among themselves. These parties are carried on in the following manner: the members assemble at a certain hour, at the appointed place of rendezvous, which is usually a negro hut, belonging to one of the party tea and coffee are first handed round, after which, the musicians, consisting of perhaps three fiddlers, a tambourine player, and a man who beats an instrument called a triangle, commence playing, and the dancing continues for a while in the most lively and spirited manner. I would here remark, that the blacks dance many of them as well as their masters; and the ladies of sable hue have not unfrequently a perfect knowledge of their steps, and move with a grace not inferior to those who have been the pupils of a Le Merci, or danced on the floor of Almacks. After dancing, the group sit down to the supper table, the contents of which have all been stolen from the masters or mistresses of the different guests. One has brought a fowl, another a turkey; a third, a ham; a fourth, a pie, pudding, or tartlet; a fifth, a bottle of champagne; a sixth, a bottle of madeira; a seventh, a bottle of port; an eighth, a bottle of claret; a ninth, a bottle, or perhaps half a dozen of porter; and a tenth, pineapples, mangoes, oranges, shaddocks, plumbs, almonds and raisins, with a few French preserves, for which the donor had taken french leave; and a tempting water melon so that for their dessert they get more than they deserve; and the whole supper, even if it be not arranged upon the table according to the strictest rules of etiquette, and may not be called elegant, is,

nevertheless a very substantial meal.

After supper

the parties separate, and each returns to his home; the masters know nothing of the matter; but if by chance, any of them are charged the next day with having been on such an excursion, they do not hesitate in declaring that they have never left the house, and assert, with the most impudent assurance, their total ignorance that even such an occurrence was to take place.

The following account of one of these negro entertainments may, perhaps, afford the reader some amusement; and, as I was a resident in the island at the time the occurrence took place, I can vouch for the authenticity of the statement.

It was during a season of great gaiety in the island of St. Vincent, when the inhabitants were giving parties in quick succession, that the head servant of a person of some consequence in the colony, determined on giving a splendid ball to his fellow domestics in the town, from which his master's residence was about seven miles distant. Accordingly, invitations were sent round, and every servant had directions to steal to the utmost from his master's table, and lay it by till the important night should arrive at last it did arrive, and all the guests were assembled, except the entertainer himself, who could not leave home till his master had retired to bed. As soon, however, as the gentleman withdrew, his servant and the lady, (a female domestic on the same estate, whom he had chosen to be queen of the feast,) equipped in wearables belonging to their master and his daughters, and

mounted on the best horses in the stables, which the groom, who was to be one of the party, procured for them, with a boy behind them, they rode into town. On their arrival they gave their horses to the boy, desiring him to make them fast to a tree; and then repairing to the entertainment, the ball commenced, and it was near daylight when supper was announced. Before going to the supper table, however, the host again called the boy, and told him to bring the horses to the door, that when supper was over, they might get back again, before people were moving on the estate. When the boy repaired to execute these commands, he found that he had made the horses much faster than he intended. So fast, indeed, that one poor animal, in endeavouring to extricate himself from the tree, although he had broken the rope, had strangled himself in the attempt, and now lay dead on the ground. In a few minutes, the boy ran back into the jovial assembly, crying, "Massa, horse "dead-Massa, horse dead-Massa, horse dead!"— there was a general stir at the news; some cried and tore their caps, others ran to the spot where the deceased lay, the more cunning part of the community decamped with hams, turkeys, fowls, wine, &c., determined that the accident should not spoil their suppers, while the unfortunate fellow who had given the entertainment repaired to the woods in a great fright, where he concealed himself for a day or two, but was afterwards taken, and being a favourite servant, was, I believe, pardoned. The owner of the horse had been offered three hundred dollars for it only the day before.

Another anecdote was related to me by a lady, in which dishonesty is resorted to, as a means of showing gratitude for kindness: I will give it in her own words.

"One afternoon," said she, " I observed a female "slave, sitting weeping on the step of my door: I "called her in to ask her why she wept: she told me "that she belonged to a black woman, who sent her

out daily to sell sundry articles from her tray; and "who was in the habit of beating her, if she returned "without having succeeded in selling something. "She said she had that day failed in her attempts, "and was crying, in expectation of a beating on her return. I pitied the poor woman's distress, and to "save her from being flogged, I bought something "from her tray; when she departed, with many expressions of gratitude. The next day she returned, bringing with her two bottles of lavender water, “which she begged me to accept. I asked her where "she got them; she told me she had taken them from “her mistress :—Then you have stolen them said I ? No, misses, me no tief um, me take um, was the reply. I, of course, refused the gift, and told the woman to put them back in the place whence she "had taken them. She still continued, however, to press my acceptance of the lavender water, and 'finding it of no avail, she departed in high dudgeon."

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So much for the honesty of the domestic slaves. I have more to say on this subject, but Mat says the breakfast is ready, and on a matter of such vast importance, I am sure my readers will excuse me.

CHAPTER XI.

MOONLIGHT.-METHODISTS AND MILITIA.

"If you will patiently dance in our round,
"And see our moonlight revels,-go with us."

"The city gates out-pour'd; light armed troops
"In coats of mail and military pride."

Milton.

SCARCELY had I finished breakfast, when Mat came running to me in a great fright, saying the town was on fire! and attributing the accident to the black cloud he had seen in the morning. He told this news with a very arch expression of countenance; and, no doubt, thought I should pay more attention to his future predictions of good and evil.

I immediately ran out, and saw that Mat's report was but too true: and ordering my horse directly, set off for town. The fire had commenced in one of the houses in the Bay, in which there was a considerable quantity of oil and rum; and as fireengines are not procured in the West Indies quite so quickly as in England, the flames had made great progress, and had communicated to several of the