L\D—JND
297
summer. The sky is nearly cloudless, and the leaf of one species of palm will shade five orheat would be almost insupportable, but for the 1 six men. The palmetto, or mountain cabbagesea breeze. The moon emits a light, by which ' tree, grows 200 feet high, and its verdant sum-a person can sec to read the smallest print by mit trembles from the slightest breeze. Anight. The thermometer now often rises above, splendid variety of the noblest trees graces the90°, and suffocating calms announce the re- plantations. Lemon , orange and pomegranateapproach of the great periodical rains. Fiery; trees perfume the air with the aroma of theirclouds are seen in the atmosphere, and the j flowers ; while their branches are loaded withmountains seem nearer, than at other times. ! fruit. The apple, peach and grape ripen inThe rains fall in torrents. It is said, that 87 the mountains. The date, sapota, sapotilla,inches fell in one year. Iron rusts rapidly; | mammee, rose apple, mango, different specieshumidity is great, and the inhabitants five in ■ of spondias and annonas, and most of the ori-a kind of vapor bath. The climate is then rc-[ental tropical fruits rij>cn on the sultry plains,laxing, unwholesome, and dangerous to a Eu-j Wc should not have space to enumerate the
ropean. Putrid and yellow fever ensues, assome say from miasma, and others whimsical-ly affirm from lunar influence. It is now gen-erally believed not to be contagious, and lessdangerous on elevated, than marshy districts.The temperate zone of the Antilles commences
splendid varieties of flowering slirubs, opuntias,thistles, and lianes. The polypodium arborcum,at a distance, might be mistaken for the palmtree, on account of its lofty trunk, and thebroad leaves on its summit. Lignumvitas,wintcra-canela, cinchona caribea, wild vanilla,
at 1,400 feet above the level of the sea. The aloes, arnatto, and pimento are all either indi-mountains at an elevation of 4000 feet are; genous, or cultivated here. The igname andsubject to mists and rains. Most of the wild' potato, manioc and angola peas are the food
animals indigenous to this climate are of asmaller size. The scorpion is found only inthe large islands. Negroes are sometimes ex-posed to the murderous bite of the cayman orcrocodile. Parrots of various species glitterin the woods, and innumerable aquatic birdscongregate on the shores. Humming birds,darting along the bright flowers, vie in theirplumage with the flowers, the emerald andruby. All the tropical plants, slirubs and treesare natives of this climate. A canoe madefrom a single trunk of a cotton tree, has beenknown to contain a hundred persons; and the
of the negroes. Sugar cane of the variousspecies is the well known and most abundantproduction of these islands. No conflagrationis more rapid or alarming than a fire in a drycane field, which frequently occurs. Two va-rieties of the cotton, the green seed and thesmall seed, arc the most common kinds culti-vated. The coffee of the country is a nativeof Arabia Felix. It seldom bears before thethird season ; sometimes not till the sixth. Itnever lasts more than 30 years, and frequentlydecays before that time. A single plant pro-duces from one to four pounds.
TABULAR VIEW
OF THE PRINCIPAL WEST-INDIA ISLANDS.
Belonging to Sq. ms. Pop. Chief towns.
< Providence.
f Abaoo, &c.
.. 16,000.
. .28,000. .
.. 935,000.
.50,000. .
. .704,000. .
. . Havana
I Jamaica.
. . 6,400. .
. .386,000. .
. . Kingston
Leevaard Islands .
. .225,000. .
.. St. Juan
. . 675..
. .126,000. .
.. Basse Terre
Antigua.
93. .
.. 36,000. .
.. St. John’s
. 100..
. . 33,000. .
St. Christopher..
70. .
.. 24,000..
. . Basse Terre
Dominica.
29. .
.. 19,000..
. . Roseau
St. Eustatia.
22. .
.. 14,000..
.. The Bay
Mariegalante . . .
90. .
.. 12,000..
.. Basse Terre
Montserrat.
78..
. 8,000. .
. . Plymouth
Tortola, &c.
90. .
. 7,000. .
.. Road Harbor
20. .
. 11,000..
.. Charlestown
St. Bartholomew.
60. .
. 8,000..
.. Gustav ia
Virgin Gorda . . ..
80. .
. 8,000. .
90. .
. 6,000..
St. Thomas.
40. .
. 5,000. .
SX
30. .
800. .