it; indeed, the accounts from farmers
differ as much as the size and shape of their farms: but it appears to
me that, from one or other of the following causes, farming has not
hitherto paid well:--A large farm has been purchased, leaving too
little cash to spare for the erection of houses, fences, and
cultivation; or leaving it burdened with a mortgage at heavy interest;
or a short lease--of three years--has been taken, and the money sunk
on the improvements; or the cultivation has been of such a wretched
description as failed to raise a remunerative crop. There never
appears to have been a want of sufficient market for any
field-produce. L.1000 judiciously invested on a farm, I believe, would
pay.

I trust it will be seen that my object in writing the foregoing has
been to guard against the pictures of climate and scenery, good or
bad, that are constantly written; to shew that plenty of employment at
a remunerative wage is to be had, but only of the heavy and laborious
kind; that there is a wide field for capitalists; but that shopkeepers
and townspeople, unused to out-door labour, have a poor chance, owing
to the smallness of the population and the competition which already
exists.

GROUND-LIZARD OF JAMAICA.

One feature with which a stranger cannot fail to be struck on his
arrival in the island, and which is essentially tropical, is the
abundance of the lizards that everywhere meet his eye. As soon as ever
he sets foot on the beach, the rustlings among the dry leaves, and the
dartings hither and thither among the spiny bushes that fringe the
shore, arrest his attention; and he sees on every hand the beautifully
coloured and meek-faced ground-lizard (_Ameiva dorsalis_), scratching
like a bird among the sand, or peering at him from beneath the shadow
of a great leaf, or creeping stealthily along with its chin and belly
upon the earth, or shooting over the turf with such a rapidity that it
seems to fly rather than run. By the road-sides, and in the open
pastures, and in the provision-grounds of the negroes, still he sees
this elegant and agile lizard; and his prejudices against the reptile
races must be inveterate indeed if he can behold its gentle
countenance, and timid but bright eyes, its chaste but beautiful hues,
its graceful form and action, and its bird-like motions, with any
other feeling than admiration.

As he walks along the roads and lanes that divide the properties, he
will perceive at every