The bite of many of the snakes of this country is so poisonous as to cause death in a few hours. During my residence at the Lagoon I was visited by an Indian admiral, named Drummer, who resided at Sandy Bay, some forty miles north of the Lagoon; he related the following story, which happened a few weeks before. "He sent an Indian slave to his plantain walk, distant two or three miles, to cut some bread-stuffs; not returning that night, he the next morning sent his son-in-law to look after the slave. He not returning, the following morning a number of the inhabitants proceeded to the plantain walk, where they found the dead bodies of the two men, and the snake which had caused their death lying near them." Some hurricanes occasionally visit this coast, which destroy their crops of bread-stuffs, and cause temporary famine in certain districts. While cruising along the coast some months after the occurrence of one of these tornadoes, I landed within a few miles of the residence of Admiral Hammer, in company with a man named Benjamin Downs, who was well acquainted with the admiral. We proceeded to his house and asked for something to eat, when he told us his bread-stuffs had all been destroyed by a gale of wind, and addressed Downs as follows: "Ben Downs, don't you think the Almighty little bit too bad this time?" "Why, and what do you mean?" asked Downs. The admiral replied, "He send too much strong breeze and broke all the plantain walk." The country is infested with numerous insects, &c. such as mosquittoes, sand-flies, fire-ants, chigoes, centipedes, scorpions, cock-roaches, and an immense number of alligators. The ground in many places is overrun with large ants, called the travelling army, which destroy whole fields of vegetation. It is also infested by insects called dog-fleas, which are a great annoyance at night; and the sea-coast abounds with sharks of a very large size. To give the reader a short description of the country and inhabitants I shall quote from a late writer. "The Musquittoes are a small nation of Indians, never conquered by the Spaniards, the country being so situated as to render any attempts against them impracticable; for they are surrounded on all sides by land, by morasses or impassable mountains, and by sea with shoals and rocks; besides, they have such an implacable hatred to the Spaniards, for inhumanity and cruelty in destroying many millions of their neighbors, that they would never have any correspondence with them; for whenever they sent any missionaries or other agents amongst them, they _hid them_, that is, put them to death. The king has little more than the title, unless the nation is at war; having no revenues, and few prerogatives; being obliged in time of peace to fish and fowl for the support of himself and family. He hath indeed some distinction shown him, and now and then presents made him by the governor of Jamaica, and the English traders, who frequently touch and trade there."