Mrs. Lanaghan

“ As bright Hyperion takes from the Creole maidens the glowing tints for which England’s daughters are so famed, so he thinks it but fair to play many pranks with the complexions of the gentlemen who own his much-loved and frequented island as their home. Some he renders so pale and wan, that they appear like gliding spectres; others are as fiery red as the old English country market-women’s cloaks with which they enwrap themselves when Winter holds his despotic reign ”

“ As the traveller nears the fort, an arm of the sea runs far inland, twisting and twining its rippling waters amid the clumps of aquatic shrubs in a most snake-like manner. Through this, equestrians and pedestrians, the emblazoned carriage, and the more humble gig, alike have to pass, while shoals of fairy-like fish dart from their parent waters in all directions; and as the sunbeams catch their silvery scales, almost blind the looker-on with their dazzling coruscations.
Rat Island Battery is of itself a most picturesque object, as the stranger approaches Antigua. ”

“ What a pity it is, that extreme affectation should, in so many instances, spoil their manners, and deteriorate from their natural charms. Dress is carried to a great extent. Every pew in the church looks as gay as a box at the opera. Such feathers and flowers, mantelets and cloaks; such capotes of tulle, and cardinal pelerines; such corsages à la vierge, and skirts à la Corinne​—​crispins of lace, and I know not what besides, are exhibited by the Antiguan belles, as would surprise any one who is not well versed in all the changes of the arbitrary rule of fashion. ”

“ Just at the termination of the first descent is one of the sweetest spots in Antigua. It is one of tranquillity and repose. The fierce beams of the sun are excluded by the umbrageous foliage of the trees, around whose trunks various creepers entwine themselves, and throw their slender limbs from one to the other of these
“Green-robed senators of mighty woods,”
forming many beauteous alcoves, carpeted with the lowlier flowers; whilst the “purple wreath” hangs its tasseled blossoms on all sides, and gives an air of lightness to the whole. ”

“ A highly respectable inhabitant of Antigua, had, with his family, retired for the night, perfectly unconscious of harm. Who would not think himself safe within the precincts of his own home?​—​where but in that fortress would we look for rest? Alas! that human depravity should rage to such an extent that, even in our own domestic circle, revenge, that deadly “upas,” should spring up, to destroy, with its poisonous exhalation, that great blessing, family peace! ”

“ The road rises about 180 feet from the sea, in an abrupt precipice clothed with the dwarf acacia and “milk-bush”​—​those ever-to-be-found productions of Antigua. A low wall of stones, loosely piled, borders the edge of the road, which would prove but a sorry guard against any accident. In the steepest part of the hill, we looked over, and watched in silence the beautiful but treacherous waves, as they laved the rocky base of the precipice. ”

“ Although no one can deny that most of the Antiguan planters have benefited by emancipation, in the way of cultivating their estates, yet free labour, generally speaking, and from what has fallen beneath my own observation, cannot cope with slavery. No! it is the whip, and the whip alone, which can give to England the cheap sugar she is promised. Who, then, would not rather give a penny a pound more for their sugar, than, after having freed the British negro, eat that which is seasoned with the tears and groans of foreign slaves. ”

“ This plantation stretched to the end of a wild copse, where every native shrub and brushwood grew together with the loftier trees, and formed an almost impervious thicket. Beyond this copse, the waters of a beautiful creek, which ran a short way inland, glittered like gold in the beams of the setting sun; while on every side rose undulating hills, begirt with many an infant plantation, belonging to some of the earlier settlers. ”

“ There was not a single slave-holder or slave-manager who, one time or the other, was not made the prey to apprehensions, and had his brain filled with thoughts of rebellions and insurrections. Emancipation has entirely banished this hydra-like train of evils, and paved the way for more enlightened and happier times. It has also put an end, in great measure, to pretended illness among the negroes. ”

“ From the west door, the eye ranges over the bustling town, with its motley groups of passengers​—​dwells for a time upon the long line of ruined buildings destroyed by the fire already described​—​scans the lovely harbour, with its graceful shipping, the interesting bay of the Five Islands on the one side, and, on the other, a long line of cocoa-nut trees and brilliant sand, bespeaking the situation of Dickenson’s Bay​—​and then roves on to the offing, where a large extent of ocean of the sweetest blue stretches out ”

“ Much has been said about the dying beauties of the dolphin; but how far more beautiful it looks sporting in its parent element with all the brightness of the emerald, and enjoying the life that has been given it! The flesh is firm, and of a very good flavour, although it is a rapacious fish, waging incessant war upon the poor little flying-fish, and devouring them with the greatest avidity. ”

“ To bear with an unflinching spirit the most excruciating torments, inflicted by the hands of his own father and nearest kin​—​to suffer all the severities and unnatural cruelties which the savage breast was capable of imagining without betraying one symptom of weakness​—​to rise superior to pain, and baffle the rage of his persecutors by calmness and tranquillity, was the test by which the courage of the young Carib was tried. ”

“ Others, again, have the carriage-road bordered by noble rows of cocoa-nuts or palmettos, whose long graceful branches bend to the breeze, which makes pleasing melody as it sighs among them. Their country-seats embrace prospects of inexpressible loveliness. Nothing of what is generally termed the sublime, it is true​—​no frowning precipices or gigantic mountains, whose hoary heads are ever hid in the clouds​—​no impetuous cataracts rushing down the face of wild and blackened rocks, and hiding at length their angry waters in some dreadful abyss ”

“ The breeze is as gentle as an infant’s sigh, a dreamy stillness is abroad, and​—​but what was that?​—​rain, I declare! A gloom has silently and suddenly overspread the sky; the late white-robed clouds have become covered with a darkened hue; the wind has raised its pipe ”

“ Perhaps it may be considered almost an impertinence in me to remark​—​the fact is so well known both in England and the West Indies​—​that, among this numerous body of her majesty’s subjects, there are some of the highest respectability. Every West Indian island has its élite, and Antigua is not behind the rest. Many, very many, could be mentioned, who are superior in every way​—​well-read, strong-minded, with excellent natural talents, and unexceptionable, both in public and private life. ”

“ Suffering as the inhabitants do, from the great heat of the days, the delightful evenings are particularly enjoyed. No sooner has the sun hidden his rays in the bosom of the ocean, than the land-breeze arises; this, blowing as it were from the centre of the island, towards the sea, appears to come from all points of the compass at once. Evening is the time for walking ”

“ Why were your wives and children torn from you?​—​and you yourselves condemned to death?​—​yea, worse than death​—​to vile and endless slavery, till time, the end of all things, consigned you to your silent graves?​—​are questions which will arise, but whose answer can only be given in these words​—​“What is, is best.” ”

“ The female pointal turns to a globular fleshy fruit, containing a rough woody nut, inclosing fewer or more flat seeds. This fruit is the celebrated manchineal apple, which, with the most beautiful exterior, possesses the most poisonous qualities. So dire is this plant, that the very sun, darting its rays upon it, calls forth all its dangerous odours, and renders it unsafe to the touch; while if any one takes shelter beneath its spreading boughs during a storm, the rain-drops as they trickle off the leaves blister any part of the skin they fall upon. ”

“ Wild spirits will be abroad ere the glad sun shall set and rise again, or yon pretty stars be peeping at us; and though I think they will care for mine as they would me, still, Raphe, I would have thee prepared. When all is over​—​when you and I​—​but I need say no more, except that Bridget shall not then be ashamed to love the despised, the scorned Zulmiera,” and as she spoke, she threw back her graceful head with the air of a Cleopatra, while the bright crimson mantled in her cheeks, and increased the lustre of her eyes. ”

“ It is true, that white and coloured gentlemen walk, and talk, and dine together​—​drink sangaree at one another’s houses, sit in the same juror’s box, and are invited, sans distinction, at “Government House;” yet, at the same time, there is a lurking dislike to them on account of colour, which ever steps in as a barrier to social intercourse. It is said, that the white ladies are the strongest upholders of prejudice; but that their refusal to mix with this class of persons is not occasioned from any shade of colour, but on account of their general illegitimacy. ”

“ The rock upon which it is built appears to overhang the sea; and the waves, from constantly fretting and foaming around its base, have completely undermined it. If all proper precautions be not taken, the fort and its accompaniments will, some day, probably make a rapid descent into the yawning gulf beneath, and its avenging weapons no longer vomit forth their flaming breath upon the dauntless vessel who dares to pass it, without tendering to its captain his expected dole. ”

“ Happy for us is it that we live in an age when Paganism, with all its accompanying horrors, has given place to the mild doctrines of Christianity​—​when this land, so beautified by the hand of Nature, is freed from those barbarous wars, those soul-sickening feasts of human flesh, which once polluted it! ”

“ Cockroaches cast their skins once or twice in the year; during those periods they present a most revolting appearance, being of a milky white instead of their usual brown hue. In the day, they lurk in holes and corners, but no sooner does night approach, or the clouds threaten rain, than they issue forth by legions, crawl over the floor or furniture, dash in your face, or commence their work of devastation upon your property, leaving their nauseous odours behind them upon whatever they may touch. The drummer-cockroach is of a dingy ash colour ”

“ It was this year that slaves were condemned to work in the streets, for the first time, as a punishment for offences. If any slave was committed to jail for refusing to give their owner’s name, they were put to such work until claimed; when convicted of a crime less than felony, they were to be kept to hard labour in the streets for the space of three months; and if they had been sentenced to death, and afterwards pardoned by the governor, his excellency could annex to such pardon an order for the guilty slaves to work in the streets for any time he thought proper. ”

“ Proud of excelling in strength and courage, the chief marks of priority among this rude and savage people, the Caribs treated their women in every respect as beings of a far inferior nature​—​to despise and degrade them by every possible means was esteemed as a manly virtue. Although given as a reward to successful combatants, their wives were looked upon as no better than captives; every species of drudgery fell to their share ”

“ In a moment the streets are inundated, and the falling of the large drops upon the shingled roofs of the houses is quite deafening.
But at the same time these rains constitute the Antiguan’s greatest blessing, for not only do they revive the parched and thirsty earth, cool the atmosphere, promote the growth of the sugar cane, and dress nature in her loveliest garb; but from having (as before mentioned) only two or three fresh-water springs in the island, and those far inland, their chief supplies of that necessary fluid are derived from these showers. ”

“ But this depression did not continue long, for no sooner was the deed done, and the chain which bound the negro to his fellow-man irrecoverably snapped asunder, than it was found, even by the most sceptical, that free-labour was decidedly more advantageous to the planter than the old system of slavery. That, in fact, an estate could be worked for less by free labour than it could when so many slaves​—​including old and young, weak and strong​—​were obliged to be maintained by the proprietors. Indeed, the truth of this assertion was discovered even before the negroes were free ”

“ That any one could deliberately condemn a fellow-creature to such intolerable anguish seems almost impossible; yet that such has been the case in Antigua, is remembered by some alive; I have heard of one instance in which a white man was the sufferer. I should not have noticed it in this place, was it not that it proves how much cruelty was practised even in those days. All will allow, or at least ought to do, that when a criminal suffers the extreme penalty of the law, it is done for the sake of example, not revenge ”