fully equal to the demand made upon it for agricultural purposes as well as to the means of its equitable requital. The stock required for agriculture and domestic purposes are oxen, horses, mules, sheep, goats, hogs, poultry, and several European domestic animals. Oxen and mules are almost exclusively used in agriculture, and are generally equal in size and strength to those of Europe. Horses, except by small settlers and draymen or carriers, are principally used for the saddle or drawing gigs and other light conveyances. Mules are of great value to the planter, being much * Although this animal, like the species in other parts of the world, is often vicious and untractable, it generally finds its match in the ingenuity and adroitness of its negro rider. The following occurrence, with some slight alterations, is related by the captain of a merchant-vessel :"The negro boys are the most cunning urchins I have ever had to do with. While my vessel was lying at St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica, I had to go to Port Maria to look for some cargo; and on my way thither, near Oracabessa, I came to one of the numerous small rivers that empty themselves into the little bays along the coast. When at some distance, I observed a negro boy flogging his mule most severely, but before I got up, he had dismounted and appeared in earnest talk with his beast, which, with fore-legs stretched out firm, and ears laid down, seemed proof against all arguments to induce him to enter the water. Quashie was all animation, and his eyes flashed like fire-flies. Who-o! you no go ober; Bery well-me bet you fippenny me make you go. No? Why for you no bet? Why for you no go ober?' Here the mule shook his ears to drive away the flies, which almost devour the poor animals in that climate. Oh! you do bet-bery well; den me try.'" The young rogue (he was not more than ten years old) disappeared in the bush, and returned in a few seconds with some strips of fanweed, a few small pebbles, and a branch of the cactus plant. To put three or four pebbles in each of the mule's ears, and tie them up with the fanweed, was but the work of a minute. He then jumped on the animal's more capable of continuous labour than the other beasts of burthen, less choice in their food, and less subject to the casualties of disease. They are imported from England, America, and the Spanish Main, as are also horses, horned cattle, and sheep. Considerable numbers, however, of all descriptions are reared in the colony. The price of a steer for agricultural purposes is about 137., and of one fattened for the market from 97. to 107. and upwards. Beef is from 6d. to 7d. per lb.; veal at 1s. Horses, according to their size and breed, may be had at prices varying from 127. to 1007., and mules from 157. to 50l. and upwards. Sheep have a degenerated appearance compared with those of England, but their flesh is savoury. When well managed they are very prolific, and, con back, turned round, put the plant to the animal's tail, and off they went, as a negro himself would say-' Like mad, Massa!' Into the water they plunged the little fellow grinning and shewing his teeth in perfect extacy. Out they got on the other side; head and ears down-tail and heels up-and the boy's arms moving about as if he was flying; and I lost sight of him as he went over a rocky steep at full gallop, where one false step would have precipitated them into the sea beneath, from whence there would have been but small chance of escape. A butcher's boy is nothing to a negro boy in these exploits. "About two hours afterwards I reached Port Maria. There I saw, in an open space near one of the stores, standing, or rather leaning against the wall, Quashie, eating cakes; and there also stood the mule, eating Guinea grass, and looking much more cheerful than when I first saw him at the river side. Well, Quashie,' I said, 'you have got here, I see; but which of you won?' 'Quashie win, Massa-Quashie never lose.' But will he pay?' I inquired. 'Quashie pay himself, Massa. Massa Buccra, massa gib Quashie tenpenny bit for grass for mule: Quashie bet fippenny him make him go ober de river. Quashie win. Quashie heb fippenny for cake-mule heb fippenny for grass." You see, PRICES OF PROVISIONS. 87 sequently, a considerable source of profit to the grazier -30s. is the usual price of a full-grown wether, and the mutton is retailed at 1s. 3d. per lb. Goats and hogs are also abundant: the former are kept chiefly for their milk. Pork is of a very superior flavour, and is sold at 74d. per lb. Rabbits thrive in hutches, but are seldom raised in sufficient numbers for the market. The price of a full-grown turkey is from 12s. to 16s.; a goose from 10s. to 12s. ; a Muscovy duck, 5s. ; a common fowl, 2s. 6d. ; a Guinea fowl, 4s. ; pigeons, 2s. per pair: eggs, 1s. 6d. per dozen.* Of dogs, the real Spanish blood-hound, and those of the various European and Spanish breeds, are a usual appendage to almost every domestic establishment, both of the higher and lower classes. Numerous as these animals are, however, throughout the island, cases of hydrophobia seldom or ever occur. Cats are also common, but are not in such universal favour as the dog. By the last authenticated returns, the number of stock, consisting of horses and cattle, was 166,286, with 2,235,733 acres of land in cultivation. The whole island, comprising 6400 square miles, presents an entire surface of 4,080,000 acres ; thus leaving nearly 2,000,000 of acres uncultivated. A considerable portion of the latter is situated in the inaccessible regions of the mountains. There are, however, thousands of acres in every respect available for cultivation, and which are being rapidly cleared for this purpose by the peasantry. * The prices were formerly much higher. } The principal properties on the island of an agricultural kind are sugar and coffee plantations, together with pens or farms for raising stock. A sugar-estate is usually situated in a rich plain or valley, at a convenient distance from the sea; the coffee-plantation in the mountains of the interior; and the pen in a location on the highlands or on the plains, most convenient for pasturage. A first-class sugar-estate usually consists of a large mansion occupied by the proprietor or attorney, and one or two somewhat inferior residences for the overseer and subordinate agents. Contiguous to these are the WORKS consisting of the windmill, the boilinghouse, the curing-house, and the distillery. Various out-offices, mechanics' shops, the hospital, and the negro-village at a little distance, complete the establishment. Sugar-estates vary in their extent and value according to circumstances, as with farms in England. An estate (says Stewart, in 1823) producing 200 hogsheads of sugar, averaging 16 cwt., may be thus valued: 500 acres of land, at 20%. per acre on an average canes, the rest being in grass and provisions) £10,000 Such an estate would now be sold probably for the same amount, independently of the labourers. In some cases as many as 500 hands were considered ne eessary to cultivate 500 acres of land. It might be accomplished by half the number. The cane-fields and pastures on all well-managed properties are enclosed by stone walls, or by fences composed separately of logwood, lime, lemon, or the maranga-tree, or by these shrubs and trees intermixed. The extent of a cane-field or pasture is from ten to twenty acres. The fences are usually trimmed to the height of about four feet, and are as impervious as the hawthorn in England, to which, indeed, the logwood bears a great resemblance. In the orange and lime fences a tree is sometimes allowed at regular intervals to attain its natural growth, which thus answers the double purpose of use and ornament. In some locali |