Twenty years around the world

by John Guy Vassar

From Madeira to Barbadoes is about two thousand five hundred miles, which we made in thirteen days. It is the most easterly of the Caribbee Islands, and lies in twelve degrees north latitude. Notwithstanding the trade-winds blowing constantly in our favor, the heat and confinement on board of a crowded steamer, under the tropics, were quite sufficient to cause all to rejoice in making this low island, which is seen about thirty miles off, and is about the size of the Isle of Wight; say twenty-five miles in length, and fifteen in breadth. It is richly cultivated, and one of the most populous islands for its size. There are some high lands called Scotland, resorted to by invalids, and from its being the first island that has the trade-winds, it is considered the coolest. We landed at Bridgetown, the capital, upon Carlisle Bay; it is a considerable town, stretched along the shore for two miles, with some twenty thousand inhabitants.

The yellow fever was committing great ravages among the British troops and residents. I stopped but a short time and then took the steamer, to make the tour of the other islands landing and receiving passengers and mails at the English islands of St. Lucia, St. Kitts, Montserrat, Dominica, Tortuga, Antigua, as also the French islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, affording an opportunity of sailing along all those beautiful and picturesque shores on board of a large and commodious steamer, with but few passengers and mostly islanders, who could point out all the striking peculiarities of each island, town, mountain, and volcano, as they presented themselves. At one glance in passing near the shore, with the aid of a glass, you have in a beautiful slope or valley, the house of the sugar planter nearly lost in the foliage of gardens of bananas and cane fields, with the slender stems of thousands of cocoa-nut trees forming a green fence upon the sea-shore. Then again you have immense rocks or mountains which rise up from the sea, covered with evergreen foliage, their summits hung with white clouds; standing as pillars at the entrance of some deep bay or circuitous cave, formerly the secure abode of pirates. At Martinique they told us that they had had several slight shocks of earthquakes, and when one considers the sufferings from them as well as hurricanes, it is not surprising the people should be excited. The country around St. Pierre is quite pretty, with its cane fields and palm trees, intersected with winding roads and dotted with white houses. The town is regular and cleanly, and looks more European than most of the English islands.

At St. Kitts we landed two fellow passengers from Europe, residents of the island. The town is called Basseterre, and as a writer remarks, the valley looking from the sea, in softness, richness, and perfection of cultivation, surpassed anything he had ever seen in his life. Green velvet is an inadequate image of the verdancy of the cane fields which lie along this lovely valley, and cover the smooth acclivities of Monkey Hill. This hill is the termination of a range of great mountains which thicken in enormous masses in the centre of the island. The apex of this rude pyramid is the awful crag of Mount Misery, which shoots forward over the volcanic chasm. The height is three thousand seven hundred feet, and it is bare and black at the summit. Monkeys still exist in large numbers on this island.

I arrived at St. Thomas at last, alone, having lost all my fellow passengers from England, who were scattered to the four winds; some had preceded me by steamers direct, en route for South America, or to the Leeward Islands, others had left us from time to time in the Windward Islands. I took up my quarters at the hotel, which is one of the best in the West Indies, allow me to say for the information of those who may come this way.

This small island, belonging to the Danes, has a free port, and with its excellent and commodious harbor for shipping, has become the great depot for goods and merchandise for the supply in part of some of the other islands, and the coast of Venezuela. The population is some ten thousand, and is composed of native Creoles, French and Danes, and many German, French, and English merchants, consequently all languages are spoken. The town is prettily built on three hills, rising from the Bay, and surmounted by picturesque conical mountains. The horseback rides are very good, and in four hours one can make the tour of the island.

In consequence of the emancipation of the blacks in Santa Croix, another Danish island, after the insurrection and destruction of property in June last, the Governor gave the negroes here their liberty. The planters complain of the low price of sugar and the difficulty of getting the blacks to work, they being such an indolent race, and it requiring so little to support life in these warm latitudes. The merchants of St. Thomas have suffered much, and cannot either realize for goods sold, or extend sales, and business is paralysed in the West Indies, with all their resources and beautiful climate. The English planters complain of injustice on the part of the mother country, but if they are not satisfied with part payment for their slaves, what will the holders say in the Danish islands who have received no compensation, the mother country being too poor to pay them?

In the French islands they complain of injustice from the new Republic, which proclaimed not only the abolition of all slavery, but universal suffrage, which sent their enemies to the National Assembly at Paris, as members, to vote against their interests. The French Republic will yet do justice to her colonies, I think, but in the interim labor is considerably suspended, and the crops will be much neglected.

The island of St. Croix lies forty miles south of St. Thomas, and schooners run over frequently in six hours. Having some travelling companions who are planters on this beautiful island, I sailed for West End, a small town, and of much less importance than East End at the other extremity of the island. The rides on the island are beautiful and picturesque; the roads are excellent, being mostly level, and bordered with cocoa, palm, lime, and other tropical trees, affording much shade and delight to the eye. The immense cane fields were promising a rich reward to the planter, as the season has been favorable; but the sugar works and houses of the planters, which were formerly annually brushed up and kept in good repair, are much neglected this year, since the burning and destruction of property by the blacks in the insurrection. Some of the planters are complaining for want of help, but others say they get on tolerably, and I thought the gangs under the new system worked very well. It is the intention of the new governor to compel able-bodied persons to work, or be arrested. I had an opportunity of conversing not only with the planters themselves, but with the negroes in their cabins, and found them generally satisfied; and in reply to my questions as to the difference between slavery and freedom, some who had had good masters found themselves worse off than before, as they had medical attendance when sick; others said they preferred to be free and work when they liked.

The season of Christmas at St. Thomas was less noisy than usual, as the Governor issued orders to prevent the usual parade through the streets with masks and music. The life of the judge had been threatened by those who were aggrieved, but the citizen police were out parading the streets, and all passed off quietly.

I found some old acquaintances resident here, at whose hands I received many courtesies rendering my stay agreeable. I am now awaiting the departure of the English mail schooner to visit that part of South America of which the Republic of Venezuela forms a portion.