Some of the proprietors’ dwellings, situated upon their several estates, in the most cultivated parts of the island, are mansions which would not disgrace the parks of our English country gentlemen. They, in most instances, are built upon gently swelling eminences, spots of extreme beauty; and the contrast they display between their dazzling white walls, and the deep verdure of their surrounding groves, over-canopied by a sky of intense blue, strikes pleasingly upon the eye; while the interior is fitted up in a style worthy the taste of the occupiers. The approach to many of these edifices is by stately avenues of cedars, whose bright laurel-like leaves set off to advantage the bunches of delicate trumpet-shaped flowers. Others, again, have the carriage-road bordered by noble rows of cocoa-nuts or palmettos, whose long graceful branches bend to the breeze, which makes pleasing melody as it sighs among them. Their country-seats embrace prospects of inexpressible loveliness. Nothing of what is generally termed the sublime, it is true—no frowning precipices or gigantic mountains, whose hoary heads are ever hid in the clouds—no impetuous cataracts rushing down the face of wild and blackened rocks, and hiding at length their angry waters in some dreadful abyss; the scene is of a more quiet nature, one where there is such a rich harmony of colouring, such a blending of earth, and sea, and sky, (for from almost all parts of the island the ocean can be seen,) that as the eye gazes thereon, a pleasing calm comes over the beholder, and every discordant passion sinks to rest.[57] In these mansions, a system of open but elegant hospitality is kept up; and like gentlemen’s country-seats in England, they are seldom devoid of puissant knights and lovely damsels. The day passes as most days do in the country. Ample respect is paid to the well-stocked breakfast table, where every West Indian luxury abounds; and then the gentlemen separate to pursue their respective avocations; ride round their estates, and mark the progress of their canes, or as it is said, to hear them grow; visit the capital, to perform their legislative duties, pay their respects to his excellency the governor, or scan over accounts with their agents. The ladies, in the meantime, amuse themselves with various feminine and elegant employments; sometimes accompanying their soft voices upon the piano, or on well-strung harps, playing over those melting ditties which once brought tears into the eyes of the “gentle shepherd,” or the matchless ploughman of Ayrshire. Others frequent the library, where the works of our best writers may be met with; but the spirit-stirring volumes of a Gore, a James, or incomparable “Boz,” are much more eagerly sought after, than a Boyle, a Locke, or a Newton; but few of our West Indian ladies study philosophy or metaphysics; a novel, a poem, a book of plays, or modern travels, are the highest steps they take in literature.