he
morning. Some part of the road was very narrow and wound round the
mountain we were going to. At one of the angles, or turns, the purser, who
was one of the party, had got his mule too near the precipice, and in a
few seconds was rolling down the declivity, the mule first and he
afterwards. Fortunately for both animals, there were several dwarf
cotton-trees about half-way down, which brought them up with a severe
round turn. The planter, who, I presumed, had seen exploits of this kind
before, lost no time in procuring from the nearest estate some negroes
with cords, and in a few minutes they were extricated from their perilous
situation. The purser was much cut about the head, and both his arms
severely contused. The poor animal had one of his legs broken, and it was
a charity to shoot him on the spot.

[Illustration: FOREST SCENERY, JAMAICA. [_P. N. Edwards, Photo._]

As we were not far from the estate we were going to, the black men, who
manifested much willingness and humanity, procured a hammock, which they
suspended to a pole, and carried with much ease my poor unfortunate
messmate, who, notwithstanding his bruises, kept joking on his
misadventure. Another hour brought us to a delightful pavilion-built house
surrounded by verandahs. It was like a Paradise; the grounds were highly
cultivated and produced sugar-canes, coffee, cotton and pimento. The air
was quite embalmed, and the prospect from the house was enchanting. I
could see the ships at Port Royal, which appeared like small dark dots.
The estate belonged to a young lady, a minor, residing in London, and it
was managed by her uncle. The number of slaves it contained was three
hundred. They appeared to me, the four days I remained among them, as one
happy family. I visited, with the surgeon of the estate, several of the
cabins or huts; each had a piece of ground to grow plantains, yams, sweet
potatoes, cocoas, etc. Some grew a few melons, nearly all had fowls, and
several had two or three pigs. The whole of Sunday and the Saturday
afternoon were their own, on which days they repaired to Spanish Town or
Kingston markets to sell their vegetables, fruit and poultry. The pigs,
the doctor informed me, were generally bought at the market price by the
overseers. "This estate," resumed the doctor, "is very well conducted, and
during the five years I have been here we have only lost three slaves, and
two of those were aged. I need not say that the manager is a man