I would say to such of my readers as intend to visit the West Indies, “Banish from your memories all that you may have read or heard of the country, the climate, or the people; and, with a mind as little fettered as possible by any prevailing theory or preconceived opinion, begin and study them on the spot each for himself. You will find the scenery, at whatever island you may arrive, new, and very beautiful; and every spot of earth in the Carribean sea well calculated to engage the attention of any one accustomed to study or to take an interest in the various productions of animated nature.” The climate, according to the period of the year at which the traveller may arrive, will at first be felt as more or less oppressively hot; and the people, whether white, black, or brown, will receive him with a pleasing openness of manner, and an apparent kindness of heart, which, whether real or affected, is at first very engaging; and certainly, all classes, particularly the higher, are most hospitable and courteous to strangers.

Notwithstanding many annoyances from poisonous reptiles, and from stinging insects, and from the sight of crawling vermin, and ugly creeping things, the newly-arrived may (if his own temper will permit,) enjoy tolerable comfort in any one of our West India colonies; and, as a physician, I may tell him, that unless by his own imprudence he lays the foundation of serious disease, there is nothing inherent in the country, the climate, or the annoyances he may meet with, that will lead to any sudden attack of ill-health, or induce either a plague or a pestilence.