CHAPTER IV.

THE LANDING.

"I land with luckless omens"

Dryden's Eneid.

"Into whatever city or town ye enter, inquire who in it is "worthy, and there abide."

serve.

Matthew.

THE mere circumstance of being safely at the end of a long journey, and of having escaped the perils and dangers of the sea, creates in the mind a greater degree of pleasure in approaching Barbados, than the actual appearance of the island might in reality deThe scenery, being altogether unlike any thing we see in Europe, is novel, and novelty is always charming nevertheless, the approach to Barbados presents nothing to equal the grandeur and sublimity which mark out the beautiful little islands of St. Vincent and Grenada, as preeminent in the cluster to which they belong.

I do not from this, however, wish my readers to infer that it has no beauties; on the contrary, it has very many; only, to appreciate them duly, we must lay comparison aside :-but more of this hereafter.

It was five o'clock in the evening when our vessel made Carlisle Bay; and on entering it, was sur

rounded by about a dozen boats:-one from the Frigate, to inquire for letters and news;-one, as usual, from the Customs, for our papers :-and one from the Commercial Rooms, to learn our name and the length of our passage: the rest were chiefly canoes and fishing boats, manned by natives of divers kinds and colours, who brought fish, milk, yams, taniers, plantains, pomegranates, pine-apples, and other island luxuries to dispose of to the crew.

As this was the first time our captain had taken a vessel to Barbados, he made a signal for a pilot; and accordingly a black man, professing himself to be such, came on board. He was an African of ferocious aspect, and certainly not formed to create a very favorable opinion of his race in the minds of those who saw him.

He took possession of the vessel, with as much importance as if he had been a fine, rough, old English seaman bearing up Channel :

Vell, captain," said he, " so you have had a fine passage: I hope de ladies below are vell; if you "hab no jection I vill drink deir health." Accordingly he had a glass of grog given him, and then turned to work :-" What de debil are you at dere "in de fore top?-Com down dere; I vant to put "about; don't you see de vind blow?" and then turning to the man at the helm; "Vy you no teer teady? Got tam you, Sir,-vy you no teer teady, I "say?"

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On hearing these expressions, I said to a Negro, to

became tolerable sailors: the ladies managed to get on deck; and when the vessel was steady enough, the gentlemen amused themselves alternately with chess and backgammon in short, we all eat, drank, talked, and slept as well as Christians with good consciences usually do.

My slumbers were peaceful, and my dreams sweet; the former composed my mind, and the latter continually presented before it the angelic image of my best loved Laura. Not so our exquisite, who slept in the adjoining berth; soundly, indeed, did he sleep, and loudly did he snore, but not peacefully forsooth. One night his slumber was deeper than usual, and so was mine. I was awakened, however, and like the other passengers, somewhat alarmed, by loud and repeated cries of " Help, help, for God's sake, help; "I shall be drowned, I shall be drowned!" We rushed to the berth of the dandy, whence these cries appeared to proceed; and, lo! there lay our exquisite! -Verily, verily, I say unto thee, gentle reader, thou canst form no idea of the agony depicted on his countenance, whilst thus roaring for assistance. Our presence somewhat shamed him, and, at all events, immediately quieted his fears. He told us, that he had been dreaming horrid dreams, of storm, dangers, wreck, drowning, &c. and whilst actually fancying he was sinking, a wave,-oh, such a wave!-had dashed in upon him from the port, and awakened him to the painful conviction that all he had been dreaming was reality. He concluded with many

apologies for disturbing us; and then, quietly turning his head on his well wetted pillow, again sought the influence of Somnus, regardless of the jokes and laughter in which we were indulging at his expense.

The next morning, during breakfast, a cry from the top mast head announced to us that we were off Madeira: however, it appeared only like a cloud in the distance, and we passed it without approaching

nearer.

Prosperous gales continued to waft us on our voyage, without any event happening to us, except our, now and then, falling in with a lonely sail, which never came near enough to speak us.

We were now fast approaching the tropic, and our captain took an opportunity of informing us, that the mates, cooks, carpenters, stewards, boatswains, boys, and sailors of the good ship Genoese, were bound by especial contract to obey the commands of a certain powerful sea deity, who usually visited them in these parts, known in schools, colleges, and seminaries of classical education, by the name of Neptune; who commonly insisted that they should shave, raze, scrape, cleanse, and wash all persons on board, ladies excepted, who had not before crossed the tropic: he moreover added, that the process of shaving would be carried on with an iron hoop, of superior strength, and sharply edged; and that a mixture would be applied to the chin of each novice; not, indeed, of the superior and highly scented palm or windsor, with which the good natured barbers of our handsome

metropolis are wont to shave the downy beards of their gentle customers, but with pitch, tar, grease, and sundry other savory ingredients, duly stirred in bilge-water, till they attained the consistency of that luscious paste commonly known by the denomination of hasty-pudding.

This consolatory information induced us to resolve on keeping within the limited bounds of our after cabin, until we should have passed the dreaded tropic: but alas! how vain are the resolves of mortality! -the following morning, as we had just finished breakfast, we heard, through a speaking trumpet, the cry of Genoese ahoy! and imagining that it proceeded from some vessel speaking us, we rushed in a moment upon deck; the dandy first, the passengers afterwards, and, last and latest of the throng, your humble servant.

Ah! reader, reader, if thou couldst have seen our disappointment, thy tender heart would have been touched, and the tears of dewy pity would have trickled, in pearly drops, adown thy compassionate cheeks.-Alas! we saw no sail! but the stern countenance of the watery god, seated on the capstan, with his trident by his side, and his faithful servants around him, was the first object that met our view. His godship now gave the boatswain a familiar wink and nod, whereupon he, with two of his comrades, seized first on our exquisite, and placing him in the midst of a barrel, half full of the mixture before mentioned, began to lather his eyes, nose, mouth, and