It was Archbishop Magee who, when Bishop of Peterborough, encountered
a drunken navvy one day as he was walking through the poorer quarters
of that town. The navvy staggered out of a public-house, diffusing a
powerful aroma of gin all round him; when he saw his Chief Pastor he
raised his hand in a gesture of mock benediction and called jeeringly
to the Bishop, "The Lord be with you!" "And with thy _spirits_,"
answered Magee like a flash.

The drive from Brown's Town across the centre of the island to
Mandeville is one of the most beautiful things that can be imagined.
It can only be undertaken with mules, and then requires twelve hours,
the road running through the heart of the ginger-growing district, of
which Boroughbridge is the headquarters. The Guardsman was more than
ever confirmed in his opinion that Jamaica was only a growing grocer's
shop, especially as we had passed through dense groves of nutmeg-trees
in the morning. I have a confused recollection of deep valleys
traversed by rushing, clear streams, of towering pinnacles of rock,
and of lovely forest glades, the whole of them clothed with the most
gorgeous vegetation that can be conceived, of strange and unfamiliar
shapes glowing with unknown blossoms, with blue mountains in the
distance. It was one ever-changing panorama of loveliness, with
beauty of outline, beauty of detail, and unimaginable beauty of
colour.

We were forced to return to Kingston, for a French Cruiser Squadron
was paying a prolonged visit to Jamaica, and the Governor required my
services as interpreter.

That visit of the French Fleet was quite an historical event, for it