us, and torn away our most fruitful countries, and own a king, +who should it be but Cuanaboa? for who has slain so many enemies +and drunk their blood as I have? or who can shew a longer string +of teeth than I have here?” and he played with the one which +ornamented his neck. “If Zulmiera will be queen, it must be as my +wife; and truly she would serve to swell a richer triumph than I +even expect to have. But as for the youth, his race is almost +run; before this time to-morrow, I think he will give me but +little further trouble. ’Tis well I came so soon to-night, and +thus was witness of the meeting. I wish I could have understood +what he said; but these pale-faced people speak so vilely, that +it is hard to know what they mean. However, it matters not, I saw +enough; and as I intend Zulmiera to be my prize, I will very +shortly get rid of the youngster; he’ll make a capital sacrifice +to Old Mayboya. White men eat better than red people, it can’t be +denied;” and as he finished his soliloquy, he arose from the +ground, and springing over the brush-wood, was lost to sight in +the impending copse. + + + ------ + +[92] A kind of small guitar, in use about the 16th and 17th +centuries. + +[93] A priest, or magician, among the Caribs. + +[94] Now called Bat’s Cave. + +[95] Supreme deity among the Caribs. + +[96] The Indian name for the humming bird. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + + + CONCLUSION OF THE LEGEND. + +The morning after this eventful meeting rose fair and bright. +Bridget and Zulmiera, seated at an open window, inhaled the sweet +breeze, while they bent over their embroidery frames; and the +fair Englishwoman was giving a description of her own far-off +land, when, gazing in the direction of the before-named copse, +Zulmiera espied a white feather glancing for a moment above the +tops of the trees, a well-known signal indicating the presence of +Raphe de Merefield. + +Framing an excuse, she shortly left the apartment; and taking a +circuitous route to escape observation, in a few moments gained +the old tree, where, as expected, she found her lover. + +“Zulmiera,” said the young man, after the first greetings were +passed, “I have suffered deeply in mind since we parted, on +account of the strange words you let fall last evening; and I now +seek your presence to demand, as your affianced husband, their +signification. Tell me, Zulmiera, thine whole heart, or as Willy +Shakspeare saith— + + “——If thou dost love me, + Shew me thy thought?” + +Accosted in this sudden manner, and surprised by his serious +demeanour, Zulmiera’s caution forsook her, and bursting into +tears, confessed to her lover, as best she could, the following +facts. Having been treated with great scorn and harshness by the +governor, and looking upon herself as the descendant of a line of +chieftains, and consequently entitled to respect, a deep and +irresistible feeling of revenge sprang up in her breast, and +absorbed her every thought. Roaming, as she had ever been wont, +amid the romantic dells and leafy labyrinths of her native +islands, she came one evening upon a curious cavern; her love of +novelty led her to inspect it, but in the act of doing so, she +was driven back in alarm by the sight of a flashing pair of eyes. + +Unable to suppress her fears, yet too much overcome by the +encounter to fly, she leant against the rocky opening of the +cave; when, rushing from his concealment, a powerful man, whom +she immediately recognised as a Carib, darted upon her, and +placing his hand upon her mouth to prevent her screams from being +heard, was about to bear her away as his captive. + +Terrified as she was, she still had the presence of mind to +declare her origin, and claim his forbearance, on the score of +their allied blood. To such a plea, a Carib’s heart is never +deaf; the grasp upon the shoulder was relaxed; the armed warrior +stood quietly by her side; and a conversation in the Carib tongue +(which Zulmiera had acquired from her mother) was carried on +between them. + +The stranger declared himself to be a Carib chief, named +Cuanaboa, and with the openness for which that people were noted +among their friends, acquainted Zulmiera with the cause of his +appearance in that lone cave. Following the example of his +fathers, Cuanaboa said he had resolved to make an attack upon +Antigua, accompanied by a neighbouring chief and their several +tribes; but in a war-council held by them, it had been arranged +for him to pay a secret visit to the island, in order to inspect +it, and endeavour to find out its weakest parts. Accordingly, +leaving his mountain home in Dominica, he had paddled himself +over in a slight canoe, and easily discovering the cave, which +had been well-known to the tribe in their former predatory +visits, he took up his abode there. + +Zulmiera listened eagerly to this communication; and excited as +she was, thought it a good opportunity for effectually procuring +her revenge. After arranging for the safety of Raphe de +Merefield, to whom she had been long engaged, she finally +promised, that upon an appointed night, she would open the doors +of government house, and admit the band of Caribs. Ignorant of +the real force of Antigua, and led away by her own turbulent and +romantic passions, the Indian girl wrongly supposed that a few +half-armed Caribs would be able to strike terror into the breasts +and compete with the well-arranged ranks of the English. In +consequence of this wild fancy, Zulmiera further proposed, as her +reward, that when the battle was gained, and the English +defeated, she should be immediately elected queen, and Raphe king +of the Caribbees. Many other meetings had taken place between +herself and the Carib chief; and she concluded her relation, by +informing Raphe of the arrival of the whole band of Caribs, and +that the hour of midnight was the time proposed for the intended +assault upon government house. + +The surprise, the consternation of the young man, as she unfolded +this tale to him, was overpowering, and for some moments he +remained as if rooted to the ground. At length, striking his hand +upon his forehead, he exclaimed, in a tone of extreme bitterness— +“Oh! Zulmiera—Zulmiera! what hast thou done! Surely it is some +horrible dream; and yet it is too true; thou couldst not have +distressed me so, an’ it had not been. To-night, sayest thou? +Unhappy girl, thou hast indeed dashed the cup of happiness from +thy lips! Now I understand thy visible emotion—thy half-smothered +expressions! But I must away—the lives of hundreds, perhaps, hang +upon my steps;” and darting from her, he left her to the deepest +feelings of despair. + +Leaning against the tree for the support her own limbs denied +her, the unfortunate Zulmiera remained with her face buried in +her hands, until aroused by the sound of footsteps. Hastily +looking up, Raphe again stood before her. “Dearest Zulmiera,” +said the pitying young man—“rouse thyself; I cannot leave thee +thus; all may yet be well. I will immediately to the governor, +and without implicating you as my author, inform him of the +inpending attack. Much as I dislike the man, it is my proper plan +—so now dry your eyes,” for the warm tears were again gushing +down the cheeks of the repentant girl; “return to the house, keep +yourself quiet, and trust the matter to me.” So saying, he +imprinted a fond kiss upon her brow, and turning away, hastened +with a quick step in the opposite direction. + +Mastering her emotions, Zulmiera returned to her home, +determined, when the evening fell, to seek the cave, and if +possible, persuade Cuanaboa of the impracticability of his +schemes, and by that means, prevent the effusion of blood, which +a meeting of the Caribs and English was sure to produce. + +In the meantime, Raphe sought the presence of the governor, and +without bringing forward Zulmiera’s name, contrived to give him +the necessary information, and then departed, taking upon himself +the office of scout. Preparations were immediately made for the +intended attack—ambuscades arranged, and fire-arms cleaned; and +with anxiety the party awaited the rising of the moon. + +As the day grew to a close, Zulmiera became more and more +restless, until at length, unable to bear the conflict of her +feelings, she left the house, and, unperceived by the family, +sought the promised meeting in the cave. The sun had sunk behind +the waves, and the stars began to peep forth, as the half-Carib +gained the entrance of the wood. Carefully threading her way +through its tangled bushes, and avoiding as she went the numerous +impediments, she gradually progressed deeper and deeper in its +thickening gloom. The air was calm, and nothing disturbed the +almost pristine stillness but the whisperings of the soft breeze, +or the shrill cry of some of the aquatic fowls who made that +lonely grove their home. In some parts the foliage was less +thick, and the beams of the now rising moon forced their way +through and snorted upon the ground, forming many a fantastic +shadow. Uprooted and sapless trees lay in various directions, +around which parasites wound in luxuriant beauty, and hid the +whitened wood in wreaths of green. In other parts, the larger +trees and shrubs made way for dense thickets of thorny underwood, +over which the active girl was obliged to leap. + +Onward she sped, stopping only now and then to recover her +breath, and then darting forward at increased speed, until, +gaining a little knoll, where pointed crystals strewed the +ground, and the manchineel showered its poisonous apples, +beautiful and treacherous as “Dead Sea fruits,” a mark in one of +the trees told her she was near the place of her destination; and +winding round another thicket, Zulmiera stood before the mouth of +the cave. + +The interior was lighted by a few torches of some resinous wood, +stuck in the fissures of the rock; and their flickering light +shone upon the dark countenances and wild costume of the inmates. +Branches of trees roughly plaited together were placed partly +before the opening, and served to screen the light of the torches +from the view of any wandering stranger; while the ground before +the entrance to the cave had been cleared away, forming a kind of +rustic amphitheatre. + +As soon as the maiden was perceived, Cuanaboa came forward, and +introduced her to Guacanagari, and a few of their principal +followers, who only appeared to be waiting for her presence, to +commence their solemn dance, as was ever the custom of the +Caribs, before undertaking any warfare. + +Darting from the cavern, about twenty of these wild warriors +arranged themselves in a circle around an old woman, known among +them by the name of Quiba, who, squatting upon the ground, +chanted, in a monotonous voice, the burden of a war-song: the men +moving slowly, and joining in the chorus—“_Avenge the bones of +your fathers, which lie whitening upon the plain!_” Continuing +this revolving motion for some time, but gradually increasing in +celerity, they at length appeared as if worked up to the highest +pitch of their passions; and releasing each other’s hands, and +twirling round and round with the greatest rapidity, tearing +their hair, and gnashing their teeth, at length threw themselves +upon the ground, foaming with rage. + +Zulmiera, terrified at their frantic movements and horrid +contortions, tremblingly leant against the trunk of a tree, +until, aroused by an exclamation from the old woman, she +perceived another party of savages, apparently of meaner grade, +bringing in large calabashes and baskets, huge pieces pf baked +meats, and bowls of some kind of liquids. Placing them upon the +ground, they retreated; and old Quiba, quitting her recumbent +posture, seized upon one of the pieces of meat, and throwing it +among the prostrate warriors, exclaimed, in a cracked voice—“_Eat +of the flesh of your enemies, and avenge your fathers’ bones!_” + +As she uttered these words, the men sprang from the ground, and +rushing upon the viands, devoured them with savage greediness; +while Cuanaboa, lifting up one of the smaller pieces of meat, +approached Zulmiera, and, with harshness, requested her to eat +it. Alarmed at his ferocious manner, but not daring to shew it, +the trembling girl essayed to obey; and putting a portion of it +into her mouth, by a strong effort swallowed it. No sooner was +this effected, than, breaking into a horrid laugh, and with his +eyes gleaming like the hyæna’s, Cuanaboa shouted to the old +woman, who had just before entered the cave—“Bring forth our +present for our queen; surely, she deserves it, now she is one of +us!” + +Startled by his evident irony, Zulmiera turned round, at the +moment that Quiba emerged from a natural passage in the interior +of the cave, bearing in her hand a small bundle, which, with a +sardonic grin, she laid at the feet of the observant girl. +“There, lady; that is our first present,” croaked forth the old +hag. “Ay, lift it up, and search it well; Mayboya will stand your +friend, and send you many more, I hope.” So saying, she hobbled +up to one of the torches, and taking it from its resting-place, +held it before the face of Zulmiera. + +Impelled by an irresistible desire to know the worst, Zulmiera +stooped and undid the folds of red cloth wound around their +proffered gift. After untwining it for some time, the wrapping +felt damp to the touch; and dreading she knew not what, she +loosed the last fold, _and a human head rolled upon the ground_. + +Uttering a cry of horror, but forced on by her unconquerable +emotions, she turned the gory object round; and as the torches +flashed with further glare, her eye fell upon the pallid +features. The blue eye, glassed by the hand of death, and over +which the starting eyelids refused to droop—the parted lips, +parted with the last throe of agony, and shewing the pearly teeth +—the finely-moulded cheeks, but disfigured by a deep gash—and the +long auburn hair, dabbled with the blood that still oozed from +the severed veins, bespoke it Raphe de Merefield’s! Her own blood +congealed around her heart like ice—her pulse quivered and +stopped—and with one unearthly, prolonged shriek, the unfortunate +Zulmiera sank senseless upon the ground. + +Recovered by the means of some pungent herb applied to her +nostrils, by the hands of Quiba, she awoke to all her misery. Her +eyes fell again upon the mutilated head of her lover; while the +demoniac voice of Cuanaboa whispered in her ear—“The food you +partook of just now _was part of the body of your minion!_ I met +him wandering in the copse a time agone; and I thought he would +make a fine sacrifice to Mayboya.” This last horrible information +completely altered her nature, and changed the fond loving girl +to the disposition of a fiend. Lifting up the head, and +imprinting upon the blood-stained lips one long fervent kiss, she +enveloped it again in the wrappings of red cloth, and carefully +binding it around her waist, was in the act of quitting the cave, +when arrested by the powerful grasp of Cuanaboa. + +“Not so fast, lady!” exclaimed the Carib chief; “remember your +oath to Mayboya! We still stand in need of your assistance to +guide us to the house of yon white chief. Remember that was part +of your bargain: let us in; and when we have vanquished the +enemy, we shall still be willing to receive you as our queen; +that is, if you will agree to take _me_ for your king instead of +the pale-faced boy, whose body has served to regale us and our +people.” With eyes that flashed fire, Zulmiera was about to +reply, when suddenly constraining herself, she simply muttered— +“My oath to Mayboya!—follow me, then!” and with determined +purpose, left the cavern. + +The whole party of Caribs, consisting of about eighty, were by +this time gathered around the spot, armed with bows and arrows, +clubs, darts, spears, and all the other rude implements of +warfare. As the two chiefs made their appearance, they pointed to +the moon—then rapidly ascending the heavens—and uttering a +suppressed war-whoop, they commenced their march in the direction +of government house, preceded by the half-Carib. + +Unconscious of pain, Zulmiera darted through the thorniest +thickets, turned not aside for any impediment; but borne up by +the hopes of revenge, she outstripped the most active of the +party. Knowing, as she did, that the inmates of government house +were prepared for the attack, she felt assured that few, if any, +of the Caribs would escape; but completely altered in +disposition, from the effects of the horrible scenes she had gone +through, she experienced no compunctious feelings for the event. +Her only wish, her fixed purpose, was to possess herself of a +dagger—stab Cuanaboa to the heart—_drink his warm blood as it +gushed forth_—and after bathing the head of her lover with it, +kill herself upon the spot. To deceive Cuanaboa, she pretended +that her fear of Mayboya led her to conduct the party, an +assurance which his own blind zeal for that dreaded deity caused +him to believe. + +In furtherance of her dreadful scheme, she carefully avoided +those spots where she supposed an ambuscade of English might be +stationed; fearing lest some other hand should take the life of +the chief. In this manner she was gradually progressing towards +the house, thinking it more probable a weapon could be there +procured, when in passing a clump of trees, one of the governor’s +scouts, who was stationed behind it, and who was unable to bear +the sight of the Carib chief so near him without endeavouring to +take his life, sprang from his concealment, and rushing upon +Cuanaboa, was in the act of stabbing him with a dirk, when, with +the cry of some infuriated wild animal robbed of its prey, +Zulmiera was upon him. Wresting the weapon from the astonished +Englishman, the maddened girl fled after the Caribs, who, abashed +by this encounter, and the sudden appearance of a troop of +soldiers, were flying in the greatest confusion, and at their +utmost speed, in direction of the before-named creek, where they +had left their canoes. + +Many of the Caribs fell wounded by the way, from the fire of +their pursuers’ muskets; but Cuanaboa, closely attended by +Zulmiera, still kept on, until after passing over the same +undulating ground, forcing their way through thickets, leaping +over natural barriers, and creeping through leafy arcades, they +gained upon the creek. But woe to the Caribs! a party of English, +in hot pursuit, were, in fact, driving them into a trap, at the +point of their weapons. Throughout this irregular and hurried +retreat, Zulmiera had never dropped her dirk, or her gory burden; +neither had she lost sight of Cuanaboa; while the chief, seeing +her dash the weapon from his uncovered breast, when one stroke of +the Englishman’s hand would have caused his death, thought she +had forgiven his horrid barbarity, and was well pleased to see +her nigh him. + +As they emerged from the deeper glades of the wood, a volume of +smoke rose above the trees; and upon gaining the open ground, the +whole extent of their danger was revealed to the Caribs. There +lay their canoes, a burning mass; while the foreground was +occupied by another band of Englishmen, ready prepared for +battle. Hemmed in on all sides, the Caribs fought with the fury +of uncaged beasts, and sold their lives dearly. Many of the +English were stretched upon the ground, a flattened mass, from +the blows of their heavy clubs; while others, wounded by their +poisoned arrows, only lived to endure further torments. Still +Cuanaboa remained unhurt; and standing upon a gentle knoll, +brandished his club, and dealt destruction upon the foremost of +his enemies. His friends were rapidly falling around him; and as +he turned to seek for refuge, Zulmiera approached him +unperceived, and with one blow, drove the dirk into his very +heart. + +Without a groan, the Carib chief sank dead upon the earth; and +Zulmiera, kneeling by him, plucked the weapon from the wound, and +applying her lips, _drank the warm blood as it gurgled forth!_ +Unbinding the head of the unfortunate Raphe de Merefield from her +waist, where she had carried it throughout the fray, she gazed +ardently at it; tenderly parted the still bright hair, imprinted +a last kiss upon the cold lips, and then taking up in her hand +some of the vital stream, which was still flowing from the wound +of Cuanaboa, and forming a pool around him, she bathed the head +with it, exclaiming as she did so, “Raphe, thou art avenged! +thine enemy lies dead before thee, slain by my hand; and thy +bride, faithful in life and death, comes to share thy gory bed.” + +These actions completed, she looked up. The dying and the dead +lay stretched around her,—the conquering English were looking to +their captives,—the last gleam of the fire was shooting upwards +to the sky,—the moon had gained her zenith,—while, as if in +contrast to that bloody field, the waters of the creek rolled on +like molten silver, beneath her lovely beams. For one moment the +wild but beautiful girl gazed upon the scene; old remembrances +sprang up in her mind, and brought the tear into her eye. But +dashing them away, she regained her former implacable mood; and +as a party of the governor’s servants came forward to arrest her, +placing one hand upon her lover’s head, she raised with the other +the dirk—its bright steel glittered for a moment in the moonbeam— +in the next it was ensheathed in her heart; and she fell a corpse +upon that dire chief, to whom she owed all her misery. + +The scene of this Antiguan tragedy may still be viewed; the creek +bears the name of “Indian Creek,” while the cavern in which they +held their barbaric meeting is called “Bat’s cave.” The governor +retained his office until 1660, when Charles II. was restored to +the vacant crown; but refusing to acknowledge his sovereign, he +was superseded, and the vacant post was filled by Major-General +Poyntz, a royalist, who continued to act as governor until 1663, +when Lord Francis Willoughby obtained a grant of the island. + +The name of Raphe de Merefield (the uncle of the young cavalier) +appears with that of Sir Thomas Warner in the original grant +signed by Charles I. It is still to be seen at “Stoney Hill,”—an +estate belonging to the late Samuel Warner, president of Antigua, +and a descendent of the old family. This property was willed by +him to his god-son, ——— Shand, Esq., of the house of Messrs. +Shand, Liverpool. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + + + Towns: Falmouth—Church and churchyard—Mangroves and acacias— + Black’s Point—Bridgetown—Willoughby Bay—Its site and decoration + —The superintendent of the Wesleyan schools—School-room— + Methodist chapel—The Memoras—St Philip’s church—Beautiful views + —Parham—Its derivation and site—St Peter’s church—Churchyard— + The new church—Methodist chapel and school-room. + +In the year 1675, six towns were appointed in Antigua as places +of trade—viz., St. John’s, Falmouth, Old Road, (or Carlisle +Road,) Bridgetown, Willoughby Bay, Bermudian Valley, and Parham. + +St. John’s, as the _capital_ of the island, has already been +noticed in a chapter by itself, and it now devolves upon me to +endeavour to describe, what is almost indescribable, the +arrangement of the other towns, which, with the exception of +Bermudian Valley, are still in a state of existence. + +To commence with Falmouth. As it lies just before the traveller +gains English Harbour, the road to it is the same already +mentioned in our journey to that place; and consequently another +description would be tiresome and superfluous. I must, however, +remark that near the entrance of the town a pretty turn in the +road leaves the blank-looking country, which so generally +predominates between Falmouth and the capital, and leads you into +a kind of defile; on one side, bordered by rugged banks thickly +covered with the yellow acacia, and its sweet-scented blossoms; +and on the other, by the picturesque ascent of Monk’s Hill, +surmounted by all its frowning battlements.[97] + +The town of Falmouth is noted for being the first part of the +island settled upon by the English, who, under the command of Mr. +Warner, son of Sir Thomas Warner, emigrated from St. +Christopher’s in 1632, and laid out the surrounding country in +fields of tobacco, cotton, and ginger, which were for some years +after the staple commodities of Antigua. + +Humble as might have been the architectural ornaments of this +town in those early days, it seems almost an impossibility to +suppose them less then than they are at present; for if strangers +(from some of our bustling maritime cities in Europe, for +instance) were suddenly and unconsciously landed in the streets +of Falmouth, they would to all certainty believe them to be so +many pathways to the “castle of indolence;” and the irregular and +dismal-looking buildings to be the habitations of some lawless, +vagrant tribe. A few four-cornered houses, in shape like a +pigeon-coop, and of dimensions to suit a dweller of _Lilliput_, +are elevated a short distance from the ground by being placed +upon empty boxes or barrels, or four pillars of rudely-piled +stones, which arrangement forms a snug retreat for the pigs or +poultry of the inmate, or serves as a reservoir for sundry +discarded pots and pans, or other “household gods.” These +habitations are as variously placed as the taste of their owners +may chance to dictate. Some present an acute angle, others a +_broadside_ to the eye of passengers. Some stand in what I +suppose is intended to represent a garden, whose rank weeds and +straggling vegetables are guarded from the steps of the unwelcome +marauder only by a _gate_, made from empty candle-boxes or +barrel-heads, flanked by a thinly sprinkled row of some dwarf +shrub, over which the gallant “Xit” (whom Mr. Ainsworth has so +cleverly called into existence in his admirable “Tower of +London”) could have stepped with the greatest ease; letting alone +the frequent lapses in the enclosure, through which a bulky man +might readily pass. To make all secure, however, these rustic +gates are generally garnished with a huge padlock, which is of +course _carefully_ locked whenever the owner is absent; while the +key, with admirable precaution, is tucked into some little +peep-hole near, that it may be ready for the use of any stray +visitants. + +A few of these dwellings are, however, of superior form and +fabric; and one stands forth in all the glories of palisading, +and if I mistake not, bright green verandahs. It looks, by the +side of its pigmy neighbours, like the Colossus of Rhodes, to the +mandarin figures in our English grocers’ shops. + +The present church, dedicated to St. Paul, is a plain, +uninteresting-looking building, standing at the outskirts of the +town, and capable of affording about 400 sittings. + +The churchyard might be made as picturesque, and looks as quiet, +as some of those pretty rural burial-places we oftentimes alight +upon in dear old England’s sequestered nooks. Some fine trees, +and a few handsome monuments, are to be met with; and if the rank +grass was cleared away a little, and some of the various +beautiful flowers, which are to be found in all parts of the +island, planted there, it would present a spot equalling in +appearance many of our modern cemeteries. + +It may by some be thought folly thus to beautify the place of +death—to garnish that spot where the worm revels upon the once +animated clay!—to plant the gladsome, gaily-tinted flowers where +all is mouldering beneath! Be it so—yet would I see the flowers +blooming over the grave of those I have loved, and while seated +near, feel that the bitterness of death is past, and that their +happy disembodied spirits range, free from all sorrows, amid the +amaranthine bowers of heaven! Like the late talented and +oft-lamented “L. E. L.,” I love to frequent the scene of our last +resting-place—like her, to— + + “Stand beneath the haunted yew, + And watch each quiet tomb; + And in the ancient churchyard feel + Solemnity, not gloom. + + The place is purified with hope— + The hope that is of prayer; + And human love, and heavenward thought, + And pious faith are there. + + The golden cord which binds us all + Is loosed, not rent in twain; + And love, and hope, and fear unite, + To bring the past again.” + +The parochial school is held in a small house near the church. It +is conducted upon the same plan as the other schools of the kind +in Antigua; the instruction consisting of lessons in reading, +writing, arithmetic, repetition of catechism and hymns, and +plain-work for the girls. + +St. Paul’s has a chapel-of-ease in English Harbour; which was, in +truth, a private dwelling-house, but now, disencumbered of its +partitions, serves as a chapel, and is capable, it is said, of +affording accommodation for 350 persons; during the week, it is +appropriated to the use of an infant school. + +The whole of Falmouth is thickly studded with clumps of acacia, +privet, and prickly pear; all of which are of the _thorny +family_, and if report be true, serve the inhabitants instead of +pins. Between Falmouth and English Harbour lies a marshy thickly +covered with sand, and dotted about with groups of +mangrove-trees, in all their glittering, green foliage, forming +so many _oases_ in the midst of a burning desert. The sea +overflows this spot at times, and leaves its tribute in the shape +of small shells and bunches of sea-weed. + +Opposite to Falmouth, looking across the waters of the harbour, a +bold promontory stretches out into the ocean, to which has been +given the name of “Black’s Point.” As it belongs to a gentleman +of that name, it is generally supposed in Antigua, to derive its +cognomen from that cause. Such supposition is, however, +incorrect, for it is laid down in an old chart of the island as +“Black’s Point” long before its present possessor came into +existence. The real origin of its bearing that appellation is +from the fact of its having been the place where it was customary +to land the cargoes of newly-imported negroes, prior to the +abolition of the slave trade; and from this circumstance the name +it now bears was given to it. + +Falmouth Harbour is considered one of the best in Antigua, and is +capable of affording safe anchorage for ships in those times of +danger to which the West Indies are exposed. The shores of the +bay boast their silver fringe of sand, which is often selected by +the parent turtle, as a place of safety, in which to deposit her +two or three hundred eggs; and when the sun has performed the +duties of incubation, which the lethargic mother refuses to +perform, numbers of these little creatures may be seen, crawling +towards their favourite element, where they feast and fatten, +until, perhaps, in after-years, they are doomed to increase the +table store of some Antiguan _gourmand_, or, perchance, find +their way to England, and tickle the palate of “the lord mayor, +and the other city authorities” within the sound of Bow bells. + +Old Road (or Carlisle Road, as it was once called) and St. Mary’s +church having been already described, in our “pilgrimage to Tom +Moore’s Spring,” it remains for me, in the next place, to mention +Bridgetown, or Willoughby Bay, as it is more frequently termed. +Here, again, I have the task of describing, what is almost _a +nondescript_, for no stranger would ever discover that it was a +town unless the fact were pointed out to him. If the man who +painted a lion was obliged to write under it, “This is a lion,” I +am sure the person who huddled the three or four houses together, +which constitutes Bridgetown, had need to have put upon a +giant-like placard, “This is a town!” unless, indeed, a rather +good-looking Methodist chapel, a small mission-house, a stone +dwelling-house, with school-room attached, and a few of my +_four-cornered_ friends, stuck in here and there, like the dots +in a landscape of some country painter, to represent _crows_, be +sufficient to merit for it that lofty title, which Dr. Johnson, +or some other lexicographer of equal renown, leads us to suppose +signifies “a large collection of houses.” + +As regards the population of this _town_, (I like to give places +their proper names,) I can give but little information. With the +exception of the very kind-hearted superintendant of the Wesleyan +schools, Mr. Charles Thwaites, and his equally amiable wife, +their very pretty little boy, one or two domestics, and their +scholars of every shade, the only inhabitants I saw were flocks +of black-headed gulls, busily employed in following their +piscatory avocations; a few half-starved looking sheep, vainly +endeavouring to screen themselves from the fiery beams of the sun +beneath the leafless branches of some blighted shrubs; and three +or four long-necked, screaming birds, known in this part of the +world as gorlings, and which derive their subsistence from the +same source as their neighbours, the gulls. + +After resting for a short time at the superintendant’s dwelling, +we proceeded to the school-room, a most commodious apartment, +measuring 50ft. by 48ft., and capable of containing 500 persons. +The whole of this establishment, including the superintendant’s +house, which is detached, was erected by the Church Missionary +Society; but after being used by them for a short time, it was +turned over to the “Ladies’ Society,” to whom it still belongs, +although the Wesleyan Mission holds its school there. + +The school-room was but thinly attended upon the day of our +visit, there not being more than 40 children—the usual number is +about 100. Upon our entrance, they all rose up with “We’ll make +our obeisance together, as children ought to do,” and then, +quitting their raised seats, formed into double lines, their +teacher at their head, and marched round the apartment to the +tune of one of their infant rhymes. After performing many +martial-like evolutions, they finally arranged themselves into a +deep phalanx, and thus sang another of their little songs. Many +of them are proficients in reading the scriptures, and are well +versed in the historical parts of them. I hope and trust the +education so liberally bestowed upon them, and above all, the +religious instruction which they receive, may benefit their +after-conduct, and lead them to do their duty in that sphere of +life in which it has pleased their Creator to place them. I was +much pleased to learn from Mr. Thwaites that, in almost every +instance, the pupils who have left the schools under his charge +have followed agricultural employments. To a country whose grand +resource, and, indeed, entire dependence, is placed upon the +cultivation of the sugar-cane, this conduct upon the part of its +rising generation must be very important; and if the lower +classes continue to do so, and not, because they are free, +despise the hoe, Antigua may stand forth as pre-eminently +flourishing among the other West Indian colonies. + +Mr. Thwaites is the paid superintendant of all the Wesleyan +country schools. His salary is 150l. sterling per annum, a small +recompence (although quite as liberal as the mission can afford) +for the constant care his responsible situation calls for, and +which he performs with untiring zeal. For about twenty-nine years +has this good man been employed in providing for the mental wants +of the black population, and in endeavouring to lead their young +minds to the only fount of real knowledge. Unmindful of passing +events he has kept on his irksome task, (for irksome it must be +to drive knowledge into the brains of some of these little +negroes,) buoyed up by his feelings of deep philanthropy. + +The first few years of his employment were passed without +receiving any reward, but the approval of his own conscience. As, +however, his laudable exertions became known, he was engaged by +the “Church Missionary Society,” whose interests he faithfully +served for near ten years. Since that period he has been in the +employ of the Wesleyan mission. Although from being such a +valuable auxiliary in rearing “the infant mind,” and teaching +“the young idea how to shoot,” the bishop would gladly have +retained his services, provided he gave up all connexion with the +Methodists. + +Mr. Thwaites has under his charge eleven day-schools, with about +800 scholars; and three Sunday-schools, with about 900 scholars. +Besides attending these several schools, Mr. Thwaites visits the +neighbouring estates in the evenings, for the purpose of giving +the labourers religious instruction, and guarding his elder +pupils, or those who have left his schools, for the purpose of +engaging in the avocations customary to their province in life, +against those temptations to which their age and sex are most +subject. + +It has been remarked in a late publication, (in commenting upon +events in Antigua) that “after ransacking the whole freed +population for a dozen suitable teachers of children, Mr. +Thwaites could not find even that number who could read well.” +Now, this is a great error, _and altogether contradicted by Mr. +Thwaites himself_. The blacks certainly had not the means of +improving themselves in former years, as the more fortunate +generation have had since emancipation; but that the _whole_ +class were so totally ignorant as not to be able to _read_, is +entirely incorrect. In proof of this, the superintendant pointed +out to our notice several teachers who were well adapted for +their employment; one in particular, who, Mr. T. remarked, +conducted a school consisting of 120 scholars, which he +instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic, in which last +branch of education many of his pupils had attained to “Practice” +and “Vulgar Fractions.” + +The salaries of these paid teachers (of which there are +seventeen, the remainder giving their services without any +recompence) are very small—not more than from three to four +dollars (12s. and 16s. sterling) per month. They are paid by the +“Ladies’ Negro Education Society,” and other benevolent societies +in England, who also defray the other expenses of the schools, +with the exception of the superintendent’s salary, which is +provided by the Wesleyan mission. The children, who receive +instruction in writing, cyphering, and needlework, pay a small +pittance, which is placed in the school fund. + +There is a very neat and excellent little library attached to the +Willoughby-Bay school, where the works of “Abbott,” “Sherwood,” +“Pike,” and various other pious authors, are open to the use of +all, besides treatises upon geography, history, and experimental +philosophy. The lighter works, such as Mrs. Sherwood’s pretty, +and often affecting, little narratives, are read, Mrs. Thwaites +informed me, with avidity by the negroes, to which intelligence +their well-thumbed covers gave a tacit assent. Around the +schoolroom were hung various cards, with texts of scripture +printed upon them in large characters, that “such who run may +read”—a practice I greatly admire, for turn whichever way you +will, some goodly sentence meets your eye. + +In the neat little yard attached to Mr. Thwaites’ dwelling, we +met with some old friends of mine—a small wooden hive of “busy +bees.” A pane of glass inserted into the box gave us a view of +the industrious little creatures building their waxen cells, in +which to store their fragrant food; but the weather was against +them—the long drought had withered the flowers, and thus +curtailed their stock of honey. There are very few bee-hives to +be met with in Antigua. This is rather strange, as all Creoles +are noted for having a “sweet tooth,” and consequently honey is +reckoned a luxury. It cannot be from want of proper food, that +the labours of these little insects are discountenanced, for +Nature has been most prodigal of her stores to Antigua, and +clothed her every hill and dale with melliferous blossoms. + +I have heard of one gentleman, however, who was very anxious to +establish an apiary upon his property in Antigua, and accordingly +he obtained some choice hives, which in due time were safely +deposited in his well-stocked garden. Soon after their arrival, +however, business called him from the island, and he committed +his valued bees to the care of his overseer, a true son of +Hibernia, with an expressed hope, “that they would not wander +from home.” The day after his departure, the overseer, wishful of +obliging his employer, stole from his multitudinous duties a +sufficient time to watch the movements of his buzzing charge. The +bright sun drew them from their hives, and jocund in their little +hearts, away they bounded on the balmy zephyr. Innumerable +flowers dazzled their eyes, and courted their attention. Here the +gorgeous _hybiscus_ spread out its glowing bosom—there the +blushing _frangipanne_ loaded the air with its rich fragrance. At +one moment they inserted their trunks into the sweet-scented cup +of the jasmine; at the next, and they brushed the pearly dew from +the brilliant radii of the passion-flower. Onward they flew, +allured by flowerets of every colour, each one as + + “Fair as the fabulous Asphodels;” + +until at length, to the dismay of the overseer, they were lost to +sight! He was no naturalist: he had never studied “Réaumur” upon +the “habits of bees,” and as the last straggler disappeared, he +thought “Well! Mr. ——— hoped they would not wander from home, but +by St. Patrick they’re all gone, and if they ever come back is a +query.” However, as nothing could be done, he was obliged to +leave them to their fate; and in a rather disconsolate mood, “he +turned and left the spot.” + +Hours wore away, + + “The evening came, the sun descended,” + +and the truant insects returned to their hive, to the great joy +of the observant overseer. “Ah! ah!” said he, as they alighted, +heavily laden with their luscious store, “a pretty trick you have +played me to-day; but by my patron saint, I will take care of you +to-morrow.” He watched until they were all safe housed; and then +with hurried steps, and self-congratulatory hitches of the +shoulders, he sought the spot where masons had been lately +working. Providing himself with some of the soft mortar, he again +visited the apiary; and with ready will, and determined purpose, +applied to the opening of each hive a sufficient quantum of the +cement, so as to effectually forbid the egress of any bee. It is +almost needless to mention, that upon the return of the +gentleman, whose absence had been protracted, he found his +favourite insects defunct; nor need I animadvert upon the +vexation his overseer’s management of an apiary caused him. + +To resume my subject—which the bees, and their untimely fate, +drove from my head: after inspecting the school, and expressing +our gratification, we proceeded to visit the Methodist chapel, a +stone’s throw from the school-room. It is a plain wooden +building, measuring 45 feet by 60 feet, and capable of containing +900 sittings. The burying-ground is attached, and serves as the +place of interment for the whole town, and some part of the +adjoining country. Adjacent to the chapel is the mission-house, a +neat little domicile for such an extraordinary-looking place as +Bridgetown. + +There is nothing interesting about Willoughby Bay. No glittering +white sand, or clear blue water with its dazzling surf to be +seen. A line of blighted, sickly-looking bushes shuts out the +sight of the beach; and the part of the bay which greets our eyes +looks gloomy and discoloured, as if from lurking reefs and +shoals. Upon the opposite side of the bay, looking across the +water, lies the Memoras, a long ridge of rocks, over which the +sea rushes with tremendous force, and with a deafening noise, +which may be heard at a considerable distance. Upon a still day, +the angry moan of the waves can be clearly distinguished at +Bridgetown. Willoughby Bay derives its name from Francis Lord +Willoughby, who in 1663 was made Lord Proprietor of the whole +island, by a grant from Charles II.[98] + +St. Philip’s, the parish church, is situated upon an ascent, at +some distance from Bridgetown, and commands one of the finest +views to be met with in any part of the country. The eye ranges +with delight over sloping hills and open glades; wood-crowned +mountains, and silent valleys. Sugar plantations, in all the +beauty of high cultivation, spread out their fields of rich and +wavy green beneath our feet, interspersed with groups of simple +negro huts, almost hid in their leafy enclosures; while on all +sides, the ocean stretched out its interminable blue waters. It +was a lovely day when we visited the spot,— + + “The whispering winds were half asleep, + The clouds were gone to play, + And on the woods, and on the deep, + The smiles of heaven lay. + + It seem’d as if the day was one + Sent from beyond the skies, + Which shed to earth above the sun, + A light of paradise.” + +Of the first church dedicated to St. Philip no account can be +given; but most probably it was built about the year 1690. The +second church to that saint was erected about 1717. It was a +wooden building, and no doubt possessed but little claim to +architectural beauty. The present church is one of the prettiest +I have seen in the West Indies. It is built of the smooth +freestone, so generally found in Antiguan quarries; the only +fault is, that they are cut too small, which, at a distance, +gives them more the appearance of white bricks. + +The plan, like many of the other Antiguan churches, is cruciform; +but there is so much chasteness displayed in the simple +arrangement of the interior, that it must please every eye. The +large oriel window is furnished with ground-glass, of the most +elegant, yet simple devices; and the neat pulpit and desk,—the +altar, gallery, and pulpit rails,—the wooden columns which +support the roof,—the pews and doors, painted in excellent +representation of rich-grained oak, please by their uniformity. +They are in the gothic style. The decorations of the altar are +very plain, merely consisting of the tables of the Commandments, +the Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed. + +Leaving the town of Bermudian Valley (of which I think there is +scarcely a relic) “alone in its glory,” we come to Parham, the +remaining place of trade appointed during the time Col. Rowland +Williams held the deputy-governorship of Antigua. Parham takes +its name from the title of Lord William Willoughby of Parham. In +1697, after the decease of Christopher Codrington, Esq., (the +elder,) Parham appears to have been the residence of the +lieutenant-governor, in preference to St. John’s; and this +circumstance gives rise to the statement of some authors, that +Parham was once the capital of the island. It is another of those +strangely straggling places whose streets are in many parts +bordered with dagger (_aloe vulgaris_) instead of houses; but +still it is far superior to Bridgetown, for some of its edifices +boast of covered galleries, or balconies, flights of stone steps, +and many other decorations. + +The parish church of St. Peter’s, the second of the name, is an +old dismal looking building, whose outward appearance is enough +to give the observer a fit of that fashionable complaint, +dyspepsia. It was erected in 1754, and affords 300 sittings. St. +Peter’s has a chapel-of-ease, the private property of the Rev. +Nat. Gilbert, a descendant of the “founder of Methodism” in +Antigua, who was speaker of the house of assembly in 1764. + +From some strange freak, or else from dire necessity, Parham +churchyard is situated at about two miles distance from the +church and town. It was formerly surrounded by a brick wall, but +that is all falling to ruin. A more desolate-looking +burying-ground I never saw—not a tree or flower near it; the very +birds in their aerial wanderings seem to shun the spot. + +At a short distance from St. Peter’s is fast rising into +existence what will prove, when finished, a very neat and pretty +church. It is an irregular octagonal—that is, the sides are not +of equal dimensions. It is built of the same kind of stone as St. +Philip’s; but has a better effect, from the blocks being cut of +larger size. The base of the tower is constructed from the +interior; but in its present unfinished state, (1842) with all +its multiplicity of scaffolding and frame work, it is impossible +to say what will be the effect; except, as I have before +remarked, it will no doubt make a pretty appearance when +completed. The architect is an Englishman, and the head mason (a +black man) appears to be well-versed in the mysteries of his +trade, to judge from the excellent smoothness in the joints of +the walls, and from a very neat key-stone which he has +sculptured. This church is intended to take the name and service +from the old one, which will then be dismantled. + +Besides the episcopal church, Parham boasts a very neat little +chapel belonging to the Wesleyans, with a good stone +mission-house and school-room adjoining. The general number of +scholars at this school is seventy, including girls and boys; +although upon our visit to it, there were not more than +thirty-five. The school-room is a very airy and commodious +building, capable of containing 600 or 700 persons. The children +which compose the school are of every age, from three to +fourteen. The instruction given them is plain, but good— +scriptural knowledge, reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic, +with needlework for the girls. There are no pictorial +embellishments in this school-room, merely a few selections from +the Scriptures, cards of multiplication, and some black-painted +boards upon which the children practise their little sums with a +piece of chalk. + +The Wesleyan missionary stationed at Parham, the Rev. Mr. +Keatley, (who appears to be a very amiable man,) mentioned as a +well-known fact, that the schools in the country were always +better attended the three first days in the week, and that after +that period very few children made their appearance. Probably +this is owing to their parents employing them in some domestic +business which is more necessary at the close than at the +beginning of the week. + +Parham harbour, although it affords safe anchorage when gained, +is dangerous to the inexperienced navigator from the number of +shoals and reefs which encumber its approach. It also contains +some few islands, of which Bethel’s Island is the largest. This +harbour is protected from the inroads of the enemy by Port Byam, +erected upon Barnacle Point, and which derives its name from +Colonel Edward Byam, some-time governor of Antigua. It is said +that within the precincts of this fort, Colonel Byam had a small +room erected, where he was in the habit of receiving and +entertaining a party of Caribs, who came yearly from some of the +neighbouring islands, in order to smoke their calumets of peace +with that gentleman. + +To the southward of Parham rises a curious hill, which is +supposed to be the work of art, and to have answered for the +burying-place of the ancient inhabitants, the Caribs. An old +writer speaking of this tumulus, describes it as “in form a long +square, very regular in all its parts, lessening gradually from +its base to the top, which is flat, and may be from five to six +hundred feet long, and from forty to fifty feet high.” + + + ------ + +[97] From the summit of Monk’s Hill, the eye can range over the +whole island of Antigua, with the exception of one part, where +the mountains intervene. The principal work, named Fort George, +is mounted with pieces of cannon, said to have been taken in the +“Foudroyant” man-of-war, in one of the many conflicts between the +French and English. + +[98] For the genealogy, and a general account of this family, see +Appendix. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + + + Forts and fortifications—Temporary ones—The present forts—Fort + James—Its situation and approach—Rat Island Battery, its + appellation, lunatic asylum, and flag-staff—Goat Hill—Steep + ascent—Schools in St. John’s. + +It might be imagined that where nature has done so much for her +favourite isle in the way of barricading it, by giving to Antigua +a bold rocky coast, _art_, in the shape of forts and batteries, +would be less called for. This, however, is not the case; the +island coaster meets with many an embattled point, and many a +sea-girt cliff supports the frowning walls of a battery. + +The forts in Antigua are Fort James, Rat Island Battery, Goat +Hill or Fort Barrington, Old Fort, Johnston’s Point Fort, Old +Road Fort, Falmouth Fort, Fort Black’s Point, Fort Charlotte and +Fort Berkley at the entrance of English Harbour, Fort Christian, +Fort Isaac, Fort William, Fort Harman, Flat Point Fort, Old Fort, +and Fort Byam; Parham Harbour, Dickenson’s Point Battery, +Corbison’s Fort, and Fort Hamilton. Of these, the greater part +were merely temporary fortifications erected in those days of +warfare when the French and Caribs, in their shallops and +perrigoas, used to make such frequent attacks upon the island. +Still, dismantled as many of these forts became in after-years, +when peace spread her soft pinions over the lovely group of the +Antilles, they retained their _names_, and served as sinecures to +those persons who, from favouritism or superannuation, were +exempted from militia duty, prior to the abolition of that body +during the administration of Sir W. Colebrooke.[99] + +The fortifications at present in use are, Fort James, Rat Island +Battery, Goat Hill, Fort George, Fort Johnston’s Point, Old Road +Fort, Monk’s Hill, and the forts at English Harbour. + +Fort James was erected about the year 1704-5, on a spot of ground +known as St. John’s Point, which was given to his majesty Charles +II., by Col. James Vaughan, in 1680. It is situated at the +entrance of St. John’s Harbour, and commands at once a beautiful +and extensive view, while, from its frowning battlements, a +deadly and raking fire could be poured upon the adventurous enemy +who dared its anger. The rock upon which it is built appears to +overhang the sea; and the waves, from constantly fretting and +foaming around its base, have completely undermined it. If all +proper precautions be not taken, the fort and its accompaniments +will, some day, probably make a rapid descent into the yawning +gulf beneath, and its avenging weapons no longer vomit forth +their flaming breath upon the dauntless vessel who dares to pass +it, without tendering to its captain his expected dole.[100] + +Fort James mounts but few guns, the rest are making themselves +beds deep in the earth. This is one of the happy results of +peace. Those murderous weapons repose in quietness, and that they +may ever do so is my fervent prayer. A gun, however, is fired at +sunrise and sunset; and her majesty’s ships, as well as vessels +of war belonging to other nations, are complimented with a grand +discharge. The arrival and departure of the governor, members of +council, &c., also call for a similar mark of honour. Serious +accidents sometimes occur at such periods. A few months ago one +of the matrosses had his arm so severely shattered by overloading +the instrument when saluting a French man-of-war, that it became +necessary to amputate the limb immediately. He has now happily +regained his former health, and is employed upon the fort as a +schoolmaster. + +The captain of Fort James receives 150l. sterling per annum, and +the residence is one that many would gladly inhabit. Under him +are stationed twelve matrosses, who receive very good pay. For +the use of these last-mentioned persons, a temporary chapel has +been established within these last few years, through the +instrumentality of the Rev. John Horsford, Wesleyan missionary, +son to the former governor of the fort, by which happy means they +are enabled to attend Divine service once on the Lord’s day. + +The road from the capital to Fort James, a distance of about four +miles, is not very noted for the interest it displays. As the +traveller nears the fort, an arm of the sea runs far inland, +twisting and twining its rippling waters amid the clumps of +aquatic shrubs in a most snake-like manner. Through this, +equestrians and pedestrians, the emblazoned carriage, and the +more humble gig, alike have to pass, while shoals of fairy-like +fish dart from their parent waters in all directions; and as the +sunbeams catch their silvery scales, almost blind the looker-on +with their dazzling coruscations. + +Rat Island Battery is of itself a most picturesque object, as the +stranger approaches Antigua. It lies within the harbour of St. +John’s, and takes its name from some fancied resemblance to that +most destructive little quadruped, a rat. I cannot say this +isapparent to my eyes, but the believers in such a similitude say +that the rock personates the body of the animal, while the +causeway which connects it to the main land plays the part of a +tail. I have already mentioned the lunatic asylum lately erected +upon this rock, whose whitened walls look cheerfully down upon +the waters beneath, and little tells the observer how many +darkened minds wander within them. The flag-staff upon Rat Island +is often gaily decorated with various flags, and with a beating +heart my eyes have often sought it, for there I learn the tidings +that another packet has arrived from my native land, and, as I +hope, brought me one of those little packages traced with “a grey +goose-quill,” and telling that those who are so dear to me are +enjoying health and happiness in Old England. + +Goat Hill crowns the summit of a lofty hill upon the opposite +side of the harbour to Fort James. When passing it by sea, our +surprise is excited when we consider how it is possible to +transport the heavy artillery and stores up the steep ascent; but +the road is winding, and the difficulty is much sooner overcome +than would be supposed. It was on the site of this fort that the +French landed, in that memorable attack upon, and reduction of, +the island in 1666. Near the base of Goat Hill, two peculiar +shaped and blackened rocks rear their bare heads above the sea, +around which the waves dash their lustrous foam with loud and +angry moanings. The remaining forts, with the salaries of their +several captains, and the means by which they are paid, will be +found in the statistical portion of this work. + +From the forts, I proceed to mention the “Mico Charity” School at +St. John’s, where instruction is given in various branches of +knowledge. Upon my visit to this school, I must say I was +surprised to find among the dirty ragged little negroes, which +comprised it generally, a herd of geographers, historians, and +grammarians. The head-master happened to be absent, but a +messenger was immediately despatched to call him; and, upon his +arrival, the examination commenced, which I left entirely to +themselves, wishing to see their own mode of tuition. + +The room, or rather rooms, were hung round with various pictorial +embellishments, consisting of some very beautiful lithographed +designs, representing the most interesting and affecting scenes +in the Old and New Testament—birds and animals, fruits and +flowers, steam apparatuses, machinery of all descriptions, modes +of every branch of agriculture, and some excellent maps. + +A stand was placed in the middle of the apartment, and a boy of +about twelve or thirteen took his station by the side of it, with +the “wand of office” in his hand. It was now announced by the +master—“Those boys who wish to ask questions, please hold up +their hands,” when immediately about eight or ten, of the same +age as the one stationed in the middle of the room, replied by +the motion required, while an air of animation sprang to their +eyes, and lightened the dusky hue of their complexions. The first +question was proposed by a boy, black as the late member of +parliament’s celebrated blacking, but whose scanty habiliments +bore many a mark from the finger of time, and many a stain upon +their once fair colour. “Who was Hannibal?” Answer, from the boy +near the stand—“A Carthaginian general, who defeated the Romans +in two engagements.” + +It was now his turn to propound—“How is the true situation of any +place upon the globe shewn?” Answer, from an intelligent-looking +little mongrel boy, who was in such haste to reply, that it +called for the aid of the master to render his rapid utterance +understood—“By the intersection of that imaginary circle, which +we call a parallel of latitude, with the meridian of the place in +question.” Having replied to this query, he asked the boy at the +stand—“Who was the first Roman emperor that visited England, then +called Britain, and in what year?” + +This was a puzzler. He could not answer to it; so he lost his +conspicuous station, which was occupied by the more fortunate +querist. + +Various other questions were then proposed in history and +chronology; after which, an examination in the Old and New +Testaments commenced—the interrogatories being still propounded +by the boy: “Who was the man that climbed up into the tree, to +see Jesus pass?” “Zaccheus.”—“Where did Moses die?” inquired a +pretty little girl. “On Mount Pisgah,” was the answer. A tall, +rather grim-looking boy, started up, and, in a sepulchral-toned +voice, asked—“What is the difference between Pisgah and Nebo?”— +“Nebo appears to have been a point, or pinnacle, of Mount +Pisgah,” replied a shrimpish boy by his side. + +An excellent map of the world was then brought, and attached to +the stand in the middle of the apartment, so that the eyes of the +whole school could rest upon it. The greater and lesser circles +were then pointed out, the meaning of longitude and latitude +defined, the form and divisions of the earth mentioned and +descanted upon, and the sun’s path through the ecliptic +described. + +The question was then proposed to the school—“Would you like to +sing?”—“Yes,” from every lip. “You must promise to sing very soft +and sweet,” quoth the master. “Soft and sweet,” reverberated from +the whole of the scholars, like the tongue of an echo. Then came +the “soft and sweet,” as they termed it; and if the _burden_ of a +song could give _melody_ to the lips, it would have been more +sweet than “the breath of the south wind upon a bed of violets,” +as Avon’s favoured bard once sang; for it was all about our dear +little Queen Victoria. To the tune of this loyal ditty they +marched round the room, each class divided by their several +teachers, carrying a pile of books, and then formed into +semicircles, to be exercised in reading, writing, arithmetic, +spelling, and grammar. Their spelling was very fair; many of them +wrote a good hand; they all appeared conversant with the four +first rules of arithmetic; and as for grammar, they talked about +present tenses, and perfect participles, nouns, adverbs, and +conjunctions, definites and indefinites, until I began to think +they must have been born with a “Lindley Murray” in their mouths. +I wish I could speak as well of their reading; but I suppose boys +who talk about Hannibal and Artaxerxes, ecliptics and globular +projections, and descant upon the merit of tenses, esteem it too +common-place to read correctly words of two or three syllables. + +The average number of boys and girls attending this school is +from 140 to 160; although, from the prevalence of the measles +upon my visit, there were not more than half that number there. +Young men are also received in this establishment as candidates +for teachers; 100 of whom have, within these last four years, +been disseminated throughout the schools in Antigua, and some of +the other West India Islands, as fully qualified for instructing +the rising generation in all the necessary branches of education. + +After experiencing the erudition of these advanced scholars, we +passed into another part of the establishment appropriated to the +use of the infant school. Here we found about sixty little +creatures, two or three, to eight or ten years of age, seated +upon their benches, raised one above the other—the elder ones +occupying the upper tier. + +This apartment was also garnished with its pretty prints and +Brobdignagian alphabets, and possessed its coloured maps and +stands. The exercises were conducted in a similar manner as those +in the other part of the seminary: an intelligent-looking little +black boy taking his place by the centre stand, beside the map of +Palestine, and answering very fluently the various questions +proposed to him by the other children, at the same time pointing +out the places. “Where did Jesus turn water into wine?” asked one +of the little girls. “Cana, in Galilee.”—“Who got his cedars from +Lebanon?”—“Solomon,” &c. They then sang one of their pretty +little songs, to the tune of which they marched round the room, +and, formed into classes, read, from a selection of pieces, “Dr. +Franklin’s Whistle.” It was too difficult for them, and they +bungled sadly through it; for although, like the elder pupils, +they were geographers and historians, they had not made much +progress in the art of reading. Their lessons over, they sang an +anthem; and then, after a short prayer offered up by the master, +the school broke up, and away they started with whoop and song, +leaving me to ponder in my brain how far their manifold knowledge +would benefit their after progress through life. + +Besides the Wesleyan and Mico schools, Antigua is further +supplied with “repositories of learning,” belonging to the +established church and the Moravians. Our worthy rector, zealous +in every good work, has a pleasing little infant-school near the +rectory, besides schools in various other parts of the town and +country. The Moravians have large schools at their different +settlements; and a boys’ and girls’ school, with infant-school +attached, adjoining their chapel in St. John’s. I visited this +last-mentioned school twice; but I am unable to speak of the +acquirements of the scholars—they having been dismissed soon +after my entrance, upon both occasions. They appear to cultivate +the art of singing; for I heard them join in Mrs. Hemans’ “Better +Land,” to the accompaniment of a small, but very sweet-toned +organ, played by their superintendent. If I may be allowed to +judge of the manners of the children, (which, I own, would not be +quite right,) by those of the female teacher, I should be +inclined to say, they were far behind any of the other schools I +have visited in the island; for she appeared totally deficient in +politeness or agreeable behaviour. + +I have thus endeavoured to shew that Antigua abounds in schools— +the exact number of which will be found in the chapter on +statistics. I sincerely hope that the benefits arising from them +may be permanently felt by the lower classes, and that the +patrons of these schools may reap the reward of their +philanthropy. There are some sad examples: (sorry am I to be +compelled to say so!) where, instead of improving, education has +but tended to lead further into the paths of error; for the very +passages of Scripture that have been taught them—the doctrines of +salvation which have been inculcated, these unhappy creatures +pervert to raise their ungodly mirth. Oh, how do our ears become +shocked at every turn of the street, at every hour of the day, by +the language of this class of persons! while that great and holy +name, “at which every knee shall bow,” is bandied about as a +common interjection. + +There are some to be met with among the negroes whose display of +learning is very ludicrous. We have a servant now living with us +who often calls up from me an involuntary smile. I heard her +speaking the other evening to a fellow-servant, whose name is +Diana. “Diana, my goddess! come here. Let me see, Diana was the +goddess of _truth_, and Junus the goddess of _sleep_, and so you +must not tell me a story, or go to sleep!” Diana did not appear +to comprehend this burst of eloquence, and so her friend went on +to explain to her, that as “_Airy_ was the ram, and _Callus_ the +bull, Virgo was a lion, and Quaris was a water-pot;” she must bow +to her superior knowledge in everything. To this, Diana humbly +assented with “Ees, Miss Charlotte!” accompanied by a stare of +amazement. I don’t wonder, however, at poor Diana’s surprise at +her friend’s knowledge; I am sure she often startles me. Another +evening, I saw her standing in the yard, with outstretched arms, +and upturned eyes, gazing upon a bright star, which twinkled +above, while in a very lackadaisical tone, she exclaimed, “Oh, +Mars! _invoke_ me by thy rays!” + +I hope, however, what I have said in this last page will not +discountenance those worthy characters who are employed in +opening the book of knowledge to the eyes of the ignorant. In the +words of a much-admired writer, “the delightful hope may be +cherished by him who shall bring his mite for the promotion of +the Lancastrian system of instruction for giving knowledge to the +ignorant—the hope that he is providing for the display of a +genius in works of the highest utility, which might otherwise +have expended itself in a career of infamous contrivance, long +operating as a pest to society, terminating in the ignominious +destruction of the victim of the want of education. And when the +intimate connexion between _ignorance_ and vice is considered, +surely all who wish to lessen the sum of the latter will assist +the endeavours that are now making to plant the tree of knowledge +amid the desert and deformed waste;—to convert that which is now +cheerless and blank into a field of profuse beauty teeming with +the real wealth and strength of nations.” + + + ------ + +[99] Several of these forts were sold by the legislature, after +the conclusion of the war with America. + +[100] It has been the custom, although the _law_ does not command +it, to pay to the captain of this fort 18s. currency, for every +vessel, no matter what her tonnage, passing from the harbour. As +there are many owners of small crafts in Antigua, whose pockets +are not so well provided with this world’s wealth, as to enable +them to fling it abroad upon every occasion, they are glad to +take advantage of the absence of necessity, and retain for their +own use the two dollars, which custom or caprice has reserved for +the commandant, and pass the fort without paying the tribute. +This conduct is generally resented by despatching after the +offending vessel an angry message, in the shape of a cannon-shot. +It appears extraordinary, that such a monstrous and illegal +proceeding as firing upon the vessels should be permitted, or at +least tacitly sanctioned by the government. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII. + + + + Remarks upon the aboriginal Americans—Suppositions of various + authors—Caribs—Arrowawks—Ferocity of the Carib—Complexion—Dress + —Ornaments—Dreadful revenge—Wars-Chiefs—Severities practised— + Feasts—Remarks upon paganism—Anthropophagi—A traveller’s tale— + The Carib’s opinion of death—Religious tenets—Altars—The + burning Carib. + +It may perhaps be proper to remark, that although this work has +been entitled, “Antigua and Antiguans,” still, as I have +commenced its history from the period of its first discovery, it +will be necessary to say something about its ancient inhabitants, +the Caribs. As it is impossible at this lapse of time, to give +the history of the individual tribe who peopled this island, I +have been obliged to gather my information from what the early +writers have transmitted to posterity, of the habit and customs +of the entire nation. Consequently, while I am writing of the +Carib of Antigua, or, as the island was called at that period, +“Xamayca,” I must at the same time allude to those of the other +islands; only remarking, that ferocious as they all were, the +Carib of this country seems to have borne the pre-eminence in +hardy daring and relentless animosity toward their conquerors. In +the same manner, I have thought proper to give a short account of +the discovery of America, as antecedent to that of this island; +and as, in furtherance of my plan, I have introduced Columbus to +my readers, from his boyhood, it is but right I should trace the +Caribbean nation from their source. With this apology for trying +the patience of my readers, while I write of a people whose +existence is no more, I will proceed with my subject, which I +hope may neither prove foreign nor unpleasant. + +To enter into minute inquiries how America and its contiguous +islands were _first peopled_, would fill many volumes, the +opinions of the learned upon this subject being so various. Some +authors suppose the Americans do not derive their existence from +the same common parent as the rest of mankind. Others, that they +are descended from a remnant of the antediluvian world which +survived the deluge; but this must be erroneous, or how are we to +understand the sacred historian, when, speaking of that momentous +circumstance, he says—“And all flesh died that moved upon the +earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every +creeping thing that creepeth upon the face of the earth, and +every man. _All_ in whose nostrils was the breath of life, _of +all that was in the dry land, died!_”—Gen. vii. 21, 22. Again, +many authors assert that their ancestors came from the north-east +of Asia, after the dispersion of the people for their impious +attempt to build the Tower of Babel; and to establish this +doctrine upon a firmer basis, endeavour to point out the great +similitude between the Asiatics and the Southern Americans, in +their manners, customs, and general appearance. Another, and +perhaps the most probable idea, is, that the _southern_ parts of +North America, and the islands which lie in the Gulf of Mexico, +and the Caribbean Sea, were originally peopled by Africans. This +idea is maintained by various speculations:—as the trade-winds +blow direct from east to west, a canoe of these savages might +have been driven by bad weather across the Atlantic; and this +position may be further proved by the statement of the Indians of +Florida, who, when asked about their origin, reply, “that their +ancestors came from the east, and that at the time they +discovered America, they were nearly dead from want of +provisions.” These Africans, uniting with the different tribes +with which the other parts of America were peopled, must have +produced the various degrees of colour and character which +astonished so much the first discoverers of this extensive +quarter of the world. + +The Caribs, from whom Antigua and the adjoining islands took +their names, were a very different race of beings from the gentle +and hospitable inhabitants of Cuba, Jamaica, Hayti, &c., who were +called Arrowawks, and with whom the Caribs were ever at war. From +the martial and ferocious spirit of the Caribs, and from their +repasts upon human flesh, historians agree in supposing they were +descended from the Africans; while, on the contrary, the +peacefulness and indolence of the Arrowawks evidently bespeak +them of an Asiatic origin. + +When Columbus visited these islands for the first time, he found +the inhabitants so very savage, that he was for a while fearful +of landing; but upon despatching small presents to them, they +afterwards appeared more friendly, and desirous of an +acquaintance. In nearly all of their huts were found relics of +their horrid feasts upon the bodies of their slaughtered enemies; +and in one of them, a man’s arm was roasting for the intended +meal of the inmates. + +The character of the Caribs presents little of what is +interesting to the imagination; ferocious, superstitious, and +revengeful, they looked upon all strangers as enemies; and, in +return, were dreaded as such by the inhabitants of the other +islands; still they are represented as being, generally, +peaceable and friendly to one another. They ever retained a high +sense of equality and independence. Accustomed to be absolute +masters of their own conduct, they scorned to follow the orders +of others; and having never known control, they would not submit +to correction. Many, when they found they were treated as slaves +by the Spaniards, and that resistance or escape was impossible, +sought refuge from calamity in the arms of death. While the Carib +roamed in his native wilds, his reason was but little exercised, +and consequently, his intellectual powers were very limited. His +ideas never extended beyond the narrow sphere in which he moved, +and everything but his present preservation and enjoyment was +perfectly indifferent to him. When disposed to sleep, no +consideration on earth would tempt him to sell his bed; but in +the morning, when satisfied with slumber, and prepared to set out +on the usual business or recreation of the day, the Carib has +been known to dispose of it for the smallest trifle which caught +his fancy. The only thing they deemed of _real_ value, was their +weapons—consequently, when they found, by sad experience, the +superiority of fire-arms over the bow and arrows of their own +country, they viewed them with unbounded admiration; but the +inventions and improvements of civilized life, with all the arts +and manufactures of the Spaniards, they regarded with apathy, or +paid them the same attention as we do the toys of childhood. + +Columbus noticed two distinct races of Caribs. One was quite +black, with hair approaching to woolly; the other, of a deep +copper colour complexion, with long, straight hair; the latter +inhabited Antigua and the adjoining islands, while the blacks +predominated more in the islands further south. In appearance, +the Caribs were robust and muscular; their limbs flexible and +active. They ornamented their hair with shells and grease; and +some of them had it turned up like women, and decorated with thin +plates of gold, which they procured from the Arrowawks. Their +garments were composed of cotton cloth, fabricated by their +females, and which they had the art of staining red, their +favourite colour; but many of them were in a state of nudity. The +cartilage of the nostril was perforated, and in it they stuck a +piece of tortoise-shell, the bone of a fish highly polished, or a +parrot’s feather. They adorned their arms, neck, and ankles, with +the teeth of their enemies which they had slain in battle, or +devoured at home. Their bodies were painted in the most hideous +manner, which appears to have been intended to make them look +more formidable in the eyes of their enemies than pleasing in the +sight of their friends. The favourite style of doing this, was +first to smear a quantity of red paint all over them; they then +encircled one eye with a streak of white, and the other with one +of black; they also disfigured their cheeks with deep incisions +and horrible scars, which they stained with various colours; and +the greater number and depth of these disfigurations constituted +their idea of manly beauty, and martial appearance. + +Their revenge was deep and implacable—it resembled rather the +wild fury of a lion than the passion of a man. When anger took +possession of a Carib’s heart, he vented it against everything, +whether animate or inanimate, which chanced to fall in his way. +Although in general calm and apparently insensible to pain, if +struck by an arrow in these moments of rage, like the North +American Indian, he would tear it from the wound, bite it, spit +upon it, and, dashing it to the ground, trample it to atoms +beneath his feet. He never pitied—never forgave—never spared! To +fall upon an enemy unarmed, knock him down, capture him, and +finally eat him, was the boast of a Carib warrior! For this they +were bred up from their youth. To bear with an unflinching spirit +the most excruciating torments, inflicted by the hands of his own +father and nearest kin—to suffer all the severities and unnatural +cruelties which the savage breast was capable of imagining +without betraying one symptom of weakness—to rise superior to +pain, and baffle the rage of his persecutors by calmness and +tranquillity, was the test by which the courage of the young +Carib was tried. If he succeeded in this, he was looked upon as +one of the warriors of his country, and pronounced “a man like +themselves;” while, on the contrary, should one cry escape his +lips, one supplication for mercy break from him, he was despised +as a coward, and driven from society. + +When an expedition against the Arrowawks was intended, a chief +was elected, with solemn ceremonies. During the time of peace, +however, the Caribs appear to have owned no head; they paid, +indeed, some little veneration to the old men, but this appears +to have been merely from respect to their age,—at any rate, they +were not able, by their influence, to protect the weak or the +stranger. The man who aspired to lead his countrymen to war was +obliged to undergo the most severe sufferings before he was +accounted worthy of that honour. If he was successful, upon his +return he was treated with a grand feast, and was allowed to take +as many captives for his own share as he liked, and alter his +name a second time to that of the most formidable Arrowawk who +had fallen by his hand, while his own people presented for his +choice the most beautiful of their daughters. Their mode of +warfare was very different to that of the present day,—they +thought it no honour to fall fighting for their country. Their +plan was, not to wait for a drawing up of their forces, but to +capture all their foes they found unprepared, whom, at the end of +the war, they carried home, and either slaughtered them for the +grand feast, or kept them until they became sufficiently plump +for eating. They preserved the fat of these poor creatures to +anoint the bodies of their children, in hopes of making them as +martial as themselves. + +Happy for us is it that we live in an age when Paganism, with all +its accompanying horrors, has given place to the mild doctrines +of Christianity—when this land, so beautified by the hand of +Nature, is freed from those barbarous wars, those soul-sickening +feasts of human flesh, which once polluted it! That man can +actually devour his fellow-creatures is almost incredible—indeed, +some persons of philosophical minds have doubted the truth of +anthropophagy; yet, shocking as it is to the imagination, it has +been too fully proved to be denied; indeed, some of the Caribs, +when, in later years, they have been asked about this revolting +practice, have unhesitatingly answered in the affirmative, and +even gone so far as to say that Frenchmen eat better than +Englishmen, and Englishmen better than natives.[101] Although, +within these last years, so much has been effected by the +laudable zeal of Christian missionaries, yet, even now, there are +“dark corners of the earth” where human flesh is not only eaten +from feelings of revenge, but partook of as a luxury.[102] + +I read in a periodical, some time ago, a circumstance which may +be termed a romance of real life. I pretend not to give it in its +original words, but the tenour of the case is as follows: A +gentleman was once travelling through the interior of Grenada, or +Trinidad, I am not certain which, and after riding for some time +through rocky defiles and umbrageous woods, he at length came to +an open plain, on which was erected about half a dozen Carib +huts. Riding up to the door of the principal one, an old man was +seen reclining upon a rustic seat, who at the approach of the +stranger arose, and, with much native politeness, invited him to +alight, and spend the day at his hut. The gentleman, being one +who was travelling in pursuit of knowledge as well as amusement, +was well pleased to have the opportunity of becoming a little +acquainted with the domestic manners of this ancient people. +After walking about for some time, and making sketches of the +various beautiful scenes which surrounded the hut, his attention +was arrested by the plaintive cry of a female. Having a good +supply of the “milk of human kindness” within his breast, and a +heart open to the distresses of his species, the traveller +determined to go in quest of the afflicted fair. Directing his +steps by the sound of the voice, which appeared to issue from a +magnificent grove of trees near the spot, he soon came in sight +of the object of his commiseration, whom he found to be, not a +fair, but a dark beauty, of sixteen or seventeen years of age. +Her long black hair floated down her naked shoulders; the tears +were rolling over her smooth brown cheeks; while her languishing +dark eyes were turned with mournful looks upon the face of a man, +who, with knitted brow, was employed in fastening her slender +wrists to one of the trees. Supposing she had committed some +fault for which she was about to receive corporal punishment, the +gentleman begged very earnestly for her pardon; and from the +smile which passed over the harsh features of the man, he thought +his request was complied with. + +The day passed very rapidly, and our traveller was delighted with +all he saw. His host was all attention, pointing out to his +notice whatever he thought would amuse; and when dinner was +announced, ushered him into his hut with the air of a French +_petit-maitre_. The dinner table was laid out in the English +style, in compliment to his guest; and the calabashes which +contained the water &c. were beautifully carved and stained. The +first refreshment introduced was soup, which was contained in an +English tin tureen, that shone like silver; and from the keen air +of the mountain, and the exercise he had taken, our traveller +made a very hearty repast upon it. After its removal, and while +waiting for the other viands, the host asked—“How he liked Carib +soup?” “Excellent!” said the gentleman—“very delicious—I must beg +a few receipts from your _cookery book_.” “O, it’s very simple,” +replied the old Carib, “if you have the proper articles to make +it of: what you have been eating was made from the hands and feet +of the girl you were begging for this morning!” What were the +feelings of the traveller at this horrible information can be +better imagined than described. The repast he had _shared in_, +the fate of the poor girl, and his own situation amid a race of +cannibals, filled him with horror, and almost drove reason from +her throne. It is almost unnecessary to state that he left the +scene of bloodshed as soon as possible; and never, never more did +he think of visiting a Carib, or partaking of _Carib soup_. I +have given the story as I received it; as to its _authenticity_, +I will not take upon myself to vouch for it. + +With regard to the religious rites and tenets of the Caribs but +little can be said, for but little is known with any degree of +truth. They appear to have an idea that death was not a final +extinction of being; but that the soul (or rather souls, for it +was the general opinion among them that every pulse that beat in +their bodies was a _separate_ soul) went to another world, where +they enjoyed themselves very much after the manner they did in +this, and that their bows and arrows were as necessary there as +here. For this reason they buried the weapons in the graves of +their friends, and inhumed several captives with them, that they +might have attendants in “the land of spirits.” Some authors +assert that they acknowledged one great universal Cause, to whom +they gave the name of “Mayboya,” who was invisible to them, but +who watched their actions, and heard their words; that this being +possessed an irresistible power; and that subordinate to him were +many other gods. Other writers, however, maintain that the Caribs +had not even a name for a deity; and that after death they +believed they decayed away like the animals they were acquainted +with. Which was the fact is a matter of surmise; but Columbus +mentions that in several of their huts were seen little altars +composed of banana leaves and rushes, and that upon these were +laid offerings of fruit, fish, flowers, &c. It seems probable +that their religious principles were like those of other savages, +suggested rather by the dread of impending evils, than gratitude +for favours received. “We can all forget benefits, although we +implore mercy,” was their motto. + +Some of the Caribs pretended to be magicians, and worshipped +demons with rites and ceremonies of the darkest superstition: +these people were termed Boyez, and in them was placed implicit +faith. Upon the discovery of these islands, the Spaniards +endeavoured to convert the natives to Christianity; but the means +used to accomplish this were diametrically opposite to what they +ought to have been. Instead of setting it forth as a doctrine of +love and mercy, and inculcating its precepts with mildness and +humanity, they shewed at once the bloody tenets of the church of +Rome, and condemned those to the stake who did not immediately +subscribe to their opinions. + +This manner of proceeding, instead of converting the Caribs, only +fixed firmer in their minds their dislike to the intruders; they +witnessed their quarrels among themselves, their ferocious and +implacable resentments, their insatiable thirst after gold, and +the cruelties they perpetrated in searching after that metal. Can +it be wondered at, then, that they did not believe the +superiority of the Christian religion, as taught by the +Spaniards, over their own? or that the rites of baptism, which +they could not understand or appreciate, were despised by them? + +One of these unhappy people being condemned to be burnt for his +attempts to save his country from the encroachments of its +conquerors, was promised, by a Roman-catholic priest, admittance +into heaven if he would only embrace the Christian faith before +he died. “Are there any Spaniards in that region of bliss you +tell me of?” inquired the unhappy victim. “Yes,” replied the +priest; “but only such as are good.”—“Then I will never go there, +where I may meet with one of that accursed race; for the _best_ +of _them_ have neither worth nor goodness.” And from the cruel +treatment these islanders met with, there was but too much reason +in this exclamation. + + + ------ + +[101] Some authors assert that this is only vanity in the French; +that they think so highly of themselves, that even in the +_interesting_ point of being eaten, they will not allow the +pre-eminence to other nations. + +[102] “The New Zealanders are perpetually carrying on war with +each other, to which they are stimulated, not by thirst of +conquest, but by the desire of eating the flesh of their +antagonists!”—See Prichard’s “Researches.” + + END OF VOL. I. + + T. C. Savill, Printer, 107, St. Martin’s Lane. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume I +(of 2), by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANTIGUA AND THE ANTIGUANS, VOL I *** + +***** This file should be named 38788-0.txt or 38788-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/7/8/38788/ + +Produced by Paul Flo Williams + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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