er celebrated for its flavour and quality.
The prices vary a good deal, but we found the average from eight to
twelve pounds for a dollar. The natives both roast, and sell, their
coffee with a pellicle over the berry, and I should imagine it is to
this circumstance that its singularly delicious flavour may be
attributed. We found the place very gay, it being the festival of St.
Antonio, the patron saint, which, considering it is a Portuguese town,
and situated in such a demi-civilized part of the world, may be called
rather a neat one. It contained about twelve hundred houses, and seven
churches, most of these, however, were in a miserable state. There were
not more than fifty Europeans on the island, the whole population of
which does not exceed four thousand. The principal part of these were
negroes, who, of course, were slaves[39], and the remainder were of
different shades from black to white. This island has still the
character of slave-dealing, in a small way, with some of the African
nations. One of the gentlemen of the Eden, rode across the island to
West-bay, about six miles distant, but the road was a mere footpath, and
scarcely entitled to be considered a bridle-road. West-bay is where our
men-of-war, on the African station, generally anchor to procure water.
It is a place of no consequence, in a mercantile point of view, as it
consists merely of a small negro village. We heard that the great
merchant, Mr. Ferraro, had been at his house in town to-day, but he left
it again without having shewn the courtesy to return Captain Owen's
visit; perhaps, he feared that such an effort of politeness might lead
to a demand upon his hospitality, a virtue for which the Portuguese are
not very remarkable, especially in their intercourse with Englishmen; in
this respect, the Governor was no less a niggard of his attentions than
the rest of his countrymen, giving no invitation either to Capt. Owen or
any of his officers, whose ceremonious visit cost him, no doubt,
infinite annoyance, as, upon that occasion, his Excellency was obliged
to appear clean shaved, and in his full uniform, a laborious sacrifice
to cleanliness and grandeur, at the expense of his accustomed habits of
luxurious indolence and personal ease.

We found the latitude of Port Antonio, by a good observation with stars,
to be 1 deg. 38'. N. while, in most books on navigation, it is laid
down in 1 deg. 27'. N.

_Monday, 16_.--Visited the Brazilian brigantine (