neer of the works, who kindly
showed me his plans of the harbour, and explained what was to be done.
He showed me also some beautiful large bivalves which had been brought
up in the scrapers out of the coral. They were new to me and new to him,
though they may be familiar enough to more experienced naturalists.
Among other curiosities he had a fer de lance, lately killed and
preserved in spirits, a rat-tailed, reddish, powerful-looking brute,
about four feet long and as thick as a child's wrist. Even when dead I
looked at him respectfully, for his bite is fatal and the effect almost
instantaneous. He is fearless, and will not, like most snakes, get out
of your way if he hears you coming, but leaves you to get out of his. He
has a bad habit, too, of taking his walks at night; he prefers a path or
a road to the grass, and your house or your garden to the forest; while
if you step upon him you will never do it again. They have introduced
the mongoose, who has cleared the snakes out of Jamaica, to deal with
him; but the mongoose knows the creature that he has to encounter, and
as yet has made little progress in extirpating him.

St. Lucia is under the jurisdiction of Barbadoes. It has no governor of
its own, but only an administrator indifferently paid. The elective
principle has not yet been introduced into the legislature, and perhaps
will not be introduced since we have discovered the island to be of
consequence to us, unless as part of some general confederation. The
present administrator--Mr. Laborde, a gentleman, I suppose, of French
descent--is an elderly official, and resides in the old quarters of the
general of the forces, 900 feet above the sea. He has large
responsibilities, and, having had large experience also, seems fully
equal to the duties which attach to him. He cannot have the authority of
a complete governor, or undertake independent enterprises for the
benefit of the island, as a Rajah Brooke might do, but he walks steadily
on in the lines assigned to him. St. Lucia is better off in this respect
than most of the Antilles, and may revive perhaps into something like
prosperity when the coaling station is finished and under the command of
some eminent engineer officer.

Mr. Laborde had invited us to lunch with him. Horses were waiting for
us, and we rode up the old winding track which led from the town to the
barracks. The heat below was oppressive, but the air cooled as we rose.
The road is so steep that