"Yes, ma'am; papa was telling me this morning about the mountains and towns, and harbors, and fruits and other things that they raise," said Elsie; "but there wasn't time for him to tell everything; so won't you please tell us something of its history?"
"Yes, dear; grandma is always glad to give you both pleasure and information. Jamaica was discovered by Columbus during his second voyage, in 1494. The Spaniards took possession of it in 1509."
"Had they any right to, grandma?" asked Ned.
"No, no more than the Indians would have had to cross the ocean to Europe and take possession of their country. And the Spaniards not only robbed the Indians of their lands but abused them so cruelly that it is said that in fifty years the native population had entirely disappeared. In 1655 the British took the island from Spain, and some years later it was ceded to England by the treaty of Madrid in 1670."
"And does England own it yet, grandma?" asked Elsie.
"Yes; there has been some fighting on the island—trouble between the whites and the negroes—but things are going smoothly now."
"So that we may hope to have a good time there, I suppose," said Ned.
"Yes, I think we may," replied his grandma. "But haven't we had a good time in all our journeying about old ocean and her islands?"
To that question both children answered with a hearty, "Yes indeed, grandma."