very dangerous, because snakes also are accustomed to run towards the light, and the adventurer is in great risk of being bitten, unless he succeeds in killing them by a lucky blow with the edge of his sabre. The Creole had killed several in this manner, for, though they do not abound in forests so cold and damp as those in question, they are likely to be found with frogs, which they devour with great avidity.

This man being perfectly acquainted with the Pitons or conical elevation of the Carbet, (in Martinique,) I proposed that he should serve me as a guide on an excursion thither. "With all my heart," said he, "provided that you lay in a good stock of taffia (liquor): we will set off to morrow morning, at day-break, for the distance is considerable; and, although I am lame, I assure you that you will hardly be able to keep up with me." My landlord, smiling at the fatigue which I was about to undergo in order to satisfy what appeared to him an idle curiosity, kindly prepared the necessary provisions, and gave me a negro to carry them. We started, at the call of the frog-hunter, at break of day; and by seven o'clock we reached a part of the mountain which was extremely steep and slippery, so that I could not keep myself from falling without leaning on the branches. The Creole, with a cutlass, cutting down right and left the shrubs and branches which were in the way, still kept moving on at a pace which I could scarcely sustain. The negro, who followed with a large basket on his head, was necessarily slower, and excited the abuse of the impatient Creole; who, however, soon held his tongue when apprized that, if we hurried, the negro might perhaps break the bottles. On my remarking that the trees at this elevation had not suffered from the late hurricane, my guide informed me that the whirlwinds did not extend their rage so high. Our farther progress led to tracts in which the mud was half way up the leg; we were now three thousand feet above the level of the sea, and the surrounding soil was a mere marsh. The Creole, however, was indefatigable, and kept on his way singing, and taking from time to time a draught of his favourite liquor; an example which the negro and I were at last obliged to follow, in consequence of the cold and fatigue. We stopped to breakfast at a spot on which the Creole was in the habit of keeping a small stock of wood for fuel, and here he now cooked five or six frogs that were caught in the course of our morning's walk. Having roasted them in due form on the embers, and seeing that I discovered no relish for them, he ate with great composure the hind legs, and gave the rest to the negro.

After we had been some time on the mountain, the sky became obscured, the east wind arose, and the clouds were collected over our heads. The Creole therefore advised me to proceed to a plantation three miles off, where he was known, and where we should arrive without any injury; while to return home would expose us to be drenched with rain, and immersed in clouds to such a degree that we could not distinguish each other at the distance of a few yards. This, however, was exactly the kind of spectacle which I wished to behold, and we commenced our route homewards: but I soon felt myself fatigued, and sought a further supply of vigour in the taffia, which was poured out to the great satisfaction of the frog

hunter, who repeatedly declared that this was one of the pleasantest days of his life. We resumed our course through a thick mist, which soon turned to rain, and wetted us to the skin. It was almost as dark as night, so that I met with many unlucky thumps against the trunks of trees; and, in descending the steep part of the mountain, we were obliged to walk backwards, as on a ladder, the Creole going first, the negro last, and I in the middle. At length, on getting to the level ground, we had the satisfaction of being enabled to stand upright: the rain and the east wind had now ceased, but the heat was very oppressive after the coldness of the region in which we had been. Towards sun-set, we reached home, covered with mud, and in a miserable condition; "exactly," said my landlord, " as I told you, when I warned you of the inconveniences of this strange excursion.",

A considerable part of the volume is occupied by medical observations and directions. Like other experienced practitioners, M. LE B. advises Europeans and North Americans, on arriving for the first time in the West Indies or any climates in the torrid zone, to avoid, with the greatest care, an exposure to the sun, especially when the head is uncovered; the inflammation in the blood from this exposure being always pernicious and often mortal. They are subject in any situation to an illness, which proves more or less dangerous according to the condition and residence of the patients. Even when they disembark at a town which is free from the influence of marshes, they are exposed to a stagnant atmosphere and to oppressive heats; after which, a relaxation of nerves and a fermentation of the blood are announced by itchings and slight eruptions on the skin like flea-bites. With the exception of this inconvenience, the health may be in a tolerably good state, since the humours may thus undergo the requisite alteration by degrees, and the individual become seasoned; which is marked by a certain paleness of the skin, succeeding to the lively tint of a cool climate. If no eruption takes place, or if it be suddenly suppressed; if a person has the misfortune to receive a stroke of the sun, or is so imprudent as to sleep in hot and ill-aired situations; the consequence is an acute fever, preceded by giddiness and violent head-ache, pain in the loins, an inclination to vomit, hæmorrhage, &c. These unpleasant symptoms may be mitigated by letting blood speedily: but this course, when too often repeated, as was formerly the case among the French settlers, incurs the danger of producing a fatal decay of strength.

Laxatives, such as a strong decoction of tamarinds, or lemonade mixed with a few grains of tartar-emetic, succeeded best when the cases were bilious: but, if a delirium existed in addition to the loss of strength, the rule was to employ blisters, cordials, camphor, an infusion of cinnamon in wine, with

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strong doses of bark frequently repeated, and sometimes accompanied by laudanum. Such were the remedies generally used by English practitioners; and, if the pulse began to resume its accustomed course, the patient recovered without hazard of a relapse: but, if repeated bleedings had been employed, the consequence was a very tedious recovery, attended frequently with obstructions of the spleen, jaundice, and a degree of weakness which took away the desire of exercise; in short, an impoverishment of the blood, which brought on symptoms of dropsy. In this alarming situation, the only plan was to return to a cool climate, whether in Bermuda, North America, or Europe; the effect of which was in general so successful, that invalids, whose friends had never expected to see them again, frequently came back in eight or ten months in as good health as they ever possessed.

It was apparent from the freshness of my look,' says M. Le B. that I had not yet paid the tribute, or, in other words, undergone a seasoning illness. My landlord repeatedly told me that I ought to be blooded, and use evacuants, &c., but, above all, to avoid going much into the town (St. Pierre), where I might catch the yellow fever. Having, on a particular occasion, passed two days there, I felt myself attacked in the evening by giddiness, to such a degree as almost to make me fall down in the street. I was carried to an inn, where a copious bleeding removed the giddiness. My landlord in the country, apprized of my situation by an express, sent me early next morning a hammock and two negroes, who carried me directly to his house; where the purity and freshness of the air succeeded in accomplishing my recovery, with the aid of a second bleeding, and an infusion of tamarinds and quassia. My colour returned, but less fresh than before; and, had I continued in town, in the midst of calms and oppressive heats, the consequence would have been a serious and perhaps a fatal illness.'

The author is not one of those who assert that the danger of a hot climate arises only from the imprudence of the individual; on the contrary, he doubts whether the most careful regimen, or the most tranquil mode of life, can do more than lessen in a certain degree the hazard to the new comer. The latter has to contend both with excessive heat and with the scorbutic habit which is always contracted more or less during the passage; and if to this be added the landing at an unhealthy spot, or in company with a numerous expedition, the yellow fever can scarcely fail to make its appearance. The best chance of escape is in passing several months after arrival in an elevated situation, where the heat is moderate, and the individual may accustom himself gradually to the use of the fruits and provisions of the country.

The

The cession of St. Lucia by the late treaty to Great Britain has given that island an additional interest in our eyes, and we regret to find the testimony of M. LE BLOND added to that of others respecting its insalubrity. This is more particularly the case at the Careenage, a naval station of great importance, where our homeward-bound merchantmen collected in the alarm of the year 1805, as the safest anchorage in the Windward islands; and the value of this station is supposed to have been a primary motive with our government for insisting on the retention of the island in the late treaty.

The end of the long bay of the Careenage,' says the author, is marked by a marshy plain, which at the time of my visit (1767) was covered with trees lately felled; and, though on my second arrival five years afterward the marsh was drained, the town continued extremely hot. A fort placed at the right of the entrance of the highest mountain, called the Morne Fortunée, commanded both the roadstead and the town. On reaching the inn, I found about a dozen inhabitants of the neighbourhood, whose pale complexions sufficiently proved the unhealthiness of the air. Eight or ten small vessels, chiefly from North America, were at anchor in the road; while some soldiers in the fort were walking slowly along, apparently recovering from serious illness. They told me that a number of their comrades had died, and that the survivors were hardly able to perform the duty. During the whole night, we heard the barking of a dog in a small American vessel, and, seeing no person appear on deck, we went on board, and found several of the crew in a dying state; the others had probably gone away in the boat. I saw the master disembark, covered with livid spots on his face and breast, while blood dropped from his lips and gums; his skin was yellow; and he vomited black matter: in the course of two hours, he expired. A similar illness manifested itself on board of other American ships; while vessels from Martinique, manned by negroes, or persons seasoned to the climate, had not a single person on the sick list.'

In another part of the work, (p. 295.) M. LE BLOND gives an account of his manner of treating the small-pox, a malady of the most destructive character among the negroes. The darkness of their skin prevented the colour of the eruption from being clearly perceived, but it was invariably of an unfavourable kind. His rule was to administer a strong dose of bark, with sulphuric acid or lemon-juice; wine properly diluted with water was their only drink; and the air of the room was purified several times in a day with the steam of vinegar. His medical partner having objected to this mode of treatment, they agreed to make trial of their respective methods on four negroes who were seized with the infection; and the result was that the two who underwent blood-letting and purgatives died before the third day, the time at which M. LE B.'s patients had become covered

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vered with the eruption as with a crust.

Their pulse was strong; and the moisture on their tongue, which until then had been dry and black, indicated an approaching cure. Unluckily, most of the French practitioners adhered to the plan of bleeding and evacuating, having strong prejudices against the use of bark; and the consequence was a very general mortality among their negroes, which was not stopped until the year 1771, when the example of the English settlers at last induced the French to resort to inoculation. M. LE B.'s rule was to inoculate the negroes without any preparation, whenever they were in good health; and, having been successful in more than two hundred cases, he adopted the plan of administering inoculation at the rate of twenty shillings for each person, but under the promise of paying 50l. for every death: on which system, he inoculated more than five hundred without losing a single patient. The planters, seeing his uniform good fortune, and the simplicity of his method, began to apply it themselves to their negroes; and the success of the practice was almost universal.

St. Lucia was first settled by the English in 1639: but the planters, few in number, were soon afterward put to death by the Charibs. In 1650, forty French colonists ventured to take up their abode there, but experienced a similar fate before the lapse of many years. The island being captured in 1664 by the English was evacuated by them in two years, and repossessed by the French, who were however deprived of it in the course of the war of 1689. For a long time subsequently, all regular cultivation was stopped, and the island was frequented only by a few wood-cutters. After the peace of Utrecht, some seamen and deserters took refuge there; and Marshal d'Estrées, having obtained a grant of it from the French crown, carried over troops and cultivators: but the English government considered this as contrary to treaty, and in 1731 a convention was established for the evacuation of the island by both nations, under the stipulation that the ships of each might continue to resort thither for wood and water. In 1754 the French once more established themselves here in force; and the English, finding their account in the contraband trade thus opened, gave themselves no farther trouble, but allowed the retention of the island by the French to be sanctioned by the treaty of 1763. From that time, the latter endeavoured to push the cultivation of the colony, but their inexperienced efforts were attended with the loss of many lives and of much capital. While lamenting the mismanagement of their negroes, M. LE B. is led to advert to the scheme of bringing over Chinese settlers to cultivate the ground;

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