That villainous salt-petre should be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd'
So cowardly and, but for these vile guns,
He would himself have been a soldier.

SHAKESPEAR.

My mind was thus occupied in contemplating the biped before me, and considering what would become of the creature hereafter, as Quevedo did not see any of the species in Hell, nor does Linnæus say to what class or genus he belongs-When

The upstart Don, the empty being of an hour, came out of his chamber-his mind.

"Enrapt in thought, replete with stygian gloom,"

As his lips moved, I imagined he was repeating the following part of S***n's soliloquy :

Ah me! they little know

How dearly I abide that boast so vain,
Under what torments inwardly I groan.

While they adore me on the throne of hell,

With diadem and sceptre high advanc'd

The lower still I fall, only supreme

In misery: such joy ambition finds.

But say
I could repent, and could obtain
By act of grace, &c.

MILTON.

He spoke to every one present except myself; nevertheless I anticipated either a smile or a frown from him before I left his presence, or that he would wait on me to the mirador, to point out that delectable view leading to the rectangle *, which, I was informed before I left America, was customary with him to do to most strangers. He was so much engaged within himself

* Gallows.

66

I was not,

as to overlook your friend M however, afraid, even though he were a Mamouth. I confess the reports that are in circulation in America of his might are certainly terrific, which invited me to observe his countenance, and to discover if possible his emotions, while he conversed with those around him: "After all," said I, turning round to view, the Rectangle, "virtue is the foundation of honour and "esteem, and the source of all beauty, order, and happiness in nature. It is what confers value on all the "other endowments and qualities of a reasonable being, "to which they ought to be absolutely subservient, and "without which the more hideous deformities and curses they become." Beauty and wit will dielearning will vanish away, and all the arts of life be "soon forgot but virtue will remain forever." I know not how long I might have remained in the mirador, with my eyes riveted on the rectangle, which, I am informed, is constantly guarded by a corps of Turkey-buzzards, if the captain had not bellowed out below in the street, "Holloo-M.......-Come along."

66

The recent change in the government of this colony is favourable to the political and physical enquiries of a traveller; particularly with regard to the former, because the source of information is stripped of all its difficulties, Hence there is a wide field laid open, provided one had patience to pursue it. I am now about to enter this field with Shakespear's advice for my motto:

Nothing extenuate,

Nor aught set down in malice.

But, SIR, during the little progress I have already made, I find the path I have taken so strewed with various

*Price.

complaints of oppression, cruelty, and injustice, which have so paralyzed my feelings, that I begin to suspect the demons have transported me to some part of the Grand Turk's dominions; for surely the commission of such acts does not emanate from the feeling heart of our benign Sovereign; he is, no doubt, ignorant of the conduct of his delegate. Even though the distance is great, the groans of his subjects might have been heard long ere this but every art has been tried to carbonise those who had spirit enough left to complain, and had given themselves over for lost, until Colonel Fullarton arrived.

We are told,

"Nimrod was a mighty hunter, and his prey was man."

So is Picton, a mighty prætor, whose knife was set in oil that it might cut the deeper, and never hesitated to engulf the reeking blade into the warm bowels of a fellow-creature, nor to pour aqua-fortis into the bleeding wound, in order to provoke the innocent object to a state of madness.

Human feelings cannot sustain such injuries, without being highly agitated and incensed; and if in delineating these piercing circumstances, some heated or incautious expressions should inadvertently slip from my pen, remember that agony of mind for the sufferings of my fellow-subjects, must create reprehensive language; and ought sufficiently to plead my excuse; if not, I really know not how to guard against it.

I have the honour to lodge under the same roof with the brave and distinguished veteran, Lieutenant-General GRINFIELD and his staff, who are just arrived to

*

*He is since dead, and the service has to deplore the loss of an excellent officer !

review the forces stationed here. Their neglected state of discipline disgusted him the other day, though I observe a contradiction of this assertion published in Picton's Newspaper. The paltry paragraph is the production of an ; but, if his comrades can relish it, let them enjoy the fulsome panegyric. If they will sustain so much flattery with truth and dignity !— Pardon me, Sir, I forgot myself: there is no living in the world without a complaisant indulgence for people's weaknesses, and innocent, though ridiculous, vanities.

VALE.

.....

LETTER II.

Description of Port of Spain-Its situation and inhabitants-PICTON's predilection for foreigners, and hatred to the British-Bay of PARIA-ABERCROMBY TOWER considered as a folly-First visit to Colonel FULLARTON-Black troops-The system of arming them condemned-A white population recommended, to consist of Highlanders-Anecdote af a Scotch Bashaw -The Island partly described—Its discovery-ABORIGINES-Visit to see them at Arima, and reverie under a Linden-tree.

DEAR SIR,

Head-Quarters, PUERTO DE ESPANA, Feb. 1803.

PUERTO

TO DE ESPANA, or Port of Spain, is situated about thirty miles from the Bocas del Drago, on the north-east side of the gulf of Paria, having a jetty quay of masonry, with a battery en barbette, built by the Spaniards, almost even with the water's edge, for the defence of the town on the west side. The town is laid out regularly enough, but the houses are shabby, yet admirably well adapted to roast human beings alive; ; environed with lofty mountains in a semicircular manner, as if the founders intended it for an oven. Contiguous to it, in a southerly direction, is the great Savanna of Caroni, a large tract of land, drowned in the rainy seasons, which renders the town unhealthy a great part of the year. A town thus situated, built in the lap of a