trees fit for every purpose; including the ballata, rosewood, satinwood, mahogany, lignum vitae, lancewood and ebony. The logwood and fustic are exported for dyeing. There are also the Jamaica cedar, and the silk cotton tree (Ceiba Bombax). Pimento (peculiar to Jamaica) is indigenous, and furnishes the allspice. The bamboo, coffee and cocoa are well known. Several species of palm abound,—the macaw, the fan palm, screw palm, and palmetto royal. There are plantations of coco-nut palm. The other noticeable trees and plants are the mango, the breadfruit tree, the papaw, the lacebark tree, and the guava. The Palma Christi, from which castor oil is made, is a very abundant annual. English vegetables grow in the hills, and the plains produce plantains, cocoa, yams, cassava, ochra, beans, pease, ginger and arrowroot. Maize and guinea-corn are cultivated, and the guinea-grass, accidentally introduced in 1750, is very valuable for horses and cattle,—so much so that pen-keeping or cattle farming is a highly profitable occupation. Among the principal fruits are the orange, shaddock, lime, grape or cluster fruit, pine-apple, mango, banana, grapes, melons, avocado pear, breadfruit, and tamarind.
Fauna.—There are fourteen sorts of lampyridae or fireflies, besides the elateridae or lantern beetles. There are no venomous serpents, but numerous harmless snakes and lizards exist. The land-crab is considered a table delicacy, and the land-turtle also is eaten. The scorpion and centipede, though poisonous, are not very dangerous. Ants, sandflies and mosquitoes swarm in the lowlands. There are twenty different song-birds, and forty-three varieties of birds are presumed to be peculiar to the island. The sea and the rivers swarm with fish. Turtles abound, and the seal, the manatee and the crocodile are sometimes found. The coral reefs, with their varied polyps and anemones, the numerous alcyonarians and diverse coral-dwelling animals are readily accessible to the student, and the island is also celebrated for the number of species of its land-shells.
People.—The population of the island was estimated in 1905 at 806,690. Jamaica is rich in traces of its former Arawâk inhabitants. Aboriginal petaloid celts and other implements, flattened skulls and vessels are common, and images are sometimes found in the large limestone caverns of the island. The present inhabitants, of whom only 2% are white, include Maroons, the descendants of the slaves of the Spaniards who fled into the interior when the island was captured by the British; descendants of imported African slaves; mixed race of British and African blood; coolies from India; a few Chinese, and the British officials and white settlers. The Maroons live by themselves and are few in number, while the half-castes enter into trade and sometimes into the professions. The number of white inhabitants other than British is very small. A negro peasant population is encouraged, with a view to its being a support to the industries of the island; but, in many cases a field negro will not work for his employer more than four days a week. He may till his own plot of ground on one of the other days or not, as the spirit moves him, but four days’ work a week will keep him easily. He has little or no care for the future. He has probably squatted on someone’s land, and has no rent to pay. Clothes he need hardly buy, fuel he needs only for cooking, and food is ready to his hand for the picking. Unfortunately a widespread indulgence in predial larceny is a great hindrance to agriculture as well as to moral progress. But that habits of thrift are being inculcated is shown by the steady increase in the accounts in the government savings banks. That gross superstition is still prevalent is shown by the cases of obeah or witchcraft that come before the courts from time to time. Another indication of the status of the negro may be found in the fact that more than 60% of the births are illegitimate, a percentage that shows an unfortunate tendency to increase rather than diminish.
The capital, Kingston, stands on the south-east coast, and near it is the town of Port Royal. Spanish Town (pop. 5019), the former capital, is in the parish of St Catherine, Middlesex, 1134 m. by rail west of Kingston. Since the removal of the seat of government to Kingston, the town has gradually sunk in importance. In the cathedral many of the governors of the island are buried. A marble statue of Rodney commemorates his victory over the count de Grasse off Dominica in 1782. Montego Bay (pop. 4803), on the north-west coast, is the second town on the island, and is also a favourite bathing resort. Port Antonio (1784) lies between two secure harbours on the north-east, and owes its prosperity mainly to the development of the trade in fruit, for which it is the chief place of shipment.
Industries.—Agricultural enterprise falls into two classes—planting and pen-keeping, i.e. the breeding of horses, mules, cattle and sheep. The chief products are bananas, oranges, coffee, sugar, rum, logwood, cocoa, pimento, ginger, coco-nuts, limes, nutmegs, pineapples, tobacco, grape-fruit and mangoes. There is a board of agriculture, with an experimental station at Hope; there is also an agricultural society with 26 branches throughout the colony. Bee-keeping is a growing industry, especially among the peasants. The land as a rule is divided into small holdings, the vast majority consisting of five acres and less. The manufactures are few. In addition to the sugar and coffee estates and cigar factories, there are tanneries, distilleries, breweries, electric light and gas works, iron foundries, potteries and factories for the production of coconut oil, essential oils, ice, matches and mineral waters. There is an important establishment at Spanish Town for the production of logwood extract. The exports, more than half of which go to the United States, mostly comprise fruit, sugar and rum. The United States also contributes the majority of the imports. More than half the revenue of the colony is derived from import duties, the remainder is furnished by excise, stamps and licences. With the exception of that of the parish boards, there is no direct taxation.
Communications.—In 1900 an Imperial Direct West India Line of steamers was started by Elder, Dempster & Co., to encourage the fruit trade with England; it had a subsidy of £40,000, contributed jointly by the Imperial and Jamaican governments. Two steamers go round the island once a week, calling at the principal ports, the circuit occupying about 120 hours. A number of sailing “droghers” also ply from port to port. Jamaica has a number of good roads and bridle paths; the main roads, controlled by the public works department, encircle the island, with several branches from north to south. The parochial roads are maintained by the parish boards. A railway traverses the island from Kingston in the south-east to Montego Bay in the north-west, and also branches to Port Antonio and to Ewarton. Jamaica is included in the Postal Union and in the Imperial penny post, and there is a weekly mail service to and from England by the Royal Mail Line, but mails are also carried by other companies. The island is connected by cable with the United States via Cuba, and with Halifax, Nova Scotia via Bermuda.
There is a government savings bank at Kingston with branches throughout the island, and there are also branches of the Colonial Bank of London and the Bank of Nova Scotia. The coins in circulation are British gold and silver, but not bronze, instead of which local nickel is used. United States gold passes as currency. English weights and measures are used.
Administration, &c.—The island is divided into three counties, Surrey in the east, Middlesex in the centre, and Cornwall in the west, and each of these is subdivided into five parishes. The parish is the unit of local government, and has jurisdiction over roads, markets, sanitation, poor relief and waterworks. The management is vested in a parish board, the members of which are elected. The chairman or custos is appointed by the governor. The island is administered by a governor, who bears the old Spanish title of captain-general, assisted by a legislative council of five ex officio members, not more than ten nominated members, and fourteen members elected on a limited suffrage. There is also a privy council of three ex officio and not more than eight nominated members. There is an Imperial garrison of about 2000 officers and men, with headquarters at Newcastle, consisting of Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, infantry and four companies of the West India Regiment. There is a naval station at Port Royal, and the entrance to its harbour is strongly fortified. In addition there is a militia of infantry and artillery, about 800 strong.
Previous to 1870 the Church of England was established in Jamaica, but in that year a disestablishment act was passed which provided for gradual disendowment. It is still the most numerous body, and is presided over by the bishop of Jamaica, who is also archbishop of the West Indies. The Baptists,
