top. m u ch ind ulgpnce. I never pass the beach-without, seeing, several
of them drunk, or fighting with each other; besideswhich* the
streets are full*of broken bottles, jwhere thespoor negro slavespwho
never wear shopaj are exposed in the dark :to cut ; their feet. But
perhaps it would he wrong to judge.of these-things in a moment,
when all the inhabitants of the town are called to a most important
preparation ofgself-defencefagainst,a powerful enemy.,;.The town
has no remarkable buildings,.the churches are neat»though without
ornaments, and the, streets are in the evening well lighted.
The adjacent country exhibits a fine scenery by a variety of well
cultivated plains, and gently rising hills^ on. some; off which ate
built elegant country, seats, and. others in the .cottagei styte.su
During my stay here, .1 thought it proper, to write.to Jdr.^W. C.
who was a passenger in. the same, ship in whieh l went tb Madeira,
and; concerning whom-you may reipemher,that I wrote to you. He
was the most interesting person in our society; andwhen he‘-heard
of my arrival, at Barbadoes,.he* sent, me an invitation? ito9 visjt/hisr
estate, saying I should not take it as a mere compliment, for. thafche
had already arrangedtmatters for my journey .to From Bridge-toWn
to. Speight’s-town 1 went in a boat along, the sea,-Goast; and here I.
had a better opportunity o f.observing a. number;of sea. platitswifli
which the shore is,flined as with a riefi bordered carpet, though I
did not notice any unknown plant amongst them; this however may
be only called the elegant outskirts of. that extraordinaryIseenefy
with which we may suppose the immense depths of the great ocean
to abound.
Speight’s-town is a small but, very .neat place,, and most of the
streets are laid out in a regular manner. I found here a messenger
from Mr. C. with a horse waiting for me. The road led i through
well cultivated land, but the estate of Mr. C. in particular, distinguishes
itself, by many improvements; for,instance, he has built a
windmill, for the purpose of cleaning cotton from the seeds, which
process- was formerly dope • by npgjpes turning a awheel by ,the
motion of t-he%et(; but this,jMs*dQ* f^ssPred njg, tnade-ftjbp labonrers^
legs Iwhkraikhpk® produced many other cpmplaints. The clean-
in g ^ f the eo%tpn: from the/sCnd?\4s poWjP®rfpr0i^4 the .following
manneras-soancas the cotton !that • envelopes\the ;§©ed in which
it grew. ,is pulled.. from the bud,- it as made .to pass Ihrpughkhc
hiterpf ttwo ^small metal rplleFs,'■ plaPed horizontally on©pvprthe
-©theri and turned mill; /these?jjjtollers tpassijig
'rdu’nd'near each otherf af^fcd wat.hthecatton, which- theyitake in
b y the help of-a negro boy, who pu%hesfiit 'in ,with this fingers ibe-
hween thehfpllCtsilwhiPh
.they Tall into -a basket standing*on thjgrjgróund, whilst .the.potton,
after passi ng between the -rollers to the- other side, drops into, a box.
The >c©n&truetion is rthe same as- that offa-sugar mill, gteppt that
the tellers' in the sugaF mill are perpendicular, and made much
.St^figeP tO- bruisp 4he cane.. t This method of olpanipg thhif p i to t s
;so, easy; that it can he; pcrformpdj.by little boys, to whom indepd-dt
-i& a kind of amusement, whilst .the other, pvethod was even fatiguing
- to a full grown negro.
In the sugar mill of this estate, when the cane has passed be-
twëèn the first apd second roller, it bends round the middle pne* by
a circular Trame, which forces the1 cane between the. second and
-third röller, and makes it pass through without the assistance of a
. negro. Though both j these inventions are pot. entirely new, they
are not yet, I understand, so generally adopted- as their utility
seems to recommend. -Besides this {economy and attention,,in the
management of his plantation, Mr. C. is likewise fond of gardening
; -he was the first who introduced the .small wliite (Levant) fig
tree, the fruit r©S Which is so'.much .esteemed for its taste., wfien
fresh»; and makes the best sort when dried. Of this?®ecie|i he. took
some young trees with him from Madeira, and they are now considerably
grown, ap his garden.
F