Now although the tribe _fungi_, of which the mushroom is a member, luxuriates better in a damp climate, than in one so excessively hot; yet some species of them may be met with in all parts of the world. I have often seen their long slender stalks, and pallid-looking caps extending the limits of the _vegetable world_ in Antigua; and therefore it does not surprise me to find so many of the mushroom family among the animal creation in that part of the globe, obtruding their tall heads, even in the aristocratic circles of the community. Like their brethren among the vegetables, some of them grow upon the ground, and “derive their nourishment from the soil,” while others “spring up on various substances, presented by nature or art.” The first of these two varieties of mushrooms are to be met with among the descendants of those poor white persons, who in former years came to Antigua to act, in the literal sense of the word, as “servants of servants,” but whose offspring, by dint of petty traffickings and small gatherings, amassed a sufficient sum of money to make them forget their origin, and contemning their natural parents, look for some “Jupiter Ammon” to stand progenitor for them in their stead. The latter class are the wild branches of some sapless tree, who, with scarce a change of raiment in their wallets, or the clink of a coin in their purse, were shipped off to the West Indies to be killed or cured—reap dollars like thistles, or starve in the attempt. By the “good luck,” as it is termed, which sometimes attends such needy adventurers upon their arrival in this country, they obtained, perhaps, employment as overseers upon the different estates, (I am now speaking of the manner in which such affairs were conducted some years before emancipation, when the proprietors were obliged, by law, to maintain so many white servants to so many slaves,) where they were quickly installed into their duty. This consisted in calling over the names of the negroes before daylight of a morning, seeing them properly whipped, when such chastisement was deemed necessary, or perhaps whipping them, as the case might be; inspecting the labours of the gang of negroes in the field, who were cutting canes or preparing the land for planting; flying from thence to the mill-door, where some awkward “boatswain” had let the mill-tackling get wrong, (for which crime he was coolly ordered a dozen or two,) or, perchance, if it were a “cattle-mill” instead of a “windmill,” a gang of mules had turned restive, or one unfortunate over-driven animal had dropped down dead, or else three or four of the wooden cogs of the mill were broken, and the cattle were obliged to be taken out until it should be mended. Then he had to visit the “rum-still,” and overlook the process of distillation, taking down, upon a dirty piece of paper, the number of gallons of “high-wines,” “rum,” and “low-wines.” From the “still” he marched to the “boiling-house,” to inspect the