, 1877-12-05
&C o L o N L..
J AMAICA A.

lamentabIe picture of the %ruinous state Of
many public places IN Jamaica. We sup
pose the Jamaicans may be allowed to
say things about themselves, which they
would hardly let a stranger say of them.
The language of the Cleaner is certainly
strong enough
"That Kingston presents a most pitia-
Bile aspect 10 the eye of a stranger, from
the seaboard, can only be lamentabIy
known by any native even, from an ap-
proach to the shores of Kingston, after an
absence for, say, two or three years. The
wharves present the shabbiest and most
decayed aspect of q commercial town that
any one eau think of who has visited o'her
countries. Mt alone does ihe pier lead
exhibit the melancholy appearance of
tumble-down and disrepair, but the soIi-
tary wharf house or shed, on each wharf,
gives an idea IF meanness and temporari.
ness that tends sensibly to Undue a visitor
who has for the first time visited jamaica,
with false impressions, not alone OF the
city itself, but of the whole Island.
Some OF the Euinous appearance Of things
is dIe however, il seems, 10 tbs desire on
the part Of some public Companies to get
IS mach money as they can in the shortest
space OF time, without any outlay whatever
Tor the sake OF a decent exterior. So the
Cleaner says dfaiu!
flake the Jamaica Railway Company,
for instance, aud we shall fud, at the Ter
minus in Kingston alone. sufficient to
disgu t any one with the entire island and
its surroundings. The platform, roof and
sores burnt down some years ago, remain
iu the same condition as the fire left them !;
and on all sides are neglect aud decay APP
parent. In Spanish Town, through the
root OF the warehouses for storing goods the
rain pOurs through apert"res large enough
to admit the bodies Of two meu together;
aud there too everything looks neglected
and is left to ruin,"
The absence Of any strong law in refe
re .ce to Migrants, who seem to abound III
Jamaica, is also deplored.
A Jamaica Marine Insurance Company
has been formed aud is meeting with
very liberal support. nearly 1000 shares
being already subscribed for. The COM
psuy is also receiving proposals for the
Insurance. Of goods shipped cOast-wise and
Internationally.
The Two following items will interest
our planter friends. The poatponement
Of the October rains is Just what we our
selves experienced here this year.
"There is thit remarkable fact in con-
nexion with our autumnal rains, however,
that ought not to he passed over without
notice. This is, the seeming, we hesitate
to say, the undoubted, tendency of the
October rains to be later in their advent
than in times past. Even wet Christmases
have not been altogether unknown Of late
years. We remember that during what
to US may be regarded as the olden tlmes,
the Christmas season was usually very dry,
giving full scope to the outdoor amuse-
ments that were then so prevalent among
the slaves and were afterwards continued
by them as "apprentices." aud not entire
ly laid aside till some years after they had
become free. At that period the North.
ers" might be looked for with the regulari-
~ of clock-work, making their first appear
0nce almost simultaneous with thu winter
solstice-the 2Ist December-and contin-
uing throughout the Christmas holidays,
sometimes into the commencement of the
New Yeer. We believe that all these
manifestations Of particular seasons are ne
cessary 10 their regularity to ensure a good
harvest ;and, perhaps, it is because Of their
EkC-l - L.k -o..1 -.~-o