VIII. VISITORS: CONCLUSION.

There are a number of very good roads circling the island by the seashore, and traversing it in all directions; the main roads are under the control of the Public Works Department, and the others are kept in order by the parochial authorities.

In a country like Jamaica, nothing tends more towards the advancement of the people than the opening up of the country by means of roads, which carry the light of civilisation into the moral darkness of the bush; and the erection of substantial bridges over mountain torrents renders of use throughout the year roads which were formerly passable only in fair weather. During the recent governorship of Sir Henry Blake, Jamaica experienced a wonderful advance in this respect (an advance possibly beyond her spending powers at the time), the results of which are already evident, and, in spite of a temporary reduction in expenditure on maintenance, will undoubtedly continue.

Since 1889 the length of the main roads has been increased from 752 miles to 1912; and upwards of 100 new bridges have been constructed-many of considerable size; one over the Rio Minho, in Vere, is of a single span of 240 feet. During the financial year 1894-95, upwards of £100,000 was spent on roads and bridges. The heavy washings to which roads are subjected at the time of the season's rains naturally add materially to the cost of repairs.

These roads not only aid the peasantry to bring their produce to market: they also render the beautiful scenery of the inland part of the island more readily accessible to the tourist; and make travelling possible to many who would be deterred by the somewhat rough riding which it was necessary to undertake in order to see the island in the old days, and which is

still obligatory on those who would explore the more hilly parts; although two driving roads now penetrate into the heights of the Blue Mountains.

The best months in which to visit Jamaica are December, January, February and March, as they are the coolest, and also free from heavy rain. The passage from Southampton to Kingston, by Royal Mail steamer, at present takes sixteen days. There is a fortnightly mail; but postal communication with the mother country is also carried on by way of New York, which is reached in six days from Jamaica; and letters sent via New York not unfrequently reach their destination more quickly than those transmitted by the regular mail. Steamers bring tourists from time to time both from England and the United States in the cooler months of the year.

The Royal Mail Company has since 1892 arranged tours in the West Indies, occupying from five weeks to four months; and for those who can afford the time, it is a very pleasing change from the frost and cold of England, and especially the fogs of London, to the balmy air and beautiful scenery of the islands of the Caribbean Sea, of which Jamaica is certainly not the least beautiful. The steamers of the Atlas line run weekly between Kingston and New York. The steamers of the Boston Fruit Company, which run with great frequency, are also available for passengers; and many Jamaicans now go and return from England by way of the United States or Canada in preference to the direct route of the Royal Mail.

In connection with the holding of an international exhibition in 1891, and in anticipation of a large influx of visitors, four substantial hotels were erected under Government guarantee; and others. not so imposing in style but their equals in equipment, have been built by private enterprise. In many of the country parts travellers have to be content with the old-time

boarding-houses, where wholesome, if not elaborate, cooking may be obtained. A week or two may be pleasantly spent in one or other of the excellent lodging-houses in Mandeville: and in viewing the grazing pens of Westmoreland, Hanover, St. Ann's, and St. Catherine, with their Herefords and shorthorns, and here and there zebus and Mysore cattle from India; the horse-breeding pens of St. Elizabeth; the pimento groves of St. Ann; the coffee estates of the Blue Mountains, and of Manchester, where also grow the best oranges; the sugar estates scattered throughout the island, one of which, near Kingston, turns out in a week about fifty tons of sugar, enough to sweeten 2 millions of cups of tea; the beauties of the Roaring River; the strange appearance of the Cockpit Country; the historic associations of Spanish Town and Port Royal; the pleasure of a trip round the coast in a coastal steamer, or a drive along the excellent road skirting the coast; and the grand scenery, which is to be found in almost every part of the island.

In conclusion, Jamaica-at once the largest of the British West India Islands, and an island possessing a greater variety of climate and products than any other, and affording as healthy a residence as the best of them-has interest to the lover of history, especially of the British Empire, and that should be to every Briton; to the naturalist; to those in search of health and of relief from the trying climate of an English winter, or of scenery of great variety and beauty; and to the agricultural settler with a certain amount of capital, who is prepared to take the country as he finds it, and does not expect to change his home without changing his mode of life.

Jamaica, alike in the past and in the present, affords a picture in which lights and shadows are strangely commingled. To some the lights form the prominent features, to others the shadows. It is a

picture which needs years of study for its comprehension, and those who think that a few weeks' sojourn suffice for its interpretation are sadly mistaken.

On the whole, it would seem that the lights are increasing, while the shadows recede before the advance of civilising influences.

BARBADOS

BY J. L. OHLSON.

THE West Indian Colonies, comprising some of the oldest and most interesting possessions of the British Crown, have always been in the mind of the English people, although in that mind there has been no accurate or definite knowledge of their history and circumstances. It is a standing joke about a Secretary of State calling British Guiana an island; and it is probable that for a long time, now happily ended, the people who knew least about the West Indies were to be found within the walls of the Colonial Department. In 1660 a Council of Foreign Plantations was created by Letters-Patent. Locke, the philosopher, was once a member of the Board of Trade and Plantations, and for many years subsequently the Colonies were treated as part of the War Office organisation; but since 1854 the affairs of the Colonies have been administered by a principal Secretary of State for the Colonies. The old house in Downing Street, with its narrow entrance, its dirty rooms, its candles that always wanted snuffing, its greasy attendants, its general pokiness and ancient smells, will be remembered by many colonists. How any great schemes of Colonial policy could have emanated from such a place is a matter of wonder. The present Department is lodged better. Entering the square from Downing Street, the first door to the left shows a wide staircase, and at the extreme left of a broad corridor (but not too broad, especially to those who know the wide corridors and staircases of the State