ST. CHRISTOPHER'S *.

MONKEY HILL-MOUNT MISERY-THE CHURCH AND ITS MINISTERS-BRIMSTONE HILL-SANDY POINT-VEGETATION-THE MORAVIANS-BEAUTIFUL SCENERY — GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAND.

WE set sail from Nevis at three P. M. of the 28th, and ran down to our anchoring place before Basseterre at eleven knots under a heavy squall. We did not land till the next morning, and I spent the hour before sunset in looking from the ship upon the beautiful island before us. The vale of Basseterre, in softness, richness, and perfection of cultivation, surpasses anything I have ever seen in my life. velvet is an inadequate image of the exquisite verdancy of the cane-fields which lie along this lovely valley and cover the smooth acclivities of Monkey Hill. This hill is the southern termination of a range of great mountains which

Green

*The French part of this island was purchased by De Poincy, in 1651, from the French West India Company for the benefit of the knights of St. John of Malta; and in 1653, the King of France, by letters patent, made an absolute gift of all the French islands in the vicinity to the Order, reserving the sovereignty and a crown of gold, of the value of a thousand crowns, to be presented on every change of king.

*

increase in height towards the north, and thicken together in enormous masses in the centre of the island. The apex of this rude pyramid is the awful crag of Mount Misery which shoots slantingly forwards over the mouth of a volcanic chasm like a huge peninsula in the air. It is bare and black and generally visible, whilst the under parts of the mountain are enveloped in clouds. The height is more than 3700 feet, and is the most tremendous precipice I ever beheld. But the ruggedness of this central cluster only renders the contrast of the cultivated lands below more striking, and the entire prospect is so charming, that I could not help agreeing with the captain's clerk, who said he wondered that Colon, who was so delighted with this island as to give to it his own name, should not have made a full stop upon its shores. I do not uphold the pun, but upon the whole it was well enough for a hot climate and a captain's clerk.

Basseterre is a large town, with many good houses in it, and one spacious square, which, with some labour and taste expended upon it, might be made a very fine thing. Trees should be planted regularly on every side, an esplanade

*He (Columbus) was engaged to give it (St. Christopher's) this name from a consideration of the figure of its mountains, the island having on its upper part, as it were upon one of its shoulders, another lesser mountain, as St. Christopher is painted like a gyant, carrying our Saviour upon his, as it were a little child.'-Davies.

railed off, and a handsome stone fountain built in the centre. It would be worthy of Colonel Maxwell to look to this, and to exert his influence in effecting an improvement not less important for its utility than its beauty. It is quite extraordinary that the West Indians do not pay more attention to their comforts. The women, and the men too for the most part, never stir out while the sun shines, and thus become much more enervated than the heat of the climate would necessarily make them. Why is there not a sun-proof avenue in every town, where people might breathe fresh air and walk in the shade? Such a place of common resort would infinitely enliven the dullness of their society, invigorate their spirits, and adorn their towns. Vegetation is so very rapid within the tropics that a noble arcade of trees may be raised in a few years; an alley of the graceful bamboo might be created in one year, which might serve for a temporary awning till the larger trees were grown. The French manage all these things much better; they come to live in their islands, and exert all their ingenuity and knackery in making them comfortable homes. In Basseterre in Guadaloupe there is such a walk, and they have a small one in St. Pierre. In Port of Spain they have their Terreiro, which is the original or copy of the one in Funchal. I think I have heard that the Madeirans are indebted for that agreeable promenade to the taste and generosity of Sir Ralph Woodford.

The town church is very irregularly built, and cannot contain one-third of the inhabitants. True it is that the Methodists have kindly stepped in and offered their assistance, and, in order to demonstrate their affection to the church, have erected their conventicle so close to it, that the voice of the clergyman is often drowned in the hearty chorus which proceeds from the open doors and windows of the great house over the way. This is something inconvenient, and I would humbly suggest that it might be avoided, or turned to a good account by a previous agreement between the two parties to sing in concert; and it might be stipulated, that in consideration of the acknowledged precedence of the establishment, and also of the hot weather, the Methodists should only sing six several times, to be returned on the other side by a like number of verses discharged at the same time in the same order. The effect of this harmonious compact would be very great, and might possibly be the means of softening the asperities and levelling the angles of sectarian melody. However, it is not meant hereby to interfere with the notturnos, -a species of music which the good people might be left to execute in their own peculiar way.

The present rector of Basseterre, Mr. Davis, a native of the island, is one of the most powerful preachers in the West Indies. If the fervent boldness of this excellent minister were more common amongst the colonial clergy, a greater