“In the evening we were surprised to learn that a grand ball would be given in our honor by the citizens of Kingston. It proved a very brilliant affair. The beautiful costumes of the ladies formed a striking contrast to the military costumes of the officers of the British West Indian Squadron; there were eight ships in the harbor. “We were called very early in the morning, coffee and fruit being served in our rooms, and took carriages to the Western Railway station, whence we started by rail for Bog Walk, on the Rio Cobre River. We arrived at half-past ten. After leaving the train our attention was called to a group of negro men and women who were engaged in loading bananas into a car for transportation to the city of Kingston and thence to the United States. “At Rio Cobre, we enjoyed one of the most beautiful drives that your correspondent has ever experienced, down the valley of the Rio Cobre, a most beautiful sheet of water, and after a ride of two hours, reaching Spanish Town, one of the principal cities on the island of Jamaica. It was at Spanish Town that a son of Christopher Columbus settled when he came to the island of Jamaica. We were entertained by the proprietor of the Rio Cobre Hotel, where we remained until the afternoon, when we again took train for our headquarters at Myrtle Bank, in Kingston. “Early the following morning we were called, fruit and coffee were again served in our rooms, and we started at six o’clock for a drive of twenty-five miles over and across the beautiful mountain ranges and towards the north coast of the island. At ten o’clock we arrived at the Castleton Gardens, a beautiful spot owned and sustained by the government as a garden of acclimation. Here are found the grandest of all tropical palms. At the hotel connected with the gardens we partook of a royal breakfast, into which entered many different kinds of fruit. After a stop of two hours we resumed our journey over the mountains, and in the distance we obtained a good view of the lovely Annotta bay. “En route, we visited a sugar estate where we saw the conversion of sugar-cane into Jamaica rum of the first quality. Most of the labor is performed by Malays, brought from the valley of the Ganges in India, who while here are compelled to labor in competition with the negroes. The men are paid at the rate of one shilling and six pence per day, while the women receive only one shilling per day. I can assure you, from the manner in which they work, it is evident that they earned every penny they received. By the way, the coachman who drove us, informed me that his wages were ten shillings per week of seven days’ continuous work and he has to board himself out of that pittance.