With lips somewhat less parched, we rode away again to see the sight of the day; and a right pleasant sight it was.  These Montserrat hills had been, within the last three years, almost the most lawless and neglected part of the island.  Principally by the energy and tact of one man, the wild inhabitants had been conciliated, brought under law, and made to pay their light taxes, in return for a safety and comfort enjoyed perhaps by no other peasants on earth.

A few words on the excellent system, which bids fair to establish in this colony a thriving and loyal peasant proprietary.  Up to 1847 Crown lands were seldom alienated.  In that year a price was set upon them, and persons in illegal occupation ordered to petition for their holdings.  Unfortunately, though a time was fixed for petitioning, no time was fixed for paying; and consequently the vast majority of petitioners never took any further steps in the matter.  Unfortunately, too, the price fixed—­2 pounds per acre—­was too high; and squatting went on much as before.

It appeared to the late Governor that this evil would best be dealt with experimentally and locally; and he accordingly erected the chief squatting district, Montserrat, into a ward, giving the warden large discretionary powers as Commissioner of Crown lands.  The price of Crown lands was reduced, in 1869, to 1 pounds per acre; and the Montserrat system extended, as far as possible, to other wards; a movement which the results fully justified.

In 1867 there were in Montserrat 400 squatters, holding lands of from 3 to 120 acres, planted with cacao, coffee, or provisions.  Some of the cacao plantations were valued at 1000 pounds.  These people lived without paying taxes, and almost without law or religion.  The Crown woods had been, of course, sadly plundered by squatters, and by others who should have known better.  At every turn magnificent cedars might have been seen levelled by the axe, only a few feet of the trunk being used to make boards and shingles, while the greater part was left to rot or burn.  These irregularities have been now almost stopped; and 266 persons, in Montserrat alone, have taken out grants of land, some of 400 acres.  But this by no means represents the number of purchasers, as nearly an equal number have paid for their estates, though they have not yet received their grants, and nearly 500 more have made application.  Two villages have been formed; one of which is that where we rested, containing the church.  The other contains the warden’s residence and office, the police-station, and a numerously attended school.