66
ANTIGUA.
cuîliary profit of this privilege. They generally choose their ground on the sides of the mountains, as far out of sight as possible ; a remnant, as was observed to us, of Slavery ; when they were always afraid to let the Overseer know what they were doing. This is one of the estates that has derived advantage from the acces sion of laborers since Emancipation. The number on the pay list is exactly one hundred; and their attend ance in the field is very regular. The manager com plained that he had not yet been able to induce them to undertake task work. The habitual distrust of the negro, and his ignorance of calculation, frequently in terpose obstacles to the substitution of task work, which managers have not always the patience and tact to remove. We proceeded about noon to Grace Bay ; a station of the United Brethren, very beautifully situated on the sea coast, opposite Mountserrat. We were kindly welcomed by the missionaries. Brother MOHNE and his wife. Their school is held in the church, and is at tended by seventy children ; there were but forty present this morning. Many come from a great dis tance, as this part of the island is much less thickly peopled than any other. About one-third of the children could read nicely in the New Testament ; and their teacher, a young negress, questioned them in such a way as to shew that she might soon be qualified to conduct an infant school efficiently. We drove to town, through a very beautiful district, abounding with some of the most interesting tropical trees and shrubs ; particularly with singular and gigantic varie ties of the cactus tribe. The poisonous manchineal is in great abundance by the sea shore ; and, like other large trees, frequently loaded with creepers,.