Mangoes and Bilberries in Jamaica.
All the mangoes are ripe now, and we get plenty of them. There are about six kinds: the Number Eleven, the Black, the Yam, the Kidney, and the East Indian. I like the Black best, though the Number Eleven is considered the choicest. The Black mangoes are gray with black spots on them; the Number Eleven are a bright orange color; and the Yam mangoes are yellow and red, and might be taken by strangers for huge peaches as they lie on the ground. The East Indian variety is big and green, with black spots.
We also have bilberries. They are about the color, shape, and size of our huckleberries, and they taste about the same. We have them in the morning for breakfast. We also have cocoanuts on our place. When they are young the milk is good to drink, and is very refreshing. Our cook often makes soup of them, which is very rich in flavor. At one time I saw our cook with her dinner on her head. It consisted of baked plantain and yam, and was smoking hot. She was walking around the yard, taking off a bit of her dinner now and then to eat it.
Coffee does not seem to grow well in this place, judging from that which is here. It grows better in higher regions. There is to be a "Sky Meeting" at Up-Park-Camp on the 20th of July, given by the English officers. It includes horse-racing, etc. This place in which we are now living is called "Garden House." The first mangoes in the island were planted here, and all the others came from them. There are sixteen acres of coffee. The people prune their coffee after it has begun bearing. I would like a few correspondents.
Fred Hawthorne.
Garden House, Kingston, Jamaica.