Warning to Travelers 1837

Sir Andrew Halliday’s book “The West Indies” (published in 1837)

It is interesting to learn that drinking has been a pastime here in the Dominican Republic since forever. I came across this sign in a business in Zona Colonial and did a little research as to where it came from. It is part of the writings of Sir Andrew Halliday.


 

Warning To Travelers - Sir Andrew Halliday 1837
Warning To Travelers – Sir Andrew Halliday 1837

Warning To Travelers

“The temptations that surround the traveler on his arrival in these islands are great. And the incitements to indulgence almost overpowering, yet they must be resisted….”

“..On first landing, the craving desire for liquids is almost incessant, and most distressing; and the more the traveler drinks the more his desire for drink increases, and by indulging his depraved appetite, there arises that vicious habit of tippling in the morning which too often ends in confirmed drunkenness…

“The climate of the West Indies is neither favorable to mental energy, nor conductive to moral habits; and more especially, if the monotony of the same pursuits and indulgences be superadded.”

“The West Indies” – Sir Andrew Halliday


 

The Book- The Man

The West Indies book is about “the natural and physical history of the Windward and Leeward colonies; with some account of the moral, social, and political condition of their inhabitants, immediately before and after the abolition of Negro slavery” by Sir Andrew Halliday. The West India Committee Library Catalogue
This quote came from his 1837 book Account of the West India Islands.

Sir Andrew Halliday (March 17, 1782 - September 7, 1839)
Sir Andrew Halliday (March 17, 1782 – September 7, 1839)

Sir Andrew Halliday (also spelled Hallidie) was a Scottish physician, reformer, and writer. (March 17, 1782 – September 7, 1839). He was from Dumfries, Scotland. Halliday came to the West Indies Colonies because he had severe gout and was told that the warmer climate would help ease the pain. During his travels he wrote his observations in the book “The West Indies”.


 

References

Image thanks to Wellcome Library, London – https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31186166

More about Hallady and the book https://cambridgelibrarycollection.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/sir-andrew-halliday/

All You Want To Know About The Oldest City In The Americas