Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905 edition. Excerpt: ... became so difficult that another 200 emigrants went to the Cape, and 260 liberated Africans still on the island petitioned to be allowed to return to their own homes. The delivery of them to their various homes could not be carried out, as they came from so many different places, but they were conveyed in ships either to Lagos or to Sierra Leone, where R. P. Pooley, Esq., our present U.S. Consul, says he met many who had formerly been on the island. The troubles of the islanders became more and more general, very few ships called, and gunboats were very occasional, and, to crown all, in 1873 another destructive flood occurred. This came from the north side of Sandy Bay ridge, and caused very much damage to properties in the valley of Jamestown and Lemon Valley. In Friar's Valley a cottage was washed away, and the family, consisting of a father and seven children, were carried to sea by the torrent and drowned. 1874 saw the construction of a flax-works, and a steam flax machine of the Colonial and Fibre Company was introduced. This was erected in Jamestown close to the sea, but soon had to be closed as unprofitable. The flax was brought in its raw state on donkeys to the flax-works. Had the works been built near where the flax grew, the experiment might have succeeded, for the flax is undoubtedly of good strength, but the difficulty was the water-power required. Flax was cultivated in large quantities, and much attention also was given to the growth of coffee and cotton. THE FURCROBA GIGANTEA, unlike the New Zealand flax, will grow anywhere in the island, and in fairly good soil attains huge proportions. In the Aloe Walk, Government House Grounds at Plantation, the average length of the leaves is between 7 and 8 feet, with a width of 6...
