MY CHAPTER XXIV. Y appointment as United States consul came about in this way. I was under very severe strain during my five years of toil in reconstruction work in the South. My nervous system and my digestive organs gave way under the pressure. I ran down in flesh and in strength, until the impairment became very serious. The physician pronounced me incurable, unless, by a change of climate and a sea voyage and absolute rest, the decay could be arrested. Senator Brownlow procured my appointment to the consulate at Kingston, Jamaica, by President Grant. The appointment was immediately confirmed by the United States Senate. As an experiment, I took passage at New York on a schooner, and I was upon the sea nearly three weeks. During the voyage I became so much worse, that it seemed unlikely that I should live to reach the island. I made all possible preparations for the event, and gave the paper of directions for the captain's action when the vessel should arrive at Kingston, if in the meantime I should die at sea. Providentially my life was spared. As soon as I landed I called a physician, who pronounced me curable. His prescriptions were few and simple. They were strictly followed. In a few weeks an improvement was obvious. In a short time it was apparent that the climate and the rest, together with the treatment, would result in re covery. I returned by steamer for my family, and we were soon domiciled in my new field, learning the details of the office, and arranging for my official consular residence in Kingston. There is no secular calling which a minister could follow that is less objectionable than that of a consul of the United States. On the application of the Secretary of State, through the United States Legation at the Court of St. James, in London, an exequatur was given by the Queen of England, authorizing my official residence in Kingston, Jamaica, as a consul of the United States, so long as my conduct should meet the approbation of the British Colonial Government and that of Great Britain. The duties are light. They would not require more than an average of an hour's time for each secular day, if they could be regularly distributed; but sometimes there would be a rush, and there would be crowded into three or four days work enough for a week, and then there would be an idle period of two or three weeks, when there would be absolutely nothing to do. The duties of the consulate relate almost exclusively to maritime affairs—the care of American ships which come into port. The vessels arriving require to be officially certified by the consul, and he gives them, when leaving, a clearance certificate. The American seamen in a foreign port are under the care of the American consul. Complaints of ill-treatment are looked into by him. Sick seamen are sent to a hospital, and proper nursing and care, clothing and board, are furnished by the United DUTIES OF A CONSUL. 329 States for all destitute American sailors arriving in American or in foreign vessels into the consular port. Ship's dues are paid into the consulate for the Seamen's Relief Fund, and the consul is the official guardian of all American sailors while in port. If the vessel has been impaired by weather or other misadventure, the consul may appoint a Board of Survey, who shall determine whether any, and, if any, what repairs shall be put upon the disabled ship; and whether the vessel is seaworthy or otherwise. All this is necessary for the protection of American shipowners and underwriters. consul charges certain specified fees for consular service of any kind, and these are paid by the ship, or by consignees or consignors of the vessel. In addition to these duties, the consul would naturally be expected to look after any American citizens. sojourning in the island for a longer or shorter time. He has no funds at his disposal to relieve destitute Americans in port; but he would, of course, give them such needed attention and counsel as he might find practicable. The The salary of the consul at Jamaica was two thousand dollars per annum. The perquisites were notarial fees for such extra copies of official papers as might be demanded by shippers or consignees or consignors, and also captains or others. These might amount to two hundred and fifty dollars per year. In addition to notarial fees, the consul has the power to appoint consular agents in other shipping ports of the island besides his own port, onehalf of the fees of which go to the consular agents, |