Not long after our return from Pearl River, I set out one day with an American gentleman, to ascend a high and steep mountain, that rises back of the village, which the natives, many years ago, fortified with a few heavy pieces of cannon. We crossed the plain, which is a mile or a mile and a half wide, when we came to the base of the mountain. It was seven or eight hundred feet high, and from below, seemed to rise almost perpendicular from the plain. A winding footpath, however, showed us that it had long and frequently been ascended by the natives, and encouraged us to make the attempt. We had often to stop and get breath, but at last accomplished our object, by gaining the summit and entering upon a small plain. Here we found several huts, that were occupied by the families of the men appointed to guard this important post, into which we entered to obtain leave to examine the fortification. The people were very friendly; they not only granted us permission, but hospitably proffered us some excellent melons, which were very refreshing after our laborious ascent. There were only three men in the fort, one of whom, that appeared to have the command, politely waited upon us in our walk round. The guns were mounted on a platform, at the very edge of the precipice that overlooked the harbour and town. They were of thirty-two pound caliber. It must have been a work of inconceivable labour for the natives to get them upon this great eminence. The carriages and all their fixtures were very much decayed, and totally unfit for use. The situation is very commanding, and notwithstanding the distance, the battery would be formidable to an enemy in the harbour. From this eminence, we had an extensive and beautiful prospect, comprehending the valley and harbour, many miles at sea, and along the sea-coast in either direction. The river, that waters the valley, broken in cataracts as it rapidly descended to the sea, showed to its greatest advantage, and the valley, covered with its tarrow patches, corn, and potatoes, presented a landscape resembling finely cultivated fields and waving green meadows. In front, was the thatched village of Onavoora, the huts looking like heaps of dry straw; beyond it, the harbour and shipping; and still farther, at sea, a long range of white foaming breakers. On the extreme right, was the valley of Pearl River, bounded by high and rugged mountains; and to the left, the cocoa-nut groves of Whytete and Diamond Rock, with its adjacent sterile hills, covered with volcanic cinders.