out the iron railings. The
primroses and hyacinths and violets, with which we dress the mounds
under which our friends are sleeping, will not grow in the tropics. In
the place of them are the exotics of our hot-houses. We too are,
perhaps, exotics of another kind in these islands, and may not, after
all, have a long abiding place in them.

Colonel ----, who with his secular duties combined serious and spiritual
feeling, was a friend of the clergyman of St. John's, and hoped to
introduce me to him. This gentleman, however, was absent from home. Our
round was still but half completed; we had to mount again and go another
seven miles to inspect a police station. The police themselves were, of
course, blacks--well-grown fine men, in a high state of discipline. Our
visit was not expected, but all was as it should be; the rooms well
swept and airy, the horses in good condition, stables clean, harness and
arms polished and ready for use. Serious as might be the trials of the
Barbadians and decrepit the financial condition, there were no symptoms
of neglect either on the farms or in the social machinery.

Altogether we drove between thirty and forty miles that morning. We were
in time for breakfast after all, and I had seen half the island. It is
like the Isle of Thanet, or the country between Calais and Boulogne. One
characteristic feature must not be forgotten: there are no rivers and no
waterpower; steam engines have been introduced, but the chief motive
agent is still the never-ceasing trade wind. You see windmills
everywhere, as it was in the time of Labat. The planters are reproached
as being behind the age; they are told that with the latest improvements
they might still defy their beetroot enemy. It may be so, but a wind
which never rests is force which costs little, and it is possible that
they understand their own business best.

Another morning excursion showed me the rest of the country, and
introduced me to scenes and persons still more interesting. Sir Graham
Briggs[8] is perhaps the most distinguished representative of the old
Barbadian families. He is, or was, a man of large fortune, with vast
estates in this and other islands. A few years ago, when prospects were
brighter, he was an advocate of the constitutional development so much
recommended from England. The West Indian Islands were to be
confederated into a dominion like that of Canada, to take over the
responsibilities of government, and to learn to sta