ST J A H S §
perpendicularly from the sea, when viewed from the roadstead where
the mail packet anchors, seem to frown fiercely at the new arrival,
and, without any doubt, are most forbidding. The little town appears
oddly enough placed in a deep-cut ravine in this mighty wall of rock.
No verdure, a few Peepul trees excepted, meets the eye to relieve
the tedious monotony of dust-coloured rocks and dust-coloured
houses. Nevertheless, there is something that strikes the beholder
as picturesque in what lies before him. On either side of the town
the hills bristle with cannon ; on the left is Munden s Battery; on
the right is Ladder Hill, the chief fortress of the place, where a
small garrison, consisting of a company of Artillery and one of
Engineers, is quartered, and where waves the British Union Jack,
so dwindled down in size through the spirit of economy as to call
from visitors the universal inquiry, “ What flag is that ? To the
left of Munden’s is Rupert’s Yallev, where a recently formed village
appears, and where stands the deserted establishment for the reception
of Africans rescued from slavery by British cruisers on the West
Coast of Africa. On landing, the stranger is beset by a whole rabble
of dirty boys, each eager to get possession of his order to find him a
horse or carriage to visit Napoleon’s tomb, to conduct him to an
hotel, or in some way to make something out of him. Horses there
are plenty of, and even carriages can be found for a trip to the tomb
and back at the moderate charge of two or three pounds ! But hotel
accommodation is wretched, unless a new one has been established
and has not had time to fall into the degraded “wine and beer shop”
condition of its predecessors. Pair board and lodging can, however,
be obtained privately either in the town or country at the moderate
rate of 6s. daily for each person. The town is entered by a fine open
quadrangle or parade, around which stand the church, court-house,
castle, and other Government buildings. A long and wide street
stretches up the valley, with houses on each side, amongst which are
the foreign Consulates, private dwellings of no ordinary pretensions,
and shops. The latter supply almost every class of European goods at
about 30 to 75 per cent, higher than English prices, but the shops
themselves have a dusty, neglected, and uninviting look, as though the
articles exposed in the windows had been there since the days of Noah.
The arrival of a mail steamer or man-of-war throws the whole place;
from the Governor downwards, into a state of excitement; hut still
there remains something of the every-day look of dejection about it»