No. I.]

[Price Fifteen Shillings.]

A
PICTURESQUE TOUR
OF
THE ISLAND OF
JAMAICA,

FROM
DRAWINGS MADE IN THE YEARS 1820 AND 1821,

BY
JAMES HAKEWILL,

AUTHOR OF THE "PICTURESQUE TOUR OF ITALY,"

§c. &c.

TO BE COMPLETED IN TWELVE NUMBERS.

Contents:

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>KING'S SQUARE,</td>
      <td>SPANISH TOWN.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>HARBOUR STREET,</td>
      <td>KINGSTON.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>MONTPELIER OLD WORKS,</td>
      <td>ST. JAMES'S.</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

No. II. WILL CONTAIN

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>MONTEGO BAY,</td>
      <td>FROM READING HILL.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>BRYAN CASTLE GREAT HOUSE,</td>
      <td>THELAWRY.</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>GOLDEN VALE, FROM SPRING BANK,</td>
      <td>PORTLAND.</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

LONDON:

Printed by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street.

PUBLISHED BY HURST AND ROBINSON, CHEAPSIDE;
AND E. LLOYD, HARLEY STREET.

1824.

THE KING'S SQUARE, ST. JAGO DE LA VEGA.

ST. JAGO DE LA VEGA, generally known as Spanish Town, is situated about thirteen miles from Kingston, and six from Port Henderson, the nearest shipping places. The road from each is level and excellent. It was fixed upon as the capital of the Island, after the desertion of Sevilla Nueva, a town on the north side, near St. Ann's Bay, which had been founded by Juan de Esquivel, who was appointed governor by Don Diego, the son of Christopher Columbus. Blome, who compiled a short account of Jamaica, so early as 1672, says, that the town of St. Jago de la Vega consisted of 2,000 houses, two chapels, and an abbey. At present, the number of houses paying taxes are 168; but as no house is assessed unless paying a rent above £50, the number may probably be about 600. It is the seat of government, and has been so ever since the conquest of the island, with the exception of a short period in 1754 and 1755, during the government of Charles Knowles, Esq. when five sessions of the House of Assembly were held in Kingston. The chief ornament of Spanish Town is the King's Square; on the east side of which is the House of Assembly, on the west the King's House, on the north Rodney's Temple, and on the south the public offices.

The annexed view exhibits the first three buildings. The interior of the King's House or residence of the Governor, is well adapted to the climate; the rooms are spacious and lofty, and the whole is elegantly furnished; the House of Assembly is large and convenient; of Rodney's Temple, a monument so honourable to the loyal and patriotic feelings of the island, we shall give a more enlarged account. On the 20th February 1783, the House of Assembly directed the Committee of Correspondence to write to Stephen Fuller, Esq. the agent for the island, directing him to apply to the most eminent artist in England, to prepare an elegant marble statue of Lord Rodney, to be erected in the Parade of Spanish Town, in commemoration of the glorious victory obtained by that gallant commander, and the brave officers and seamen serving under him, over the French fleet on the 12th of April 1782. In 1788 the statue was received at Kingston, and its arrival renewing the public feeling towards it, which the long delay had in some slight measure depressed, a violent struggle commenced between Kingston and Spanish Town for the honour of its final possession. A petition was presented to the House of Assembly from the inhabitants of Kingston and Port Royal, in which they stated, " That they had subscribed a large sum of money for the purpose of conveying water from the

Hope

Hope River to the Parade at Kingston, by means of which they propose to form a spacious basin to surround the statue, and that they had lately subscribed a further considerable sum to assist in erecting it; but that they are penetrated with the deepest concern to find that a report prevails of its being intended to be placed in Spanish Town." In this petition every argument to support the object of the petitioners was urged, but a motion being made in consequence in the House of Assembly, that the petition be referred to a committee of the whole House, it was determined in the negative, by the casting vote of the Speaker alone, the numbers being for entertaining the petition 19, and 19 for its rejection.

A Committee was then appointed for determining the site in Spanish Town on which it should be erected, who reported in favour of the Parade, and for erecting the colonnade and public offices which form the wings.

The statue, executed by the elder Bacon, was erected on the 13th December 1792, and in the evening splendidly illuminated. The whole expense of this national monument appears to have been £30,918. 8s. 4d., currency of Jamaica.

The Barracks on the south side of the town are large and commodious.

The Church is an ancient brick structure of no exterior beauty, but contains some fine monuments, particularly those to the memory of the Earl and Countess of Effingham and Sir Adam Williamson. The most ancient is an inscription upon a flat stone in the chancel, to the memory of the wife of Sir Charles Lyttleton, dated January 1662.

MONTPELIER ESTATES, ST. JAMES'S.

MONTPELIER Estates, the property of Charles Ellis, Esq. M. P., are situated in the parish of St. James, at about ten miles from Montego Bay. They are part of a large tract of land, consisting of about 10,000 acres, which stretches across the valley of the great river from the hills on either side, and is divided by that river into two portions, of which about 8,000 acres are in the parish of St. James, and about 2,000 in the parish of Hanover. The latter forms a penn, or grass farm, called Shettlewood.

The Montpeliers were purchased by John Ellis, Esq. father of the present
proprietor, when nearly the whole of this beautiful valley, now so thickly settled
and so richly cultivated, was covered with native wood. The settlement of the
Old Works' Estate had been commenced, but was completed by Mr. Ellis : the
New Works' Estate was entirely settled by him about the year 1775.

Shettlewood was the residence of a gentleman of that name, but it was estab-
blished as a penn by Mr. Ellis, and has since been greatly extended by the
present proprietor.

The buildings on both the estates (the annexed plate represents the Old
Works) are of stone, which is in great abundance in the neighbourhood, and of
which the small round hills, which form a remarkable feature in the surrounding
country, are chiefly composed. The mill on the Old Works is supplied by a
stream which rises in the highland to the east of the works, in the chasm of a
rock, where it forms a pool, said to be of unfathomable depth, and from the
clearness of the water has acquired the name of the Blue Hole. It is brought
on an aqueduct along the side of the hills, till it reaches the works, where it is
carried over the flat to the mill in a series of stone arches, some of which are
seen in the drawing. The date of the year 1746 appears on several of the
buildings.

The New Works Estate has likewise the advantage of a water-mill. The
stream by which it is worked has its source in Shettlewood Penn, where it is
collected into a large pool by a stone dam raised across the valley in which it
rises. It is carried over the great river by a bridge, and thence on an aqueduct
of stone arches to the mill.

The cane pieces of the two estates occupy about 1000 acres, that is 600 to the Old Works and 400 to the New: but the field of canes actually kept in cultivation has latterly been considerably diminished. There is also a due proportion of land in guinea grass and common pasture, both for the working stock of the estates

estates (about 550 head) and for the cattle belonging to the negroes, who have
100 head of breeding cows, besides their produce. The remainder is chiefly wood-
land, but presents the means of forming more than one additional sugar-estate,
for which the soil is very well adapted. At present it affords an abundant supply
of timber and of wood for staves and fuel, and an extensive provision ground for
the negroes.

An establishment called the Farm has also been formed on a part of it, which
is cultivated for the supply of the estates with vegetables and ground provision;
where a range of cottages has likewise been built for the convalescent negroes or
others, whose health may require rest or particular attention.

The produce of the estates is shipped at a wharf, which forms part of the pro-
perty at the bottom of the Long Hill, at a distance from Montpelier of about
seven miles.

Shettlewood Penn contains 850 acres of guinea grass, 450 acres of common pasture, the remaining 700 are in woodland and negroe provision grounds. The stock consists chiefly of horned cattle, in number about 800; of these 200 are breeding cows. In addition to their produce, there is a large stock fattening for the butchery, by which the neighbouring estates are regularly supplied with fresh beef. On the estates and pen are about 900 negroes.

The properties are under the management of William Miller, Esq. of Fal-
mouth.*

* The family of Ellis have been settled in Jamaica from the time of its conquest, and possess large properties in other parts of the island. Mr. John Ellis, the elder brother of the proprietor of Montpelier, being owner of Green Castle, Newry, and Nutfield Estates, in the parish of St. Mary, and of a penn in the adjoining parish of St. George, called Fort George; and also jointly with Mr. C. Ellis of an estate and penn (called Caymanas and the Crawle), which are situated on the road from Spanish Town to Kingston near the Ferry.

The guinea grass, a production of the soil next in importance to the sugar cane, was first sown by an
ancestor of these gentlemen. The seed had been sent from Guinea as food for some birds, which had
been presented to Mr. Ellis, the Chief Justice of the island, and was sown to insure a supply. But the
avidity with which the cattle sought it, induced him to cultivate it on a larger scale. To this accident
may be ascribed the introduction of this valuable grass, and probably, in consequence, the settlement
of nearly all the north side parishes.

Recurring to the plate, we will briefly describe the destination of the several buildings. The first on
the left is the barracks or residence of the book-keepers; the next the overseer's house and offices: on
the knoll is the hospital; below is the cattle-mill, and next the water-mill, between which a portion
of the aqueduct is seen. The next and largest building of the group is the boiling-house, and then the
still-house. In the distance are the trash-houses; and above, shaded and partly concealed by groves
of cocoa-nut trees and plantations, are the cottages of the negroes. The natural productions which
appear in this view, as the mango tree at the end of the still-house, the lofty cabbage tree, the bamboo,
and the cotton tree, will be found described in another portion of the work.

THE original intention of the author of the Picturesque Tour of Jamaica, was to have embodied in the general history of the island, which will form the last number of that work, all the information he possessed of the situation of the negro population; but the particular circumstances of the times induce him to anticipate that design, by stating thus early a few facts respecting that class.

As slaves they are subject to be sold; but here much misrepresentation has been forced upon the British public: large purchases of negroes, unless with the estate upon which they are settled, and which would be useless without them, seldom take place, except what are called jobbing gangs, which may sometimes, though rarely, amount to from twenty to twenty-five; the only transfers which take place are of domestic or tradesmen negroes, and no man would buy a slave who did not previously agree to live with him. He would be little better than a madman who did so, as the slave would to a certainty run away; for while the purchaser requires a good character with the negro, the latter is equally alive to obtain a knowledge of the habits and disposition of the person who may be inclined to purchase him. While the author was on the Montpelier estates, Mr. Thomas, the resident carpenter, had ten negroes, and, intending to leave Jamaica, he told them to find themselves a master, and if they could place themselves comfortably, he would arrange their price. After some time they came to him and informed him, they had found a master, Dr. Pierce of Belle Vue, with whom Mr. Thomas afterwards concluded the bargain. They had previously been with Dr. Pierce, had arranged their provision grounds, clothing, days of rest, and every particular of their allowances. Nor is this confined to negroes sold by private contract. The author was present at a public sale of negroes at Kingston; happening to stand near a negro who was shortly to be brought to the hammer, a gentleman accompanied by a friend came up to the negro, and, after a few preliminary questions, asked him if he would live with him, described the nature of his work, the situation of his Coffee-plantation in Liguanea, and held out every inducement he could recollect; when he had finished, his friend called to the negro's recollection an old acquaintance; on the negro assenting to the remembrance of his old companion, the gentleman said he must recollect him lean and sickly, he was now on the same plantation, healthy and fat. The negro consented to live on the plantation, and the gentleman purchased him.

With regard to their comforts, it is to be remarked that nearly the whole of the markets of Jamaica are supplied with every species of vegetables and fruit by the overplus of the negroes' produce, by which traffic they acquire considerable riches. On Holland estate, in St. Thomas in the East, the property of G. W. Taylor, Esq. M.P., the negroes keep a boat, which trades regularly between that place and Kingston with the surplus, and these grumble as much at the low price of yams and plantanes, as an English farmer at the fall of corn.

Riding in that neighbourhood at Christmas, the author met a negro driving a mule heavily laden; this man was head cattle-man in Batchelor's Hall Penn, belonging to C. Arcedeckne, Esq., an appendage to his fine estate of Golden Grove. He had been at Mount Bay for his Christmas stock, and had purchased a cask of wine, a ham, and many other luxuries, which, with his poultry of every description, of which he had abundance, and the estate allowance of fresh beef, would enable him to keep open house for three days for all his acquaintance. This man, being an expert cattle doctor, had frequently leave of absence, and at his return, at the lapse of a fortnight, would bring home a very considerable sum of

2

money. This is an indulgence granted very generally to expert and well disposed negroes on the principal grazing farms; but even those apparently the least capable may accumulate large sums. Being on a visit in the neighbourhood of Arcadia estate, in Trelawny, the author was told that an old woman had brought the attorney a large sum of money, to be sent to the proprietor in England, as her free gift. Though he neither doubted the possibility nor the credit of the story, he was nevertheless willing to have it from the best authority; and being at Bellfield, the residence of Wm. Miller, Esq., attorney to Arcadia estate, he made enquiries of him. Mr. Miller directed the book of Arcadia estate to be brought, and pointed to the following entry:

Aug. 2, 1820.—This sum, received of an old Eboe Negro-woman, named Martia, to be transmitted to England for the benefit of her young master:

<table><tr><td>In Dollars</td><td>72</td></tr><tr><td>In Macaronees</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>In Ten-pences</td><td>20</td></tr><tr><td>Three Doubloons</td><td>16</td></tr><tr><td>Small Change</td><td>2</td></tr></table>

£150

Mr. Miller remonstrated with her upon her wish to send so large a sum from her family, but she only replied that she had enough left for them and to bury herself: how much more she might have had was never inquired into. The occasion of this donation was the report which had reached her that the estate was to be sold, and imagining that a portion of her savings might be of use to her owner, she thus generously offered them. Now this was an old imported negress, and it proves incontestably two facts: first, that she must have been amply supplied with every comfort of life to have been able to sell so much provision (the only mode she had of acquiring money); and secondly, she must have been well treated, or she would not have made so affecting a return of gratitude. It is useless to multiply cases of the riches of the negroes; they are known, not unfrequently, to lend large sums of money to the whites upon interest, and the author has not the slightest hesitation in placing them far above our own labouring population in the scale of positive natural enjoyments. To these comforts which the negro already possesses, it would indeed be most gratifying to humanity to superadd the inestimable blessing of freedom, with the capacity to enjoy and improve it; but it is much to be feared that this latter is incompatible with any idea of retaining the colony as a property, which remark might, by strong reasons, be but too clearly proved. The author has thought it right to put these few facts together. He has only to add, that, during a residence of eighteen months on the island, during which time he visited every parish, remaining on some estates for one day only (a time too short to change any system of severity an overseer might have adopted) on others for two months, a period during which no deception could be kept up; and he can confidently aver that he never witnessed any infliction of a cruel or unmanly punishment.

VIEW OF MONTEGO BAY FROM READING HILL.

This view of Montego Bay is taken from Reading Hill, over which the King's Road to Westmoreland passes. Immediately below the eye are the buildings on Mr. Scott's wharf, rented by Mr. Home, between which and the town of Montego Bay the sea is dotted with the Islands which form a part of the Bogue estate. They are entirely unproductive, although the largest contains fifty acres, and has a spring of fresh water. Behind is the town, seated on a bay, which for beauty of form may vie with the most remarkable.

The first ship and house built at Montego Bay was about the year 1748; it was made a port of entry and clearance in 1758, and a free port at near the same time; and in 1815 the Courts of Law were removed thither from Savannah to Mar.

In 1759, by an Act of the Legislature, the Close Harbour Company was formed, and made a corporation and body politic. The swell, which arises from the action of the north-west winds on the gulph stream on the coast of America, is thrown back, and occasions the re-action of the sea upon the Bay of Mexico; from thence it is thrown on to the Islands, and of course into this harbour. It often comes after the wind has long ceased, and upon several occasions every vessel riding in Montego Bay has been thrown on shore. To guard, as far as human foresight was able, against the recurrence of similar accidents, a company of gentlemen, actuated by their feelings of humanity and patriotism, first formed a fund of £15,000 by shares of £100 each, for building a breakwater, a sort of mole, behind which the vessels might lay in security; but, beyond this sum, above £45,000 has at various times been expended upon the work, which is built in twenty-four feet water; the base is 120, and the upper part eighty broad.*

This was the first company formed in the West Indies for the execution of any public undertaking. The holders get a return of from six to ten per cent. on their original shares, derived from a tax upon shipping granted at the time of their incorporation; but nothing for the sum laid out beyond the original subscription. The Close Harbour is calculated to hold thirty ships, and a vessel of 800 tons has loaded in it.

The number of vessels which come into Montego Bay annually may be stated at about seventy ships and brigs, and the tonnage at 20,000 tons. The exports, from the 29th of Sept. 1820 to the 29th Sept. 1821, were as under:

<table><thead><tr><th rowspan="2"></th><th rowspan="2">Tonnage</th><th colspan="3">Sugar.</th><th colspan="2">Rum.</th><th colspan="2">Pimento.</th><th colspan="2">Logwood.</th><th colspan="2">Pant.</th><th colspan="2">Lig.</th><th colspan="2">Mahogany.</th><th colspan="2">Cedar.</th><th colspan="2">Laurelwood.</th></tr><tr><th>Hds.</th><th>Trs.</th><th>Bbls.</th><th>Puns.</th><th>Hds.</th><th>Casks of Molasses.</th><th>Coffee.</th><th>Lbs.</th><th>Cks.</th><th>Bags.</th><th>Cks.</th><th>Bags.</th><th>Tons.</th><th>Tons.</th><th>Tons.</th><th>Hogs.</th><th>Log.</th><th>Spr.</th><th>Spr.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>To Great Britain...</td><td>13072</td><td>13097</td><td>1887</td><td>147</td><td>6186</td><td>458</td><td>653930</td><td>53</td><td>4</td><td>71</td><td>1183</td><td>222</td><td>701</td><td>313</td><td>79</td><td>549</td><td>832</td><td>4103</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>— Ireland...</td><td>193</td><td>210</td><td>70</td><td>—</td><td>10</td><td>—</td><td>8734</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>40</td><td>—</td><td>10</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>— Brit. Plantations</td><td>3431</td><td>21</td><td>2</td><td>6</td><td>944</td><td>24</td><td>93</td><td>1568</td><td>—</td><td>12</td><td>91</td><td>188</td><td>—</td><td>1</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>— Spanish Main...</td><td>3551</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>996</td><td>—</td><td>—</td><td>—</td></tr></tbody><tfoot><tr><td></td><td>20247</td><td>13328</td><td>1959</td><td>153</td><td>8126</td><td>492</td><td>99</td><td>64227</td><td>53</td><td>4</td><td>88</td><td>1314</td><td>410</td><td>711</td><td>314</td><td>79</td><td>549</td><td>832</td><td>4108</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tfoot></table>

The

* On the whole of the north side of Jamaica are natural breakwaters, formed of coral rocks, having here and there openings through which vessels can pass. At Falmouth, such form the harbour; but at Montego Bay, although there is a similar line of rocks, they were insufficient, and this mole or breakwater was built to assist it.

The town is the county town, and the third in size in the island. Its public buildings are two places of worship, a court-house, gaol, fort, marine hospital, and barracks for two companies of infantry. The site of the town is bad, being on the leeward side of a range of hills, and originally it was very marshy; but these hills afford fine lime-stone, and an earth of the nature of puzzolana, which no water acts upon. The streets formed of these materials, are hard, durable, and free from dust.

The portion of a morass at the back of the town, which belonged to the public, has recently, though an Herculean task, been filled up. The bushes and aquatic vegetables growing upon it were cut down and laid on the morass, and small stones and earth from the town quarry laid upon them to the thickness of three inches. When these had sufficiently incorporated, a similar layer, and then again a third were put on, and it is now passable for the heaviest carts. It has already had a sensible effect on the leeward part of the town, where the autumnal fever, so frequent in the fall, is now scarcely known. The land belonging to individuals is forming in like manner, and will in a few years be capable of bearing buildings. The town has been twice in great part burnt down, in 1795 and 1818. While we deplore the loss to individuals, the arrangements for its reconstruction have greatly improved it. The building lots are generally about one-fifth of an acre, and, according to their situation, value from £280 to £1500 a lot, or from 1400 to 7500 currency per acre. The most valuable lots are those nearest the sea.

On the hills to the east and north are a variety of very elegant and substantial residences, which command a charming prospect of the town and shipping, and an extensive line of country.

The Church of this town is the handsomest in the island. There is likewise a Wesleyan Chapel, and in the parish there are no less than fourteen religious establishments for the instruction of the black population, conducted by the Established Church, the Moravians, Baptists, and Wesleyan Methodists. In the town itself are eight Schools: four for the white, including a free school, and four for the brown population.

The Magistracy are divided into four bodies, one being appointed for each quarter, and two meet every day at the Court-house for the decision of inferior cases. The Quarter Sessions are held four times a year, and the Assize Courts three times.

The Court-House is a handsome and commodious building. In it are whole-length portraits of George III. and Queen Charlotte, by the former President of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Ball-Room and Court-House are elegantly furnished; the chandeliers are of the most costly description, and the entertainments given there are seldom graced with fewer than 120 ladies.

The water, with which the town is abundantly supplied, rises in a valley at the foot of the hills, and is of remarkable purity. These, with other local advantages, render Montego Bay and its neighbourhood a very desirable place of residence.