Jamaica in 1861 Port Royal

[Hortical]

Jamaica in 1861 Port Royal

By W. E. Sewel

Naval Hospital from Port Royal
The title that I have given to this chapter of woe is a metaphorical one. I was not, like Columbus, exactly wrecked upon the coast of Jamaica. I was simply banished there by an Esculapian ukase, and forbidden, under penalty of death, to leave the island for six months. In this light, then, I was cast away, and—may Heaven be thanked for all its mercies I—I live to record the fact.

read more:
http://www.digitalhistoryproject.com...-hamilton.html

[Hortical]

The Caribbean Photo Archive > Collections / Jamaica

The Caribbean Photo Archive > Collections / Jamaica

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caribbe...7608713509823/

[Sir X]

No creole of Kingston or Jamaica has any conception of the value of time.......soon come...lol not much has changed.

[Sir X]

This is hilarious...whats changed....lol

The habits of the Kingstonian differ from those of the European or American. White creoles, or foreigners who are old residents of Jamaica, look delicate and attenuated. They seem to lack physical strength as well as life and vigor. Even in speaking they drawl out their words as though it was too violent an effort to utter sound. A gentleman is seldom seen walk*ing; if he is, he is pointed out contemptuously by the negroes as "a walking buckra." Horse ex*ercise is a la mode, and a clerk on two hundred a year will ride home to his lodgings, in the up*per part of the town. No one rich enough to wear a coat would be seen carrying a parcel in the street. The handsomest white women in Kingston are Jewesses. Nearly the entire trade of the town is monopolized by Jews; and I have seen them, though not frequently, of all shades —quinteron, quarteron, mulatto, and even black. The creole white ladies are pretty; their features are regular; their eyes are splendid. But their figures want the inviting charm of robustness and roundness. They are very indolent, and show few signs of life, except when a dance is on the tapis; then they go mad. I have seen the most languid Letitia Dieaway dance for six mortal hours, with the thermometer at ninety degrees Fahrenheit. People of every class, sex, and age in Jamaica are insane upon the subject of dancing. Quadrilles are spoken of contemptuously; but waltzes, schottisches, and polkas are pronounced glorious. If a few people meet by chance at a friend's house, a fiddler—and such a fiddler!—is immediately called in. He will then be heard scraping away all night. A hus*band and wife will sometimes amuse themselves by dancing together alone. I have seen men of seventy whirling round at a 2.40 pace, and a gentleman with a cork leg performing the same feat. In their physique the light-colored creole women of Jamaica are superior to their fairer countrywomen. Their animal spirits are more buoyant; their figures are more robust. In many all traces of African descent have disap*peared, and those who are acquainted with their family history alone know that Anglo-Saxon blood, unmixed, does not course in their ve

[Mosiah]

I have gone through bits and pieces of it. Like you said, not a lot has changed. The part about Kingston's garbage issue is hilarious and sad at the same time!

Will go through it from head to tail when I get some time.

Thank you, Hortical!

[HL]

...seems like farming pineapples [was] quite intensive during that period.

The local pineapples I see in Jamaica are a fraction of the size (compared) to those in the pictures. I notice too that local peanuts are not as big and vibrant.

Guess hybrid vigor plays no part in local farming....

[TDowl]

Did you notice the height on the banana trees? I wonder what was the fertilizer they were using?, also notice something about the stone roads? LOL no potholes, I guess I will have to pass this on to the Parish Council DWL.

[Hortical]

In the old days after a latrine got filled up with waste, they would often plant a fruit tree in its location.

[HL]

Great source of Nitrogen and organic matter! No need for artificial fertilizers...