I obſerved among the plants that grow in the neighbourhood of St. Croix, a woody ſpecies of balm, known by botaniſts under the name of meliſſa fruticoſa, alſo the ſaccharum teneriffæ, the cacalia kleinia, the datura metel, the chryſanthemum fruteſcens, &c. Some of the gardens were ornamented with the beautiful tree termed poinciana pulcherrima.
In the evening, Citizen Ely, being ſtruck with the groteſque appearance of ſome of the women in the town, who, even during the greateſt heat of the ſeaſon, wear long cloaks of very coarſe woollen ſtuffs, was employed in drawing a ſketch of one of them, when he was ſuddenly interrupted by a ſentinel, who imagined him to be taking a plan of the harbour. It was in vain that he attempted to explain to him what his draught was intended to repreſent: the ſoldier would not ſuffer him to finiſh it.
As we had anchored too cloſe to another ſmall veſſel, we caſt an anchor in the afternoon nearer to the ſhore, by which we kept ourſelves at a convenient diſtance.
The bearings we took at this place gave us the following reſults:
The redoubt on the north ſide of the town, N.N.E. 4° E.
