midnight
Aforetime , from the estates situated on this most magnificent plain , -LRB- which extends about fifteen miles into the interior , while its width varies from ten to five miles , being surrounded by hills on three sides , -RRB- there used to be produced no less than thirty thousand hogsheads of sugar . This was during the ancient regime ; whereas , now , I believe , the only articles it yields beyond plantains , yams , and pot herbs for the supply of the town , are a few gallons of syrup , and a few puncheons of tafla , a very inferior kind of rum . The whole extent of the sea like plain , for there is throughout scarcely any inequality higher than my staff , was once covered with well-cultivated fields and happy homes ; but now , alas ! with brushwood from six to ten feet high , -- in truth , by one sea of jungle , through which you have to thread your difficult way along narrow , hot , sandy bridle-paths , -LRB- with the sand flies and musquittoes flaying you alive , -RRB- which every now and then lead you to some old ruinous court-yard , with the ground strewed with broken boilers and mill-rollers , and decaying hardwood timbers , and crumbling bricks ; while , a little further on , you shall find the blackened roofless walls of what was most probably an unfortunate planter 's once happy home , where the midnight brigand came and found peace and comfort , and all the elegancies of life , and left-blood and ashes ; with the wild flowers growing on the window sills , and the prickly pear on the tops of the walls , while marble steps , and old shutters , and window hinges , and pieces of china , are strewn all about ; the only tenant now being most likely an old miserable negro who has sheltered himself in a coarsely thatched hut , in a corner of what had once been a gay and well furnished saloon . After having extended our ride , under a hot broiling sun , until two o'clock in the afternoon , we hove about , and returned towards the town . We had not ridden on our homeward journey above three miles , when we overtook a tall good-looking negro , dressed in white Osnaburg trowsers , rolled up to his knees , and a check shirt . He wore neither shoes nor stockings , but his head was bound round with the usual handkerchief , over which he wore a large glazed cocked hat , with a most conspicuous Haytian blue-and-red cockade .