various other hues, and their plumage is not ſo beautiful in their wild ſtate, as it becomes when they are domeſticated. Some travellers have aſſerted, that an indigenous ſpecies of the parrot is found in theſe iſlands; but I have never ſeen any in my excurſions, and ſeveral credible perſons among the inhabitants have aſſured me that this aſſertion is deſtitute of foundation.
A very ſtiff gale, which ſprung up to-day, cauſed the ſea to ſwell to ſuch a height, as to drive on ſhore the pinnace of the Eſperance, after having overſet it upon one of the ſailors, who could not be extricated in leſs than a ſpace of ſeveral minutes. He was already ſuffocated to a great degree; but the means uſually employed in theſe caſes proved ſucceſsful in reſtoring him to animation.
Whilſt I here expreſs my gratitude to the garriſon of St. Croix, for the alacrity with which they haſtened to the relief of this unfortunate ſailor; I cannot paſs over in ſilence a piece of knavery committed upon this occaſion by ſome of the natives.
Whilſt we were adminiſtering our aſſiſtance to this man, we had hung up his clothes to dry, little ſuſpecting what ſhould happen. Some of the inhabitants of the town, perhaps conceiving him already dead, thought fit to appropriate his
clothes
