A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica

- Circa 1790 -

Excerpted from:  Beckford, William, Esq., A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica, London, 1790. Vol I & II.

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Pens and Pen-keepers:

(ref: Vol II, pp 167 – 175)

The farms, or pens as they are denominated, are replete with pastoral imagery; and the appearance of immense droves of horned cattle, that expatiate at large over the unbounded pasture, or that are seen to browse in the different enclosures, which are surrounded by the prickly penguin, or the logwood fences, afford a pleasing spectacle to him who has not been used to behold the carpet of nature thus giving the means of labour to the industrious, and wholesome provision to the wealthy.

Upon one range of land is observed an immense quantity of horses, and of mules, from the foal at the side of its dam, to the colt that is impatient of the bit; or the mule that is soon to feel the trammels of the mill, or the pinchings of the crook, but which now are seen to frolic and to bound over the resounding sod, to dash through the stagnant pond, to scour across the dusty road, and at last to bury themselves amidst the cooling shadows of the forest.

Over another region are seen to wander the heat-enduring sheep; and gathered together into a social stock, they nibble thus collectively the level lawn, which hardly seems to afford them a scanty bite, but upon which they produce their fertile burthens twice a year, and load the wholesome banquet with their flesh, which is of a very particular and delicate taste. Of their hair indeed no use is made; for even English sheep degenerate, and lose their wool in a short period of time in that intemperate climate; and yet it is remarked that the Creole flocks will not thrive upon the mountains, where the dews are frequent, and the air is chill, in any comparison of advantage with those that are bred and fostered upon the plains.

Of their coats a kind of camblet might certainly be made; but, as the subordinate ideas of comfort and of use are sacrificed in Jamaica to the manufactory of sugar and of rum, it will take some time before any reformation can be made in the operations, or the customs, of the country.

The pen-keepers in Jamaica are generally found to be, if not the most opulent, at least the most independent, of those who cultivate the soil. Their capitals indeed are not so large as those possessed of sugar-plantations; but then their risks are few, and their losses, except in buildings and provision-grounds, in consequence of storms, are very trifling.

The proprietor who lives upon his pen has almost all the material necessaries, and many of the subordinate comforts of life immediately within his reach; and I do not believe that there are many people in any country, of the same rank and capital, that either do, or can afford to entertain with more abundance and hospitality.

Their herds will supply them with beef and veal; both of which, if the pasture be good, and they are allowed a sufficient time to fatten, would not be at all inferior, if the meat in that climate could have the advantage of keeping, to the same provisions in England. And I cannot help remarking in this place, that I have seen as fine cattle in Jamaica as I have ever beheld in any country; and it seems likewise extraordinary, that the breeding and the young flock are in general in very high condition, although they are raised upon pastures the feeding of which is so very short that a stranger would hardly think they could afford the least bite whatever: but then the sod is exceedingly thick, the grass of a nutritive nutritive quality, and the vegetation rapid.

Upon some pens there are from two to three thousand horned and other cattle; aand of the former species there are many of considerable size, insomuch that it is not uncommon to see an ox at the slaughterhouse that shall exceed twelve hundred weight. The price of working steers is from twelve to twenty pounds currency, but sometimes more, and sometimes less; that of mules, from twenty-five to thirty-five per head currency: and when a pen can make such large return, it is more economically productive than a sugar-estate.

The pen-keeper kills his own mutton and pork, both of which are decidedly superior to the flesh of sheep and hogs in England. The flavour of the first is mild, and pleasant; and that of the last is equally good throughout the year.

He raises his own poultry of every kind: he has fish, land-turtle, and crabs, in abundance; and every species of wild-fowl, at particular seasons of the year, in profusion. He has wild-boars and pigeons from the mountains; and fruit, without the necessity of purchase, or the pains of cultivation. Sugar indeed he must buy, as likewise rum, if he have not, as many have, a plantation; and as for other liquors, and the more refined luxuries of life, with them his means, his savings and economy, may easily supply him. A man of this description is the one in Jamaica who is the most independent, and consequently the most happy.

The pens in the mountains, and those upon less lofty elevations, very widely differ, in prospect and appearance, from those in the plains. Upon the former, the grass is oftentimes long and nash; and they are often subject to a dreadful inconvenience, the want of water; and when the drought shall be excessive, and the cattle are consequently obliged to be driven to some river at a considerable distance, the mortality is oftentimes excessive; but as it is but seldom that, in such situations, the seasons are for a long time withheld, a misfortune of this kind can only be considered as an uncommon calamity, and as one that is not to be compared to the hurricane that devasts and sweeps away productions of a sugar-plantation.

Upon mountain-land the Guinea-grass is cultivated in preference to that which is flat: it is generally planted in the spring, ad at a distance of six or eight feet; it grows considerably through the rainy season, and in October and November it blossoms. The cattle are then turned into it, to eat it down: they shake out the seed; the stalks become dry, and are then cut: the stubble is consumed by fire, from the vegetative properties of which the young grass springs up, and in a short time becomes one entire carpet, the verdure of which has a very brilliant, and a pleasing appearance.

A piece of Guinea-grass in the month of November, when observed either upon the mountains, more gentle elevations, or even upon flat land, affords a variety of interesting scenes, and which are varied according to situation, time, and growth.

In a young state, when it begins to cover the ground, the colour of the grass is particularly brilliant; and when the drops of dew hang trembling upon their pensile leaves, or the silken threads of the cobwebs are spread over the verdant surface, or when, broken by the brushing tread of some straggling heifer that has found its way into the inclosure, they float, like gossamer, , through the air, the lover of nature cannot help observing with delight these incidental changes which chance so frequently occasions.

This production, I think, appears to most advantage when it is in the state I have just described, and interests more, as adding beauty to a picture, when it is seen cultivated upon gently-swelling hills, which insensibly lose their depressions upon the plains.

When a piece of this description is dotted over by straggling trees, or clumped in particular situations by the bastard cedars, which are singular ornaments of the Jamaica farms, or is darkened by the shadows which are spread by the deep and spiced leaves of the pimento, it is hardly possible to conceive any natural scenery more rich and beautiful; and if there be cattle or sheep observed, or cropping the herbage, or recumbent in glooms, these living objects of rural profit and delight cannot help giving a double interest to the surrounding scenery.

Upon some pens there is but little water for the use of the cattle, excepting such as is confined in ponds, and the resources of which are often precarious; but yet I have heard it remarked, and I rather think with seeming justice, that they fatten more kindly where they drink of what is stagnant and muddy, than of that which is flowing and pellucid.