0M^^M.

:^{^Xjpa>i''B^{^^

f^

^?%^'fv.gi^t^ife^ ^-.^'^

i^.

i^

. V.

v?^^

•yVV?

'^ ■\f^^K^-~PM^

XT'-^^-

¥^^^

>^^;

'A Bookseller 4 Stationer.
"^•^ Srni 4»we. r«l.

^^^ c.SM> "^cPS^^^fS

This book is DUE on the last date stamped below

AUG 1 1960

(9 M

fUtt*

Form L-9

^
fe

r^n^^'^^-'V/-

^Vv/.

^JheS ' r>. ttrV>" _>1 «.yLJ =r ,¥4Hi

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2007 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/campsincaribbeesOOoberiala

STATE HORWAl SCHOOl,

Los Angeles, Gal.

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES:

THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURALIST
IN THE LESSER ANTILLES.

BY

FREDERICK A. OBER.

"To-morrow I sail for those cinnamon groves.
Where nightly the ghost of the Caribbee roves.'

BOSTON:

LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.

NEW YORK: CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM.

1880.

COPYRIGHT,
1879,

By Frederick A. Ober.

AU Right* Rgttrvtd.

— ■'IjC

Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry,
Na 19 Spring Lane.

TO

NATHANIEL H. BISHOP,

author of
"a thousand miles' walk," "voyage of the paper canoe,'

ETC.,

BY
HIS FRIEND, THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

»5©io

The islands to which reference is made in the fol-
lowing chapters are those known as the Caribbees,
or Lesser Antilles, extending over eight degrees of
latitude, between Porto Rico and Trinidad, connect-
ing the Greater Antilles with the continent of South
America.

This archipelago, containing the loveliest islands in
the western hemisphere, with settlements ante-dating
Jamestown and Plymouth, with structure and physi-
cal features interesting to men of science the world
over, has yet remained, as at the period of discovery,
almost an unknown field to the naturalist.

In 1876, under the auspices of the Smithsonian In-
stitution, I undertook the exploration of these islands
with the especial view of bringing to light their
ornithological treasures. The investigation covered
a space of nearly two years, during which time I
visited mountains, forests, and people, that few, if
any, tourists ever reached before. It was only by
leaving the beaten path of travel, and taking to the
woods, that I was enabled to accomplish what I did

Vi PREFACE.

in the way of discovery ; for which the curious reader
is referred to the Appendix, and to the various cat-
alogues of new birds discovered, published by the
National Museum.

While around the borders of each island there is a
cleared belt of fertile land, sometimes densely popu-
lated, and on the coast are often large villages and
even cities, the interior is generally one vast forest,
covering hills and mountains so wild and forbidding
of aspect that few clearings are made in them save
the "provision grounds" of the negroes and Indians.
Many tourists and writers have visited these islands,
have stopped a while in the towns, have interviewed
the natives, and then have hastened off to England
or the States, and written books about them. Several
naturalists of note have likewise visited the shores
of these interesting isles, but, like the writers afore-
mentioned, have never penetrated beyond the line of
civilization.

Conjecturing that the public have had enough of
descriptions at second hand, from writers who are
more ears than eyes, I have hastened away from
town and city, and sought an early opportunity for
taking my readers to the forest, where everything
reposes in nearly the same primitive simplicity and
freshness as when discovered by Columbus, nearly
four centuries ago.

I took my camera with me, and whenever a new
bit of scenery presented itself, a beautiful tree, or cas-

PREFACE. Vll

cade, or a composition peculiarly tropical, I photo-
graphed it ; and my publishers have used as subjects
for illustration only these photographs from nature,
which have never been presented before. As with
the illustrations, so with the sketches in type. I have
but photographed the scenes I visited and the people
I saw and lived among. Now and then, in follow-
ing a thread of history that connects these islands and
people with an almost forgotten past, I have availed
myself of the language of the historian, but in rare
instances. My only claim is, that these sketches are
original, and fresh from new fields — new, yet old in
American history, — and that they are accurate, so
far as my power of description extends. They have
not, like the engravings, had the benefit of touches
from more skillful hands, and they may be crude and
unfinished, and lack the delicate shadings and half-
tones a more cunning artist could have given them ;
but they are, at least, true to nature.

Though the voyage to and from these islands
was fraught with incident, there was little that did
not savor of the ordinary sea-voyage, hence it has
been left out, and the narrative begins and ends in
the Caribbees. Beside this, there yet remains much
material which has not been drawn upon, comprising
more of pure adventure, which, should public and
publishers pass a favorable verdict upon this, may
form a volume for another year.
Beverly, Mass., October, 1879.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
DOMINICA,

PAGB

The Mysterious Ocean Current. — Dominica and Columbus. —
Roseau and Anthony Trollope. — A West-Indian Town. —
Introduction to Tropical Scenes. — The Mountains. — The
First Camp I

CHAPTER II.
CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS.

A March Morning. — Matin Music. — Jean Baptiste. — Sonny.

— Breakfast in the Mountains. — Qiieer Customs. — De-
lightful Temperature for March. — The Hunt for Birds. — A
Day's Duties. — Strange Birds and Scenery. — The "Trem-
bleur." — A Precipice. — An Organ-Bird, the "Mountain
"Whistler." — Bird Notes. — My Chasseurs. — Land Crabs. —
Ardent Assistants. — Twilight 12

CHAPTER III.

IN AND ABOUT MY FIRST CAMP.

The Caribbean Sea, its Deceptive Appearance and Placidity. —
My Neighbors, the Mountaineers, their Sayings and Wise
Saws. — A French Missionary needed. — The Iguana and
its Flesh. — Glimpses of Mrs. Grundy. — A Work of Art.

— Cruising for Crustaceans. — The "Grives.'* — Marie. —
Long-Tailed Decapods. — "Where Crabs grow." — "Wait

ix

X CONTENTS.

there, Monsieur." — Astonished. — Shocked. — The River. —
Drenched. — A Naiad. — A Victim to Science. — Food for the
Gods 25

CHAPTER IV.

THE SUNSET-BIRD. — HUMMING-BIRDS.

The Crater-Tarn. — Temporary Camps. — The " Soleil Cou-
cher." — "Hear the Sunset." — A Bird possessed of the
Devil. — The Capture. — A Species New to the World.—
Four Species of Humming-Birds. — The Garnet-Throat and
Gilt-Crested. — Dan, the Hunter. — Catching Birds with
Bread-Fruit Juice. — In Captivity. — Death. — Their Food.

— Methods of Capture. — The Humming-Bird Gun. — The
Aerial Dance 40

CHAPTER V.

THE BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA.

A Wild Cat. — Tree-Ferns. — Mountain Palms. — A Rare Hum-
ming-Bird. — The Valley of Desolation. — Misled by a Bot-
tle. — Boiling Springs. — Hot Streams. — Sulphur Baths. —
The Solfatara. — Building the Ajoupa. — Cooking Breakfast
in a Boiling Spring 52

CHAPTER VI.
AMONG THE CARIBS.

Their Peaceful Life. — Fruits and Food. — The Second Voyage
of Columbus. — Discovery of the Caribs. — Fierce Nature
and Intelligence of the "Cannibal Pagans." — Unlike the
Natives of the Greater Antilles. — The Carib Reservation
in Dominica. — My Camp in Carib Country. — Two Sov-
ereigns. — The Village. — The Houses. — Catching a Cook.

— A Torchlight Procession. — Lighting a Room with Fire-
Flies. — " Look ze Cook." — Labor. — Domestic Relations.

— A Drunken Indian. — Wild Men and Naked Children. —
Carib Panniers. — The only Art preserved from their An-
cestors 73

CONTENTS. XI

CHAPTER VII.

SOCIAL LIFE, APPEARANCE, AND LANGUAGE OF THE
CARIBS.

Happy Children. — Cleanliness. — Primitive Innocence. — A
Modest Maiden. — Dress. — Face and Figure. — Flattening
the Forehead. — Ugly Men and Women. — Carib Hospital-
ity.— The Basket-Weaver. — Tropic Noontide. — Religion.

— The Dying Woman. — A Lost Skeleton. — Burial of the
Dead. —The Wake. — St. Vincent Caribs. — Two Dialects.

— The Arowaks. — An Agreeable Tongue. — Vocabulary.

— Caliban a Carib, and Crusoe's Man Friday'. — Cru-
soe's Island. — Black Caribs. — Weapons and Utensils of
Stone. — "Thunderbolts." — Carib Sculpture. — A Sacri-
ficial Stone. — Whence came They ? — Their Northern
Limit. — A Southern Origin. — Their Lost Arts. — A Dying
People 90

CHAPTER VIII.

HOW I CAPTURED THE IMPERIAL PARROT..

Meyong. — My Hut. — A Mixed-up Language. — Departure
for the Forest. — Pannier and Cutlass. — Wood-Pigeons. —
The Startled Savages. — The Bath. — A Gloomy Gorge. —
" Palmiste Montague." — In the Haunts of the Parrot. —
Immense Trees. — Parasites and Lianes. — Wood for Canoes
and Gum for Incense. — The "Bois Diable." — Construct-
ing the Camp. — Palm-Spathes. — A Bonne Bouche, the
Beetle Grub. — Nocturnal Noises. — Comical Frogs. — A
Blacksmith in a Tree. —The First Shot. — The Humming-
Bird's Nest. — The Parrot. — An Excited Guide. — An Acci-
dent—Wild Hogs. — The "Little Devil." 112

CHAPTER IX.

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS.

The Bee-Tree. — Enveloped in Plants. — Ascending the Giant
Tree. — Smoking Out the Bees. — Vegetable Ropes. — Honey
ad libitum. — A Bite. — A Howl. — The Bee-Eaters. — Carib

XU CONTENTS.

Perversity. — Sweet Content. — How to draw a Bee-Line. —
The Palm Troughs. — A Bamboo Cup. — A Stroll and an
Alarm. — The Carib Ghost. — Traditions. — The March re-
sumed. — An Army of Crabs. — Crabs that Migrate. — Deli-
cious Food. — The Mountain Peak. — Hunting the " Dia-
blotin." — Is it a Myth ? — Caught in a Storm. — The Carib
Castle. — The Captive's Cave. — Vampires. — The Forest
Spirit 130

CHAPTER X.
A MIDNIGHT MARCH, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.

The Apparition. — The Lost Chief. — A Forgotten Language.

— The March by Torchlight. — Strange and Distorted
Forms. — The Forest Wilderness. — A Mysterious Sound.

— "A Tree felled by God." — Virgin, protect Us! — Cook-
ing by Steam. — The Rosewood Cabin. — The Chief Dis-
appears.— Is it Gold? — A Small Boa Constrictor. — A
Carib Basilisk. — The Biggest Bug in the World. — It
comes in Search of the Naturalist. — The Hercules Beetle.

— Centipedes. — Scorpions. — An Unnamed Palm with Edi-
ble Seeds. — A Priestess of Obeah. — African Witchcraft. —

Its Stronghold. — Prostrated by the Heat. — Fever . . . 147

CHAPTER XI.

A CRUISE IN THE HURRICANE SEASON.

An Experiment in Coffee Culture. — The Pest of the Cof-
fee Plant. — Liberian Coffee versus Mocha. — An African
Disease. — Gathering in the Sick. — Down the Caribbean
Coast. — The Flame-Tree. — The Orchard of Limes. —
Profits of Lime Culture. — The Maroon Party. — The Stam-
pede. — Farewell to Dominica. — Coral Islands. — An Im-
mense Game Preserve. — " The Doctor." — The Jiggers. —
New Birds. — A Weary Voyage. — Seasons of the Tropics.

— Tempests. — Calms. — Provisions Exhausted. — Turkey
or Jackass. — Shark. — Odors of Spices. — The Tornado. —
Hurricane Birds. — Pitons of St. Lucia. — St. Vincent. —
Palm Avenue. — The Spa. — Hospitable People. — Basaltic
Cliffs. — Richmond Vale. — Falls of Balleine. — The Water-
spout 163

CONTENTS. XIU

CHAPTER XII.
A CAMP IN A CRATER.

The Last of the Volcanoes. — The Soufrieie of St. Vincent.

— The "Invisible Bird." — Ascending the Volcano. — The
" Dry River." — Bird's-Eye View of St. Vincent. — The Old
Crater. — The New Crater. — The Lake in the Bowels of
the Earth. — In the Cave. — Sunset. — Preparing for the
Night. — Toby. — Five Days and Nights of Misery. — Fauna
of a Mountain-Top. — Exploring the Crater-Brim. — Yuccas
and Wild Pines. — Toby in the Cave's Mouth. — A Terror-
stricken African. — Jacob's Well. — Snakes and Pitfalls. —
Toby's " Stock." — The Soufriere-Bird. — A Mysterious Song-
ster. — Unavailing Attempts to Procure it. — Sought for a
Century. — A Dream. — Nasal Blasts. — Searching for the
Bird. — The Carib Bird-Call. — The Capture. — A New Bird.

— A Plunge into Darkness. — Scared by a Snake. — Toby
Desperate. — Departure for Carib Country 184

CHAPTER XIII.

TRADITIONAL LORE. —A MISADVENTURE.

Carib Country. — Sandy Bay. — Captain George. — Captain
George's Family. — His Superstitions. — A Carib Romance.
— A Love Test. — Courtship and Marriage. — Preparing Cas-
sava.— Farine. — An Indian Invention. — The Obeah Charm.

— The Carib Wars. — A Brave Coward. — The Caribs Cap-
tured.— Sent to Coast of Honduras. — The Survivors. — The
Seminoles. — A Parallel. — Carib Song. — Captain George's
Treasure. — A Misadventure. — Balliceaux. — A Search for
Skulls. — Battowia. — The " Moses Boat." — The Monster
Iguana. — The Cave. — The Tortoise. — A Relic of a Fast
Age. — Tropic Birds. — Our Boat Smashed. — A Night on
the Beach. — The Southern Cross. — Paul and Virginia. —
Church Island 208

CHAPTER XIV.

A MONTH ON A SUGAR ESTATE.

Out of the Forest. — Into a Sick-Bed. — My Good Angel. —
Convalescence. — Rutland Vale. — The Happy Valley. —
Nocturnal Neighbors. — The Labor Question. — A Plant-

XIV CONTENTS.

er's Trials. — Coolie Immigration. — The Negro, returning
to Savagery. — A Self-appointed Phj'sician. — Government
House. — Trees of the Tropics. — Bread-Fruit and Cocoa-
Palm. — First Experience with Bread-Fruit. — Its Appear-
ance. — Taste. — History of its Introduction. — Abundance
fn St. Vincent. — The Palms, their Great Beauty and Utjl-
ity. — Cocoa-Palm, Palmiste, Groo-groo and Gris-gris, Areca
and Mountain Palms. — The Vine with Perforated Leaves.

— The Indian Maiden 229

CHAPTER XV.

GRENADA AND THE GRENADINES.

Bequia. — Contented Islanders. — The " Bequia Sweet." —
Carib Anecdote. — Union Island. — Canouan. — An Ener-
getic Patriarch. — Cariacou. — On the Ancient Contiguity
of the Lesser Antilles. — The Lost Atlantis. — " What if
these Reefs were her Monument?" — A Glance at the Map.

— An Isolated 'Geographical and Zoological Province. —
Grenada. — St. George's. — More Craters. — The Carenage.

— The Forts. — The Lagoon. — The "Eurydice." — Iguanas.

— Their Habits. — Iguana-Shooting. — Oysters growing on
Trees. — Columbus and his Pearls. — Lizards. — A Mission-
ary's Grief. — Food of the Iguana. — The Mangrove. —
Cacao. — Its Discovery. — Present Range. — Its Cultivation.

— Cacao River. — Cocoa and Cacao. — The Tree. — The
Fruit. — The Flower. — Idle Negroes. — Chocolate. — For-
est Rats. — Monkeys. — Their Depredations. — An Insult . 345

CHAPTER XVI.

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Zones of Vegetation. — Naked Negroes. — The Road to the
Mountains. — The Grand Etang. — Quadrupeds of the
Lesser Antilles, Extinct and Living. — The Alco. — Pec-
cary. — Agouti.' — Manacou. — Armadillo. — Raccoon. — A
Visit to the "Tatouay Traps."— The Forest surrounding
the Mountain Lake. — " Haginamah": Is it a Carib Word?

— " Hog-in-armor," not a Carib Word. — " Le Morne des
Sauteurs." — The Plantain Swamp. — Signs of Monkeys. —
The Monkeys* Ladder. — HabiU of Wild Monkeys. —The

CONTENTS. XV

Mammie Apple. — In Ambush. — Feathered Companions.

— The Bete Rouge. — An Aged Monkey. — His Caution. — «
Descending the Ladder. — Monkeys, giddy and grave. —
Counting his Flock. — The Monkey recognizes a Brother.

— "Shoot! Shoot!" — A Free Circus. — A Man, and a
Brother. — The Monkey-Mamma. — Her Terror. — An Im-
politic Imp 263

CHAPTER XVII.

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE.

From Crusoe's Island, North. — Frowning Cliffs. — Golden
Sands. — Birth of a Rainbow. — St. Pierre. — The Volcano.
— Our Consul. — "Old Farmer's Almanack," good for any
Latitude. — French Breakfasts. — " Long Toms." — The
Widow and her Weed. — Patois. — Costumes. — Good Claret.

— Poor Calico. — Market- Women and Washer- Women. —
Gaudy Garments. — Profusion of Ornaments. — Jardin des
Plantes. — The Shrine and the Traveler's Tree. — Creole
Dueling-Ground. — Palm Avenues. — The Cascade. — Sago
and Areca Palms. — The Lake. — Land-Snails: — Lizards. —
Tarantulas. — The Lance-Head Snake." — Venomous and
Vengeful. — The Mountain Region. — Hot Springs. — An
Extinct Volcano. — A Holy City. — Sabbath in the Coun-
try.— Warned of Snakes. — Have Alligator Boots. — The
Humble Shrine. — A Shriek. — Narrow Escape. — The Crafty
Serpent 280

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE.

Fort de France. — The Park. — Tamarinds and Mangos. —
Statue of Josephine. — The Trois Pitons. — Historic Hills.

— Coronation. — Inscription. — An Earthquake. — Terror. —
Parents of Josephine. — Her Grandmother. — Alexander de
Beauharnais. — A Valuable Document. — Marriage Register
of Josephine's Parents. — Bungling Biographers. — Musty
Memoirs. — Fort Royal Bay. — The Passage-Boat "John." —
Trois-Ilets. ' — 1*he Boulanger. — A Festive Father. — A Din-
ner in Jeopardy. — A Low Couch. — A High Bill. — Church
in which Josephine was Baptized. — A Tablet to her Moth-

XVI CONTENTS.

er's Memory. — La Pagerie, Birthplace of Josephine. —
The Hurricane. — The Roof that Sheltered an Empress. —
Ground her Feet had Pressed. — Youth of Josephine. —
Another Shock. — The Negro Barracks. — The Empress*
Bath. — One Hundred Years ago ! — The Sibjl. — The
Humming-Bird. — In Peril from a Serpent. — A Peaceful
Scene. — A Rude Awakening. — The River Comes Down. —
Earthquake again. — Rags and Melancholy 298

CHAPTER XIX.

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE.

Point a Pitre. — The Riviere Sal6e. — Usines. — Earthquake,
Fire, and Hurricane. — A Living Bulwark. — The Caravels
of Columbus. — Our Lady of Guadeloupe. — The Caribs. —
Basse Terre. — Le Pere Labat. — Orphans. — The Cholera
Plague. — A Perm is de Chasse. — Mixed. — A Horse with
Points. — Government Square. — The Convent. — A Sum-
mer Retreat. — Matouba. — My Thatched Hut. — Doctor
Colardeau. — The Coolie. — The Coffee Plantation. — First
Coffee in the West Indies. — Its Cultivation. — Temperature
of the Coffee Region. — Blossoms and Fruit. — Picking and
Preparing. — The High-Woods. — Their Grandeur. — Giant
Trees. — Huge Buttresses. — Lianas, Ropes, and Cables. —
Epiphytes and Parasites. — Aerial Gardens. — The Sulphur
Stream.— The Cone.— The Summit. —The Portal.— Blasts
of Hot Air. — Nature's Arcana. — Sulphur Crystals. — Erup-
tions.— A Grand View. — Impenetrable Forests. — An Extinct
Bird. — Juan Ponce de Leon. — The Fountain of Youth. —
The Descent into Gloom 322

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Engraved by John Andrew, from the Aitthor's Photographs and Sketchrs.

PAGB

The Island of Cocoa Palms Frontispiece.

Roseau 9

The First Camp 14

Marie, the Naiad 31

MuMMiNG-BiRD Hunters 47

Boiling Lake of Dominica 53

The Tropic Stream 59

An Indian Kitchen 81

Carib Girl 86

Ancient Caribs 94

The Sacrificial Stone 107

The Hunter's Bath 117

An " Ajoupa " 121

An Army of Crabs 139

Land Crab 146

The Biggest Bug in the World 155

A Group of Gamins 173

xvii

XVlll ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOLCAKO AND LaVA RiVER OF St. ViNCENT 1S4

Toby 206

A Family Group of Indians 211

The Indian Zemi . , . .* 223

Bread-Fruit and Cocoa-Palm 237

The Groo-groo Palm 242

Saint George's, Capital of Grenada 2^3

The Lake in a Crater 265

Palmiste — Glory of the Mountains 279

Creole Costumes and Head-Dress 2S6

A Market Woman . 287

The Wayside Shrine 289

The Widow and her Weed 295

Birthplace of Josephine 302

The Early Home of an Empress 313

Point a Pitre, Guadeloupe 323

The Guadeloupe Soufrierb 341

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

-^

CHAPTER I.

DOMINICA.

THE MYSTERIOUS OCEAN CURRENT. — DOMINICA AND COLUM-
BUS. — ROSEAU AND ANTHONY TROLLOPE. — A WEST-INDIAN
TOWN. — INTRODUCTION TO TROPICAL SCENES. — THE MOUN-
TAINS. — THE FIRST CAMP.

ALONG the entire group of the Caribbee Isles,
sweeping their western shores, flows a strange,
m3'sterious current. Not subject, apparently, to the
law^s that govern the winds and tides of this region,
it for years puzzled and baffled the ablest navigators
and oldest sailors. Among the northernmost of these
islands large ships w^ere often sunk, carried by the
force of this unseen and unsuspected stream upon
sunken reefs or barren rocks. Even so long ago as
when Columbus was making his voyages, we have
on record that he was detained by this very current
among these same islands.

It was not known until a comparatively recent
period that it was the outflow of a mighty river — no
less than the great Orinoco — that caused all this dis-
turbance of waters, and that dependent upon its dif-

2 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ferent stages was the force of this river through the
sea Though my first experience with this current
was in January, when the Orinoco was at its lowest,
and the consequent marine flow at its weakest stage,
I yet had sufficient proof of its strength to understand
how it was that vessels of all sizes were sometimes
many days in making ports but few miles apart.

We left the port of St. Pierre, Martinique, for that of
Roseau, Dominica, the distance being less than thirty-
five miles, and the channel separating the islands but
twenty in width. Late in the afternoon we hoisted
sail, taking a fair land-breeze from the mountains
and getting a fresh blow from the trade-winds draw-
ing through the channel, and at midnight were close
under the southern point of Dominica, with a fair
prospect, when I went below, of landing early in the
morning.

The captain, a good fellow, had given up to me, as
the only white man on board the sloop, the only berth
the cabin afforded. Into that I crawled, with a lurk-
ing fear of centipedes and scorpions, and fell asleep.
Soon the wheezy pumps awoke mc, and a stream
of water trickling through the uncalked deck gave
assurance that the water in the hold was being
pumped out. As this process was repeated ever}'
half-hour, my sleep was not so sound that I did not
frequently visit the deck, and at each succeeding
visit note with alarm that the land line grew dimmer.
Daylight revealed that we were much farther away
from shore than at midnight, surely drifting to the
nort!i-west, with sail flapping idly and rudder useless.

The sun was late in showing himself, for he had to
climb well up the heavens ere he could look over the

DOMINICA. 3

crest of the mountain-ridge that showed in the dis-
tance cool and misty ; but as day advanced, and the
hour of noon arrived, the cool hours of morning were
more than compensated for by the intensity of the
heat radiated from tlie glassy sea, — a heat that made
itself felt with a glare tliat caused every one on board
to seek earnestly a shady spot.

And this was the "tropic sea" on which we were
drifting, — the sea so often sung by the poet, the sea
we had often contemplated in our fanciful dreaming
in more northern climes. Like many an object of
the poet's adoration, it is far pleasanter to look upon
through his eyes than through visual organs of your
own. Though tlie sun and sea made it painful to
look abroad, there was nothing offensively new and
glaring about the little sloop, that wearied the eye
with bright colors. The prevailing color, in fact,
was that of the wood of which it was built, the native
wood of the island. Tlie knees were of the natural
twist and bend of the native trees ; the deck planking
and sheathing were likewise of the native wood ; the
mast, the boom, and the bowsprit were of the native
woods of the island ; and captain and crew, doubt-
less, also from the woods, — natives fresh from the.
native woods of Dominica. There were more than
twenty people of color lounging in various attitudes
about the deck. They seemed wholly indifferent to
the fact that the vessel was drifting with them away
from the island ; and when I suggested to the cap-
tain that he utilize this material at the oars, there
was a general howl of indignation. The captain
also gazed at me like one who had heard informa-
tion of a character novel and startling, and informed

4 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

me that what I proposed was not only useless, but
impossible.

Struggle against the current of the mighty Orinoco I
Attempt to baffle the wiles of a power unseen, that
always had acted in just such a manner, and had
carried him over the same course every voyage he
had made ! It would be preposterous ! At night, the
land-breeze would come down from the mountains,
and he would claw in-shore without any trouble what-
ever.

Late in the afternoon, however, we descried a speck
dancing on the waves, which speck was, of course, a
boat ; and in that boat, when it reached us, I engaged
passage for the shore, my unhappy companions drift-
ing about until the next afternoon, sometimes in sight,
sometimes lost to view for a long time. As we neared
shore I had time to examine the character of tiie
scenery of the western coast, as one object after
another was unfolded, and the mass of green and
blue resolved itself into wooded hills, narrow valleys,
and misty mountain-tops that reached the dOuds. A
planter's house gleamed white in a valley ; a pebbly
beach stretched between high bluffs, with a grove
of cocoa palms half hiding a village of rude cabins
along its border.

I was approaching an island of historic interest and
scenic beauty, of which the events of one and the
elements of the other are little known to the world at
large. It is the first island upon which Columbus
landed on iiis second voyage. Having been first seen
on Sunday, it was called by him Dominica^ and this
event dates from the 3d of November, 1493. Blest
isle of the Sabbath day ! Many changes has it known

DOMINICA. 5

since the great navigator first saw its blue mountains
and landed upon its fragrant strand.

Does it^not read like a fairy tale, this second voyage
of Columbus? With three ships and fourteen cara-
vels, containing fifteen hundred persons, he set sail
from Cadiz, touched at the Canary Isles, and then
shaped his course for the islands of the Caribs, of
whose prowess and fierce nature he had heard many
stories from the mild people of Hispaniola. " At the
dawn of day, November 3d, a lofty island was descried
to the west. As the ships moved gently onward, other
islands rose to sight, one after another, covered with
forests and enlivened by flights of parrots and other
tropical birds, while the whole air was sweetened
by the fragrance of the breezes which passed over
them."

Dominica is but thirty miles in length by eleven in
breadth, yet presents a greater surface and more ob-
stacles to travel to the square mile than any island of
similar size in the West Indies. Well did Columbus
illustrate its crumpled and uneven surface, when, in
answer to his queen's inquiry regarding its appear-
ance, he crushed a sheet of paper in his hand and
threw it upon the table. In no other way could he
better convey an idea of the furrowed hills and moun-
tains, deeply cut and rent into ravines and hollowed
into valleys.

"To my mind." says Anthony TroUope, " Dominica,
as seen from the sea, is by far the most picturesque
of all these islands. Indeed, it would be hard to beat
it either in color or grouping. It fills one with an
ardent desire to be off and rambling among these
mountains — as if one could ramble through such wild

6 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

bush country, or ramble at all with the thermometer
at eighty-five degrees. But when one has only to
think of such things, without any idea of doing them,
neither the bushes nor the thermometer are consid-
ered." In this, as in all his sketches, Mr. Trollope
is right so far as he goes ; but he does not go far
enough. "Filled with an ardent desire," he should
have given those woods and mountains the months of
camp-life that I did ; then would the world be richer
in pictures of forest-life and mountain scenery that my
poor pen so feebly tries to portray. As one writer,
an intelligent geologist, once remarked : " No island
in these seas is bolder in its general aspects, more
picturesque and more beautiful in the detail of its
scenery — indeed, one might be tempted to say, con-
sidering its fortunes, that it has the fatal gift of
beauty ! "

At five o'clock, the gun in the fort starts off the bell
in the cathedral spire. It is an hour before daylight,
and even at six the mists of the valleys cover all,
even to the mountain-tops. The sun climbs steadily,
though it is eight o'clock before he has shown his
face to Roseau, and darts over the mountain-tops to
windward his scorching rays. It is interesting to
watch the changes that come over the mountain sides
and valleys as the sun dissipates the morning mists.
Lake Mountain, /four thousand feet in height, towers
black against the sky ; five miles it is from town, yet
seems so close as to overshadow it. Its head is veiled
more than half the time in mist. Stretching away
north and south is a long line of hills, an isolated peak
jutting up at intervals. Their summits are blue and
purple in the distance. Within this line is a cordon

DOMINICA. 7

of hills, with valle3's deep and dark behind, half en-
circling the town. These lulls are broken and ragged,
seamed and furrowed and scarred, yet are covered
with a luxuriant vegetation of every shade of green :
purple of mango and cacao, golden of cane and lime,
orange and citron. Palms crown their ridges, culti-
vated grounds infrequently gleam golden-brown on
their s'opes, and dense clouds come pouring over
their crests from the Atlantic. North and south this
bulwark of hills ends in huge cliffs plunged into the
sea. Roseau is seated at the mouth of a valley formed
by a river. From the centre of this valley there rises
a hill — a mountain it is called here — Morne Bruce.

From its smoothly-turfed crown the view of town
and sea is superb, especially at sunset, Vvhen the sun
sinks beyond the Caribbean Sea, and the cool even-
ing breeze plays through the trees. From it we look
upon the town ; many palm-trees, few houses, a rush-
ing, roaring river that meets the sea in a surf-line like
a northern snowdrift, a picturesque fort, the jail, the
government house, and the Catholic cathedral — a
building of stone, with arched windows and door-
ways, short, though shapely spire — with a palm tall
and slender, to lend grace and beauty ; westward,
beyond the shore-line, the Caribbean Sea, its bosom,
which glowed so fierily in the sunlight, now cool and
invitin£r in its stillness.

Looking eastward, one can see far into the Roseau
Valley, to the wall of mountains, from which dashes
out a great waterfall, dwindled to a mere silver thread
in the distance. The Roseau River emerges into a
plain beneath, a valley filled with cane, containing in
its centre a planter's house and buildings palm-sur-

8 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

rounded, dashes over its rocky bed with a roar that
reaches our ears even at this height of several hun-
dred feet, and runs at the foot of a lygh white cliff
across another plantation into the sea, peaceful enough
at the end.

The streets of Roseau are straight, paved with rough
stone, and they never echo to the sound of wheels.
They cross at right angles and dwindle down to three
bridle-paths leading out of the town, one north and one
south, along the coast, and one, narrow and tortuous,
over the mountains to the eastward. Most of the
houses are one-storied boxes of wood, with bonnet
roofs, sixteen b}' twenty feet ; many in a state of de-
cay, with tattered sides, bald spaces without shingles,
and dragging doors and shutters. Every street, how-
ever, is highly picturesque with this rough architect-
ure, and with cocoa palms lining and terminating the
vistas. The town is green with fruit-trees, and over
broken roofs and garden walls of roughest masonry
hang many strange fruits. Conspicuous are the
mango, orange, lime, pawpaw, plantain, banana, and
tamarind. Over all tower the cocoa palms, their long
leaves quivering, their dense clusters of gold-green
nuts drooping with their weight.

From tiie mountains, from the " Sweet River," comes
the purest of water, led in pipes through all the streets,
and gushing out in never-ceasing flow from the sea
wall on the shore. The market, near the south end
of the town, a small square surrounded by stores, is
the centre of attraction on Saturdays, wlien it is dense-
ly packed with country people, black and yellow, who
come, some of them, from points a dozen miles dis-
tant, each with his bunch of plantains, or tray of

DOMINICA. p

bread-fruit. All are chattering, so that there is a very
babel of sounds. Little stalls, temporarily erected,
contain most villainous salt fish, ancient and vile-
smelling, and ever}^ few feet is a table, presided over
by a contented wench, who has for sale cakes and
sweetmeats of her own manufacture.

JlOSEAU.

Near the market is the fort, a low stone structure,
pierced with loopholes, commanding from its high
bluiTthe roadstead, in which, save the trading-vessels
and the -weekly steamer, there are seldom any craft
besides the sugar-vessels. Near the fort is the Eng-
lish church, wit]\ a clock in its face, and four magnifi-
cent palmistes to guard its entrance. Adjoining is the

JEO CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

government house in a garden of flowers ; and near,
the court-house, ot" stone, yellow and low. Opposite,
on a bluff overlooking the sea, is the public garden,
neatly enclosed, tastefully ornamented ; a few large
trees, many roses, humming-birds, butterflies, and a
grand view of the soa. The road leads by a broad
green savane, near which is a ruined cemetery, down
between long rows of lowly cabins, its bed green and
grassy, within a stone's throw of the surf on the pebbly
beach.

This is Roseau, which I left one March morning
for the mountains. Earl}' came the women, who were
sent by a kind friend to carry my luggage : heavy
boxes and bales they had engaged to carry to the
mountains on their heads. It was all the way as-
cending, but they faithfully performed their duties,
nor once complained. Astride an island colt, the
loan of another friend, and accompanied by still
another, whom I had met a few days before, 1 left
behind me the town, and set my face to the moun-
tains.

Down the street, past the jail, across the river over
an excellent bridge, under the cliffs of St. Aromant,
into the banana and citron groves that lie at the moun-
tain's ba^e ; then up higher and higher, the path grow-
ing rocky and slippery, past the lovely valley of
Shawford, where the house of my friend Sledman,
built upon a small plateau, surrounded by hills, em-
bowered in limes and plantains, overlooks a tropical
garden. A mile above, we entered a deep ravine,
where are the first perfect tree-ferns on the trail ; the
gorge is filled with them, and the banks along the
path are covered with smaller ones, infinitely beautiful.

DOMINICA. II

Here I first heard the melody of the " solitaire." Long
since, the air of the town, hot and parching, had given
place to cool and delicious breezes. We went out
under the shade of trees, passing many a trickling
stream, until an elevation of nearly two thousand feet
was reached, wlien we heard voices, and suddenly
came upon a party of mountaineers (half Carib, half
negro), naked to the waist, hatless, and armed each
with his machete^ or " cutlass," over two feet in length.
They saluted us politely, however, and we passed on
until near the " high woods," when we turned to the
right and rode down a narrow trail under large trees,
and reached finally a narrow gate of bars in a tall
hedge of oleander.

Descending rapidly from the forest was an open
space of a hundred acres, perliaps, sloping westward,
green as a sward of guinea-grass could make it.
Over this were scattered volcanic rocks and clumps
of trees. This slope terminated abruptly in a cliff" so
steep that the people living here could not descend
except by a long detour. Over this cliff' fell the water-
fall we saw in coming up. Deep ravines seamed it at
intervals, all trending toward the valley wall, and on
all sides but this were nothing but forest and hills.

From one of the mountaineers I secured a cabin,
one of the seven comprising this little hamlet, and
before nightf^ill had comfortably established myself.
My companion then left me alone to what proved but
the first of many camps in tropical forests.

12 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER II.

CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS.

A MARCH MORNING. — MATIN MUSIC. — JEAN BAPTISTE. — SONNY.

— BREAKFAST IN THE MOUNTAINS. — QUEER CUSTOMS. — DE-
LIGHTFUL TEMPERATURE FOR MARCH. — THE HUNT FOR BIRDS.

— A day's duties. — STRANGE BIRDS AND SCENERY. — THE
"TREMBLEUR." — A PRECIPICE. — AN ORGAN-BIRD, THE "MOUN-
TAIN WHISTLER." — BIRD NOTES. — MY CHASSEURS. — LAND
CRABS. — ARDENT ASSISTANTS. — TWILIGHT.

IT is a bright March morning. As I throw open the
shutters of my shanty and let in the light of early
day, I look out upon a scene of loveliness that it were
worth many a day's journey to enjoy.

From beyond the mountains, east, the sun has
climbed a little way until he peers through a defile in
the hills, and a rift in the cloud masses, and floods
only a narrow pathway down the surrounding hills,
their northern slopes, a bit of the gloomy valley miles
below, and bursts upon the calm Caribbean Sea with
concentrated glory. A sail, floating on that sea, drifted
hither and thither by strong, unaccountable currents,
— which came, perchance, from Martinique or Bar-
bados to the south, or from Guadeloupe or Montserrat
to the north, — is ablaze with light, which gives it
the appearance of being on fire. No sound comes
up from the valley below, nor from the surrounding
mountain sides ; even the rain frogs and the nocturnal

CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS. I3

cicadcB have closed their concerts and have left it to the
birds to usher in the matin hour ; and they are singing
in low, sweet strains far down in the gloomy ravines
below, and in the thickets bordering distant glades.

My first duty is to examine my thermometer. It
registers sixty-eight degrees. That recorded, I step
out and refresh myself with such ablution as can be
enjoyed from a small calabash of rain-water. Soon, a
little colored maiden appears bearing a tray with my
coffee, and perhaps a cup of milk — oftener without.
A cup of coffee and a slice of bread or a couple of
crackers, is my only refreshment until noon, when I
return from my tramp in the forest.

When I first came to this mountain valley I brought
with me a bright, colored boy as aid, fondly hop-
ing he would be of much assistance in preparing my
birds, as well as in the culinary line. But, alas ! in
either profession he was singularly deficient, and save
in the preservation of cooked provisions, — in other
words, "to keep food from spoiling," — he was of no
use whatever. After three days passed in his society
we parted. There was also a question between him and
Jean Baptiste (the proprietor of my humble cot), relat-
ing to a few small articles that one night disappeared.
Now, he was highly incensed that such a thing
should happen within the limits of his jurisdiction, and
made such a row about it that I concluded that it were
best that " Sonny " and I should part, — with no regrets
on my part, none expressed on his, — for the laboring
class of the West Indies accept stoically whatever fate
drops to them as their share. The salary I was pay-
ing him was princely, being sixpence a day and" found,'*
while the usual remuneration for such service as he

H

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

afforded me was i^rce -pcncc^ and if " fourtd," it was
usually after a long search. Baptiste accepted the ex-
pression of confidence that this act of mine implied,
and took me at once under his protection and care ;
hence it is that the little maiden aforesaid appears in
the morning with my coffee ; at noon, when I return
weary from the hunt, with a dish of eggs fried in oil
zxid. yam sauvagc, and at dusk with the same, varied
with a plate of mountain-cabbage, or salad, from the
little wattle-enclosed garden on the hillside.

The cabin of Bap-
tiste is not far from
mine, and my wants
are promptly supplied
when the hour ar-
rives for meals, even
almost anticipated.
But there are many
things connected with
the attendance of my
little cook and waiter
that, in the light of
my early education
in New England,
seem, to say the least,
queer. For instance,
when the knives and
forks require clean-
ing, their surplus
coating is removed
by being brought in
close contact with the
skirts of her garment. I say garment^ and use the
word in the singular advisedly.

CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS. I5

The spoons also are cleaned in the same way, and
were it not that my eyes had beheld the process of
polishing, I should not believe, as they nestled inno-
cently together on the rough table, but that they had
been subjected to the treatment customary in more civil-
ized communities. My tin camp-cup, which has accom-
panied me in all my camp-life, was often the object of
her attention, and at that time it was doubtful to me
whether she was washing the cup with her fingers or
rinsing her fingers in the cup. At any rate, it shows
a laudable desire to have my table furniture in good
order, and I do not murmur ; but there is a cake of
soap and a towel that I keep concealed from her sharp
eyes, that, when not observed, I bring into frequent use
on those same objects of her devotion. One day I was
incautious enough to peer into the culinary department
— a palm-thatched structure, black and grimy with
smoke which escaped from the fire on the ground, as
best it could, through the roof. Only once ! I did not
wish again to view those ancient pots and kettles, the
refuse of preceding feasts, nor to fight my way through
the drove of hogs that trooped about the open door.

Occasionally the thought obtrudes itself, "They do
not have things like this in the States." This often
makes me sad, but I raise my eyes, perhaps, and look
out over the green slope, down upon the valley burst-
ing with palms, and beyond the hills to the peaceful
sea smiling in sunshine ; and I exult in the thought
that these enjoyments far outweigh the little annoy-
ances that I have described. And I take down the
thermometer and find that it records, if morning, six-
ty-eight to seventy degrees; if noon, seventy-six de-
grees ; if evening, seventy degrees. And I again

l6 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

reflect, ''They can't show all these in the States — in
March."

But effectually to escape the train of thought that
these observations might give rise to, I take my gun,
ammunition, game-basket and note-book, and plunge
into one of the lateral ravines that feed the huge gorge
below. It is morning. The bread-fruit, mango, and
limes that thickly stud the slope above are glistening
with dew, and the low shrubs that line the ravine, as
well as the taller trees that darken its recesses, are
dropping copious showers. I am following the dry
bed of a stream that shows, by huge rocks dislodged
and excavated banks, what must have been its size and
force in the rainy season. Ferns, lycopodiums, and
matted and tangled roots conceal the earth and make
every footstep a doubtful one, and the loose stones and
rocks, witii dark holes beneath and beside them, sug-
gest most forcibly the possibility of the presence of
snakes. But I am looking for birds (and snakes
also, if they come in my way), and do not give them
the attention that once I thought I should, when hear-
ing tales of their abundance and venomous character
in these islands. As this is a search for birds, the
snakes shall be left for some future chapttr.

It is well known that each species of bird has its
own peculiar haunt, where it feeds, sings, and sports
itself. It has also a different haunt for different por-
tions of the day, and the birds of the morning which
we find in the ravine may be, in the evening, feeding
or singing on the borders of open glades, or higher up
the mountain sides. At mid-day you will find all
under cover of the densest shade, and silent. It is in
the morning that they may be found in localities char-

CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS. If

acteristic of them. The first bird tliat greets me on
the edge of the ravine is the humming-bird, as he
dashes here and there from flower to flower, scatter-
ing the dew-drops in tiny showers, and reflecting al-
most prismatic hues from breast and back. There are
three kinds here in this mountain valley, the smallest
of which has a lovely crest of metallic green ; the
largest, with a length of five inches, and stretch of
wing of seven and a half, has a gorgeous garnet throat,
purple back and wings, and tail of green, reflecting
most delightful hues. The prevailing hue of the other
species is green, with a throat sometimes green, some-
times blue.

I leave the humming-birds to my little chasseurs^
who with bird-lime catch for me all I want. Of them
more anon ; let us plunge into the ravine. A move-
ment in the branches of a tall, slender tree claims at-
tention. I look up ; see nothing. The broad, glossy
leaves vibrate again, and I discern above the lower
branches a bird the size and shape of our brown
thrush ; he has a long, stout beak, a yellow eye, and
a glossy, brown coat. He hops from twig to twig,
feeding upon the coffee-like berries of this strange
tree, silent, engaged in the gleaning of his morning
meal. But however intent upon securing those white
berries, the husks of which he drops almost upon my
head, he does not forget to stop every few seconds and
shake his wings and jerk his tail in a most comical
manner. A hop, a quiver of wings and tail ; a skip,
with accompanying shake all over ; a jump, with a
convulsive shake, quivering and spasmodic twitching
of head, wings, and tail. As I watch this inter-
esting bird 1 am conscious of the presence of an-

2

l8 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Other, and of several others also, which when they
meet go through the most laughable series of bows,
quivering of wings and caudatory vibrations. Well
has this bird earned the title — universal, I believe,
throughout the West Indies — of Trcmblcur.

And now, tlie trembleurs having been attended to,
I push on till I reach the brink of a precipice. A
little stream that falls musically over the rocks and
stones suddenly loses itself over the brow of this wall
of green, on the summit of which I stand. Cautiously
clinging to the trunk of a tree, I look down into the
valley. The sight nearly makes me dizzy, for there,
five hundred feet beneath me, I see tall trees as little
shrubs, tananas and plantains as small plants, and
huge boulders as pebbles. The roots I am standing
on overhang the precipice, and the tree shoots out far
over the dizzy height. Above the sighing of the wind
in the tree-tops, and the music of the birds, and creak-
ing of branches, is a roaring of water falling from im-
mense height — a roar that drowns every other noise,
and deafens the ear to every other sensation. Wend-
ing my way along the brink, clinging to roots and
trees, I soon reach a point where I can see, half-way
down the perpendicular cliff, a sheet of foam ; a hun-
dred yards farther another, falling from a lesser
height, yet neither less than one hundred and fifty
feet — the higher over two hundred.

They are lost in a sea of green, reappearing far-
ther on as a united stream, which rushes and roars over
rocks, through gorges and at the base of mountains,
through gardens of figs and plantains, beneath tower-
ing, feathery palms, through green fields of cane, at
last to reach the sea.

CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS. I9

It is while carefully balancing myself on my shak-
ing support of matted roots, that a sound comes to my
ear through the roar of a waterfall — a sound strange-
ly sweet, solemn, and impressive ; a mellow, organ-
like note, clearer than any flute-tone, more thrilling
tiian the solemn chant of sacred song in groined cathe-
dral. It is repeated. I stand entranced, listening to
melody that had never fallen on my ears before.
The cause I cannot at first ascertain, for the notes
seem ventriloquial ; and indeed the}^ are so, for I search
high and low, the leafy branches above my head, the
densely clustered ferns at my feet, and the shrubs
at my back, for many minutes, before I find the
source of this mysterious music. Balanced airily on
a lance-like bamboo that shot twenty feet beyond the
brink of the cliff", poised in mid-air, wdth half a thou-
sand feet of space between him and solid earth, is a
daintily-shaped bird, clad in sober drab, save a dash
of rouge beneath his throat, and of white here and
there.

Unconscious of surrounding things, animate and
inanimate, he was devoting his powers to the pro-
duction of that wonderful music. In the short space
I here allot to myself I cannot describe the different
notes ; surely no flute ever produced such mellow,
liquid tones. It was music of unearthly sweetness,
that, once heard, would never be forgotten — between
the notes a long pause, that made them most im-
pressive. It was not a song — though I discovered
later that the little bird had a song — but simply the
utterance of a few notes. Soon it ceased, and the bird
flew into the near forest, where I soon discovered it

20 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

busily feeding upon the berries of a tall shrub, to the
pendant branches of which it was clinging, now and
then dashing at a fugitive bunch, apparently as ab-
sorbed in this occupation as in his melodious lay of a
few minutes before. Soon he ceased feeding, and
commenced preening himself upon a naked limb ;
then, after smoothing himself out, as it were, and
drawing in and stretching out his neck, he suddenly
dashed at a single berry, swallowed it to clear his
throat, and recommenced to trill. He had uttered
but a few notes when he: silently flew to a dead branch ;
a few more and he winged his way to a swinging
" liane," where he hung suspended above a little ravine,
in which is sunk a tiny stream, whose tinkling waters
made music, though not so sweet and liquid as his.
Then he disappeared in the dark recesses of the forest,
where it would be useless to follow him, but whence
came at intervals the ventriloquial music that seemed
to float over my head and around me, though the bird
was afar.

This bird is called by my mountaineer friends, who
have a name, and an applicable one, for everything
in the forest, the "-5/^i:«r Jfon/agnc" or ^'Mountain
Whistler." I afterwards had one in captivity for
several weeks, and notes on his behavior, song, and
food would fill a column that my readers might think
could be put to belter use, but which would be val-
uable to the ornithologist as the first records of an
intimate acquaintance with this species.

But let us go on. I will leave the deep valley be-
hind me, with the roar of the waterfall gradually fall-
ing, first to a monotonous hum, then ceasing entirely,
and climb the bed of another water-course, now dry.

CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS. 21

waiting for the summer rains. Soon I emerge into a
grassy glade, surrounded by mango, coffee-trees, and
trees resembling the live-oak. The mangos are bris-
tling with spikes of blossoms — white with them — but
not a bird nor a butterfly is hovering above them,
though the surrounding trees and shrubs are alive with
them. This is a fact I have long noticed, that the mango
is ever deserted, though adjacent trees may be vocal
with bird-music. But, flitting across this green glade,
now bright under the rays of an ever-brightening sun,
are many birds ; that is, many for this island, for it is
not abundant in species, nor in numbers either, save of
the humming-bird.

There is a tree full of warblers of strange species — of
Sucri'cr, or sugar-bird — a bird resembling our yellow
warbler ; several of the more strictly fly-catching birds,
and a few sparrows, grosbecs, and blackbirds. The
three species of humming-bird are well represented,
and dash hither and thither seeking their favorite food,
indulging in mimic battles and amorous caresses. I
push on, after an hour's stop, perhaps, over a rugged
trail made by the halt-wild cattle as they travel from
glade to glade, and crossing another stream, climbing
a hill, and descending into a ravine, I climb the steep
slopes of the hill on which my cabin is perched. Every-
thing is as I left it five hours before. The door, which
is merely kept fastened by a stick braced against it,
has not been opened ; but I find on the floor a clus-
ter of oranges, a branch of fragrant lime-flowers
for my humming-birds, and a tastefully arranged bunch
of roses from one of the girls.

While I am putting the finishing touches to my bird-
notes, the girl comes in with my lunch, and my little

Z2 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

chasseurs arrive with their collection of humming-birds.
They only hunt at certain times of the day, when I
can be near to attend to the little captives, according
to my instructions, for they have a cruel way of tying
them together if they keep them long. They are find-
ing some new things every day, and as they have got
the idea that I am collecting everything in shape of
bird, beast, insect, and reptile, they bring me the result
of each day's " find." Sometimes it is a snail, a fat
caterpillar hideous in its slimy skin, a butterfly, a
beetle, or a spider. At one time, from an incautious
remark that I made to the effect that I would like a
specimen of the curious land-crab which abounds in
the ravines and rivulet banks, they conceived the idea
of supplying me with the crustacean just mentioned.
Each boy and girl on the place resolved to be the first
to furnish me with the coveted crab. The consequence
was that my place was soon overrun with shell-fish —
ugly red and yellow crabs — as large as a man's hand,
and from that to the most diminutive. One of the
girls in a mischievous mood brought in a crab with a
family of little ones, over a hundred, just large
enough to be seen, and let them loose on the floor.
Through some open window, while I was absent, some
giant crab would be dropped on the floor to await my
arrival. This was not done in a spirit of mischief, but
from an earnest desire to aid me in my labors.

For a week after I could not stir without coming in
Contact with a shelly creature. I could not put my
foot out of bed without a shudder of apprehension. Of
nights I would be awakened by a rattling of ale-bottles,
and arising 'WOuld discover that some crab had got
thirsty during the night, and had inserted a claw which

CAMP LIFE IN THE TROPICS. 23

had caught in the neck of a bottle. Or, as one other
night, when my slumbers were broken by a mysterious
rattling, and I awoke (thinking that, as Jean Baptiste
had prophesied, the " jumbies " had come for me, as
they come for everybody who sleeps alone in a strange
house) , to find another crab vexing his soul in vain en-
deavors to shin the broom-handle. It may be surmised
that I soon informed my corps of naturalists that I could
dispense with their services, and now I am again a
lone investigator dependent upon his sole endeavors.

In the afternoon I sit down by the loophole that
serves as window, (where by raising my eyes I can
at any time look off upon the peaceful Caribbean Sea,)
gather my birds about me, and, after noting their
measurements and other data necessary to aid in their
identification, proceed to skin and preserve them pre-
paratory to their long journey to the" States." It is near
sunset when this is finished, and after supper I climb
into mv hammock, or sit on mv threshold, watching
the sun go down behind the mountains. If I were a
little farther to the north I could see him down clear to
the sea ; and, in fact, I often climb a spur of a near
hill, where are buried the ancestors of the present res-
idents of Laudat, and watch the sun as he dips below
the sea, just gilding with his parting rays the rude
crosses that mark the last resting-place of those buried
beneath them.

But what I have been most disappointed in as the sun
sets, is the absence of that prolonged twilight, which
makes our evenings of earlv summer in the north so
delightful ; when, after the sun goes down, there re-
mains that blissful lingering of day with night, when
the softened light fades so gradually away that we

24 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

cannot tell at what precise moment, or how, it left us j
and when the song of the robin fills the air with mel-
ody that many other of our birds keep up in the fields
and orchards till late at night. There is none of that
here. More than once I have said to myself, as the
sun hid his face behind the dark, ridge of mountain,
leaving the trees sharply outlined against the clear
sky — more than once I have repeated, "Now I will
sit in the doorway and enjoy the twilight." But I had
scarcely found and filled my pipe, and settled myself
comfortably in doorway or hammock, when twilight
was gone, and the fast-gathering darkness had hid the
valleys, and was climbing the western slopes of the
mountains. The stars, already out, shine with a
liquid brilliancy that causes you to forget the absence
of dusk, and you give yourself up to the contempla-
tion of the lighted heavens, losing yourself in thought,
wandering perhaps in meditation back to the land you
have left, over which the same sky stretches and stars
gleam ; but not with the clearness of the one, nor the
soft brilliancy of the other — at least not at this present
season.

MY FIRST CAMP. 25

CHAPTER III.

IN AND ABOUT MY FIRST CAMP.

THE CARIBBEAN SEA, ITS DECEPTIVE APPEARANXE AND PLA-
CIDITY. — MY NEIGHBORS, THE MOUNTAINEERS, THEIR SAY-
INGS AND WISE SAWS. — A FRENCH MISSIONARY NEEDED. —
THE IGUANA AND ITS FLESH. — GLIMPSES OF MRS. GRUNDY. —
A WORK OF ART. — CRUISING FOR CRUSTACEANS. — THE
"GRIVES." — MARIE. — LONG-TAILED DECAPODS. — " WHERE
CRABS GROW." — "WAIT THERE, MONSIEUR." — ASTONISHED.
— SHOCKED. — THE RIVER. — DRENCHED. — A NAIAD. — A VIC-
TIM TO SCIENCE. — FOOD FOR THE GODS.

THE pictures seen from my cabin door are beau-
tiful, but all suggest alike the sea. Detached
peaks rise to the eastward and southward, connected
by a continuous chain of hills to the sea. Their line
is irregular, and very shapely are those mountain-
peaks, clothed with verdure to their summits. The
broken slope in front of my cabin slants rapidly to
the precipice that borders the valley containing the
river which hastens to the sea. Outlined ajjainst its
silvery surface are dark green mountains ; a loosely
branched tree stands out against it as against the sky ;
palms, with gracefully spreading foliage, show dark
against it. It spreads so far and wide, and seems to
climb so high to meet the sky, that it is hardly pos-
sible to tell where sea leaves oft' and sky begins.
Every day I am puzzled to ascertain the horizon line.

26 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Every day it blends into sky so softly that all seems
sky, or all may be sea. Is the sky blue, so is the sea ;
is it smoky pearl, the sea is dim, and hides its face
beneath a hazy cloud. A cloudy day, with the sun
shining on the water from behind the clouds, turning
the sea to burnished and glistening silver, is as puz-
zling as a day with sky of clearest ether, for the sun,
reflected from the glowing surface of the sea, dissipates
the line of demarkation in the glare of the reflection.

There are times when the sea does not rise up to
meet the sky, but spreads out miles and miles, until I
almost fancy I can see to Aves Island — that solitary
island far west in the Caribbean Sea, where a colony
of birds breed on the sands. The best view is ob-
tained at sunset ; then, whether the bright orb dis-
appears behind the mountains without a cloud, or
whether he leaves a threatening array, clad in armor
of gold and silver, the horizon line is well defined.
At moonlight also, when mountains and valleys are
but gradations in depth of shadow, the sea reposes
peacefully beneath moon and stars, content to rest
itself as a sea, and claiming no affinity with the vault
above.

It seems to me that it changes every time I look
upon it — pearl-blue, silver shot with gold, hazy
depths, from which no light is shown, and again a sea
of deepest ether. It has never been otherwise than
calm and placid, though the fierce winds that some-
times sweep down from these mountains and dive into
the valleys are enough to ruffle the tranquillity of any
sea. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that vessels are
often becalmed under the lee of these Caribbee islands
for days together, and there is not even a swell to

MY FIRST CAMP. 2*J

break the monotony of existence on board. I can see
white sails, sails of sloops, of schooners, of ships,
drifting lazily over the placid sea. Sometimes the
morningf will reveal the sail of the evenincr before —
the sail that I watched as I swung listlessly in my
iiammock. It is one of the pleasures of existence here
that I can at any time have within my view the
still, dreamy, beautiful sea of the Antilles. It is
not alwaj^s so peaceful. In the "hurricane season,"
when the tempests devastate these islands, it rises in
its wrath — not like the miserable Atlantic, though,
always in commotion ; it is disturbed only by a hurri-
cane — nothing less.

A century ago or thereabouts, there came to this
mountain retreat, then unbroken wilderness, (as now
it is, save this little clearing) that sanguine French-
man, Jean Baptiste Laudat. Tradition says he came
from his native isle of Martinique or Guadeloupe, and
here looked about him for a wife. It is more proba-
ble, though, that he brought her with him as a slave,
and that she was black ; and that there afterwards got
admixed a soup^on of Carib blood is manifest in the
color of these, his descendants. They are not yellow,
or briglit olive like the Carib, but of a rich brown,
with long hair, black and wavy. That the air of
these mountains is conducive to health, their size,
plumpness and activity prove.

There are but five families, ruled over by the
present Jean Baptiste, who inherits his power from
his deceased grandfather, as eldest son. With
him lives his mother, a yellow-skinned old lady of
eighty, who hobbles about with a cane, and is a fre-
quent visitor at the door of my hut. Now, this old

28 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

lady and her Jean can speak what they flatter them-
selves passes for English, but their native tongue is
the perverted French of their white ancestor. To a
Parisian, their perversion of the French verb faire
would be sufficient to drive him crazy.

For instance, the old lady strives to make intelligible
the number of her grandchildren and their respective
parents: "My zon, Jean, he make ze enfans seex ;
Ma fille, he make huit, and tout Ics enfans make
seexty." She passed m}^ door one afternoon as I was
busy preparing my collections for preservation, and
told me confidently that she was going to " make petit
walk," but a wail from the house of her eldest son
caused her to hurry her old limbs to soothe the child
" zat make ze cry." " Me make my sleep," is a com-
mon expression.

Jean B. is full of wise sayings, and gives vent to
some very strange expressions. One day I returned
from a long hunt in a heavy rain, and my worthy
friend was greatly exercised that I did not immediate-
ly change my clothing. " Who drink ze watah," said
he. " It is youselfs feet ; *' meaning that the moisture
had b.een absorbed into my system. "White man
next to God (ze Mon Dicu)J" "White man not like
colored, he no eat ze bones of ze poule." " I tank ze
Mon Dieu ef I speaks ze Engleesh." He exercised a
sort of paternal sovereignty over me, as the first white
man who had honored his little hamlet with his pres-
ence, and many a day has he staid from his labor in
the mountains to procure something for my table, or
some new bird.

One day he brought to my door an iguana, nearly
five feet in length, and very ugly. He had seen it

MY FIRST CAMP. 29

basking on a limb beneath the cHfT, and had pinned it
with a long bamboo, while his brother secured it with
a noose made from a liane. I expressed a desire to
obtain its skin, and hastened to do so, but a woman
was already scorching the scales, which she afterward
scraped oft' in water. It looked quite repulsive, but
a piece which they later sent me I ate, finding it sweet,
tender, and white, not unlike chicken. This is the
season (March and April) when the iguana leaves the
rocks and precipices, and takes to the trees. He lives
on grass and leaves, principally, if not solely, and only
frequents the trees, they say, during the dry season ;
then he is hunted. During the wet season he lives in
his hole, or if he comes out he is hard to find. The
dogs of Laudat are trained to hunt this lizard.

I always held that for darning, pure and simple,
our good old grandmothers of the good old times held
rank -par excellence. This was conclusively proven
one day, when, having made a long rent in the leg of
an old pair of trovvsers, I took them to Mrs. Jean Bap-
tiste to be repaired. As I turned to go I was arrested
by an exclamation, and looking back found her at-
tentively examining them. Now, they were very old ;
how they got mixed up with the rest of my wardrobe
I do not know ; but as they were there I made use of
them in the woods, intending to leave them there,
peradventure they survived.

Years before they had been patched by my grand-
mother ; that maternal relative had a passion for darn-
ing perfectly unaccountable. Like Alexander, she
would shed tears when there were no more conquests
to make in her world of darning, and a new pair of
pantaloons, or a coat without a rent, was to her a

30 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

source of grief. How eagerly she would seize upon
a garment that showed signs of dissolution !

Jabbering a few hurried words in patois to a gargon
who quickly departed, Mrs. Jean Baptiste sat down
with the garment in her hands to await the arrival, as
I soon found, of the adult female population of Laudat.
When they had all arrived she arose and displayed- to
their united view the broadest part of my inoffensive
nether habiliments. At first they were speechless with
admiration, but soon broke forth into a chorus of Mon
Dieus ! each one reaching forward for a closer inspec-
tion.

The simple explanation of this is, they recognized
the work of a master-hand. Had some connoisseur
of paintings found in a garret — as some one is con-
stantly finding in a garret — a painting that, the dust
being removed, disclosed a Murillo or a Van Dyke,
he could not have been more delighted and surprised.
I say delighted, but sober reflection convinced them
that such handiwork should not be shown their lords
and masters ; and they grew troubled lest they should
see this masterpiece, and becoming dissatisfied with
their spouses' needlework, eventually sue for divorce
on grounds of incompetency, or some kindred cause.
Then they desired I should teach them ; but I pro-
tested that I never had taken lessons in that science, and
that unless they could puzzle it out for themselves, the
art, as an art, must be a lost one to them. Mine host
heard of it, however, and to him I gave the garment.
And it is said that he has caused to be preserved (by
framing or some other way) that design in darning,
and, having lopped off the legs for his youngest son,
regards the remainder as an art treasure of the highest

MY FIRST CAMP.

31

yViARIE.

value. If his wife gets refractory he has but to point
with warning gesture at that specimen of needlework,
and she at once subsides.

Even in this wild island, in the depths of the deepest
forest, there exists that fear of Mrs. Grundy that smoul-
ders in the human breast in town and city. Though
the young people of the mountains go about for days
and weeks with nothing on but a single gown or rag-
ged shirt, when the time comes for going to town they
must carry with them all they possess in the way of a
wardrobe ; and they will carry on their heads a large

32 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Indian pannier, or basket, with nothing in it but their
best clothes. When they reach the banks of the last
stream nearest town they don their finery, and cram
their unwilHng feet into unaccustomed shoes, and then
limp painfully into the metropolis, conscious that they
are objects of envy and admiration.

They are really prettier in the more becoming cos-
tume of the mountains — a simple dress gathered
about the hips, reaching to the knees ; and men and
boys handsomer in merely cotton pants, with broad
breast and muscular arms exposed. I have seen the
policemen, when in secluded country districts, walk-
ing with their shoes held carefully under their arm.
Though improvident of time, these people are very
careful of their clothing.

Jean Baptiste came in one day with a bunch of
** grives," or large thrushes, which are excellent eating
and desirable specimens. At my request he went down
into the woods and showed me the tree on which,
morning and afternoon, they could be found feeding.
It was then noon, and I could not find any ; but next
morning I started out with the intention of bagging a
few. Heavy showers came down every half-hour,
but I donned my rubber poncho, and waded on through
the wet forest, with my gun securely covered. My
course lay down tlie south ravine. On the hill to the
right was a tall jiguicr tree, the fruit of which is liked
by the birds. This fruit resembles in shape, size and
color, a cranberry, and is attached to the twigs in
clusters of two and three.

Now, I could have sworn to the exact position of
that tree ; yet, having tramped doggedly through the
rain for more than half an hour without seeing any

MY FIRST CAMP. 33

familiar tree or shrub, I began to look about me
sharply. Though I had noted the direction in my
mind's eye when shown the tree, I overshot it
in my search and got farther down. A group
of tree-ferns I remembered ; farther on, across a
brook, was a large rock — all right; but where was
the ants' nest in a dead tree that I had especially
noted? To understand why all my landmarks were
small and insignificant, the reader must be informed
that in these woods the trees are so large and shoot
up so high that their crowns afford no means of identi-
fying them ; and all their trunks are so much alike,
enveloped in masses of vines and ferns, that other ob-
jects must be chosen to guide the hunter in his rambles
here. Under thick foliage I went, until the roar of
the large waterfall came up to me, and I knew I
must retrace my steps, as the tree was on the ridge
between the two streams.

At once I was stopped by seeing on the ground be-
fore me scattered shreds oi Jiguier fruit, and looking
up, saw the tree above me. As I had approached
from the side opposite to that of my first visit, its sur-
roundings had seemed changed. The rain came
down in torrents, but glanced harmlessly from my
poncho. It was tiresome waiting, but I secured all I
wanted of the grives and went back to the main trail
leading to the Boiling Lake, and sat down on a
rock in a more open part of the forest, to try to
secure a few humming-birds. The rain had ceased,
and the sun was shining outside. Yielding to the
overpowering influence of silence and solitude, I
was indulging in a day-dream, when a voice awoke
me :

3

34 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

" Bon jour ^ monsieur ! "

I looked up, and saw two brown-skinned maidens.
One was a little mulattress, about ten years old ; the
other was Marie — light-hearted, sunny Marie — in
whose veins flowed the blood of three races. The
blood of the African showed in her wavy hair and full
lips, and told what was the original stock with which
that of the Carib was mingled ; and that of the jovial
Frenchman, who had wandered to these wilds years
and years ago, gave the roundness and suppleness of
limb, the quick merry eye, the oval cheek, and little
hands and feet.

^^ Bon jour. Mademoiselle Marie: where are yoa
going?"

" Pour chcrchcr Ics ecrcvisse " — To look for cray-
fish.

O-aytish ! Why, just what I wanted ; for I had
promised one of the professors in Washington to make
collections of these very animals. I glanced up through
a hole in the leafy roof above me and judged it was
about ten o'clock, unless the sun's rays were refracted
in coming through.

" Have you anything for me to eat, Marie?"

** Yes, monsieur."

" Then I will go with you."

" It gives me much plaisir, monsieur."

''Well, lead the way."

Reader, if you look in a work on natural history for
information regarding the crayfish, you will find it
there given as a " long-tailed decapod ; " and, pur-
suing the subject still farther, you will see that it is
also crustacean — a " decapod crustacean." And thus
you might follow the author up to the branch articu-

MY FIRST CAMP. 35

lata, and back again through all its divisions and
ramifications, and all you will know about it will be
that it is a long-tailed decapod, and inhabits fresh-
water streams.

Long-tailed decapod, forsooth !

Come with me, reader, and I will show you more of
crayfish and their ways than you can learn in a week
of books. Follow in my wake, or, as the path is
slippery, take good hold of my hand. The way leads
up hill and over rocks, wet and smooth, for perhaps a
mile. Don't mind the wet leaves that continually flap
in your face, or the vines and creeping ferns that
vex your feet. Take a good grip and come along.
In the language of the immortal bard (who, by the
way, never knew of crayfish like these) :

" I prithee, let me bring thee where crabs grow."

We may have completed a mile, when Marie
stopped: "Stay here, monsieur." I staid, while she
went behind a large rock and removed her shoes.
Then I was allowed to follow on until the path was
left, and we entered the deeper woods to descend to
the river. Opposite another huge rock she stopped
again. "Wait there, monsieur." Behind this rock
she darted with her little companion, and shortly re-
appeared.

Satyrs and wood-nymphs ! I thought these girls
about as thinly clad as possible when they disap-
peared behind the rock, but I declare in all serious-
ness, they had left a large bundle of clothes behind.

What a mysterious combination is woman ! And
there they stood, laughing and blushing, in a single
dress each, loosely gathered at the shoulders, and at

36 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the waist by a girdle. This was becoming serious.
If there were any more rocks in our path, I felt morally
certain they would dodge behind them. And then
how would they appear? My hair began to bristle.
I was resolved to stop it at all hazards.

" Look here, Marie I "

"Yes, monsieur."

"Don't do that any more."

" What, monsieur? "

"Don't go behind any more rocks ; don't takeoff
any more garments."

" Why no, monsieur ; it is impossible !"

No amount of italicizing or exclamation-points can
render the astonishment in her tone as she thus as-
sured me ; and feeling that I could then safely proceed,
I gave the order to go on. We reached the river —
the stream that flows out of tlie mountain lake — broad
and with gravelly beach, with immense bowlders as
islands, and a wall of vegetation on either side that rose
straight up a hundred feet. Here my guides left me
to my own devices and waded into the stream in search
of , crayfish. I saw a bird I had not seen before, and
pursued it along the shore until stopped by a cascade.
It was within shot, however, and at the report of my
gun it fell into a little pool. The rocks were smooth
as glass, and my great boots, though good protection
from the vines and thorns, were but poor aids in
clambering over these rocks. The result was that I
unexpectedly sat down upon a rock, and very sud-
denly I came down, too. There was a stream of
water rushing over that rock six inches in depth, so
that my fall did not hurt me ; but the rapid-flowing
sheet stmck my back with great force, and climbed

MY FIRST CAMP. 37

up over my coat-collar so rapidly that I was im-
mediately as bloated as a bull-frog. The rain had
long ago drenched me, but, though wet before, I did
not care to get wet behind.

My half-smothered yells brought Marie to my as-
sistance, and she rescued me and the bird, and then
suijcjested I could wade better with mv boots off.
Happy thought! The boots were removed. I need
not detail, to any one who has had the experience, the
pleasure of wading barefoot over stones and rocks for
the first time in years. A little torture was enough
for me, and in half an hour I was quietly seated, dry-
ing in the sun, watching the girls at their work. The
stream was broad, with deep pools, and in these
pools the crayfish lurked, looking like miniature
lobsters through the clear water. I could see only
the small ones, but Marie assured me there were large
ones out of sight beneath the cascades. I was glad of
that, for several severe nips from these small ones had
given me enough of crayfish, and I did not care
whether my friends in America ever got a specimen.

Erect upon the rock she stood a moment, then
plunged head-foremost into a foaming pool, disap-
pearing from sight. A moment later, rising bubbles
preceded a round little head, from which hung long,
limp tresses ; a pair of shoulders brown and bare, and
round arms and little hands reaching out for a support.
She had a crayfish in each hand, and another, with
wriggling legs, in her mouth. These she handed to
the little girl on the rock near me, and then climbed
out and stood erect, with heaving bosom and parted
lips, and nonchalantly gathered up her dripping
skirts and wrung from them the water. Outlined

38 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

against that wonderful background of tropical leaves,
with its depths of shade and gleams of light, with the
water dashing against the rock upon which she stood,
and parting in sheets of foam, what a charming naiad
she appeared ! Naiad she may have been, but she could
hardly have been called a Dry-ad, as the water had
caused her garment to cling closely to her shapely
figure, and was pouring from it.

Once, breathless and excited, she arose, and came
to me with an ugly water scorpion between her fingers,
one of which was red and swollen, where the venom-
ous thing had bitten it. Thus we went on up the
stream until near the mountain lake, when our way was
stopped by a jam of broken limbs. Then we turned
down again until halted by a series of wells, worn from
the rock by the action of the water, twenty feet deep,
into which the flood plunged wildly, ever descending,
on its way to the grand leap of two hundred feet into
the valley below. While my companions searched a
side stream I remained on the banks by the trail.
Daylight waned and they came not ; the gathering
gloom urged me to be up and on my way home ; but
the trail was obscured, and I was not sure of reaching
my hut in the dark without a guide. So I waited,
perforce. Everything living seemed to have left the
river's banks, and the only companion to my solitude
was a gayly-colored lizard, which lay upon a branch
and watched mc. In the interest of science — but
against my better feelings — I held a bottle before his
nose, and he walked into it. Then I put in the cork,
and later he was having his fill of rum ; not the first
victim of the bottle — and of science.

Voices reached me not long after, and none too

MY FIRST CAMP. 39

soon, for we had hardly light enough to reach the
main path. Late as it was, however, Marie prepared
some of the fish when she reached her mother's house,
and sent them to me with some fragrant limes and a
spicy pepper. The delicate flesh as far surpasses
that of the coarse, garbage-feeding lobster in flavor,
as a " saddle-rock " does a coon oyster. With a drip-
ping of lime-juice and a dash of West India pepper,
some Peak & Freans' biscuit and a bottle of Tennant's
pale ale, I supped so delightfully that all my mishaps
were forgotten. I even queried whether crayfish-
hunting, with a dusky maiden of sixteen, who ex-
tended a helping hand when you slipped, laughed
merrily when you fell, talked musical patois as she
pattered along, were not better than hunting through
musty books.

4Q CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SUNSET-BIRD. — HUMMING-BIRDS.

THE CRATER-TARN. — TEMPORARY CAMPS. — THE " SOLEIL COU-
CHER." — "HEAR THE SUNSET." — A BIRD POSSESSED OF THE
DEVIL. — THE CAPTURE. — A SPECIES NEW TO THE WORLD. —
FOUR SPECIES OF HUMMING-BIRDS. — THE tJARNET-THROAT
AND GILT-CRESTED. — DAN, THE HUNTER. — CATCHING BIRDS
WITH BREAD-FRUIT JUICE. — IN CAPTIVITY. — DEATH. — THEIR
FOOD. — METHODS OF CAPTURE. — THE HUMMING-BIRD GUN. —
THE AERIAL DANCE.

IN all the Caribbee Islands there are volcanoes,
many of them still at work, ejecting, not lava, but
steam and sulphur fumes. In the mountains one finds
numerous tarns of clear, cold water, filling these ex-
tinct craters to the brim, and pouring their surplus
flood down the mountain sides to form rivers in the
valleys below. How came they there, these lakes
of unknown depth? Are they fed by subterranean
streams, or have the craters become choked, and, in-
stead of vomiting forth water, and gases generated
in the center of the earth, become merely receptacles
for the drainage of surrounding mountains? Who
knows ? We only know that we cannot sound their
depths with plummet-line, and that the water is pure
and tasteless. Ages and ages have they existed here,
and he must be more than geologist, and acquainted
with the plans of a great Creator, who would answer
these questions.

THE SUNSET-BIRD. 4I

Such an one was the Httle lake above my first camp
in the mountains. Twenty-three hundred feet above
the sea, right in the crest of the mountain-ridge, sur-
rounded by the most wonderful vegetation ever be-
held by man, it reposed in solitude. On all sides but
one the hills rose above it, dipping toward it and
forming a hollow through which rushed the trade-
winds from the Atlantic to the Caribbean Sea. The
trail leading from sea to ocean passed near it, and
a cave, hollowed from a clayey bank, gave shelter
from rains to the passers-by and to the people from
the coast who sometimes came marooning here. A
tree-fern, between path and lake, arose above the
matted carpet of wild plants beneath.

From my perriianent camp I frequently went out
into the forest for days, taking with me a young
Indian as porter and guide. Leaving this mountain
lake, one day, we took a little-used trail along the
ridge to the northward. Late in the afternoon we
came to another solitary lake, ringed round with giant
trees. To my surprise, my guide at once made prepa-
rations for a camp, or an ajotipa^ as he called the
primitive structure hastily erected every night to shel-
ter us from the damp.

Darkness settles swiftly in these tropic forests. No
sooner is the sun down than night is upon you ; con-
sequently we always camped as soon as the sun had
set, for traveling after dark in these wilds is a thing
impossible.

I objected to camping then, thinking we had at
least another hour of daylight, though I could not
tell, the forest was so dense, when he quickly de-
manded : "What ! vou no hear the sunset?"

42 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

I was astonished. ''Hear the sunset I No, cer-
tainly not ! "

** Ah, monsieur, me no mean the great sun, le grand
solciU but the bird called the 'Sunset-bird,' 'Le Soleil
Couchcr.'"

Here was a mystery, an object worthy of investi-
gation— a bird that acted as the forester's clock, that
told him the time to go to bed. At once I proposed
to go in search of it ; but my guide piteously pro-
tested, declaring that it was a "jumbie-bird," — a bird
possessed of the devil, — and that to kill it would not
only endanger my lile, but bring death to the settle-
ment. Half an hour before sunset it utters its pecu-
liar cry, and half an hour before sunrise ; during the
day it is silent. '

"Listen ! " said my guide. In a few minutes there
rang through the forest a cry weird and mournful, yet
having in its notes a resemblance to the words soleil
couchcr — the equivalent in patois for sunset. It was
repeated by another bird and another, all around the
lake, one answering another. In less than half an hour
darkness had covered us, and the cries had ceased.

Grand old trees towered above me, their branches
matted together and hung with cable-like vines. In
the morning, I listened eagerly for a repetition of the
sounds of the night before, and was out and away
down to the lake-border with my gun, before my
guide was awake, or daylight had made it safe to
walk abroad. I was rewarded — "soleil coucher!*^
right over my head. Eagerly I gazed, but saw noth-
ing. The sound was repeated, and by other birds.
In the darkness it was impossible to distinguish any-
thing, though never so near.

THE SUNSET-BIRD. 43

Impatiently I awaited the coming of dawn, which
with its first indications rewarded my search. I saw
a dusky body, a bird so small that I concluded it
could not be the author of so loud a cry. But in a
few minutes I noted it in the very act ; and almost
before it had finished its note, and while the final
cadence was quavering on the air, the sound of my
gun announced to my guide that the deed was done,
and it was now too late to avert the vengeance of the
evil spirits. Regardless of his lamentations, I stood
absorbed in the contemplation of the bird now in my
hand. That it was a new bird I felt certain, and im-
mediately— as soon as my agitation had subsided —
I wrote a description of it.

In shape and size it resembles the "king-bird,"
so familiar to dwellers of the north ; it is eight and
one-half inches in length ; its upper plumage is dark
brown ; quills brownish-black ; under the wings pale
yellow ; throat and upper parts of breast and sides
clear bluish-gray ; portion of breast and under parts
pale yellow; bill broad and thin, and black like the
feet.*

Six months later this bird reposed in the Museum
at Washington, and I received from the ornithologists
(as I was then at work in a distant island) a notifi-
cation to the effect that it was a new species, and had
been named the Myiarchus Obcri. Though I after-
ward discovered many new birds, there was not one
with which it would have given me greater satisfac-
tion to have my name identified.

* The reader is referred, for farther information upon the birds
captured by the author, to the list of Birds of the Lesser Antilles,
in the Appendix.

44 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Standing there by that silent lake, the morning mist
enshrouding me, that strange bird in my hand, I fell
at once into a train of musing suggested by the thought
that this might prove a species new to the world. There
is something in such a thought inexpressibly thrilling :
to feel that to you alone has been vouchsafed the first
glance at a being that has existed for ages undiscov-
ered and unknown ; has lived and breathed and sung,
generation after generation of the same type ; and that
you, who now hold its breathless form in your hand,
are the first to look upon it ! At this age of the world,
when man has searched the remotest confines of the
globe, to find an animal so high in the scale as this —
that has heart and lungs, and in whose veins the
blood courses warm and red — is considered an event
worthy of chronicling in annals that endure for more
than a single generation.

Like these were my reflections that morning, —
meditations that caused me to ignore the superstition
of my ignorant friend, whose uneasiness regarding
the lives of those whom he considered I had placed
in jeopardy, was not soon allayed.

Four species of humming-birds greeted me in my
first camp in the tropics. They fairly lit up the val-
ley with their gleaming coats ; not a bush or tree in
flower that did not have one or more hovering above
it from morning till night.

Until the New World was discovered, the humming-
bird was not known to Europe. Though roaming from
the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic, it is ever American,
and never extends its migrations beyond the limits of
the Western continents. Of all the creations of bird-life

HUMMING-BIRDS. 45

this is the most beautiful, the most minute. Depend-
ing upon no single feature for attraction, — upon no
one plume or tuft of feathers, like the bird of para-
dise, upon no broad-spread, glaring colors, like the
parrot, — it is, in fact, the g'cm of the feathered world.
So often have poet and naturalist compared it, in the
brilliance of its flashing colors, to the gems of the min-
eral kingdom, that they have left little to be said, and
I can but repeat that it is now a topaz, now an em-
erald, a turquoise, or a ruby.

East of the Mississippi and north of Florida there
is but one species that can be called a regular visitor ;
this is the well-known ruby-throated humming-bird of
the North. As we go south w^e find them increasing,
both in species and in number, until the region of
greatest abundance is reached near the Equator.

In Dominica, half-way down the Antilles, and six-
teen degrees north of the Equator, I found four spe-
cies to replace the single one visiting the North, the
smallest of which were as large as the ruby-throat,
and the largest two inches longer.

This latter is called the garnet-throated hummer,
and is five and one-half inches in length, and seven
in stretch of wing. It is the most abundant, as well
as the most beautiful, and loves the mountain valleys,
where are gardens of plantains and fragrant flowers.
Its bill and feet are black ; a brilliant gorget of garnet
extends from beak to breast, each feather of which is
semicircular, and of the deepest crimson with gold
reflections. It should be seen poised in air hovering
above a flower, or preening itself upon a dry branch,
with the full blaze of a tropic sunshine glancing from
its throat, for one to form an adequate conception of

46 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

its beautv. The back is black with a blue shade, like
blue-black velvet ; wing and tail-coverts rich green
with bronze reflections ; all the feathers, be it noticed,
changing with every light that falls upon them. There
are two species that measure an inch less in length,
that have the crimson or garnet throat replaced by
metallic green and violet, and with backs of green
instead of blue-black. The fourth, and smallest, is a
little fellow, found everywhere, from coast to mountain-
top, in the gardens of the town and over the barren
hills. From his eccentric motions, he is called the
^'/bU'-J'ou" or crazy-crazy, for he darts hither, thither,
up, down, round and round, with seemingly aimless
purpose. He is sober in hue, and has only a little
pointed crest to give him beauty. But this little hel-
met of metallic green, now shining golden, now pur-
ple even, and steel-blue, flashes every ray of the sun
from its bright surface. His head is generally carried
with the beak pointing downward, so that the crest is
always seen to the best advantage.

There were three little chasseurs who used to sup-
ply me with every bug and bird within their reach.
It takes a boy, especially a boy of the woods, to find
out the haunts of the denizens of the forest ; and but
for these little collectors, my specimens would have
been fewer in number. Let us follow little Dan, the
eldest and sharpest of the humming-bird hunters, as
he goes out for birds. First he goes to a tree called
the mountain palm, which replaces the cocoa palm
in the mountains, the latter growing only along the
coast. Beneath the tree are some fallen leaves, fif-
teen feet in length ; these he seizes and strips, leav-
ing the mid-rib bare, a long, slender stem, tapering

HUMMING-BIRDS.

47

^UMMING-BIRD fiUNTERS

' ''"' to a point. Upon
this tip he places a lump
of bird-lime, to make
which he had collected
the inspissated juice of the
bread-fruit, and chewed
it to the consistency of
soft wax. Scattered over
the savanna are many clumps of flowering bushes,
over whose crimson and snowy blossoms humming-
birds are dashing, inserting their beaks in the hon-
eyed corollas ; after active forays, resting upon some
bare twig, pruning and preening their feathers. Cau-
tiously creeping toward a bush upon which one of
these little beauties is resting, the hunter extends the
palm-rib, with its treacherous coating of gum. The
bird eyes it curiously, but fearlessly, as it approaches
his resting-place, even pecking at it ; but the next mo-
ment he is dangling helplessly, beating the air with

48 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

buzzing wings in vain efforts to escape the clutches
of that tenacious gum.

The humming-birds brought me alive, I would place
in a large gauze-covered box ; but they seldom sur-
vived many days, notwithstanding great care. If
exposed to the light, they kept up a constant flutter-
ing until the muscles of their wings became so stiff
they could not close them, and they expired with
wings wide outstretched. Some would take their cap-
tivity quietly, and though flitting now and then to the
front of the box when light was admitted, would sit
upright upon the perch, giving an occasional chirp,
and dressing their feathers as serenely as if in the
open air. They would seem happy and cheerful ;
but the fact is, they are creatures of light and sun-
shine, and cannot exist without it. You may give
them their favorite food of honey and insects, fresh
flowers every day, with the morning dew yet drip-
ping from them, and yet, despite your tenderest care,
they will droop and die.

It is touching to witness the death of one of these
innocent beings. Though I have caused more than
one to lose its life, I never did it without a pang, as
though I were committing a great wrong. To shoot
a bird at a distance, and have him fall at a distance
without a struggle, is not the same as to see him die
in your hand. To watch the feeble fluttering of the
stiffening wings, the expiring glance of the fast-dim-
ming eye, the painful pulsations of the gentle heart,
the last quiver when all is over, — ah! how often
has my conscience reproached me when looking upon
such a scene. Again and again I have almost re-
solved never to kill another bird, and only the thought

HUMMING-BIRDS. 49

that I was doing this work in the interest of science
kept me to my purpose.

The little crested sprite bears confinement less easily
than the others, and rarely survives two or three days.
Every morning I would introduce a bough of fragrant
lime-blossoms, at which they would all dash instantly,
diving into the flowers with great eagerness. Sugar
dissolved in water, and diluted honey, was their favor-
ite food, and they would sip it greedily. Holding
them by their feet, I would place their beaks in a
bottle of syrup, when they would rapidly eject their
tongues and withdraw them, repeating this operation
until satisfied. The long slender tube, at that time,
looks like the tongue of a serpent, it is so deeply cleft,
or bifurcated. They never displayed fear, but would
readily alight on my finger and glance fearlessly up
at me, watching an opportunity, however, for escape.

In some of the islands, Martinique especially, the
boys shoot the small birds with pellets of clay or hard,
round seeds, through hollow canes lined with zinc or
glass. They kill a great many in this way.

The week before leaving America for the West
Indies I was the guest of a friend, who one day came
in with an odd-looking cane in his hand, and said :
"This is a gun I am going to give you to use in the
West Indies. It is for shooting humming-birds. And
you will value it all the more highly when I tell you
that it once belonged to Dr. Bryant, who used it in his
numerous excursions in the Bahamas." Dr. Bryant,
a naturalist of note, and donor to the Boston Society
of Natural History of the unsurpassed La Fresnaye
collection of birds, spent many years in the West
Indies previous to his death, and contributed much

4

5© CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

to our knowledge of the ornithology of those islands.
The gun looked, as I said, like a cane. The bar-
rel was slender, and painted to resemble a stick of
mahogany ; the stock unscrewed, and could be put in
the pocket; and as the ramrod went inside the barrel,
where it was secured by a tompion, and hammer and
trigger shut down out of sight, this gun made a very
convenient walking-stick. Doubly valued by me on
account of having belonged to my friend and to a natu-
ralist whom all the world knew, this gun accompanied
me in all my wanderings. It was an excellent arm, and
I have shot more than five hundred birds with it alone.
Not only on humming-birds, but on larger game, did
I try its shooting qualities. For hummers it needed
but a taste of powder and a thimbleful of dust shot.

Not for the collecting of specimens merely was my
mission ; I was to obtain all the information possible
of the habits of the birds — of their home life. It was
in this study of them in their forest retreats that I took
keen delight, and considered the shooting of them as
a necessary evil to procure their identification.

In one of my daily rambles for this purpose, I en-
tered a gloomy glen in the deep forest. Soon as my
eyes became accustomed to the gloom, I espied a
humming-bird dancing in the air. There was not a
flower in sight, and he did not fly as when in pur-
suit of nectar-bearing flowers, but hovered more on
suspended wing, darting sidewise, backward and for-
ward, with the body in an almost erect position. If
tiirough the deep shade a sunbeam slanted athwart
the glen, his throat gleamed like a ruby. Now, this
fantastic dance was not for pleasure, but for food. I
ascertained that at such times they are in pursuit of

HUMMING-BIRDS. 5 1

insects ; have seen the insect swarms, and so long
as there remain any in sight — and even long after
they have disappeared from my view — the bird darts
hither and thither, snapping them up vvdth great rapid-
ity. At such times he does not content himself with
a sip here and there and then alight upon some twig
or liane, as when gathering honey, but evidently con-
siders the fleeting nature of the prey he is pursuing,
and shoots from one hunting-ground to another till he
has obtained his fill.

Beneath me, lining the walls of a deep gorge in
vv^hose depths a little rivulet tinkled, was a broad area
of the plant called by the natives balisier, or wild
plantain. The leaves of this plant are about six feet
in length, broad and green, like the leaves of a
banana. From the bases of these leaves shoot up
long spikes of crimson and yellow cups, arranged
like the flowers of the gladiolus. They are boat-
shaped and about three inches in length, and their
bright colors lighted up this shady spot like sunshine.
Above their broad silken leaves Garnet-throat hov-
ered a moment to scan the interior of these flowers,
perchance he might see an insect for him there. A
sudden desire came over me to possess the bird, and
quick as the thought was formed my gun was at my
shoulder, and its sharp report echoed through the
silent woods. High and low I searched, but could
not find him, until, looking down upon the spot for
a final glance, I caught sight of his gleaming throat
which a stray sunbeam had lighted on. He lay en-
shrined in one of those golden caskets, leg uplifted and
wings loose spread, eclipsing even those bright tints of
orange and crimson in the vivid glow of his gorget.

52 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER V.

THE BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA.

A WILD CAT. — TREE-FERNS. — MOUNTAIN PALMS. — A RARE
HUMMING-BIRD. — THE VALLEY OF DESOLATION. — MISLED BY
A BOTTLE. — BOILING SPRINGS. — HOT STREAMS. — SULPHUR
BATHS. — THE SOLFATARA. — BUILDING THE AJOUPA. — COOK-
ING BREAKFAST IN A BOILING SPRING.

Dominica's fire-cleft summits
Rise from bluest of blue oceans ;
Dominica's palms and plantains
Feel the trade-wind's mighty motions,
Swaying with impetuous stress
The West Indian wilderness.

Dominica's crater-caldron
Seethes against its lava-beaches ;
Boils in misty desolation ; —
Seldom foot its border reaches ;
Seldom any traveler's eye
Penetrates its barriers high.

Lucy Larcom.

THE record of the weather for a month : showery,
cool and delightful. On the coast it was ten
degrees hotter ; but in this elevated valley, two thou-
sand feet above the sea, the eastern peaks caught the
flying clouds from the " trades " and precipitated their
burden of moisture.

The Roiling Laki

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 53

For two weeks I had been awaiting a change of
the moon that was expected to bring a drier season, and
one night my friend Jean Baptiste came to my hut with
the welcome news, "To-morrow make weddah." As
he predicted, the weather cleared. There came to me
the sons and nephews of Jean Baptiste (four in num-
ber), who were laden, and departed one after the
other. Francois had a large Carib pannier filled
with yams, coffee and eggs, a blanket, his never-
absent cutlass, and a gun ; Michael took my camera,
a bag of provisions, cutlass and gun ; Joseph, my dark
box with photographic chemicals, cutlass and gun;
Seeyohl, a large sack of yams and plantains, cut-
lass and gun. With my game-basket and humming-
bird gun, I followed immediately after my guides.

We crossed the three streams hurrying from the
mountain to the precipice, where they are compressed
into two magnificent waterfalls, and climbed the hills
beyond, over a path of interlaced roots, from among
which the earth had been washed, leaving a perfect
ladder, which served us both in ascending and de-
scending. Past one of the little " provision grounds,"
where, among fallen and decayed trees, were growing
lusty plantains, bananas, yams and tanniers ; across
another stream and up farther to the crown of the ridge,
where the path led through cool and open " high
woods," where the sim " can't come," and where pcr-
drix, or mountain doves, sprang up from all about us,
and rainicrs, or wood-pigeons, dashed in and out of
the tall tree-crowns. At eleven o'clock we reached
"La Riviere Ddjeuner," where we breakfasted upon
boiled eggs and yams, with clear cold water for drink.

Our dogs (we had four curs trained to hunt the

54 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

agouti) left us in the middle of our meal and darted
into the forest with loud yelps. Fran9ois followed
them, encouraging them with peculiar cries ; for these
mountaineers have a sympathetic understanding with
all animate objects about them, and can guide, hie on
and recall their dogs simply by varying their voice.
Fran9ois urged them on, but in a few minutes they
came to a stand-still, and their excited yelps assured
us that whatever they were pursuing was brought to
bay. We thought they had an agouti — a small ani-
mal, in size between a rabbit and a woodchuck — but
the execrations of Franqois a little later, which pre-
ceded his appearance from the deep shade, prepared
us for the unwonted sight, in these wilds, of a wild
cat. It was not a wild cat in the true sense of the
word — not a Lynx rufus — being only a " chat maron "
— a cat of the domesticated species run wild. It was
gray in color, striped with black, and larger and more
strongly made than the cats of the coast, who do not
have to forage for a living ; showing how, in time, a
new species might be possibly the result of this change
of life. It lives in the deep woods, preying upon
small birds, lizards and crabs, and is as savage and
untamable as any specimen of the genus to be found
in American back-woods. My men skinned it at my
request and wrapped the skin in a plantain leaf, to be
hung up until our return. The most weird thing
about this animal was the eye ; the iris yellow, chang-
ing to green, but seen glowering from darkness it was
red — blood-red — red as fire, that glaring, glassy red
which I have seen in the panther, and which makes
the \\\\Afclid<B so terrible to face in their lairs.

We had here to climb the sides of a steep gorge, the

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 55

walls of which were almost perpendicular, where slip-
pery roots and hanging lianes only, enabled us to
accomplish the ascent. One portion of our route was
through a bowl-shaped depression containing a few
acres, in which seemed concentrated all the glorious
vegetation indigenous to these tropical forests. Hun-
dreds and thousands of plants of strange and beauti-
ful shapes were massed together in prodigal confusion.
Conspicuous among them was the grand tree-fern.

Those who have seen in glass-house or garden of
acclimatization, only, the stunted specimens of this
plant, can form hardly a conception of the grandeur
of these arborescent ferns in their native homes. They
are rarely found in perfect development at a lesser al-
titude than one thousand feet above the sea, and it is
in the " high-woods " belt alone that they attain their
greatest height and perfect symmetry. They love
cool and moist situations, revel in shade and delight
in solitude. " If," says Humboldt, 'they descend to-
ward the sea coast, it is only under cover of thick
shade." T have seen them in these mountains, in the
vegetable zone most favorable for their growth — that
between fifteen hundred and twenty-five hundred feet
above the sea — of a height of thirty or thirty-five feet.
Then, truly, were they impressive in their combination
of delicately traced leaves and slender stems; essential-
ly children of the tropics. There is sublimity in their
expression. There is a suggestiveness of a benedic-
tion in those lace-like leaves, which are spread above
the head of the observer like outstretched hands, and
which only move gently and tremulously, ever pulsat-
ing to the slightest breath of air. The light that fillers
through the cocoa-palm leaves is wonderfully lambent

56 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

and golden, but cannot compare with the chastened
sunbeams that reach one standing beneath this queen
of the mountain solitudes ; perchance the sun can peti-
etrate to it. There are several species, one of which,
with unusually prickly stem (the Cyathca Imrayana^^
is named for Doctor Imray, a resident botanist of the
island.

Though the ferns replace, in a measure, the palms, in
the ascent from coast to mountain-top, yet there is one
species that climbs to as high an altitude as the fern,
and is found everywhere on the mountain side until
the sub-alpine vegetation is reached. This is the
mountain palm, the " palmiste montagne," the "moun-
tain cabbage," Euterpe montana. Euterpe, goddess
of lyric poetry ; no tree of the forest more fitly sym-
bolizes the realm of song over which she presides. In
every curve and movement is grace and feeling,
whether the long leaves wave gently to the mid-day
breeze, or whether they beat wildly their sustaining
trunks in the violence of the hurricane. It is not tall
for a palm, but is slender and has a lovely crown, and
ministers to the wants of the mountaineers in many
ways, as will be seen farther on. Inhabiting the same
region with the tree-fern and loving the same cool,
solitary shades, it accompanies it in its march up the
mountains, and ceases with it at the upper edge of the
high-woods belt. Two such creations were enough
to give these forests world-wide fame; but there are a
thousand others which I cannot describe for want of
knowledge, nor if I could, for lack of space.

We passed streams every half-mile large enough to
turn a mill in the rainy season, but which were then
low. Up their rocky beds the trail pursued its way ;

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 57

rough, slippery work it was, with many watery
escapades and some falls — waterfalls. Through
dense groups of callas, and other water plants, we
were obliged to force our way. At a jam of trees
which I was painfully climbing, I saw a humming-
bird poised above a flower. I had been sufficiently
long in these mountains, I thought, to procure every
species ; but this was different from any I had shot,
and consequently he was at once added to my other
victims, and was picked up below by one of my guides,
as he floated like a golden leaf upon the stream. It
proved to be a rare species, found heretofore only at
the mouth of the Amazon, and rare even there, (the
Thalurania waglcri) ; and it now rests in Washing-
ton, one of the many types of West Indian birds I had
the pleasure of sending to our National Museum.

Leaving the stream, we climbed another steep hill-
side, and traveled along a ridge, on either side of
which are valleys leading to the sea and ocean. Per-
drix and grtvcs, or thrushes, started up at intervals.
The " sifficur montagne " (the " mountain whistler ")
sent up liquid melody from every ravine ; warblers
were few, and humming-birds the only ones abundant.
These, and even insects, grew rare and finally ceased
entirely as the lake valley was reached, and the sul-
phur fumes, ever increasing in volume, were borne to
us in dense clouds. We made a detour and again
took the stream, now lessened to a trickling run, where
everything was decaying, reeking with moisture, and
slippery with confervoid growth. No snakes appeared
now, not even a lizard ; animal life was absent in this
approach to the infernal regions. The trail was bar-
ricaded by fallen trees, detached rocks, tangled lia-

58 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

nas; flowers were few, the crimson cups of the wild
plantain were alone conspicuous.

After three hours of hard scrambling we were re-
warded by a view of the first sulphur valley contain-
ing ih^'^ petite soufrierc" from which steam ascended
in clouds. It is a basin several hundred feet deep,
one side of which is broken down, surrounded by
steep hills, the valley w^alls of which, mostly denuded
by land-slides, are covered elsewhere by a sparse
growth of vegetation. Seeing an opening in the trees,
I prepared to descend, though the trail was faint and
appeared old. But, being in advance and impatient
to get at the wonder below, I ventured alone, and had
proceeded but a few rods when I was assured by the
sight of a familiar object — a bottle — on a stick. I
am not sure but that a sight of it caused me to
depart from the beaten path ; at any rate, I was di-
verted, though the bottle was in-verted. A shout from
above halted me just as I had reached the brink of a
precipitous 'bank, the earth of which was beginning
to crumble beneath my feet. Dejectedly I retraced
my steps, my faith in the goodness of mankind some-
what shaken. Months later, while conversing with a
good friend — Dr. Nicholls, of Roseau — it came out
that he was the culprit ; that he had placed the bottle
there in the kindness of his heart, as the good Indian
is said to have set up a stake in every bog in which
he got bemired, as a warning to others.

A warning ! In this thirsty land a bottle is as
necessary to one's existence as a loaf of bread ; and I
have met with those who held it more directly essential
to the preservation of life than the generally recog-
nized " staff."

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA.

59

Nearly half an hour's careful work was necessary
to descend that steep wall, clinging to roots and stems
of small trees, at the end of which we reached a
gentle slope facing south, covered with trees of goodly
size. Here were the remains of an old encamp-
ment, empty bottles and sulphur specimens. A stream
trickled near by, which we followed to the sulphur
basin, whence sulphuretted fumes ascended that would
have choked out the stench of a thousand rotten eggs.
This was but the beginning of the valley of wonders,
the portal to the enchanted land of mysteries. The

6o CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

basin was covered with rocks and earth, white and
yellow, perforated like the bottom of a colander,
whence issued steam and vapor and sulphur fumes,
hot air and fetid gases. There was a full head
of steam on, puffing through these vents with the
noise of a dozen engines. There were spouting
springs of hot water; some were boiling over the
surface, some sending up a hot spray, some puffing
like high-pressure steamers. Clouds of steam drifted
across this small valley, now obscuring every rock and
hole, now lifting a few feet, only to settle again. Tlie
silver in my pockets and the brass mountings of my
camera were soon discolored to a blue-black hue.
Several streams ran out and down, uniting in a com-
mon torrent : streams hot, impregnated with sulphur ;
streams cold, clear and sparkling, only a yard apart ;
water of all colors, from blue and green to yellow and
milk-white.

The heat of a West Indian noon was made tenfold
oppressive by the hot, moisture-laden atmosphere. My
foot slipped, as we groped our way through the clouds
of vapor, and got slightly scalded by breaking through
the tiiin crust that covered the boiling caldron beneath.
We descended between huge white rocks and bleached
and dying trees to a stream of marvelous beaflty, pick-
ing our way among volcanic bowlders. At once the
scene ciianged ; we entered a ravine through which
flowed the streams from above, now mingled in one
tepid torrent, along whose banks grew, rank and lux-
uriant, plants of such tropic loveliness as made me
hold my breath in delight and surprise. Everywhere
plashed and tinkled musical waterfalls and cascades ;
from all sides little streams came pouring in their trib-

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 6l

ute ; here a cold and sparkling stream, there another
boiling hot, its track betokened by a wreath of steam.
There were tree-ferns, wild plantains', palms, orchids
and wild pines, tropical vines, lianas, strange flowers,
gay epiphytes. Up and down and across stretched the
lianas, forming a net-work which my guides were
obliged to sever repeatedly with their great cutlasses.
Along the bank of this stream and through the water
we walked in delight — at least I did — for it seemed
a very tropical Eden, And yet on all sides of us was
barrenness and desolation ; these beautiful forms were
all created by the action of hot water upon the scanty
soil. Climbing, slipping, scrambling, we at last
reached a steep hill-side, where trees of different kinds
were growing ; and here we rested, for here was the
spot selected for our camp.

But there yet remained the Lake, to which all these
strange sights were but preparatory scenes. It was
but a twenty-minutes' walk, or climb, to the basin.
We could hear it roarinfj behind the hill. Leavinfj
superfluous luggage, and two men to make camp, I
started on again with nothing but gun and photo-
graphic apparatus. We reached another river, which
was tumbling noisily over blanched tree-trunks and
sulphur-encrusted rocks, and came out of a large
mound of scoriae and pumice white as snow. Its
water was milk-white from the quantity of magnesia
held in solution, and steaming hot. Into it poured
minor streams of every shade, from white to ochreous,
and one black as ink.

Up over large rocks, covered with soft sphagnum,
green and white in color ; up, over and through rapids
and around falls, passing feeding streamlets of hot,

6a> CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

cold, mineral and pure water by turns, into a basin (at
the immediate base of a high mountain), with heaps
of sulphur-stones scattered over a smooth floor of bi-
tumen, with a jet of steam escaping here and there
from a hole or fissure in its quaking crust ; up the
banks of a Httle stream of sulphur water, subterranean
at times, leaving the rivers behind us, and having a
steep bank before us, which we quickly scaled, and
there revealed to our gaze, lay the Lake.

My first feeling was that of disappointment, for the
surface of the lake, usually so turbulent, was placid,
save in the center a slight movement — more from the
escape of gas than from ebullition — disturbed it, and
sent ever-expanding wavelets to the shore. It is sunk
in a huge basin, which it has hollowed out for itself.
Undoubtedly, it was once a spring, or geyser, which,
by the volume and violence of its flow, increased and
deepened the aperture through which it escaped, until
it reached its present dimensions.

The height of its surrounding walls I estimate
at from eighty to one hundred feet, and its di-
ameter at from three hundred to four hundred. As
there have been no accurate measurements — indeed,
the total number of white men who have looked upon
it is not a score — its area will long be a matter of
speculation only. The banks are of ferruginous eai;th,
with stones and rocks imbedded, as nearly perpendic-
ular as their consistency will allow, and constantly
caving and falling in.

Two streams of cold water fall into tiie lake on the
north, above which rise high hills. Down the bed of
one of these we found a place to leap. My apparatus
was passed down, and I at once proceeded to secure a

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 63

picture of the lake. It was then four o'clock, and the
sun had dropped very near the margin of the western
hills, and just lingered sufficiently to allow me to
secure the first photograph ever made in these moun-
tains. Well for me the lake was in a state of qui-
escence. Well for the success of my picture that the
water was not in a wild fury of ebullition, and that its
basin was not filled with steam, as it had ever been
found before.

Directly opposite the stream in which I stood was
the rent in the wall through which flowed the overflow
from the lake, when it was at its work, through which
at such times poured a stream of sulphur-water that
formed a torrent and descended to the coast below.
Through this gap I could look away south, across and
over green mountains to the shores of Martinique
gleaming through the mist in the waning sunlight,
twenty miles away, yet seemingly within an hour's
row of yonder ridge. This rent is from thirty to forty
feet in width at the top, and perhaps fifty in depth.

I descended to the lake margin. The rim of
recent subsidence was clearly defined : a belt of black,
yellow and gray deposit, some three feet wide. It was
narrower on the second day, and the ebullition had
much increased, showing that, though I was the first
to discover it in repose, it must be intermittent in
chai^cter, and was then preparing to boil forth again.
For this effect I waited long, much desiring to see it
in that state, but was not gratified, though the dis-
turbance and noises continued to increase and the
water to rise.

The temperature of the water, as far out as I could
reach my thermometer, was ninety-six degrees ; of

64 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the air at the same time, sixty-seven degrees ; of the
streams falling into the lake, sixty-five degrees, Fahr-
enheit. Some months previously. Dr. Nicholls, one
of the original exploring party who discovered this
lake, found it at a temperature of one hundred and
ninety-six degrees ; and Mr. Prestoe, of the Botanic
Gardens of Trinidad, recorded from one hundred and
eighty to one hundred and ninety degrees. They
also found it fiercely boiling, the whole crater filled
with steam, and could obtain only occasionally a
glimpse of the water and surrounding walls. They
found no bottom with a line one hundred and ninety-
five feet long, ten feet from the water's edge. With
Mr. Prestoe, I conclude that this solfatara, by widen-
ing and deepening its outlet, will eventually lose its
lake character and become merely a geyser.

From the high bank above the lake, near the gap
through wliich the waters find egress, is a fine view of
the whole northern wall, with the streams falling down
from the background of mountain, the hollows and
miniature valleys and peaks beyond. The river-bed
below is dry and yellow ; but huge rocks, tons in
weight, that the waters have moved from their beds,
attest the force of the current when the lake is at its
height. From the north, coming down into another
desolate valley, are small streams -^-yellow, white,
green, blue. A spring boils up through a hole tin-ee
feet across, overtopping the surface eight inches or
more. The main volume of hot water comes from
higher up the mountains, and there is, I think, another
source as large as this, which at present is unknown.
The mountains around are green with low shrubs,
and from the bank above the lake I secured a giant

BOILING LAKK OF DOMINICA. 65

lycopocHum, which is not found elsewhere in any
abundance.

We retraced our steps about an hour before sun-
set, and found on the hillside a comfortable camp,
constructed by Francois and Joseph during our ab-
sence. The ajou^a, or camp constructed in haste, is a
peculiarity of these forests. Regarding the et^'mology
of the word, I am in doubt. Humboldt speaks of
the aj'upas, or kings' houses, among the Caribs of
South America, which were used as houses of enter-
tainment for travelers. Whatever the origin of the
term, it is now fixed in the patois of the mountain-
eers to designate a hut thrown up hastily for tem-
porary occupation — ■ what we, in America, would call
a "camp." My men first constructed a framework of
light poles, tied together with roots and vines, and
covered it with the broad leaves of the balisicr, or
wild plantain {^Ilcliconia hchia). This plant, which
grows everywhere in shade and moisture, is one of
the attractive features of the vegetation here. Its leaf
is like an elongated banana-leaf, but not so wide, and
with greater strength and toughness.

Like the palm, this plant serves a great variety of
uses. Its root is boiled and fed to hogs, I believe ;
the mid-rib of the leaf is stripped and split and woven
into baskets ; the leaves are used for the thatching of
huts, as substitutes for table-cloths and plates in the
woods, as envelopes in which to wrap anything of
soft nature, as butter or honey, — in fact, as wrap-
ping for everything portable, the tissue is so fine and
flexible. The 3-oung leaves are our substitute for
drinking-cups ; and it is niore convenient to twist off
an overhanging leaf and throw it away when done,
5

66 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

than to bear about with you a clumsy cup. Its utility,
then, is second only to that of the cocoa palm.

They had brought up huge bundles of the leaves
from the river below. Slicing the under side of the
mid-rib half-way through with a diagonal cut, leaving
a barb by which to attach it to the cross-pole, Fran-
cois handed the leaves to Joseph, who rapidly placed
them in position, attached to the pole and kept in
place by the projecting point, one row overlapping
the other. In a short time they had made a thick
roof, completely impervious to water, which was good
for a week, so long as the leaves remained green and
were not split and shrunken by the sun.

A raised platform of poles, all cut with the cutlass,
was covered with a good layer of leaves, and upon
this I spread my blanket and reposed quietly all night,
my faithful boys stretched upon the ground, lulled to
sleep by the rushing of the waterfalls.

"La belle," the firefly, illumined our camp in the
evening, and an odorous fire of the gum of the flam-
beau-tree gave both light and fragrant incense. Over
this, Joseph, in his French patois and broken Eng-
lish, told the story of the discovery of the lake by
Mr. Walt, the one who first surmised its existence, in
1875. This gentleman, a magistrate in the colony,
was prone to wander in the mountains in search of
adventure. One day he had penetrated farther than
usual, by following a valley that led up into the inte-
rior, and noticed in the air distinct and powerful sul-
phur fumes. Later, he set out to ascertain the cause,
taking with him two negroes as guides, but, through
the pusillanimity of his men, who abandoned him,
was lost in the forest for several days. Let Joseph
tell the story :

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 6*]

"Monsieur Watt he walk, walk, walk, pour tree
day ; he lose hees clo's, hees pant cut off', he make
nozing pour manger but root; no knife, no nozing;
hees guide was neegah [the mountaineers, though
some of them negroes themselves, have great con-
tempt for town negroes] ; zey was town neegah, and
leab him and loss him. He come to black man's
house in ze wood, and ze black man zink he joi7zbte,
and he run ; when he come back wiz some mo' men,
for look for jombie. Monsieur Watt he make coople
of sign, he have to lost hees voice and was not speak,
and zey deescover heem."

At daybreak we were stirring. I descended the
bank and waded up the stream to take my morning
bath. There were two streams, one hot, one cold,
which ran in near channels, meeting below. Fol-
lowing the warm one, stepping from pool to pool, I
reached a fall about twelve feet in height, surrounded
by a wealth of tropical plants, from the depths of
which it suddenly appeared. And it was hot — or
just as hot as skin could bear — as I sidled under it,
first a hand, then an arm, then a shoulder, until the
whole volume of warm water fell squarely upon my
head. Ah ! it was the perfection of luxurious sensa-
tions. I essayed to shout aloud in my delight, but
the falling water drowned my voice, and I paddled in
the pool in -silent ecstasy, drawing in long breaths,
and allowing the rushing of the water, the delicious
warmth of the bath, the flying spray, to lull me to
repose. I think I should have fallen asleep had I
not been warned, by slipping from the rock on which
I sat, that I was becoming unconscious. It was too
blissful to leave, too soothing, and I stepped from un-

68 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

der the warm douche only to return again and again.
Reaching out my hand, I placed it in a stream of cold
water, sulphur water at that, while I sat in this tepid
bath.

What benefits might l?e derived by those unfor-
tunates afflicted with rheumatism and kindred com-
plaints, from a dip in these healing waters ! They
would need a balloon, though, as means of convey-
ance, for only travel-toughened backs and sturdy
limbs can accomplish this journey at present.

My guides boiled coffee, and, that imbibed, we
shouldered our traps and marched back on the home-
ward trail. We reached the first Soufricre — the val-
ley of desolation — and halted, to allow me to take a
few photographs, and to cook our breakfast. The
sulphur fumes were so strong as to form a coating of
sulphide of silver on my negatives, but not to an ex-
tent to injure them.

The largest boiling spring is five feet across. As
some of these seemingly boiling springs are not in
complete ebullition, but have their waters agitated
from escape of gases, I took care to plunge my ther-
mometer into all. Several registered two hundred
and eight degrees — the lake is more than two thou-
sand feet above sea-level — and many one hundred
and forty and one hundred and sixty degrees. One
unfortunate experimenter, later in the season, plunged
a " store " thermometer into one of these springs, and
burst it, as its capacity was not equal to such high
temperature.

Perforating the broad fields of calcined stones are
little holes, whence issue steam and hot air ; very
few are inactive. Some, on the hillside, are large

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA 69

as an open grate, and have that shape. Into these
you can look deep down into black holes, sulphur
crystals in beautiful golden needles lining throat and
flue. It required great care not to break through
the crust in many places. My guide was constantly
warning me : " Have attention where you make you
feets ! "

While I was preparing chemicals and collecting
minerals, my boys were busily cooking our break-
fast; and they prepared it without fire, too, and so
expeditiously as to cause me wonder. In the forest
they had found some wild yams; Francois had shot
a few giant thrushes ; there were a few eggs remain-
ing of those we had brought with us.

Curiously I watched them at their work. Tying
the yams in a bit of cloth, and tying that to the end
of a stick, Joseph thrust them into the large boiling
spring. A few minutes later — I do not know just
how many — he drew them out completely boiled.
The eggs were treated in like manner, and lastly the
birds. Then we withdrew to the shade of a near
clump of balisiers, on the bank of a clear spring,
plucked a few leaves for plates, for cups, for napkins,
for protection from the damp earth as we sat down,
sprinkled our curiously-cooked food with pepper and
salt, and feasted merrily, though half strangled by
the sulphur fumes. In watching this cooking process,
I could not but think of our own wonderful geysers
in the Yellowstone, where explorers caught trout in a
stream and cooked them in a boiling spring, without
removing the fish from the hook or changing their
own positions.

Then we turned our backs upon this valley of won-

70 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ders — this collection of craters within a crater long
ago inactive. My guides placed their loads upon
their heads, and we climbed the hills, keeping time
to the rhythmic pulsations of a steam-vent, which
ejected its vapor with regular puffs, the din of which
rang through the forest.

I cannot but feel how poor and meagre is this
description of that wonderful Boiling Lake, hid in
the bosom of those solitary mountains in tiiat tropical
island. The time may come — and it will be better
for Americans if it were speedily to come — when the
great attractions of these islands will be better known,
and I may not be able to say, as I sa}' now with truth,
I am the only American who has seen Dominica's
Boiling Lake.

We reached Riviere Dejeuner just at dark. I was
ahead. And here let me explain how I acquired
a reputation as a pedestrian, and why, if you speak
of the writer to one of these mountaineers, he will
shrug his shoulders and exclaim, "Ah! Monsieur
Fred, he walk like ze debbil !" Here is a statement
of the reason ; and I leave it to any sane person if
he would not have done the same under similar cir-
stances :

Eacli member of our party had a gun — my four men
and myself. In going up and down those cliffs, the
guns carried by my guides were sure to point at me,
no matter how I would try to dodge them. If I lagged
behind, I was confronted by a black muzzle ; if I went
ahead, two or more pointed at my exposed back.
Now, I have carried a gun ever since I could well use
one, and for two years have had one constantly by
my side ; but I never allow one to be pointed at me,

BOILING LAKE OF DOMINICA. 7 1

if I am aware of it. Going homeward, I stretched
my legs to their utmost, and kept ahead, scrambhng
over rocks and tree-trunks, and swinging myself down
steep banks by the roots of trees. My trowsers were
torn into shreds ; the perspiration started, legs shook,
and arms trembled. But I was determined to keep
out of range of those dreaded guns ; and I did, ar-
riving at my cabin full half an hour ahead of my
guides, who had supposed me lost and had detailed
two of their number to look me up. Jean Baptiste,
my host and forager-for-food, stood in the doorway
with a candle, and inside there stood a welcome table
with a good supper — yams and eggs and tender
mountain cabbage.

Speaking of my hot bath to Jean Baptiste, that
jewel instantly exclaimed that he had forgotten to
show me the best in the island, situated only a gun-
shot from my hut. Next day we visited it. Beneath
tall gommier trees stretching down lianes forty feet
long, shaded by broad-leaved plantains, was a pool
twenty feet across, made by damming a little brooklet
with volcanic rock. Its bottom was stone and gravel.
A tree-trunk had fallen across the stream, on which I
threw my clothes. The runlet was tepid, the pool a
little warmer. Suddenly my foot grew hot, as though
stung by a scorpion, and I became aware that the
pool was heated from below by small jets of hot water
forced up through crevices in the rocky crust. How
thick was that crust? Down the hillside, into the bath,
trickled warm water. A grotto had been hollowed out
by the action of these streams, and from this water
was spouted in hot spray and jets, heating the bath
for a square yard around. This grotto was lined with

72 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

crystals of sulphur, lime, and magnesia, and in places
was green like chalcedony — a most beautiful minia-
ture of some cave I have seen, where stalagmites of
every shape were colored by salts of iron.

Floating in this healing pool, in an element delight-
fully warm, I resigned myself to the unalloyed delight
that dripping water, tropical plants, and trees, and
balmy atmosphere, all contribute to induce. Floating
thus in dreamy sensuousness, I wondered vaguely
why this free life of the forest, untrammeled by care
or desire of gain, could not always exist for me. It
was too irksome to even think an answer ; impossible
to give it utterance ; and it remains unanswered to
this day.

AMONG THE CARIBS. 73

CHAPTER VI.

AMONG THE CARIBS.

THEIR PEACEFUL LIFE. — FRUITS AND FOOD. — THE SECOND VOY-
AGE OF COLUMBUS. — DISCOVERY OF THE CARIBS. — FIERCE
NATURE AND INTELLIGENCE OF THE " CANNIBAL PAGANS." —
UNLIRE THE NATIVES OF THE GREATER ANTILLES. — THE
CAKir. RESERVATION IN DOMINICA. — MY CAMP IN CARIB
COUNTP.V. — TWO SOVEREIGNS. — THE VILLAGE. — THE HOUSES.

— CATCHING A COOK. — A TORCHLIGHT PROCESSION. — LIGHT-
ING A ROOM WITH FIRE-FLIES. — "LOOK ZE COOK." — LABOR.

— DOMESTIC RELATIONS. — A DRUNKEN INDIAN. — WILD MEN

AND NAKED CHILDREN. CARIB PANNIERS. — THE ONLY ART

PRESERVED FROM THEIR ANCESTORS.

IN two of the smaller islands of the Caribbean Sea
lives a vestige of a once powerful people. A
people with a history ; an unwritten and forgotten
history, running back unnumbered ages, farther than
we can trace it ; but betjinninfj to be known to civil-
ized man when the existence of America was first be-
coming evident to his awakened senses.

Peaceful and gentle, singularly mild and affectionate,
they dwell happily in their rude houses of thatch, draw-
ing their sustenance from mother earth with occasional
forays upon the sea.

Bananas, plantains, yams, and tanniers are the
crops they cultivate, and altogether rely upon. The
bread-fruit grows about their cabins, and the mango

74 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

and cocoa palm, embowering their dwellings in per-
petual shade ; and the calabash (furnishing nearly all
their vessels for culinary use) spreads its gnarled
branches, with a wealth of useful products, at their
doors. Guavas grow wild, and the berries and buds
of the mountain palm, with many other fruits and nuts
of the forest, furnish them with food. The many
rivers yield to them delicious crayfish, water snails,
and limpets. If they can get rum, now and then, they
drink it and are happy — they are happy any way,
even without this occasional luxury.

In a land that is theirs by right ; beneatli a sky
ever genial, though not alwaN's smiling ; able to satisfy
hunger by little toil in the garden, or exertion upon
the sea, or in the river, it is not strange that they
should be content with the bounties of the present, nor
care to question the precarious prospects of the future.

In the morning the coolness of the bath provokes
one to linger, and later the warmth of the sun seems
to warn one from much exertion, while the heat of
mid-day positively forbids it. The increased coolness
of the afternoon, when the sun dips down behind the
mountain ridge, leaving two good hours of dreamy
shadow, tempts one to give one's self over to the enjoy-
ment of mere existence. Thus the days pass away
in this delightful clime. And now, that you, reader,
may better understand who are these people whom I
would describe in the following pages, allow me to go
back a few centuries; let me turn, in fact, to the first
page in American history, and let the same great navi-
gator who opened the way for the discovery of our
continent, relate the story of the finding of the Caribs.

Columbus sailed away from Cadiz, on his second

AMONG THE CARIES. 75

voyage, with a large fleet, fully equipped, September
25, 1493. On the second day of November he first
sighted land, and in exploring the shores of the island
— Guadeloupe — he found the people of whom he
was in search. " Here the Spaniards first saw the
anana, or pine-apple, the flavor and fragrance of
which astonished and delighted them. But what
struck them with horror was the sight of human bones,
vestiges, as they supposed, of unnatural repasts, and
skulls apparently used as vases and other household
utensils. These dismal objects convinced them that
they were now in the abodes of the Cannibals, or
Caribs, whose predatory expeditions and ruthless char-
acter rendered them the terror of these seas.

" In several hamlets they met with proofs of the
cannibal propensities of the natives. Human limbs
wef-e suspended to the beams of the houses as if curing
for provisions; the head of a young man, recently
killed, was yet bleeding ; some parts of his body were
roasting before the fire, others boiling with the flesh
of geese and parrots."

On the following day the boats landed and suc-
ceeded in taking and bringing off a boy and several
women. From them Columbus learned that the in-
habitants of this island were in league with two neigh-
boring islands, but made war upon all the rest. They
even went on predatory enterprises, in canoes made
from the hollowed trunks of trees, to the distance of
one hundred and ffty leagues.

Their arms were bows and arrows, pointed with the
bones of fishes or shells of tortoise, and poisoned with
the juice of a certain herb. They made descents
upon the islands, ravaged the villages, carried off the

76 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

youngest and handsomest of the women, and made
prisoners of the men, to be killed and eaten. "The
admiral learned from them that most of the men of
the island were absent, the king having sailed some
time before, with ten canoes and three hundred war-
riors, on a cruise in quest of prisoners and booty.
When the men went forth on these expeditions, the
women remained to defend their shores from inva-
sion."

This island of Guadeloupe was their northernmost
stronghold. Continuing his cruise northward, to-
ward Haspaniola, and coasting the islands, Columbus
discovered the last resident Caribs at Santa Cruz.
Here a boat's crew of Spaniards attacked an Indian
canoe containing several men and women. The fight
was long and desperate. Even after the canoe was
overturned the Indians fought in the water, "discharg-
ing their arrows while swimming, as dexterously as
though they had been upon firm land ; and the women
fought as fiercely as the men."

" The hair of these savages was long and coarse ;
their eyes were encircled with paint, so as to give
them a iiideous expression ; and bands of cotton were
bound firmly above and below the muscular parts of
the arms and legs, so as to cause them to swell to a
disproportioned size." Humboldt makes mention of
this custom, in vogue among the Caribs of South
America, in the early part of the present century.

"The warlike and unyielding character of these
people, so different from that of the pusillanimous
nations around them, and the wide scope of their en-
terprises and wanderings, like those of the nomad
tribes of the Old World, entitle them to distinguished

AMONG THE CARIES. 77

attention. They were trained to war from their in-
fancy. As soon as they could walk, their intrepid
mothers put in their hands the bow and arrow, and
prepared them to take an early part in the hardy
enterprises of their fathers. Their distant roamings
by sea made them observant and intelligent. The
natives of the other islands only knew how to divide
time by day and night, by the sun and moon ; whereas
these had acquired some knowledge of the stars, by
which to calculate the times and seasons."

This is the account, drawn mainlv from Irving of
the discovery and condition of the hrst cannibals ever
beheld by white men. This second voyage of Colum-
bus commenced under flattering auspices : to find at
the outset a new people, a new fruit; to add to the
language at least two new words — Carib and Can-
nibal^— this were enough to satisfy any explorer.

But Columbus was in search of gold. He could not
brook delay in a country where the precious metal did
not exist ; and though the forests were filled with
countless trees possessing spicy gums and rare virtues,
he could not stop to put them to the test. He sailed
away nortli after capturing some women and children.

The mind of the great admiral was keenly alive to
any opportunity for serving his sovereigns and himself.
Finding no gold, he looked about for some means of
making it. He sent the captive Caribs home to Spain
to be sold as slaves. And this is how the great and
good Columbus proposed to reimburse his sovereigns
for their outlay, and to furnish the colony with live-
stock. " In this way the peaceful islanders would be
freed from warlike and inhuman neighbors ; the royal
revenue would be greatly enriched, and a vast number

78 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

of souls would be snatched from perdition, and carried,
as it were, by main force to heaven."

Though the gentle and humane Isabella would not
listen to this monstrous scheme, there is little likeli-
hood that it would have succeeded with the Caribs ;
for those old conquistador es^ though valiant inquisi-
tors, rarely measured swords with these antagonists
who loved to fight. Although, a niatter of history,
the followers of Columbus murdered more than a mil-
lion of the peaceful inhabitants of the larger islands —
Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Porto Rico — who were dis-
covered in a state of happiness and innocence, they
always evaded encounters with the " Pagan Cannibals."
Thus to the prowess of their ancestors are the Caribs
of the present day indebted for their existence, when
not a vestige remains of the more numerous but peace-
ful tribes north of them.

But I did not intend, in digressing, to follow the
voyages of Columbus ; to describe how he converted
these fair islands, teeming with happy life, into hells
of misery, and left behind him and his monsters a trail
of blood and fire. It was merely to begin at the be-
ginning, to bring before you the Carib as he was when
found, nearly four centuries ago, and to show, by con-
trast with his present life, how he has been almost
civilized cut of existence.

I had been a month in the interior of Dominica,
living in the woods, hunting new birds, and enjoying
the novel experiences of camp life in tropical moun-
tains. From time to time came reports from the Carib
country, that only strengthened the determination I had
formed of penetrating to their stronghold. That they
lived secluded from the world, held no intercourse

AMONG THE CARIBS. 79

with other people ; naked they wandered at will in the
forest ; without houses, they slept on the ground on
beds of leaves. Sending my collections of birds to
the coast and ordering thence a fresh supply of provis-
ions and ammunition, I left the Caribbean side of the
island and marched over the mountains toward the
Atlantic, with three stout girls and a man laden with
my effects. The journey was to occupy two days, as
the rivers were swollen. They had " come down,"
in the language of the country ; but when a river is
"down" in the West Indies it is up — having rushed
down from the mountains, swollen by some heavy
rain, and flooded the lowlands.

The Carib reservation in Dominica extends from
Mahoe River to Crayfish River, a distance of about
three miles along the Atlantic coast, and away back
into tlie mountains as far as they please to cultivate.
Though each family has a little garden adjacent
to the dwelling, any individual can select an un-
occupied piece of ground on the neighboring hills,
or mountain sides, for cultivation. All their provision
grounds (as are called the mountain gardens where
the staple fruits and vegetables* are grown) are at a
distance from the house, some even two miles away,
solitary openings made in the depths of the high
woods. As the soil in general is very thin, and does
not support a crop for many successive years, these
gardens are being constantly made afresh.

As I rode along, every house seemed deserted ; no
face appeared, and I met no one save the- ancient

* These are, the Yam {Dioscorea sativa and D. alata) ; the
Sweet Potato {Batatas edulis); the Cassava {Jatropha manihot
and J. janipha) ; Banana {Miisa paradisiaca) ; Plantain {Musa
sapiefttu/n), and Tannier {Caladium sagittcefolium).

So CAMPS IN THECARIBBEES.

t

king, old George, who was named for King George
the Third, tottering toward the plantations, to spend
for rum some money he had earned. There were two
sovereigns, in fact, for the Carib chief held in his
hand a golden one, of English coinage. The houses
are low and thatched deeply with calumet grass tied
in bundles and lashed tightly upon frame-works of
poles. Some of them were open at the sides, though
a few were built up at sides and ends, with wooden
doors and shutters. Near each hut is the cook-house,
a roof of thatch supported upon four poles ; or again,
merely a "lean-to," the roof slanting up from the
ground with just room enough for the cook to squat
under while attending the fire.

Beneath this roof, on a few stones which support
the cooking-utensils, is usually an old iron pot, which
serves a variety of uses. Twice a day it is brought
into requisition for the household ; at other times it is
open to the inspection of hogs and strangers. The
rudest cabins, but at the same time the most pictu-
resque, were those composed wholly of grass and reeds
with wattled sides, looking like the huge stacks of
grass one sees on marshes and meadows in America.
Even the doors of these huts were made of canes and
flags, wattled together with reeds, while the windows
were merely loop-holes. The roads, though narrow
bridle-paths, are good, as the Caribs seem to take a
pride in keeping them in order. Either through fear
or pride they obey all the laws imposed upon them by
the crown and colony, and always perform their quota
of road labor without a murmur.

The path turned suddenly, and at the base of the
hill we came abruptly upon the Riviere Saint Marie,

AMONG THE CARIES.

8l

^N Indian J<^itchen.

where, sporting in the water, were several naked
children, and a girl and woman washing clothes. Of
course, there was a general stampede as I crossed the
river; and one could not have told, five minutes later,
but for the garments drying on the rocks, that there
had been a Carib near. I rode up a gentle eminence,
and was introduced to the house in which I was to
reside for a short time. But one family lived near,
an old Carib woman with five children.

The first object conveying a hint of the proximity of
Salibia, the Carib village, is a cross — indicating the
religion of the people and the site of a cemetery. It
stands up lone and majestic, a background of hills
giving it prominence, its arms stretched out gaunt
6

Si CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

and bare, to which the continual trade-winds have
given a color, gra}* and weather-beaten. Palm and
plantain crop out on the hillsides beyond, and the
former thrusts its head up from the river ravines be-
low. Behind it, hid by the swell of the knoll, are the
graves — not many, yet not few, for so small a settle-
ment — simply raised hillocks of earth ; and some
have upon them a few flowers, which seem to be
occasionally renewed. Upon the graves, all the trees
have fallen prostrate, or have been felled, to cover
them ; with limbs stretched at the foot of the cross.
I have never been in a cemetery tliat so appealed to
my feelings as this. All is still, and solitude reigns.

From the slight* depression of the surface here,
nothing is seen evincing human occupancy of the
valley, until the foot of the cross is reached. Many
an evening, during my six weeks' stay in that lonely
valley, have I climbed to the base of the cross and sat
there enjoying the silence and solitude. From thr.t
point one overlooks the lower half of the valley, which
is shut in on three sides by high hills covered with
forest, abandoned fields, and provision grounds, alter-
nating. Beneath, the most prominent object is a rude
chapel, a loosely-built structure, to which comes
monthly a lusty priest, to care for the souls and the
silver of the people. Lower still, are the four or five
thatched huts comprising the village of Salibia ; but
one of these is occupied, and the cocoa palms rustle
their leaves in a desolate place ; and their rustling,
with the eternal roar of the ocean, is the only sound
heard from morning to night.

There are sea-grapes there in perfumed bloom,
among the satin leaves of which dart humming-birds,

AMONG THE CARIBS. 83

sugar-birds, and drowsy bees. This is the valley in
which I became acquainted with the " Cannibal
Caribs " of Columbus, this secluded spot on the At-
lantic coast of Dominica, in the month of April, 1877-

As servant and guide I was fortunate in securing a
half Carib, named Meyong. At least, Meyong was
the nearest English equivalent for his barbarous French
name. He was, as I have said, but half a Carib ; the
other half was black ; colors so deftly mingled, so
skillfully laid on, that they resulted in a rich olive
brown — quite a fiishionable shade. Meyong hunted
with me, found for me people to do my heavy work,
ate my food and drank my rum, and slept. He did
everything but work ; and yet he was the most faith-
ful, trustworthy servant I ever had, and anything I
wanted he would get, or, if too much trouble for him,
induce some one to get for me. He studied my wants
so closely that I had ever a retinue of willing young-
sters at beck and call, all conjured up by Meyong
to relieve his labors. His faithfulness and literal
obedience to orders are well illustrated by the manner
in which he procured for me a cook.

We passed several weeks tranquilly together. My
hammock swung in the breeze at night, and I was
careful not to hunt in the breathless heat of noon.
But there comes an end, sooner or later, to human
enjoyment. Our cook, Meyong's sister, concluded,
without warning, to visit a friend on the far side of
the mountain ; and one day, when my guide and my-
self returned hot and weary from the hunt, the sun at
meridian and the parched earth radiating heat like a
furnace, there was no breakfast, and no one to get it,
either.

84 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

The gentleness of that animal, man, when, upon
returning to his domicil, he finds a meal unprepared,
is proverbial. He has been known to endure without
a murmur, for at least three minutes, by the aid of the
morning paper; but I had no paper — had not seen
one in two months' time — and imagine, if possible,
the totality of patience necessary to endure the prepa-
ration of a breakfast, while, even at the time your ap-
petite is raging, and hunger gnawing at your vitals,
the potatoes and plantains are slumbering on the hill-
side, and the fish still disporting themselves in their
watery element. It is not at all wonderful if I said to
Meyong, in my placid intervals, that we must have
another cook at once, even if we had to send to town
for one. He acquiesced in this decision, but said
nothing more, for he was as sparing of speech as of
muscle, and soon afterward disappeared.

Thinking he had gone in pursuit of a dove, whose
mournful note I had heard above me, I retired to my
cabin, after a frugal lunch, to sleep. Later in the
afternoon, even after I had prepared all my speci-
mens of the morning, and the shadows of the hills
were drawing themselves across the valley, he came
not. The sun went down, leaving the valley cool and
delightful, and darkness drew swiftly near. The
stars came out, and all about my cabin was silent as
the grave, and dark. My boy had not returned ;
I sat in my doorway till late, it must have been nine
o'clock, and was about retiring, when my attention
was arrested by a noise. It grew louder, and then I
saw a light gleam and disappear. I watched for it till
again it shone out, at the top of a rising knoll, much

AMONG THE CARIBS. 85

nearer, and I could distinguish two torches, held aloft
by unsteady hands, approaching through the forest.

What did it mean ?

The noise increased, and when the lights flashed
nearer I saw there were three persons : two holding
the torches, which sent up broad flame and thick
smoke, supporting between them another who ap-
peared unable to walk unaided. They were shouting
some bacchanalian song, and their unsteady move-
ments convinced me that they were intoxicated. In a
few minutes they would be at my door, as they were
already at the river, and then there might be trouble ;
for, though quiet enough when sober, the Carib will
sometimes quarrel when drunk.

Acting upon the resolution of the instant, I barri-
caded door and window, slipped a couple of cartridges
into my gun, and retii'ed to my hammock. By this
time they were upon me, pounding heavily at my
door, and shouting, in unintelligible French, threats,
entreaties, imprecations. But I kept silence, which
only exasperated them the more, and at last I heard
one of them say, " I will see if he is there ; " and then,
later, when I thought they had gone, my attention
was drawn, by a slight rustling, to a crack in the
walls, and I saw sailing into the room one after an-
other, tiny sparks of fire, glowing with a greenish
phosphorescent light. They did not drop inert, these
sparks, nor did they set fire to my thatch, for they
were sparks of the animal kingdom, elaters, fire-
flies, two of which will give out sufficient light to
read by.

Would any one but an Indian, a child of the forest,
have thought of this original way of lighting an apart-
ment?

86

CAMPS IN THK CARIBBEES.

These little gleaming messengers increased in num-
ber, and the darkness was crossed and re-crossed by
fiery trails of light ; and still the busy fingers of my
assailants thrust them in more and more. At last it
became quite light, and by an inadvertent movement
I exposed myself. With a shout, they proclaimed the

success of their de-
vice, and demanded
I should let them
in. But this I would
not do, and they
later subsided, after
howling themselves
hoarse. Before the
termination of the
entertainment I had
fallen asleep, and did
not awake until early
the next morning.

Just beforethe river,
which ran near my
hut, trickles through
the huge rocks to the
ocean, it leaves sev-
eral small pools, hol-
lowed from the solid rock by the waves. The sun
rises so quickly in that latitude, coming up hot and
glaring from the waves, that a bath, to be refresh-
ing, must be taken at dawn. The morning was cool
and cloudy ; a few birds were chirping as I stepped
from my doorway. I drew back suddenly, saluted
by a blast from what I thought must be an asthmatic
fish-horn. Peering cautiously out, I ascertained, by

Jype

AMONG THE CARIBS. 87

the rapidly increasing ligiit, that the noise had a
harmless source, though I was correct in my con-
jecture that it proceeded from a horn, for it came from
my Indian friends of the preceding night, who had
indeed taken a horn too much. Tracing this mighty
snore to its source, I saw that it was produced by the
combined efforts of three individuals, who lay stretched
upon the grass beneath the palms. There was my
boy, and another Indian, and between them, secured
by ropes of vines, a girl of about eighteen.

As I was curiously regarding this group, Meyong
awoke, and eying me with a look of triumph, ex-
claimed :

"Ah, monsieur, you no savez ; look, ze cook!"

It was too true ; the lawless savage had made un-
successful attempts to hire a cook the previous after-
noon, and late, meeting this girl in the forest, had
captured her with the aid of his friend. And I, think-
ing these zealous friends had approached my hut with
dire intent, had locked them out and gone supperless
to bed.

Among men and women, labor is equally divided.
In the house, the woman is supposed to do all the
work, but in the gardens and in the woods they work
together. She prepares all the food and makes the
fires ; and, as there seems to exist a perfect under-
standing on this point, it is not so fruitful a source of
discontent as in other and less-favored climes.

The women are generally well treated and loved.
An old writer says, the Caribs were noted for their in-
difference to their women, while the tribes of neigh-
boring islands were excessively fond of their wives.
Those other tribes are now extinct ; but the Carib

88 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

character must have most wonderfully changed, for
they now treat their wives well, even love them. For
certain misdemeanors they claim the privilege, and
exercise it, too, of beating them soundly. If a woman
quarrel w'ith another, of whom she is jealous with
regard to her husband's affections, she is generally
treated by her lord to an interview with the stick.
But as a community, they dwell together in amity,
loving one another, and taking affectionate interest
in their children.

One day, upon the solicitations of an Indian, I went
to his hut to see a native dance. This man was
very drunk ; as he approached his hut he darted in
and called for his wife. What was my astonishment
to see him, instead of pounding her, throw his arm
around her neck and kiss her.

I had been among them two weeks before I knew
there were Indians in the woods about me, other than
those living along and near the road. But one after-
noon, in a hunt among the hills, I discovered four
huts, the inmates of which, unless suddenly surprised,
hid themselves at my approach. They were dressed
very meagerly : a shirt for the men, and for the women
a torn skirt. In the woods and in the provision-
grounds, I met children, from eight to thirteen years
old, entirely naked. These people never appear to
the white inhabitants ; they make a few baskets which
their neighbors dispose of for them, but they never
leave the woods, not having overcome their original
savagery.

Basket-making is the only art they have preserved
from the teachings of their ancestors ; but in this they
indeed excel. Their baskets have such a reputa-

AMONG THE CARIBS. 89

tion throughout all the islands that they command
large prices, and were it not for their innate laziness,
and the scarcity of the peculiar shrub of which the
baskets are composed, these people might attain to a
degree of affluence. These "panniers," or baskets,
are made of all sizes, some large as a common trunk.
Tiiey are made, sometimes, of a reed called roseau,
but the best are made from a plant called the inakoc,
which is now so scarce that the basket-makers have
to take long journeys into the forests to obtain it.

By burying it in the ground, and using for some the
Juices of certain plants, they give to the plaits a variety
of colors. There are two thicknesses, and between
them layers of the wild plantain, which make them per-
fectly water-tight. I have one which was in use nearly
a year, being constantly carried on the heads of my
attendants; and even yet it will, I think, hold water.
All the country people desire to possess a pannier, or
Carib basket, which serves them as a light and port-
able trunk.

go CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER VII.

SOCIAL LIFE, APPEARANCE, AND LANGUAGE OF
THE CARIES.

HAPPY CHILDREN. — CLEANLINESS. — PRIMITIVE INNOCENCE. —
A MODEST MAIDEN. — DRESS. — FACE AND FIGURE. — FLAT-
TENING THE FOREHEAD. — UGLY MEN AND WOMEN. — CARIB
HOSPITALITY. — THE BASKET- WEAVER. — TROPIC NOONTIDE. —
RELIGION. — THE DYING WOMAN. — A LOST SKELETON. — BURIAL
OF THE DEAD. — THE WAKE. — ST. VINCENT CARIES. — TWO DIA-
LECTS.— THE AROWAKS. — AN AGREEABLE TONGUE. — VOCAB-
ULARY.— CALIBAN A CARIB, AND CRUSOE'S MAN FRIDAY. —

CRUSOE'S ISL.AND BLACK CARIBS. — WEAPONS AND UTENSILS

OF .STONE. — "THUNDERBOLTS." — CARIB SCULPTURE. — A SAC-
RIFICIAL STONE. — WHENCE CAME THEY? — THEIR NORTHERN
LIMIT. — A SOUTHERN ORIGIN. — THEIR LOST ARTS. — A DYING
PEOPLE.

THE Carib children should be the happiest on
earth. Unencumbered by clothing, they wan-
der over the hills and along the shore as they feel
disposed. The rocky rivers give them delightful re-
treats from the sun, where they paddle in the pools,
hunt for crayfish, and sleep upon the broad bosoms
of the rocks. Either from habits of cleanliness or
love of the water, every member of a household takes
a daily bath in the river. They are consequently
always clean, and, though ragged, are entirely free
from those odors which make the sable brother so
offensive. If their garments get soiled, they soon re-

INDIAN HOME LIFE. 9I

move them, even if they have to wash them while
themselves naked, and wait in the shade while they
dry in the sun. In washing they use their hands in
scrubbing the clothes, and do not belabor them with
clubs, as in the more civilized districts, and in Mar-
tinique, where the sound of the washing is loud in
the land.

The prettiest picture of Indian life I have seen was
during a hunt in a secluded nook among the hills
behind the settlement of Salibia. The Riviere Col-
lette tumbles over and among great rocks, through
narrow chasms shaded by tree-ferns and mountain
palms. INIany water plants grow in clumps, and little
pools are formed among the rocks. As I was leap-
ing the stones, in crossing, I heard a low murmur of
song, and looking up, saw a young girl of sixteen
sittini£ on a large bowlder, mendin(j a handkerchief.
Around her, drying in the sun, were her clothes,
which she had washed — probably all she possessed.
She was so absorbed in her work, so carelessly happy
in the freedom of this wild seclusion, that I had nearly
crossed before she observed me, when, with maid-
enly modesty, she covered her face with the handker-
chief.

The majority of the people go about lamentably
ragged. There are few shoes and stockings in the
community, and those who have them only put them
on upon great occasions, when they appear ill at ease,
cramped and uncomfortable. So it is with regard
to dress ; while, with a dress well made and fitting
nicely, the women consider themselves magnificently
arrayed, to me they appeared at a great disadvantage.
In short frock descending to the knees, gathered about

92 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the hips with a twist of lialine, or forest vine, their
hair contained in a simple kerchief, or, better, flowing
in luxuriant tresses down their backs, as they appear
when going to labor in the forest, they are in perfect
character.

This brings me to speak of the appearance of the
Caribs, of their form and color, which make them
different from people of other nationalities. Through
the changes of climate and residence, and the greater
changes wrought by intermarriage with other tribes
and with the negroes, the true Carib type is likely
soon to be lost. It is, however, lighter in complexion
than that of the North American Indian, — so light,
that, from their peculiar cast of golden-brown, they
have acquired the name of Yellow Indians. From
my photographs it will be seen that the type is more
of the Mongol than of any other. A peculiar instance
came under my observation in one hamlet, where a
Chinaman — pure Mongolian — had married a yellow
Carib. Their progeny, a numerous family of chil-
dren, could not be distinguished from the Indian chil-
dren around them. One beautiful feature about them
is their hair, which is abundant, long, and purple-
black ; it is finer than that of our Indians, though not
so fine as that of the Caucasian type.*

Though early losing the grace and symmetry of
form of childliood, through labor in the fields, ex-
posure to tlie sun, and a natural tendency to corpu-

* " That cacique that was a stranger had his wife staying at the
port where we ankored, and in all my life I have seldom seene a
better favored woman. She was of good stature, with blacke eies,
fat of body, of an excellent countenance, her haire almost as long
as hirselfe, tied up againe in pretie knots." — Sir W. Raleigh's
Discovery of Guiana.

INDIAN HOME LIFE. 93

lency, both men and women preserve the shapeliest
of limbs. The arms of the men are extremely mus-
cular, and their breasts huge knots of muscle. The
head is well shaped and gracefully poised. This, as
well as the straightness of the back, and backward
throw of the broad shoulders, may be owing to the
universal practice of carrying every kind of load upon
the head. The custom of flattening the forehead by
compression, which was universal until the commence-
ment of the present century, is not now practiced.

Let me subjoin a description of a boy and girl,
made as they stood before me, in the primitive garb
of innocence and virtue, two years ago. The boy,
aged eleven or twelve, had a face round, with chin
of good shape, and small ; nose rather fiat ; mouth
small ; ears small ; eyes almond-shaped, with black
silken fringe ; the forehead broad and prominent ; hair
purple-black, abundant, cut short above the eyes and
flowing behind ; the shoulders straight — a plumb-
line dropped from the junction of cervical and dorsal
vertebrae would touch the heels ; back hollowed ; ab-
domen full ; legs straight ; hips not large but power-
ful ; breasts well rounded. The girl was an exact
picture of the boy in the features above described ;
the mouth was daintily cut, with thin lips ; and grace
and lithesome freedom were in every turn and mo-
tion.

It almost gave pain to think that these sprightly
little beauties would develop into coarse, full-bodied
men and women, like those about them. But it un-
doubtedly would be so ; and this little boy, though
retaining longer the shapely limbs which would de-
velop into muscular and brawny members, would

94

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

eventually become as wrinkled and flabby as the
ugliest man in the village ; and the careless little
maiden, not many years later, almost as soon as her
shape and limbs were rounded and perfected, would
begin to acquire that grossness that mars maidenly

beauty, and, if mar-
ried at eighteen, at
twenty-five or thirty
she would be old,
though vigorous,
and resemble those
middle-aged females
about her.

A writer thus de-
scribes the Domin-
ica Caribs in 179S :
" They are of clear
copper color, and
have sleek, black
hair ; their persons
are stout and well
made, but they dis-
figure their faces by
flattening their fore-
heads in infancy.
They live chiefly by fishing in the rivers and the sea,
or by fowling in the woods, in both wliich pursuits
they use their arrows with wonderful dexterity. It is
said they will kill the smallest bird with an arrow at
a great distance, or transfix a fish at a considerable
depth in the sea. They display also very great in-
genuity in making curious-wrought panniers, or bas-
kets, of silk-grass or the leaves and bark of trees."

^NCiENT Caribs.

Los Angeles Cal.
INDIAN HOME LIFE. 95

None of the old writers mention the hospitality of
the Carib, which at the present day is a virtue he
possesses in perfection. I recall one of the many ex-
cursions made through the environs of the hamlet into
the forest in my search for birds. The day was hot,
but a cool breeze from the ocean, which always blows
from ten in the morning till six in the evening, tem-
pered the heat. Bordering the forest was a litde
open space, in the center of which, on a spur of the
hills overlooking the sea, was a small thatched hut,
inhabited by one of the few families of Caribs who
have remained uncontaminated by negro blood. As
I emerged from the forest I was met by a robust dam-
sel with lautrhinfj eves, who brouejht for me a wooden
bench and placed it beneath the grateful shade of a
mango. Then appeared her father, who welcomed
me to his habitation, and then disappeared. A little
later, when he re-appeared, he was driving before
him a flock of fowls, and singling out the largest and
plumpest, he requested me to shoot it. Thinking I
had not understood him, I hesitated, but, at a repe-
tition of the request, fired and tumbled the fowl in the
dust. There was an instant scattering of the others,
but the old man picked up the slain one and marched
off with it to his wife. Then he knocked down a few
cocoa-nuts, and, clipping off the end of one, brought
it to me, with its ivory chamber full of cool and re-
freshing water, apologizing that he could offer me no
rum or gin, which it is customary to mix with it.

In an hour or so I was invited to the hut, where,
on a clean table, was spread a substantial meal of
bread-fruit and yam, with the chicken I had so re-
cently sho.t. This last was a luxury the Indian sel-

96 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

dom treated himself to ; and when I reflected to what
extent my host had deprived himself, and upon the
recent, the very recent, demise of the chicken, I could
scarcely eat. My friends refused to sit at table with
me, but attended upon my wants, bringing me fresh
cocoanut-vvater, and mangos and guavas for dessert.
To be sure, there was neither fork nor table-knife ; but
one living in the woods is never without his pocket-
knife, and a fork can be quickly whittled from a palm-
rib. After the repast I retired to the shade of the
mango ; the father gathered about him his materials
for making baskets, and the daughter wove for me
a curious cone of basket- Vv'ork, used by the children
in their games, which, being slipped over the finger,
cannot be removed so long as it is tightly drawn.

The sun at noon is very powerful in that climate,
and one quickly feels its somnolent influences. The
people are up early, and work a little in the morning,
but in the heat of the day little is done. No traveler
passes, unless some one on a long journey ; and no one
works except the basket-maker, who can do so under
the broad-spreading shade of a mango or tamarind.
Even he, as noon draws nigh and breakfast is dis-
posed of, stretches himself upon a board and dozes
for an hour or two. Everything is hushed in uni-
versal calm, and even the insects and birds feel the
influence of the solar rays and are silent, drowsy,
and indulging in mid-day siestas. Dolce far Jiicnte
is the life these people lead ; the sweet-do-nothing
more than is absolutely necessary.

Hospitality such as I have mentioned is not ex-
ceptional. If an Indian takes a liking to you, hence-
forward you are his compere ; all he has is yours —

INDIAN HOME LIFE. 97

and what you possess, also, is reckoned as his, if he
want it. When he offers to you his house and all in
it, it is no idle custom without meaning, for even
his household furniture, if there be any, is at your
disposal.

The ancient Caribs, if we may credit the statements
of early writers, believed in some sort of a future
state, and also that their departed friends were secret
witnesses of their conduct. "The brave had the
enjoyment of supreme felicity with their wives and
captives ; the cowardly were doomed to everlasting
banishment beyond the mountains. This was their
next world. They dimly recognized a Divinity, a
great creator of all things, and vaguely offered their
homage and sacrifice."

It is supposed that each person had his tutelar deity ;
it may have been a tree or a rock. The northern
tribes, the Arowaks, had their zctnes, or household
gods, when discovered by the Spaniards. "The
Caribs erected a rustic altar of banana leaves and
rushes, whereon they placed the earliest of their
fruits and choicest of their viands, as peace-offerings
to incensed omnipotence. They could not be in-
sensible to the existence of a great ruler, when the
convulsions of nature were so great as they witnessed
in the earthquake and hurricane."

In religion, at the present time, the Caribs of Do-
minica are Roman Catholic, and are very observant of
the rites of the church. Upon the occasion of the
priest's monthly visit, nearly all flock to hear him,
even if they do not obey his injunctions ; and the sick
are brought, and the dying, to obtain the sacrament.
At the close of service, one Sabbath, word was
7

98 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

brought the priest that Madame Jim, a middle-aged
woman, was dying, with a request that he would
hasten to administer the last rites of the church. But
the priest was anxious to be away ; his house was a
dozen miles distant, and half-way there, at the house
of a friend, a dinner was awaiting him. With im-
patience, then, he commanded that she be brought to
the chapel ; and the dying woman was placed in a
hammock suspended between poles, and carried to
the priest, over a mile of rough, steep road, patiently
suffering, anxious only to receive extreme unction be-
fore she passed away.

The same Sabbath there was buried at the foot of
the cross the oldest inhabitant of the nation, a very
old Carib woman, whose death I lamented, as I was
awaiting her recovery to secure from her a vocabulary
of Carib words. My grief was only alleviated by the
thought that an opportunity might occur for exhuming
her skeleton, which would prove a valuable acquisi-
tion to the Smithsonian Museum.

Formerly, the Caribs buried their dead in a sitting
posture, in order (as an old Indian told me) that they
might be all ready to jump, when the Spirit came for
them ; and facing the sunrise, to see the light of
morning. When the master of a house died, they
buried him in the center of his hut, with his knees
bent to his chin. They then left the hut and built
another, some distance from it.

Eight days after the death of Madame Jim, the
neighbors iiad a sort of wake, or " praise " ; until mid-
night, the girls sang hymns. After twelve o'clock,
all the younger people formed themselves in groups
and played games until morning, while the wicked

INDIAN HOME LIFE. 99

Meyong, and a few more of the ungodly — who had
amused themselves by tickling the ears of the choris-
ters with straws and palm-leaves, in vain attempt to
upset their gravity — improved the hours so assiduous-
ly in imbibing the new rum furnished by the husband
of the departed, that the morning light saw them
thoroughly fuddled. The whole settlement attended,
old men and women and children, even to babes at
the breast. The expense to the bereaved husband
must have been great ; and his reflection upon this
fact, coupled with the equally saddening one that the
wife of his bosom would never again labor for him
in the garden, or relieve him of the burden of
domestic duties, must have caused him to regret her
departure.

Eight months later, I was in the island of Saint
Vincent, in latitude thirteen, north, two degrees and
a half south of Dominica. Here reside (with those of
the latter island) the only remaining Caribs north of
South America. While those of Dominica speak a
perverted French, these speak an equally corrupt
English. The former are Roman Catholic in their
faith ; the latter, Church of England. Two weeks I
lived with these Caribs, in a little wattled hut thatched
with leaves, which was given up to me by a young
colored man who had recently married a Carib wife.

In St. Vincent, the Caribs made their last stand
against the English, in the latter part of the last
century, and there are more abundant evidences of
ancient occupation, and the traditions are better pre-
served than in Dominica. It was for the purpose of
securing a vocabulary of their ancient language, to
compare with one I had formed in Dominica, and to

lOO CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ascertain if any difference existed between the Indians
of the two islands, that I visited^ them.

In Dominica there are but twenty families of pure
Caribs ; in St. Vincent less than six ; and but a few,
of the older men and women, can speak the original
language. In a few years — another generation —
the Carib tongue, as spoken by these insular people,
will be a thing of the past, of which there exists but
an imperfect record, speaking which there will be no
person living.

The source of my information in Dominica was a
woman, who had, I have reason to believe, purer
speech than my informant in St. Vincent, who was a
man. Humboldt observes, quoting Cicero : " The
old forms of language are better preserved by women,
because, by their position in society, they are less ex-
posed to those vicissitudes of life, change of place and
occupation, which tend to corrupt the primitive purity
of language among men."

I found, however, a greater difference than the
mere supposition of difference of sex, or the interval
of a hundred and fifty miles between their respective
habitations, would create. I found, in fact, that this
people spoke two dialects, in confirmation of which
my vocabulary, from which I can quote but briefly,
will testify. For certain things they had two words
entirely different. In the construction of sentences,
though there would be close analogy, there was a dif-
ference in the opening or closing words that was at
once noticeable. In the following, for instance, where
the woman expresses a wish for a fish for dinner :
^'Nod-iz^ hd-ma-gah^ o6-do'^ And the man : "U-i-di,
kd-ma-ga, o6-do" Almost invariably, a word com-

INDIAN HOME LIFE. lOI

menccd by the man with a D^ by the woman was
begun with an A.

Akhough I could surmise the cause of this discrep-
ancy, which in some instances was even more marked,
I could not be satisfied to trust to my own inexperi-
enced reasoning, but turned to the greatest authority
upon any such subject in his day — the immortal
Humboldt. Some light was thus afforded, for he had
noticed the same peculiarity. "The contrast between
the dialects of the sexes is so great that to explain it
satisfactorily, we must refer to another cause (than
difference in sex), and this may perhaps be found in
the barbarous custom practiced by the Caribs, of kill-
ing their male prisoners, and carrying the wives of
the vanquished into captivity. When the Caribs made
an irruption into the West Indies, they arrived there
as a band of warriors, not as colonists accompanied
by their families. The language of the female sex
was formed by degrees, as the conquerors contracted
alliances with the foreign women ; it was composed
of new elements, words distinct from the Carib words,
which in the interior of the gynecaeums were trans-
mitted from generation to generation, but on which
the structure, the combinations, the grammatical
forms of the language of the men, exercised an
influence."

Seeking farther, I found in an ancient volume, a
French work published in 1658, conclusive evidence
in place of what was with Humboldt mostly conjecture.
It says : The Caribs have an original language
peculiar to them alone, like any other nation, which
they speak among themselves. The men have many
peculiar expressions which the women understand very

I02 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

well, but never utter ; and the women have likewise
their own words and phrases which the men never use
except in ridicule. The savages of Dominica relate
that when they came to live in these islands (the
Lesser Antilles) they found them in possession of a
nation of Arowaks, whom they entirely destroyed,
except the women, whom they married. Thus, the
women having preserved their own language, taught
it to their children. Having been practiced until the
present time, this language remains different in a great
many respects from that of the men.

But the boys, after tliey attain the age of five or
six, although they well understand the speech of
their mothers and sisters, follow their fathers and
elder brothers in the formation of their language. In
proof of what they relate, they allege that there is
some resemblance between the language of the female
Caribs and that of the Arowaks of the main-land
(South America).

The Caribs had also a certain form of speech
which they used among themselves in their councils
of war, — a gibberish very difficult to understand, of
which neither the women nor children were permitted
to have any knowledge ; nor even the young men, until
they liad given some proof of their bravery, or of zeal
in tiie common quarrels of their country against their
enemies. It is owing to this fact that their designs
were never prematurely disclosed, and their invasions
of an enemy's territory always so unexpected. They
have in their native tongue few terms of abuse, and
about the most offensive is; "you are no good," or,
"you are no livelier than a turtle." Again, they have
no equivalent word for virtue, which even at the present

INDIAN HOME LIFE. IO3

day is rare indeed. In counting, they cannot ex-
press themselves above twenty, and then only by
means of tiic fingers and toes. Among the Sem-
inoles of Florida I found a system of numeration
perfect up to one thousand. Their pronunciation is
soft and agreeable, and their language abounds in
those figurative expressions which make the speech of
our aboriginal tribes so interestin<j.

Like the northern Indians, they use the expression
moon for month : 1160-110, moon, and kd-ti, month,
meaning the same. My wife is "my heart"; a boy
is a little man ; an idiot, a person without light, or
unillumined ; the fingers are the little ones, or the
babes, of the hands ; the rainbow is God's plume. To
signif}' that a thing is lost, they say it is dead. Their
first white visitors they styled "children of the sea,"
because they came to them in ships from over
the sea.

Though difTerent writers have sought to prove by
comparative vocabularies affinity between the Carib
and the Jew and the Tartar, it has not been con-
clusively proven that this people descended from
either. There is, however, whatever the origin of
the language, a striking significance in their desig-
nating appellation — Carib, or Cannibal, which are
epithets referring to valor and strength.

We have seen that they received this name from
Columbus, or his associates, who had heard it as
applied to them by the inhabitants of Hispaniola, the
year previous to the discovery of the Caribbees.
Humboldt relates that the Caribs of South America
called themselves Carina, Calina, Callinago, Caribi ;
and that the name Carib is derived from Calina and

I04 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Carifoona. The word Carifoona was given me,
both by the St. Vincent and Dominica Caribs, as the
ancient name of the tribe ; so there can be no doubt
of the origin of the latter term.

In this connection, the author of " Myths of the
New World " has propounded a curious and by no
means improbable theory : " The mythical ancestor
of the Caribs created his offspring by sowing the soil
with stones, or with the fruit of the Mauritius palm,
which sprouted forth into men and women ; while the
Yurucares, much of whose mythology was perhaps
borrowed from the Peruvians, clothed this crude tenet
in a somewhat more poetic form, fabling that at the
beginning the first men were pegged, Ariel-like, in
the knotty entrails of an enormous bole, until the god
Tiri — a second Prosper© — released them by cleaving

it in twain It is still a mooted point whence

Shakespeare drew the plot of 'The Tempest.' The
coincidence mentioned in the text between some parts
of it and South American mythology does not stand
alone. Caliban, the savage and brutish native of the
island, is undoubtedly the word Carib, often spelled
Caribana and Calibani in older writers, and his
* dam's god, Setebos,' was the supreme divinity of the
Patagonians when first visited by Magellan."

As another curious fact, which inseparably links
the Carib with our best fiction, as well as with our
early history, let me mention that Robinson Crusoe's
** Man Friday " was a Carib ; and the island of their
adventures is not in the Pacific Ocean, but lies amoncr
the historic isles of the Caribbean Sea. It is, in fact,
the island of Tobago, which I visited, and in which I
had many and varied adventures.

INDIAN HOME LIFE. IO5

From the same old Carib who aided in enriching
my vocabulary I obtained many quaint tales and tra-
ditions, which, in another chapter, are related to show
that the Caribs, though wanderers, robbers, and can-
nibals, were not without their fireside stories and super-
stitions. Like the African, like the North American
Indian, the Carib is very superstitious; the woods,
shore, rocks, and trees are peopled with jiunbies, or
evil spirits, who can, if they please, work them harm ;
the spirits of men and women who once lived among
them, and who, they firmly believe, still inhabit this
earth. Anything of odd shape or mysterious aspect
is believed to be possessed of a jumbie. The owl,
from its nocturnal habits and soft flight, its large,
staring e3^es and boding cry, is the chosen bird for
the terrestrial abode of the spirits, and bears the appel-
lation of "jumbie-bird " in every island. But a jumbie
may appear in the shape of anything animate or in-
animate, and it may happen that now and then an
animal is w^-ongly accused of being possessed of a
jumbie.

To the ethnologist, the Caribs of St. Vincent pre-
sent an attractive subject for study, for there is among
them a people formed by the union of two distinct
races, the American and the Ethiopian. They are
called "Black Caribs," to distinguish them from the
typical or "Yellow Caribs." Various reasons are as-
signed for the cause of this mixture. One tradition is
to the efiect that the Caribs attacked and burned a
Spanish ship, in the sixteenth century, and took its
freight of slaves to live among them ; another version,
that a slaver was wrecked near St. Vincent, and the
Africans, escaping, joined the Caribs. The Yellow

106 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Caribs received them as friends, but eventually the
negroes possessed themselves of the best lands and
drove their benefactors to the most worthless. Having
intermarried with the Yellow Caribs, they departed
from the negro type in a few years, but sufficiently
resembled the slaves, beginning to be introduced into
the island by the French in 1720, as to cause them
alarm, and they took to the woods and mountains,
living there for quite another generation. They also
adopted the Carib practice of flattening the foreheads
of their children, so that succeeding generations dif-
fered generally from their fathers. They now form a
small community on the northwestern shore of St.
Vincent, at a place called Morne Ronde.

Throughout the island of St. Vincent I found traces
of occupation by the ancient Caribs. These were in
the shape of implements of war and utensils for do-
mestic use, of the rudest description : hatchets, axes,
battle-axes, gouges, chisels, and spear-heads, of stone,
generally classed under the head of "celts." The
negroes, ever superstitious, attribute to these stones,
which they occasionally find in the fields, a celestial
origin, declaring they are "thunderbolts," and that
they come down from the sky during th'understorms.
This they prove to their entire satisfaction, by citing
the fact that they are always more abundant after a
rain. This is evident from the fact that rain washes
away the earth from these ancient stones which have
lain so long buried.

The Caribs did not possess that advancement in
civilized art that enabled them to produce such sculp-
tured works of intricate and beautiful design, both in
stone and wood, as the Spaniards found among the

INDIAN HOME LIFE.

107

The Sacrificial Stoni

inhabitants of Cuba and Haiti at the time of their dis-
covery. They confined their efforts to the production
of axes for liollowing out their canoes, and the manu-
facture of implements of war. They made pottery,
but I doubt if the cotton found in their huts by Colum-
bus was of their own weaving. It is more probable
that it was taken from the Arowaks of the greater
islands.

In the forests there are yet more striking evi-
dences of aboriginal occupation, which would tell us
that there once existed here a people different from
those of the present day, were there no written or tra-
ditional chronicles of their existence. In a valley of
the Caribbean side of St. Vincent is a lariie rock cov-

I08 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ered with incised figures, which are undoubtedly of
great antiquity, and the lines or grooves are so nearly
obliterated that I will not hazard a guess as to their
meaning. The central figure, however, a face en-
closed in a triangle, seems to resemble rude aboriginal
representations of the sun. It is conjectured that this
vvras a sacrificial stone used by the Caribs, or their
predecessors, the Arovvaks ; and this statement would
seem to be confirmed by the various channels leading
from the attendant satellites to the central figure. The
rock at present lies with its face slanting to the south-
west, owing to the excavation of the earth beneath it
by a small stream that runs near. A few miles below
is another and smaller rock, having carved upon it
a face surrounded by scroll-work. In the island of
Guadeloupe is a large rock having upon it a figure
of more intricate design ; and it is said that there are
sculptured rocks in the island of St. John, one of the
Virgin Islands. Owing to the rugged conformation
of the islands chosen as their home, it is not possible
to discover such evidences of their handiwork as in
islands of more level surface.

As the only remaining Indians between the con-
tinent of South America and North America, be-
tween Guiana and Florida, these Caribs possess an
interest attaching to no other tribe living. Having
visited the southernmost resident Indians in the United
States, the Seminoles, offshoots from the Creeks, I
was enabled to note more intelligently the differences
between the two tribes ; and, aside from these and
other reasons, I do not think the Caribs ever reached
the continent of North America. This statement may
be met with the counter one that the Seminoles, at

INDIAN HOME LIFE. IO9

the time of Carib supremacy in the Lesser Antilles,
were residents of the country north of Florida, and
tliat a different tribe, the Yemassees, inhabited the
peninsula.

Very naturally arises the question, whence came
this people ? This must remain unanswered until
our savants have determined the origin of the entire
race of which these Indians are but a fragmentary
portion. They may trace them to Jew or Tartar, to
Malay or Phcenician, for their remote origin ; but
to the ethnologist who believes in an original Amer-
ican civilization, that there was for ages an emigra-
tion from South America northward, a little light may
be afforded by tracing the confines of the Carib.

Considering the Esquimaux and the North Amer-
ican Indians to be an " immigrant element " from Asia,
we must look to the South for the origin of those other
tribes more advanced than they in civilization. The
Mound-builders of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys,
and the Cliff-dwellers of Colorado and Arizona, may
be traced to Mexico as the country from which they
sprung. The Aztecs, in the height of their power
when discovered by the Spaniards, pointed to South
America as the land from which they had invaded
Mexico. Those learned men are not few who trace
a connection from these peoples to that wonderful
race that built the aqueducts of Peru and the roads
of the Incas ; and who maintain further that Amer-
ican civilization had its beginning in the elevated val-
leys of Peru.

These Caribs have no affinity with the people who
built such wonderful cities and wrought such works
of art as now lie scattered throughout the vast for-

no CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ests of Honduras and Central America ; but that they
originated in the same continent of South America,
there seems to be abundant evidence to prove. We
can trace them from South America northward, kill-
ing and devouring as they went. In the time of
Columbus the people of Porto Rico were beginning to
feel alarm from their incursions ; and the Spaniard
may be consoled by the thought that if he had not
murdered his millions, the Caribs would have event-
ually depopulated these peaceful isles. We have seen
that they had gained possession of all the Lesser An-
tilles, coming up from the south, and probably were
the same who possessed Jamaica from the west, coast-
ing the shore northward from Darien and crossing the
intervening sea. According to the Spanish writers
of the sixteenth century, the Carib nation then ex-
tended over eighteen or nineteen degrees of latitude,
from the Virgin Islands, east of Porto Rico, to the
mouths of the Amazon. It seems, then, but a ques-
tion of time when they would have possessed every
island in the Caribbean Sea.

It is not my purpose to attempt to trace ancient
American civilization, but merely to describe the
northern limits of a people contemporary with the
more civilized Indians. Their warlike character and
unyielding nature is fully shown in their resistance to
the yoke of slavery the Spaniards sought to put upon
them, when they perished fighting rather than yield
to the oppressors.

How changed are the Caribs of the present day I
They have intermarried with the negroes to such an
extent that their individuality is nearly lost. Their
free mode of life, their long journeys by sea, their

INDIAN HOME LIFE. Ill

language even, are all things of the past. This rem-
nant of a race, living so quietly in these islands,
hemmed in between forest and ocean, peacefully cul-
tivating their gardens and weaving baskets, quietly
breathing away existence, are slowly but surely pass-
ing on into the great gulf of forgetfulness. Already
have they forgotten the deeds of their fathers, the
dread prowess of their ancestors. The bow, the
hatchet, the war-club, mighty weapons in willing
hands, are lost. In all their settlements one cannot
find a bow. Here, then, are people who have lost
language, prestige, tradition, ambition ; and it is a
matter of comparatively little time ere they will have
ceased to exist, and the forests and rivers, the cool,
fern-shaded baths and tropic streams, no longer know
their presence.

112 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

• CHAPTER VIII.

HOW I CAPTURED THE IMPERIAL PARROT.

MEYONG. — MY HUT. — A MIXED-UP LANGUAGE. — DEPARTURE
FOR THE FOREST. — PANNIER AND CUTLASS. — WOOD-PIGEONS. —
THE STARTLED SAVAGES. — THE BATH. — A GLOOMY GORGE. —
"PALMISTE MONTAGNE." — IN THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. —
IMMENSE TREES. — PARASITES AND LIANES. — WOOD FOR CA-
NOES AND GUM FOR INCENSE. — THE " BOIS DIABLE." — CON-
STRUCTING THE CAMP. — PALM-SPATHES. — A BONNE BOUCHE,
THE BEETLE GRUB. — NOCTURNAL NOISES. — COMICAL FROGS. —
A BLACKSMITH IN A TREE. — THE FIRST SHOT. — THE HUMMING-

- bird's NEST. — THE PARROT. — AN EXCITED GUIDE. — AN ACCI-
DENT.— WILD HOGS. — THE "LITTLE DEVIL."

"It was a land of rills
And birds, and giant hills
Rose westward ; eastward thundered the broad main."

WALLS of reeds and roof of flags, a small hole
looking eastward for a window, a larger one
for a door. Leaning against the door-post is a Carib
youth of eighteen, a gun resting in the hollow of his
arm, a coarse cotton shirt and trowsers his habili-
ments. Upright, in a hammock swung from two cor-
ners of the hut, sits a sleepy American, thrusting his
fingers through his long hair ; he is the only white
man in that region. Reader, consider yourself intro-
duced to my Indian guide, to my hut, and to myself.
Meyong, my faithful servant and henchman, was
christened Simeon in the little chapel over the hill ;

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. II3

but that was a name too long and savoring too much
of English for these idle aborigines, and he was at
once and forever rechristened.

" Meyong ! "

^^Oui, monsieur.''^

You must pardon Meyong for frequent lapses into
French, and for saying, ^^Oui, monsieur," instead of
" Yes, sir." The fact is, he has no language he can
call his own. Though born a Carib, he never heard
the Carib tongue, save from some very old woman or
warriors. He was born under English rule, but never
learned the English language. His parents spoke a
degenerate French, but never owed allegiance to the
French government. Meyong, then, speaks a patois,
or dialect of his own, derived from the French, who
once owned this island. His speech is abominable
alike to cultivated Frenchman and Englishman.

"Are you ready, Meyong?"

^^Om, monsieur ."

" And Coryet ? " Coryet is his inseparable com-
panion, with whom he roves sea and forest.

"Coryet come long time, m'sieur; he come ebry-
ting."

"Very well ; then bring me my coffee."

While he was preparing my coffee I drew on my
boots and hastened to the river to bathe. Darkness
still covered everything, but the low, uneasy twitter-
ing of birds gave token of the near approach of dawn.
Crickets and locusts and all the nocturnal insects had
hushed their chirpings, and all the valley was wrapped
in the silence that preceded the break of day.

Each of my young hunters had a large pannier
strapped to his shoulders, like a knapsack made of
8

114 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

basket-work, filled with the essentials for our jour-
ney. In them they had stored yams, tanniers, and
'*farine" of cassada, two bottles of native rum, my
blanket and rubber poncho. One of them also carried
a very heavy iron kettle, and the other a large cala-
bash. Why Coryet chose thus to burden himself with
the heavy ketde was explained by Meyong, who said
that the kettle was the only article of kitchen use
owned by his friend, and that he wished to display it
as much as possible in going through the Indian gar-
dens. When we reached the forests he would bury
it and exhume it for exhibition on our return. Nearly
everybody has some pet foible. Some display it in
neck-ties, others in gloves ; but Coryet's took the
shape of a pot of iron, black and battered.

I forgot to add that each boy carried a great 7na-
chcte, or cutlass, two feet and a half in length and
two inches broad. I had grown so accustomed to
seeing them with this weapon that I almost consid-
ered it a part of themselves. Meyong also carried
his gun.

There were but three things he cared for in this
world more than rum and sleep — his cutlass, his gun,
and his friend Coryet. Night and day they were
together. He did, I think, entertain a high regard,
approaching to love, for me, and he certainly feared
the priest ; but the consideration of other things never
disturbed his soul.

We climbed the hill, and had reached the ridge
fqrming the semicircle that hemmed in our valley be-
fore the sun appeared. He came up from the ocean
with a bounce and darted at us hot beams ; but we
were then walking beneath tall trees, where he could

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. H5

not enter, and we laughed at him. The trail we were
following was one thread of a net-work of secret paths
known only to the Indians, that had extent all over
the island, traversing the forests only, from shore to
shore. Our path was crossed by other trails, but my
boys infallibly selected the right one, and we marched
on swiftly.

We were skirting the innermost of the Indian gar-
dens, but soon left them and plunged into the woods,
where the trail followed mainly the crest of a tortuous
ridge. J^amiers, or wood-pigeons, were cooing all
around us, and Coryet and I went for one. He saw
it first, and tumbled it from its high perch among the
leaves to the ground. After an hour on the ridge we
began to descend. The hill was very steep, and I
had to cling to roots and rocks in going down. Soon
we passed through a garden owned by Indian Jim,
whose wife we saw "toted" in a hammock, the week
before, dying, to the village to receive extreme unction
from the priest on his visit. Poor woman ! her last
task is finished on this earth, and never again will
she look upon this solitary spot so often the scene
of her daily toil. It was a dell most secluded and
wild, and ground, rocks, and trees were covered with
ferns.

As we waded along knee-deep in ferns, a couple of
■perdrix, or mountain doves, got up ; one alighted
in the loop of a swinging liane some forty yards away,
and I dropped him into the ferns, stone-dead. Me-
yong saw an agouti, but too quickly he penetrated the
forest of ferns for us to catch him. Suddenly I heard
the music of falling water — the most liquid melody
in the world — and opportunely, too, for we were

Il6 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEpS.

tired and thirsty. Rapidly we descended, as fast as
loosened rocks and earth furrowed by the rains would
allow us, to a shady valley, where a foaming brook
came down to join the large river that entered the sea
two miles below. But another sound greeted our
ears, other than that of water laughing over mossy
stones ; it was the rumbling of loosened rocks and
rolling of stones caused by the hand of man. We
stopped to listen, and then Meyong went on ahead.
He beckoned and I followed, to see, as I peered over
the bank, a naked Indian running about in and out
of the brook ; a magnificent man, with brawny shoul-
ders and long black hair. Just ahead of him was a
woman, his squaw, clad in a ragged skirt. Both
were intently searching beneath the stones for some
object, the man overturning large rocks in his way.

What was this thing they seemed so eager to find?
It was not gold, for they do not know it in its virgin
state. It was something more valuable to them, for
present needs, a shell-fish for their breakfast and
supper. The crayfish, the fresh-water lobster, makes
its home beneath the rocks of the mountain streams.
Being so excellent, it is much sought by these people,
who have no guns, no bows nor arrows, and few dogs
with which to hunt. It is their chief reliance when the
seas are heavy and they cannot go out in their canoes
to fish.

Pressing too near the bank, I dislodged a pebble
which fell with a splash into the stream. Hardly had
it touched the water, when, with a wild cry of alarm,
the startled Indians darted into the forest ; we could
hear them as they ran in their fear, for some minutes.
At the river we stopped to lunch and drink its pure

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT.

117

water. Crossing the stream we entered an abandoned
provision ground, where we disturbed two girls and a
boy gathering yams and tanniers. They shrieked and
fled, without staying to answer our bon joiir. We
then marched up the gravelly bed of a brook near the
river bank, our path overhung by wild oranges and

The I^ui

f^

coffee trees, until we came abruptly upon a perpen-
dicular wall of rock directly across our path. It was
black and frowning, dotted with lovely ferns and long
drooping leaves of the wild plantain. Swerving
aside, we found that we must cross the river, and that
the channel was too deep to wade, and we must
swim it.

Il8 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

There are two things forbidden by the laws of
health in the tropics : eating fruit when the body is
hot, and bathing when in the same condition. But
Meyong said it would not hurt us if we would remove
our clothes and sit in the sun a while to dry the per-
spiration ; which we did, and then plunged in. It was
icy cold, and the current was so swift we could hardly
stem it, for the river flowed between huge walls of
rock — a narrow gorge. Into the deep black chasm
we at last ventured, where the sun could not reach us,
and essayed a peep into the cavernous depths beneath
the cliffs. Suspended from a swinging rope, a liane,
we hung upon the surface of as black and dismal a
pool as I ever saw'. The water fell from a great
height into the farthest recesses of the chasm and
created a sort of whirlpool where we dared not ven-
ture, and then it flowed out through a narrow open-
ing into the daylight and sunlight, falling over a broad
ledge one sheet of foam.

The lianes gave a strange effect, hanging from the
heights to the water like loosened ropes ; but the most
beautiful and strangely-attractive forms were those of
the tree-ferns, which sprang but of the crevices in
the rocks, and spread their broad,* lace-like leaves
above us.

Refreshed by the bath, and by the contemplation
of this grand work of nature, we dressed and prepared
to scale the cliffs on the other side. A little stream
fell musically over the rock, where it had worn a
channel for itself in the solid stone, and up this brook-
let, assisted by tree-ferns and lianes, we climbed and
climbed. It was now mid-day and the sun gave us a
warm reminder of his strength, so that we gladly

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. II9

hailed the first sight of a mountain palm. As it is
never found at less than two thousand feet above the
sea, its presence assured us of cool breezes ; and not
only of cool breezes but of possible approach to the
region of the parrots.

The great Imperial Parrot, the " Cicero " of the
Indians, the Chrysotis augusta of ornithologists,
delights to feed upon the seeds of this tree. We did
not, however, hear any cry or noise betokening their
presence, for at noon in the tropics all animal life is
silent.

We went up and on for several hours into a region
of palms and " gommier trees," and at last halted be-
neath towering trees, on a carpet of green, where we
threw ourselves upon the ground. My boys were
soon refreshed and sprang up again to seek water,
far down the hill.

While they were gone I lay upon my back, study-
ing the forms of the various trees above me. They
formed a perfect canopy of green which the sun could
not pierce. Exceeding all others in height, as well
as in usefulness, is the tree known to the natives as
the "gommier," or gum-tree (^Bursera gummifcra).
Some of the trunks are eight feet in diameter, throw
out huge buttresses on all sides, like the wall-supports
of a Gothic church, and rise into the air one hundred
feet. The seeds of this tree are favorite food of
the parrots and wood-pigeons. Its branches and
trunk are completely hidden in a wealth of parasitic
growth and lianes. This is the tree used by the
Caribs, even at the present day, for their canoes.
From a single trunk they hollow out, by means of
fire and axe, a canoe in the rough. This is most

I20 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

often done far in the mountains, and the hollowed
log must be dragged, with great labor, to the shore.
There it is placed in the shade and filled with water,
to open it ; a strip is nailed along the top for a gun-
wale, knees put in to strengthen it ; it is finished
smoothly with the axe, and then makes a strong,
buoyant boat, which floats lightly on the water, and
rides gracefully heavy seas. In such a boat the an-
cient Caribs made war excursions of more than three
hundred miles. From the bark of this valuable tree
exudes a gum that burns freely and with such grateful
odor that it is used in the Romish churches as incense.
This gum is wrapped in bark in an ingenious manner
by the Indians, and made into torches, ox jlambcaux^
three feet long, which are used by hunters and fisher-
men at night. Hence the tree is also known as the
" flambeau tree."

Another very useful tree is the " bois dc bo7ile,'" the
young saplings of which are used in making the
ajoupa, or hut. It is tall, of lesser height than the
gommier, with fine ovate leaves. Upon the seeds of
this tree, also, the parrots feed, and its abundance here
induced my boys to select this site for our forest camp.
But the most interesting thing about it is tlie property
of the bark, which, when steeped in tea or in rum, has
a warming efl'ect upon the human system, and has
probably some medicinal qualities. Winding among
the branches of this tree are those of another called
" bois diablc,"' or devil's wood ; it is much used in
making charcoal and flambeaux.

They returned from the spring after a long absence,
with the calabash and a section of bamboo full of
water. Meyong started a fire with a flake of gom-

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT.

121

mier gum, and then departed for covering for the
house, which he and his companion were now to
erect. It was very near dark, and I did not think
they could put a roof over our heads before sunset ;
but when I mentioned this doubt they smiled and told
me to rest quietly. Coryet then cut about a dozen
saplings and drew
them up to the 6re.
Across two crotched
uprights, some eight
feet high, he placed
a pole about twelve
feet in length for the
ridge-pole of the
house. From this
front pole he extend-
ed three other stout
limbs to the ground,
and across these again
at right angles he
lashed ten others
about a foot and a hall apait. ^
Thus he had the frame-woik
of a roof in less tiian half an hour, and
every pole w^as lashed securely without a single rope,
and fastened firmly without a nail.

It was interesting to watch him at this work. When
he had placed the poles in position he left them and
went to a tree near at hand, and drew down from its
branches, sixty feet from the ground, several hundred
feet of lialines and lianes, the latter large as grape-
vines, the former small as fish-lines, and so lithe and
tough that a hard knot could be tied in one without

122 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

its breaking. With these he fastened the framework
together.

By this time Meyong had returned with a back-
load of strips of thin white bark. They were about
six feet in length, and looked like great flakes
of slipper3'-elm bark. Upon examination I found
that they were the sheaths or layers from around
the terminal bud of the mountain palm. This bud,
which is much sought as a delicacy, and cooked
like cabbage, forms the apex of the stem of the
palm ; and this rare vegetable, forming only enough
for a meal for a small party, is only obtained by
cutting down one of the stateliest trees in the
world. It was from a fallen palm that Meyong had
stripped these layers, which he now threw upon the
ground.

With his cutlass he shaved away the middle of
each, thus making the central portion so thin that
it could be spread out flat. Each piece was then
about four feet broad and six to seven long ; and two
breadths of four pieces each completely covered the
skeleton shape of the roof and made a water-tight
covering. The lower course was laid first, with the
upper overlapping it, like two rows of shingles.
Across each course was laid a pole, fastened at either
end to the poles projecting on each side underneath.
In less than an hour we had a good roof over us, im-
pervious to water. A few palm leaves were fastened
at the sides, and a huge back-load of small and
springy leaves thrown on the ground for a bed. Over
these I threw my poncho of rubber silk and a warm
gray blanket to protect me from the night air. Thus
we had house, and food at hand, all obtained from

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. 123

material on the spot, with no foreign aid save a single
cutlass.

I say food, but forgot to specify what it was and
how obtained. Meyong had brought us a luscious
morsel from that same palm, in the shape of a great,
fat grub, large as my finger, which he proposed to
fry at supper time. With characteristic generosity,
he offered me the whole of it, but I declined, and he
and his friend smacked their lips in anticipation.
This grub was from an egg laid in the decaying heart
of the palm by a black beetle, which always chooses
such a place of deposit for its eggs. The ramiers
were plucked and dressed, and some potatoes and
yams boiled. The former made a fine stew for sup-
per, after which, as we were all very tired, we sought
our couch of palm leaves. I threw a large piece of
gum upon the fire before retiring, and sat a while
watching the curling smoke and inhaling the sweet
incense.

There was a moon, a bright moon shining in the
heavens, but I could not see it through the trees ;
it only turned the darkness of night beneath the foliage
into dusky gloom, and twinkled through the leaves a
single diamond ray.

The voices of the night are many, but principally
issue from frogs and nocturnal cicadas. The most
conspicuous is the "crak-crak," which continually
repeats the two syllables forming its name, from sun-
set to sunrise. There are several frogs also that give
utterance to the most comical sounds ; but the one
that made me laugh was a small frog, like a rain-
frog, and what he repeated all night long was this :
" Rig a jig jig, rig a jig jig, amen I "

124 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Soon, the many voices blended into one, and I was
asleep. Wrapped in my blanket, my gun by my side,
and my two Indians stretched in slumber near me, I
slept long and soundly, nor stirred till near morning.
It may have been an hour before daylight, as I lay *
in that half conscious state that sometimes precedes
awaking, I heard distinctly the ringing of steel upon
steel, echo through the forest. Listening dreamily,
I heard it again — clings clang I Instantly I was
transported to another clime, and the forest and its
tropical wonders faded away. I was in a little New
England town, in the shop of the village blacksmith,
with the old mare I used to drive waiting for a shoe.
It was a hot, sultry day in July, the hay-makers were
sweltering in the sun, and the leaves on the trees stood
still. Clings clang, cling! I saw the old blacksmith
smiting the shoe as he fashioned it, and heard the
metallic ring as the hammer fell with a half-blow upon
the anvil. Cling! — "Monsieur!"

" What — what's the matter? "

" Monsieur," — it was Coryet who spoke — " you
no hear ze blacksmit?"

"The blacksmith I ah, yes ; but where is he?"

" Oh, m'sieur, he no on ze terre, he en haul in ze
tree."

** In the tree ! A blacksmith in a tree? "

" Oui, m'sieur, mais he no blacksmit veritable, he
inseck ; he make ze noise wiz hees weeng."

Now I saw it clearly, it was one of those cicadae,
or a cricket, which produces such a noise by rubbing
together the heel-plates of its wings. Thus was my
pleasant dream dissipated. It was now about sunrise,
though it would be long before the sun could pene-

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. I25

trate our leafy grove. Meyong made but little fire,
just enough for the preparation of our coffee, for the
wary parrots would detect our whereabouts, and de-
part farther up the mountain. We heard the faint
cry of one, answered by another, far down the moun-
tain-side, and this stimulated us to extra haste ifi
departing.

Coryet and Meyong were to descend by a ravine to
a valley, while I was to follow along the ridge a mile
or so, and take my stand beneath a tall tree which was
accurately described. I preferred going alone, as I
ever do when hunting, not only from the fact that less
noise would attend me, but that then I could indulge to
the full that communion with nature which the pres-
ence of a companion always interrupts, or rudely
breaks.

It was still gloomy in the forest; a shower had
fallen during the night, and leaves, vines, and ferns
were heavy with moisture. Noiselessly I pursued my
wa}-', indulging in that sweet reverie which solitude in
a great forest always excites. Suddenly there broke
upon the stillness the faint report of a gun. This at
once stirred the blood in my veins, as my boys had
promised not to shoot at any other bird than the im-
perial parrot, and I hoped that this announced the
capture of one. Impatiently resting beneath the huge
tree, and concealing myself in a bower of orchids and
hanging ferns, I waited for something to appear.
Soon the harsh screams of parrots broke upon my
ear, and a flock of ten or twelve swept through the
woods like a whirlwind, just beyond range. They
were the small green parrot, another species, but
equally desirable with the larger. Then all was still

126 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

again, the deep silence broken only by the call of the
wood-pigeon.

Turning my attention more closely to the vines that
enclosed me, to be satisfied that there were no poison-
ous centipedes or scorpions lurking there, I unex-
pectedly beheld a vision of loveliness seldom vouch-
safed to dwellers of the icy North. Close at hand,
within two feet of me, sat a tiny humming-bird on a
downy nest, which was fastened upon a twig no larger
than a pencil. During all my stay it had sat there,
gazing upon the first object of human kind, probably,
it had ever beheld. Fearlessly it glanced at me with
its bright, black eyes, and curiously it followed my
every motion with its shapely little head. Involun-
tarily I stretched forth my hand to touch it, but at
once drew back for fear it might take alarm and fly
away. A buzzing of wings attracted my attention,
and I beheld the mate of the one on the nest, who
darted at me with unmistakable fury, his glittering
crest erected and anger shooting from his eyes.
Verily I had this pigmy's body been in proportion to
his heart, I should have been destroyed. Satisfied
that he could not drive me away by darting at my
eyes, he rested himself a moment upon a twig near
the nest, where he was at once joined by the female,
who seemed to endeavor by caresses to soothe his
ruffled temper and to assure him that my intentions
toward them were not evil. Touched to the heart by
this exhibition of trust and love, I would not have
harmed these little innocents for a fortune. Exposed
for a moment, as the female left the nest, were two
eggs, white as snow, diminutive as seed-pearls.

For several hours I watched without even a sound

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. 12*J

to reward me, and during my stay those humming-
birds watched with me, the male darting off upon
frequent forays for insects and honey, the female
snuggled cosily in her dainty nest. The little hus-
band now looked upon me as an intruder, to be tol-
erated only upon sufferance, and at my slightest
motion he would dive at my face; at which exhibi-
tion of bravery the little wife would twitter with de-
light and swell with pride.

Finally I retraced my steps, as it was near noon.
I had nearly reached camp when I saw a puff of
smoke and heard a loud report, and directly Coryet,
who had espied me, ran forward with animated ges-
tures. Interpreting their meaning, and obeying his
directions, which he jabbered in broken French, I
directed my attention to an immense gommier tree a
few liundred feet away. At first I saw nothing, but
approaching I gradually resolved the mass of foliage
into its component leaves and twigs, vines and air
plants, and caught sight of a glowing body clothed in
purple and golden-green.

In the cloud of smoke from my gun it disappeared,
but only to gleam again athwart the leafy space ere
it fell with heavy thud to the ground. To recover it
was the work of an instant with the excited Indian,
whose enthusiasm almost equalled mine as he placed
in my hands this largest of all the parrots of the
Indies. Their first shot in the morning had been in-
effectual, but the second had wounded the mate to
this ; and it w^as its loud cries that caused my bird to
remain so long in a place fraught with so much
danger.

At last I had secured this valuable bird I And I

128 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

had the satisfaction, several months later, of learning
that mine were the first ever sent to America. Does
it not seem strange that though Columbus, in 1493,
when he approached this island of Dominica, es-
pecially noticed the "flights of parrots and other
tropical birds," nearly four hundred years should
elapse before one of these parrots should reach the
continent he was the means of discovering?

This bird is peculiar to the island and is found
nowhere else. Its cry is harsh, somewhat resembling
the cry of the wild turkey. It does not, like the small
parrots, associate in flocks, but is always found in
pairs ; once mated, they are sundered only by death.
Morning and evening, when feeding, they cry out
noisily, but at other times are silent ; though if a gun
be fired within their hearing, or a tree fall, they will
all scream loudly and harshly once or twice, and then
subside into perfect silence. They are shy and wild,
since in the autumn months they are much hunted,
being then fat and delicious. In size, they are nearly
as large as a fowl, being twenty-three inches long and
thirty-six in extent of wings. In color, they are bright
green above and purple beneath, with metallic reflec-
tions. Rarely does it descend to the valleys, as its
favorite food is in the mountains. Its nest is made in
the broken shaft of a palm, very high from the ground.
The young, if obtained early, will readily learn to
talk.

While the two Indians were away looking for
more parrots, an accident happened to one of my
birds which greatly excited my ire. I had skinned
both birds and plentifully besprinkled them with
arsenic, and had left them on a log near the ajoupa,

THE HAUNTS OF THE PARROT. 1 29

while I went in search of some dry moss with which
to stuff them. Returning, when some distance away
I heard a low grunt, and looking up saw a large
hog, black as night and gaunt as a wolf, snuffing at
the log. I darted forward with a cry, but not before
the sable fiend had seized one of the birds by the head
and started to run. Thinking only of my specimen,
I pressed him so closely that he turned at bay, show-
.ing fangs long as my fingers. Then he started again,
as I hesitated a moment, and ran more swiftly than
before. In running, he stepped upon the trailing
wing of the bird and wrenched the head from the
body, but kept on, crunching the bones between his
powerful jaws, and disappeared in a clump of bam-
boos. As I had neither gun nor knife, I was power-
less to avert this catastrophe, but was obliged to
bottle my wrath until Meyong's return. He then in-
formed me that there were hundreds of wild hogs in
the woods, but that we would require dogs to hunt
them with.

It was at once decided that Coryet should return
to the coast on the morrow with my birds, procure
more provisions, and two hunting-dogs belonging
to old Joseph, a chief. Upon his return we would
move higher up the mountains, and seek reparation
for my bird from the droves of wild hogs there roam-
ing the forests. At the same time it was possible I
might add to my captures that inhabitant of the upper
volcano, the Dtablotin, or "Little Devil," which had
not been seen for thirty years.

9

130 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER IX.

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS.

THE BEE-TREE. — ENVELOPED IN PLANTS. — ASCENDING THE
GIANT TREE. — SMOKING OUT THE BEES. — VEGETABLE ROPES.

— HONEY AD LIBITUM. — A BITE. — A HOWL. — THE BEE-
EATERS. — CARIB PERVERSITY. — SWEET CONTENT. — HOW TO
DRAW A BEE-LINE. — THE PALM TROUGHS. — A BAMBOO CUP.

— A STROLL AND AN ALARM. — THE CARIB GHOST. — TRA-
DITIONS.— THE MARCH RESUMED. — AN ARMY OF CRABS. —
CRABS THAT MIGRATE. — DELICIOUS FOOD. — THE MOUNTAIN
PEAK. — HUNTING THE "DIABLOTIN." — IS IT A MYTH? —
CAUGHT IN A STORM. — THE CARIB CASTLE. — THE CAPTIVE'S
CAVE. — VA.MPIRES. — THE FOREST SPIRIT.

EARLY the next morning, Coryet departed for the
coast, taking with him nothing but his cutlass,
his pannier, and a cooked tannier to eat on the way.
He left us barely enough provisions for a day, but
Meyong reckoned upon finding some wild yams, and
shooting birds and agoutis. He went a little way with
his beloved friend, and then returned to the ajoupa.

After the customary coffee had been prepared and
brought me, he returned to the fire and proceeded to
collect together four or five brands some two feet in
length, with blazing ends, and bind them firmly into
a flambeau, with tough lianes. Knowing it was un-
necessary to question him when he had unrestrained
power to do as he pleased in the forest, I watched hira
as he fastened on his wicker pannier, and lined it with

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS. I3I

broad leaves. This once strapped to his shoulders, he
took up the calabash, the cutlass and blazing brands,
and bade me follow him. I did so, carrying, of course,
my gun (my never-absent friend), and swinging on
my game-basket, with a supply of cartridges.

He then led the way down the hill, and stopped
almost in sight of the smoke of our fire in camp. It
was beneath a tree of vast size, which shot up from a
wilderness of fallen trunks and limbs, a gommier,
towering aloft in kingly majesty, enveloped in lianes
which hung from every bough and limb, thickly
covered with broad-leaved parasites, orchids and wild
pines, its base throwing out strong buttresses like
the cj'press of the South, but higher and broader, its
upper limbs jagged and weather-beaten, stretching
their multitudinous fingers heavenward two hundred
feet above us. It was beginning to decay, and this
forest monarch of centuries, perhaps, was almost
ready to totter on his throne.

Meyong pointed to a dark spot as large as my hand,
some sixty feet above, and said, "You no see um?"

"See what?"

"Zebees!"

Then I fully understood the meaning of his prep-
arations, which I had till then hardly surmised. This
was a bee-t7'ee, the home of a swarm, one of the
numberless progeny of some bees from Europe, which
went wild a hundred years ago.

Laying his gun at the foot of the tree, and lopping
off a few leaves from a parasite overhead, to protect
it from the damp, Meyong seized hold of a large liane,
cut it from its attachment at the base, and climbed up
into the tree. Remember, there were no limbs for

132 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

eighty feet. About twenty feet up he rested a moment,
and requested me to attach the bundle of smoking
fagots to a liane ; he then drew it up to him and stuck
it into a crevice.

Then he went up again, — he didn't "shin," by
clinging with his arms and legs ; the tree was too
broad, and the mass of vines and plants too enormous
for that, — but he just seized a liane, like a rope,
between his toes, the great toe and the one next it,
and -walked up, hand over hand, and toe over toe.
The pannier fastened to his shoulders, and the cutlass
dangling behind from his belt, gave him the appear-
ance of a hump-backed monkey, as he ascended
rapidly, half enveloped in smoke. Great parasites,
with leaves like cabbage leaves, and orchids large as
peonies, came crashing down, sprinkling me with
water from their inverted calyxes, as he went on
steadily climbing.

At last he reached a point just beneath the hole, at
a height equal to the mast-head of a brig, and then,
holding on with one hand, he drew up the firebrands
and thrust their unlighted ends into a crevice a little
below the hole. He signaled me to attach the calabash
to a lialine no larger than a fish-line, which I did,
and awaited further orders. Detaching a brand from
the bundle, he thrust it into the hole previous to put-
ting in his hand. He was almost hidden by a cloud
of angry bees, who, stupefied by the smoke, did not
seem to recognize in him an enemy, and hundreds
alighted upon his shirt and pantaloons, and many on
his bare legs. The hole was too small, and Meyong
enlarged it with his cutlass; previously, however, he
had formed a staging upon which to stand, about

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS. I33

four feet beneath the aperture, by thrusting a stout
pole through the lianes, and lashing it with a lia:line.
The fagots, to which he had secured apiece of punky
wood, were smoking bravely, and he now signaled
me to send up the calabash. First, however, he filled
his leaf-lined pannier, or basket-knapsack, with great
flakes of wax, throwing away the first crust, which
was brown and dry, and very soon had it full to the
top with honey-laden wax. Detaching it, he lowered
it down by one of the living ropes which surrounded
him, and drew up and filled the calabash. I laid the
wax dripping with honey upon some long and broad
leaves of the wild plantain, three feet long by one foot
broad. At every successive descent of the vessel it
contained more and more liquid, and at last came
down with but little wax, nothing but golden and
fragrant syrup.

What should I do? There was no bowl or pan to
put it in.

Meyong saw my perplexity, and shouted down for
me to collect some of the boat-shaped spathes of the
mountain palm, the sheaths that protect and overhang
the seeds and flowers. A palm lay prostrate near
me ; two of its spathes, exactly like the half of a pea-
pod in shape, five feet long and two feet wide, were
quickly drawn to the tree. They were clean and
freshly washed by the dews of the morning, and into
one of these I poured the honey fast as it came to me
from the tree above.

An exclamation caused me to look up, and I saw my
friend in agony, grimaces passing swiftly over his
face, as he endeavored vainly to dislodge an intruding
bee, whose success in finding a vulnerable place on

134 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Meyong's skin was proclaimed by that worthy in a
howl of dismay.

Meyong was a good boy and generally very trac-
table, but he would never listen to my advice and wear
his shirt inside his pantaloons. He said it was the
fashion to wear it outside, and used an expression
equivalent to that in so common use among the ladies :
"To be out of fashion is to be out of the world."

I argued with him and entreated him, but in this he
would have his own way ; and I really believe that if
• every man in the Carib nation were bitten by a bee
every day in his mortal life, he would still persist in dis-
playing a flag of distress above his nether coverings.

And thus he went on, with alternate howls and
exclamations of sweeter character, such as mid douce,
(honey sweet,) until the great palm troughs were full
enough and I concluded it would be well to desist. -

Early in the proceedings he had whistled shrilly
several times, and when I asked the reason, he said it
was to call the malfini. " Mai fini " was the name
given to the hawk, from its cry ; but this applied to a
small bird of the fly-catcher family, which would come
and eat the bees and thus diminish the number of
Meyong's assailants. The bird came, a small, shy,
gray bird, which approached cautiously, evidently
astonished to see a human being up in a tree sur-
rounded with smoke, and another at the foot of the
tree. But he did not stop to speculate, but worked
assiduously, and soon he was joined by others ;
though their united efforts failed to lessen perceptibly
the angry swarm.

Supplied with all the honey I cared for, I sat con-
tentedly upon a fallen log, with my feet thrust down

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS. 135

among tangled twigs, exposed to the gaze of ants,
centipedes, scorpions and what not, and calmly
munched the waxen cells, expressing from those hex-
agonal receptacles their delicious burden of honey, by
a process the most primitive, but also the most satis-
factor}', known to man.

As I sat there a picture of sweet endeavor, Me-
yong prepared to descend, and brought with him as he
swung down, hand under hand, a cloud of bees, who,
attracted by the cargo of honey in the spathes and by
my sweet countenance, left the boy and traveled in my
direction. Entangled as I was in the meshwork of
branches, I furnished a scene for the hardened Me-
yong, who, still smarting from recent stings, was a
most J03ful witness of my discomfiture.

Though never an apt scholar in mathematics, I
learned a lesson from the bees that day, and described,
as accurately as the nature of the ground would allow,
a bcc-line for camp. I think the most stupid student
in school would be able to understand that a straight
line was the '' shortest distance between two points,"
with a swarm of angry bees after him thirsting for his
blood ; especially, when at one of those points was
safety, and at the other bees.

In the afternoon I went out hunting and was success-
ful, bringing back several pigeons. Meyong mean-
while had not been idle, for he had, ready-cooked, the
cabbage of a mountain palm, and two hideous grubs
nicely browning over the coals. Now "we had veg-
etables, meat and honey, but there was no utensil for
dipping out the latter from the troughs.

" Come wiz me," said Meyong.

I went with him a few rods to a clump of bamboos

136 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

— the same in which the hog had disappeared the day
before. Selecting a long reed an inch and a half in
diameter, he cut it off with his cutlass. The joints in
this reed were about four inches apart, and it was a
hollow tube partitioned at the joints ; upon the outside
of each grew a lateral branch. Trimming off the
small shoot and cutting the larger part off about
three inches each side of it, he had then a double-
ended cup with a firm handle, divided in the middle.
Upon our return to the village, Meyong covered this
cup very neatly with basket-work ; and I have it now
before me as I write.

Towards night, I took my gun and wandered a little
way from camp to try to shoot some of the immense
vampire bats that haunted the forest. My attention
being taken up with the many objects about me, I
wandered farther than I had intended, and darkness
fell about me at a distance from the camp. If the
days are glorious, the tropic nights are grand ; im-
pressive in the deep brooding silence, until the insects
of the night break the stillness, or the hoot of the owl,
or the shriek of the diablotin, disturbs it.

I had been seated a little while and it had grown
quite dark, and I was about returning, when, as I
moved, a stick crackled sharply, thrilling me through
with a strange feeling of fear. It was nothing but a
dry twig upon which I myself had stepped, yet an
unaccountable dread of moving possessed me at that
moment, as though I felt the presence of another
person near, whom I could not see. As I walked, I
peered all about mc, but could see nothing. Yet, during
all that short walk I felt as if in the presence of a
powerful man about to lay his hand on my shoulder.

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS. 137

This feeling I could not shake off ; but I reached camp
without harm, though my face must have beirayed
me, for Meyong noticed my agitation and remarked :
"Ah, you meet jumbie, eh?"

Jombie, or jumbie, is the name by which are known
the evil spirits who walk the earth.

" No," I replied, "I have seen nothing." I did not
care to show to Meyong any such foolish fear as had
just before possessed me.

" You no see him, but he see you ; something make
you Traid." This I could not deny ; and then Me-
yong launched into the story of the ghost that haunted
this mountain, which he fully believed. Stretched
upon my bed of palm-leaves, I listened as he talked.

"If * crak-crak ' bawl one kind way, some person
go to dead. Me sinks me hear zat to-day. Long
agone, in old Carib time, one berry cruel man say he
must to be bury like he sit down, he must to be put in
he grave just like he sit on bench. Well, zey make
him so, and not long all ze person get walloping ; zey
know not who mike it, but if a man only so speak of
ze man buried and say, ' Ah, poor fellah,' he shu to
get him skin well wallop. It make ze person most
fright to dead, and if zey but go near he hut where
him bury in ze night, zey must to see him jumbie and
get blow on ze head. Soon again, he jumbie take to
go in ze canoe all about ze coast ; when zQ.y go fishin'
he always to be dah : he whistle, he sing, an' ze canoe
men use to him an' not mine him. One day ze canoe
swamp an' ze jumbie make to drown, but ze Carib
men he no drown ; zey see him no mo'. Person say
he come up to ze mountain, zat I sinks myself. After
zat, no mo' Carib bury like him sitting down."

138 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

By the time this was finished I was asleep and knew
no more till morning. Instead of waiting for Coryet on
the third day, Meyong proposed that we should make
an easy march up the mountain-side, leaving a sign for
his friend to follow when he should reach the camp.
Our route lay through a region similar to the one we
left, only constantly becoming more and more elevated
and consequently rugged.

It was during this march that we met one of the
most curious processions ever seen in this land of
wonders. Climbing the steep hill-side, and clinging
by one hand as I climbed, giving all my attention to
my work, I suddenly became conscious that I was
surrounded by moving objects, whom I could hear as
they rustled over leaves and rocks. I rubbed my
eyes and looked around. Meyong was behind, but
saw them at the same time I did, and eagerly shouted,
^ Gardcz! Ze crabs I " It was true, there was an
army of crabs ^ and we were in the midst of it. It
behooved us to get out of the way at once, for these
crabs (as large as a good-sized crab of the sea-shore)
have a disagreeable way of climbing up and over
everything in their course, and of using their power-
ful claws upon the slightest provocation.

Well, we got behind a large tree, and my guide
made side forays upon them as they went by (for they
are most delicious eating), until we had collected as
many as he could carry.

And how, think you, did he secure them? Why, he
just tied their claws together with a lialine, a small
cord-like root, and then placed them in a heap at
his feet. Fortunate for us that this was a small
army, otherwise I don't know how soon we could

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS.

139

have pursued our way, for they sometimes travel by
thousands. A v^ry old French writer gives the only

account

that we

can find

of these

crabs ; and

- were it not

that I had seen

them on the

march, there are

some things he

says the truth of

which I should be

inclined to doubt.

They .

live not

only in a kind

of orderly and '"^^

quiet society in their ^^ ;^rmy

retreats in the mountains, but regularly once a year

march down to the seaside in a body, some millions

at a time. They choose the months of April and May

to begin their expeditions, and then sally out from the

OF Crabs.

140 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

stumps of hollow trees, clefts of rocks, and from holes
which they dig for themselves in the earth.

The sea is their destination, and here they cast their
spawn. For this purpose, no sooner has the crab
reached the shore than it eagerly goes to the edge of
the water and lets the waves wash over its body to
wash off the spawn. The eggs are hatched under
the sand, and soon after, millions of the new-born
crabs are seen quitting the shore, and slowly traveling
up the mountains. In going down, they turn neither
to right nor left ; even if they meet a house, they will
attempt to scale it. The procession sets forward with
the precision of an army. It is commonly divided
into battalions, with the strongest in front. The night
is their chief time of traveling, but if it rains by day,
they improve that occasion. When the sun shines,
they make a universal halt till evening. In the season
of moulting, they retire to their burrows to cast their
shells, filling them with grass and leaves.

My native boy's account of their habits agreed sub-
stantially with this, and he added, moreover, that if
there was any one thing better than another, it was the
flesh of these same crabs ; a statement I can cheerfully
verif}' , as that night we feasted on crab on the half-
shell, crabs' claws, crab fricasseed and crab roasted.

As the camp we had left was at a good height above
the sea-coast, we were now in the upper regions of the
mountains. The vegetation had already changed to
a great extent and had more of an Alpine character.
As we walked along we could now and then catch
glimpses of the sea at a distance, and obtain a view
of the nearer sea of trees, spread over the fair valleys
below us. In the afternoon we were painfully scaling

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS. I4I

the precipitous sides of one of the two peaks which
form the double summit of Morne Diablotin. We
were now in the region especially appropriated as
his home by the Diablotin^ or "Little Devil;" and
anxiously we searched, as we scrambled over the loose
rock, for some trace of the hole in which he lived.

Wherever I had been in the island I had heard of
the diablotin, and my curiosity was excited to such
a degree that I determined to clear away the mystery
which surrounded it. For thirty years it had remained
unseen. Many treated as a myth this story of a bird
living in the mountains (for it is a bird) so long a
period without appearing to human vision. But suffi-
cient proof existed, in my opinion, to warrant a search
for it. The older people of the island had distinct re-
membrances of seeing it, and attributed its disappear-
ance to the depredations of the " manacou," a marsu-
pial animal like an opossum, which hunted it from its
holes and devoured it and its eggs. No two persons
agreed as to its color, shape, or size ; but I had seen
in an old French w^ork, written by a Catholic mission-
ary to these islands some two centuries ago, — the
Pere Labat — a good description of the bird. This
description, doubtless translated bodily, I also found
in an old history of Dominica, published in 1791. It
says: "The ^/a<^/cifm, so called by'the French from
its uncommonly ugly appearance, is nearly the size
of a duck, and is web-footed. It has a big, round
head, crooked bill like a hawk, and large, full eyes
like an owl. Its head, part of the neck, chief feath-
ers of the wings and tail, are black; the other parts
of its body are covered with a fine, milk-white down.
They feed on fish, flying in great flocks to the sea-

142 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

side in the night-time, and in their flight make a
disagreeable noise like owls, which bird they also
resemble in their dislike of the day, when they are
hid in holes in the mountains, where they are easily
caught. This is done by stopping up some of the
holes which lead to their hiding-places and placing
empty bags over the rest, which communicate under-
ground with those stopped. The birds, at their usual
time of going forth to seek their food in the night-
time, finding their passage impeded, make to the
holes covered with the bags, into which entering,
great numbers of them are caught."

Though hardly accepting the statement by the moun-
taineers that a bird so far-flying could be exterminated
by a merely local disturber, I was obliged to admit
that it no longer inhabited its old homes. For two
hours we prolonged the search, cold and wet, but
found nothing to reward us. We saw, to be sure,
many cracks and crannies in the rocks where a dia-
blotin might have hidden, but no long holes, such as
those made by the " Mother Gary's chickens " in the
Bay of Fundy. There, five years previously, I had
drawn many a petrel from the end of a long, winding
hole, as it sat quietly upon its single egg ; but this
other petrel (for it is a giant petrel, probably the Prion
Caribbcea) was not to be found, and I departed sor-
rowfully down the mountain, to look for shelter.

We were at such an altitude that mist and rain con-
stantly surrounded us. The fierce wind, that always
blows from the eastward, nearly swept us over the
narrow crest. Thunder boomed beneath and around
us, and rain fell in torrents at times, and the view I
had hoped to obtain of the fairest group of islands ia

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS. I43

the Southern Sea was hidden by a veil of mist and
fog. It was nearly dark, though perhaps not very
late ; but the cloud of mist aided approaching night,
and I was apprehensive that exposure would result to
our injury, especially as there was no roof to cover us
and no material for making a fire. My implicit faith
in the resources of my guide was not unrewarded, for
we had descended but a short distance when he cried
out, pointing to an immense rock as large as a church,
just in sight farther down, "You no see ajoupa?"

It was, as I said, a huge rock, so delicately poised
upon a spur from the main ridge that it seemed ready
to fall. We seemed surrounded by an almost intermi-
nable forest beneath, while above towered the twin
mountain-peaks, bare and gray. As those near peaks
were more than five thousand feet above the sea, we
were now in a region cold and bleak, forty-eight hun-
dred feet above the coast. Meyong had called this
rock an ajoupa, and there must be, I knew, some
reason for it, as he was one of those matter-of-fact
persons who call a spade a spade. Just as we reached
an angle of the rock he turned abruptly from the trail
and dived beneath another rock into a hole about
breast-high. Following him, I found myself in a
spacious cavern hollowed out of the rock, with an
entrance on the mountain-side just large enough to
admit a man conveniently.

The sudden transition from the howling of a tem-
pest to comparative silence, from the fury of a pelting
rain to the shelter of a roof, was bewildering, and I
looked about me in wonder. While I stood in the
semi-darkness that wrapped everything iti gloom, the
water dripping from my saturated garments, Meyong

144 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

drew out from a corner of the cave a manufactured
flambeau and lighted it. By the glare it shed around
I could see that I was in a smoke-blackened chamber
large enough to contain fifty men, with high vaulted
roof and rude seats hollowed out of the rock near the
floor, which latter was covered with a thin coating of
earth. There was a large heap of dry wood near the
entrance, from which Meyong drew enough for a fire,
which was soon blazing cheerily, the smoke escaping
through some crevices in the roof.

My first care was for my beloved gun ; and having
taken off" the barrels and inverted them near the fire,
I oiled the locks and steel parts of the stock, and,
later, the barrels themselves ; then stripping myself
of clothing, I drew a blanket over my shoulders and
waited for my garments to dry. Huge bats, disturbed
by the unwonted light, flapped above us with regular
beats of their broad wings, some of them large as
pigeons, known as vampires, true blood-suckers. A
small variety also flew softly about, hundreds of them
playing in the space above our heads and darting
at us.

" Zis old Charaib caverne," said Meyong.

" What, the one to which the chief carried the gov-
ernor's wife?" demanded I quickly.

"Out, ze rock veritable."

A long time ago, — nearly or quite two hundred
years, — when the Carib was known only as the
cruel, untamable cannibal, these Indians made long
cruises in their canoes to procure victims for sacrifice
at their feasts. One hundred miles north of Dominica

ft

lies the lovely island of Antigua, at that time thinly
settled. To this island the Caribs made frequent pred-

A DAY IN THE DEEP WOODS. I45

atory raids, always returning well rewarded. In one
of these excursions the chief of the tribe captured
the wife of the governor of Antigua, who lived in a
secluded nook in that island, near the sea. She was
brought a prisoner to this place, to this very cave,
Meyong says, and held, contrary to their custom, for
ransom. I will not try to depict the wrath and de-
spair of the husband, nor the details of the pursuit he
at once organized, but merely state that he sought her
out, traced her to the Carib retreat by fragments of
clothing torn from her by cruel thorns, and' eventually
succeeded in returning with her. She had been weeks
in captivity, but had been well treated.

This, then, was the cavern in which that delicate
lady lay captive, nearly two Centuries ago ! Truly, it
was a poor retreat for a tenderly nurtured woman,
but a grand one for Meyong and myself. After the
fire was well going, Meyong made a large torch,
which he stuck in a crevice outside as a guide to
Coryet in his ascent. The crabs, which the sly fel-
low, with wise forethought, had deposited in a heap
by the rock as we had ascended, were then brought
in and some of them roasted ; and the^, with some
cold boiled yam, made a grateful repast. We sat
over the fire till late, then spread our blankets upon
the earth and lay down to sleep.

Several hours later I was awakened by a disturb-
ance, and rolling over quickly, saw Coryet standing
in the doorway. But it appeared more like his appa-
rition than himself in flesh and blood, as he stood
there shaking with cold. The dogs, which he held
in leash, as soon as released slunk into a corner with
their tails between their legs, uttering low^ whines.
10

146

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

The fire had burned low, and it was only by iis fit-
ful gleams that I saw this strange vision. Meyong
touched me, and whispered, "Cory et see jumbie."

So it was ; he had seen the visitor of whom I had
but felt the presence. Looking upon this event, or
chain of events, in the light of subsequent revelations,
I laugh ; but at that time I almost believed, with my
boys, in the existence of a forest spirit.

A MIDNIGHT MARCH. I47

CHAPTER X.

A MIDNIGHT MARCH, AND WHAT CAME OF IT.

THE APPARITION. — THE LOST CHIEF. — A FORGOTTEN LANGUAGE.

— THE MARCH BY TORCHLIGHT. — STRANGE AND DISTORTED
FORMS. — THE FOREST WILDERNESS. — A MYSTERIOUS SOUND. —
"a TREE FELLED BY GOD." — VIRGIN, PROTECT US !-.- COOKING
BY STEAM. — THE ROSEWOOD CABIN. — THE CHIEF DISAPPEARS.

— IS IT GOLD? — A SMALL BOA CONSTRICTOR. — A CARIB BAS-
ILISK. — THE BIGGEST BUG IN THE WORLD. — IT COMES IN
SEARCH OF THE NATURALIST. — THE HERCULES BEETLE. —
CENTIPEDES. — SCORPIONS. — AN UNNAMED PALM WITH EDIBLE
SEEDS. — A PRIESTESS OF OBEAH. — AFRICAN WITCHCRAFT. —
ITS STRONGHOLD. — PROSTRATED BY THE HEAT. — FEVER.

DRAWING the well-nigh exhausted Coryet into
the cave, Meyong quickly revived the fire, and
assisted him to disburden himself of his load of pro-
visions. Weak and trembling, the boy sank to the
earth ; and not till a drink of rum had been poured
down his throat could he tell us the cause of his
alarm. With us as excited listeners, he then gave a
story, of which the following is the substance :

He arrived at the camp late in the forenoon, and,'
finding we had left for the cave, followed on at once.
Burdened with his load and the care of the dogs, he
was obliged to travel slowly, and it was dark long be-
fore he left the high-woods belt and struck the upper
trail. He was not afraid, however, as the dogs gave
him company, and he walked cheerily on, until a low

148 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

growl from one of his canine companions caused him
to look around. Then he saw, creeping stealthily
through the low trees on his left, a figure which to
his excited imagination seemed clothed in shining
white. He was so terribly frightened, that, notwith-
standing his heavy load, he darted forward over the
rocks at a rapid pace. The rattling of the stones set
^adrift by his feet, as they bounded down the steep
mountain-side, impressed him the more that the spirit
was pursuing him, and he ran with all his might.
The flambeau that IMeyong had prepared to guide
him was now but a flickering brand, and he did not
see it until close upon it. By its presence, however,
he was enabled more easily to find the cave, in the
mouth of which he stood as before described.

He had barely finished this recital when a loud ex-
clamation from Meyong caused me to look up, and I
saw in the place so lately occupied by Coryet another
apparition. This time it was surely the ghost. He
was not clad in white, however, but in tattered gar-
ments of skin, and his long hands grasped the top of
a staff such as no spirit could wield, assuredly. As
soon as we had recovered from our surprise I sprang
forward and aided this tottering figure to the fire. It
was an old man, a very old Indian, who, if he could
speak, I thought, might be able to tell us of the cap-
ture of that fair lady who was imprisoned here so
many years ago. He uttered no word, made no sign ;
but we did not need either to inform us that he was
starving and perishing. Again the rum was brought
into requisition, again did my faithful Meyong bring
forth from tlie ashes the tender crabs for our unex-
pected guest.

A MIDNIGHT MARCH. 1 49

Without a doubt, this was the jumbie that had given
both Coryet and myself such a fright. This harmless,
pitiful old man, who had approached us in the dire
extremity of want, had nearly perished through being
taken for a visitor from the spirit-world, which he
manifestly so soon would reach. This assurance was
not necessary to induce my boys to tenderly care for
him, and we soon had the satisfaction of seeing the
poor creature resting on the ground in peaceful slum-^
ber. After this event nothincr occurred to disturb our
rest, and we all slept well, the spirit laid that had
alarmed us ; and not one of those to whom this cave
belonged in olden time did trouble us.

We stayed there all the succeeding day, and renewed
our search, though unsuccessfully, for the Diablotin.
Our guest slept till nearly noon, but when he awoke
he seemed greatly refreshed, and strove to make us
sensible of his gratitude. The words he uttered were
those of an unknown tongue, but we knew that he
fain would express his thanks, and tried to assure
him that we understood him.

It was finally concluded between Coryet and Me-
yong that this old man was a crazy chief, who, refusing
to submit to English rule, had fled to the mountains
more than fifty years ago, whence he sometimes vis-
ited the Indians of the coast by stealth. For several
years he had not been seen, and it was thought that
he was dead. He had been insane for many years.
Towards night he became restless, and late in the
evening he insisted upon going outside. Finally, his
desire to depart grew so strong, and his gestures to
us to follow so violent, that, after consultation, my
boys were convinced that it would be best to follow

150 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

him. The night was dark, as the moon had not then
risen, but it was clear. When the old man learned
that we were willing to accompany him he seemed
content; but whether joy or sadness overspread his
features, it was all one with the expression of them,
so sunken and wrinkled were they. The boys pre-
pared torches and collected our luggage, and then we
started off. The old Indian struck a brisker gait than
.we had supposed him capable of, and we followed by
the light of the torches.

There is a weird solemnity about a night march in
a great forest. On either side of you is a wall of inky
blackness ; before, behind, the same enclosing gloom,
against which the torches send a feeble glare. By
the time we had reached the high woods, where the
trees were completely enveloped in masses of vines,
our surroundings assumed an aspect wild and terrible.
That hanging liane, twisted and contorted, took the
shape of a serpent ready to dart at us as we passed.
The flickering play of the light upon the leaves of
trees and parasites, alternately bringing to view and
leaving in shade strange forms, gave to everything a
starllingly living appearance. It was as if all had
been changed into animated beings, especially nox-
ious insects, like scorpions and spiders, which, one
and all, seemed crawling in our direction.

At last we came into a more open forest, a densely
wooded plateau, the home of the wild hog and the
resort of runaway slaves in olden time. Very few,
even of the hunters, visited these dark woods we were
now traversing. We penetrated the dense shade, fol-
lowing now our guide, for the boys were wholly at
loss. Suddenly there boomed through the forest a

A MIDNIGHT MARCH. 151

thunderous sound that waked the echoes of the entire
region, accompanied by a shock as of a sHght earth-
quake ; then all was still as death. Startled, I seized
Meyong by the arm, and inquired the cause of that
noise. He replied, with a shrug, that it was "a tree
felled by God," and crossed himself devoutly.

A tree felled by God ! A monarch old and weather-
beaten, that had outlived centuries of storm and hurri-
cane, only to fall in the dead of night, when the breeze
stirring would not have wakened a bird ! Is there not
something grandly awful in this ? — something that
causes a thrill of awe and makes one regard with
veneration the great Being who created all these won-
ders, which are to us so great, to Him so small? It
fell so close that, as it went crashing through the trees
with the force of a thunderbolt, the wind created by
its fall fanned our torches into brighter blaze.

With indignant and frightened howls our curs broke
away from Coryet and disappeared in the darkness,
carrying with them our hopes of capturing the wild
hogs of the forest. Scarcely had I recovered from
this shock when there came borne upon the still night
air, the faint puffing of steam, like the sobs of an en-
gine in from a long run. It grew louder and louder
as we advanced ; and as neither of my boys knew the
cause of it, and the old man spoke nothing but Carib,
to us as Hebrew, we were forced to march on in igno-
rance, myself in doubt, the boys in trepidation, mut-
tering prayers to the Virgin. At last our guide halted
right on the banks of a deep ravine and threw a great
stone into the depths below us, from which howled
and sputtered escaping steam. Immediately upon the
throwinci; of the stone there was an increased force

152 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

given to the noise, as though it had struck in a small
pipe and been forcibly ejected. The noise then for a
moment ceased, and the old man beckoned us to fol-
low quickly, as he plunged into the ravine and scram-
bled over great rocks and across a roaring brook.

It was long after midnight when he finally stopped
at the side of a great rock, against which was built a
low cabin, the sides of logs, the roof of thatch. To
gain entrance we were obliged to penetrate a deep
thicket of low trees which completely screened it. As
the light from the torches revealed the ding}' interior,
I involuntarily shrank back and thought wistfully of
the comfortable cave we had so lately left. Resigning
myself to the bed made for me, I was soon wrapped
in slumber.

The old man, who had disappeared, re-appeared in
the morning with a good repast, — yams, iguana, and
land crabs — but all boiled. This circumstance, to-
gether with the absence of fire, led me to investigate
his cuisine ; and, if the reader has not already antici-
pated it, I can tell how this poor Carib utilized the
forces of nature and made them do his bidding. Fol-
lowing him to the ravine, I saw, in a small opening
in the ground whence issued puffs of steam accom-
panied by loud reports, the source of all the noises
of the preceding night. Near this steam-escape was
another hole whence the water bubbled up and over,
flowing off in a hot stream. Into this boiling spring
my friend lowered a tannier-root fastened at the end
of a lialine. The tannier is, when boiled, of greater
consistency than a potato, else he would have lost his
breakfast. In a few minutes the vegetable was com-
pletely cooked, and he drew it out. Meat he lowered

A MIDNIGHT MARCH. 153

down in small baskets made of tough roots. A small
cold stream flowed near by ; and thus this rich-poor
man had, with the game of the forest, everything he
wanted right at hand.

Returning to the cabin, my attention was called to
the logs of which its walls were built. They were
solid rosewood, which once grew wild in these for-
ests. Could they have been transported to the coast,
they would have brought a good price. The cabin was
one of those built by some of the Maroons, or runaway
slaves, some forty years ago, when they escaped to
the mountains and formed so formidable a body that
troops were required several years to capture and
subdue them. The space we were in was shaped
like the bottom of a shallow bowl, surrounded by high
hills, the dry crater, probably, of an extinct volcano.
There were many evidences of the residence of the
runaways, in dismantled cabins, and gardens, and
fruit-trees. It is thought that the wild hogs roaming
about the surrounding hills were from their stock.

We were much puzzled to account for the mys-
terious visits the old man paid now and then to a
gloomy gorge, into which he would not allow us to
penetrate. My boys related the story, prevalent some
ten years previously, that the old man had a lovely
grand-daughter, onl}- survivor of the famil}^ he took
with him to the woods. They thought she must be,
at the present time, about thirty years old ; and they
described her as being as beautiful as the old man
was ugly, which was saying a good deal. But we
did not at that time see this fair Carib, nor did we
even obtain conclusive proof of her existence. There
was, however, much in the old man's behavior that

154 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

gave us the impression that he had a hidden treasure
near of some kind ; he seemed as anxious to get rid of
us as before he had been to have us come with him.

When the old Indian visited the gorge again, Coryet
was on his track, at a distance not to be observed, yet
near enough to note his movements. He followed the
bed of the stream running through the hot-spring
basin until it was narrowed to a rivulet flowing between
high converging walls of rock. A narrow ledge,
sometimes in, sometimes above the water, afforded a
pathway through, after following which for a few
hundred feet, the old Indian disappeared in an open-
ing in the rock. It was just wide enough for Coryet
to squeeze through, but soon opened into a wide
chamber-like passage so dark that the boy was terri-
fied and soon beat a retreat. He could hear his
guide, however, as he scrambled over loose rocks
and stones, penetrating deeper and deeper into the
cavern. He lighted a match and examined the rock,
but discovered nothing save that it seemed veined with
sparkling metal. He brought me a fragment contain-
ing this ore, but whether it was gold or pyrites I could
not tell at the time. I tried to save it for examination
when I reached home, but it was lost. Whether the
old man took the alarm or not we could not tell, but
he did not appear at all that day.

In the afternoon Meyong came in with a snake,
a species of boa, and the only one peculiar to this
island. He called it a "Serpent tete ckien" or Dog-
head snake. It was twelve feet in length and looked
capable of crushing a sheep to death — as indeed I
was told it could. The little inoffensive agouti and
birds are its prey, and it lives in holes in the earth and

A MIDNIGHT MARCH. 155

beneath loose piles of stones. It is a terror to the
negroes and Indians, who fear contact with its shmy
skin more than they dread the Lance-head, a poison-
ous and deadly serpent of Martinique. Fortunately,
though rather abundant in the forests, they do not
willfully attack man, and seldom do harm more than
to pay occasional visits to the hen-roosts of sequestered
settlements.

This must be the serpent of which the Caribs had a
tradition, two centuries ago, when the island was in
their possession, and white men rarely visited it except
as prisoners. But when a white man did visit them
he was joyfully received, and a feast was prepared,
of which, though in his honor, he did not partake, but
only for})icd a -part of it. They used to relate to
strangers the story of a great and frightful serpent,
which had its lair in the deep forests of the island.
It had upon its head a brilliant stone, like a priceless
carbuncle for brilliancy, which was usually covered
with a movable skin like the eyelid. When it de-
scended to the streams to drink, or when in sportive
mood, it would withdraw this skin and flash forth such
a dazzling light that no one could look upon the fiery
rays without losing his sight.

The day passed quietly and the night came on. The
old Indian did not return, and we did not expect to
see him again, and decided that we would make an
early start next morning for our sea-coast camp. A
fresh bed of leaves was made up, and we retired early
within the cabin with rosewood walls. When it was
quite late and very dark, I was awakened by a rustling
among the leaves as of objects crawling over them. I
put out my hand to ascertain what was there, but drew

156 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

it back with a tremor of horror. It had come in contact
with the biggest bug in the world. Its back seemed
hard as iron, and its mandibles were as long as my
fingers. I had always boasted my immunity from bed-
bugs, and that the greatest army of them could not
make me afraid. But now they were coming to con-
vince me of my mistake. I could hear them burrowing
through the leaves, could feel them crawHng over me,
and, unable to endure it longer, sprang up with a cry
and rushed out into the open air. The perspiration
rolled off me, and my hands twitched nervously, for I
was pretty thoroughly frightened. At my command,
my boys lighted a torch and examined the leaves ; and
when they drew out three huge beetles almost as large
as my hand, and I stood regarding them with horror,
they burst into fits of laughter.

"Ah! Monsieur very fear, he 'fraid jumbie, he
Yraid razor-grinder."

"What do you call them?"

" Person say he ' razor-grinder.' "

"Does he grind razors?"

"Oh, no ! mais he make noise like he make to grind."

*' Hark zat noise ! " said Meyong, raising his hand to
command silence. Through the forest came a sharp,
whizzing sound, like that produced by the wheel of
the perambulating razor and knife grinder.

"Zat make by heself."

"How does he make it?"

His answer was to this effect : The beetle is pro-
vided with two long mandibles, articulating like the
thumb and forefinger, placed immediately above the
mouth. They are smooth and hard, and furnished
with protuberances, or notched, while the upper man-

H

X

w

X
n

X

o
c

r
w

Oi

W

M
W
H

$

158 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

dible is lined on its under surface with velvety hairs.
The beetle would seize hold of a small branch of a
tree, exactly as we would grasp it between the thumb
and forefinger. Then it would, with its wings, whirl
itself round and round, slowly at first, but increasing,
so rapidly as to produce a continuous buzz or whir.
This it would keep up until the limb was severed.

The reason for this I could not find out. The beetle
lives on rotten wood, it is thought, and in cutting
into these branches it may be in search of food. But
the most plausible reason is, that it is calling its mate.
This is strengthened by the fact that the females are
not furnished with these mandibles. It flies high in
the air among the trees at night ; it burrows in the
ground, beneath leaves and in decayed wood, in the
daytime. Being strictly nocturnal in its habits, it is
seldom found, unless, as in the present instance, it
goes in search of the collector.

It is the largest known beetle in the world, the
specimen in my possession being six and one quarter
inches in length. The only species approaching it in
size is the Goliath-beetle of the African coast, which
is broader than this, but not so long. Guiana is the
home of this beetle, and he has never been found out
of South America except in this one island of Do-
minica. Well is he called the Hercules, for that
is his name, Dynastcs Hercules \ and modestly he
bears his title, for he does not presume upon his size
and strength to annoy man or ill-treat his insect neigh-
bors. He is a strict vegetarian, and leads a happy,
careless life among the tree-tops at night, and upon
the ground during the day.

The only specimen I was able to bring with me

A MIDNIGHT MARCH. I59

to America was a full-grown male. The proboscis
and whole forward part are jet-black, the legs and
under parts rich brown, the wing-cases, which cover
the back and sides, greenish-olive dotted and streaked
with black. It is altogether one of the most attractive
entomological specimens I secured during my trip.

Further search among the leaves revealed several
centipedes, which were more to be dreaded than the
beetles, as their bites will throw one into a fever. A
scorpion, also, was turned out from his lurking-place
beneath a log. Both these pests prefer old dwellings
and decaying ruins for their abodes, and though not
so abundant in Dominica as in Martinique and St.
Lucia, are often the cause of alarm, and sometimes
of sickness, to the inhabitants. Their bites rarely
prove fatal.

To escape annoyance from these insects, I always,
when practicable, slept in my hammock ; they did
not then have so open a field, and I only ran the
risk of having one drop from the roof or a branch
above me.

Owing to the disturbance just mentioned, we were
up long before daylight, and started on the homeward
trail before the woods were fairly alight. The " Sun-
set bird" (^MyiarcJnis Obcri) sent his tremulous cry
through the forest, as we turned our backs upon the
boiling springs and commenced descending a gentle
plain well studded with trees. We had probably seen
the last of our Indian friend, and though we felt rather
conscience-stricken at leaving him without a farewell,
we reflected that his seclusion was of his own
seeking.

Our yams and tanniers were quite finished, and we

l6o CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

were obliged to use as substitute the seeds of a species
of palm, a tall and slender tree with drooping leaves.
It is a species not yet described, I think, and is either
dicocos or 2igeonoma. The seeds are dark and shining,
and grow in clusters at the bases of the leaf-stalks.
They are edible, and constitute an important portion
of the food of the forest Caribs.

A beautiful plant, which nearly covered the trees
along the streams, was the Hillia longifolia ; it had
white, star-shaped flowers, and glossy laurel-like
leaves. Every old stump and decaying tree was
covered with a fuchsia-like plant with lovely pink and
scarlet flowers, the Alloplcctus cristalus, which en-
veloped every disfigured tree in a garment of beauty.

We reached without adventure the great river, and
followed it down to its mouth, where was an abandoned
plantation in the possession of negroes. A dilapidated
hut was pointed out to me as being occupied by a
famous sorceress, a priestess of Ohcah^ who could
give one a charm' that would kill one's enemy, or cause
a robber to restore stolen property. Her fame extended
beyond the confines of the island, and she was visited
by many credulous negroes from other places.

Obcah, a relic of African witchcraft, has strong
hold upon the ignorant blacks and Indians. Salibia,
the valley in which I camped for more than a month,
was once the strongiiold of the priests of Obeah. For
years they held sway there, and many people are
supposed to have been killed by their poisons. The
laws of the English government are severe in its
punishment, but it is practiced to a greater extent than
is generally known.

It was the middle of the afternoon when we reached

A MIDNIGHT MARCH. l6l

the fording-place ; the heat had been increasing since
ten in the morning, when first we were brought to feel
its force. Having eaten httle that day, I was weak at
noon, and experienced violent pains in the head. On
the river bank I halted and would gladly have slept,
but my boys urged me on. The water was only about
knee-deep, and I waded in ; half-way across, the
current nearly swept me off my feet, and I grew faint
and dizzy, and had barely reached the bank when I
fell to the ground.

Beneath a guava bush my boys stretched me out
and watched while I slept ; and at dark they awoke
me and assisted me to a house. Here the kind mistress
attended me for nearly a week, until the tever had
somewhat abated, when, leaving my collections and
camping equipments to be forwarded by Meyong,
I took a coasting vessel from a near port for the
Caribbean coast.
II

1 62 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER XI.

A CRUISE IN THE HURRICANE SEASON.

AK EXPERIMENT IN COFFEE CULTURE. — THE PEST OF THE
COFFEE PLANT. — LIBERIAN COFFEE VERSUS MOCHA. — AN
AFRICAN DISEASE. — GATHERING IN THE SICK. — DOWN THE
CARIBBEAN COAST. — THE FLAME-TREE. — THE ORCHARD OF
LIMES. — PROFITS OF LIME CULTURE. — THE MAROON PARTY.

— THE STAMPEDE. — FAREWELL TO DOMINICA. — CORAL IS-
LANDS.— AN IMMENSE GAME PRESERVE. — THE "DOCTOR." —
THE JIGGERS. — NEW BIRDS. — A WEARY VOYAGE. — SEASONS
OF THE TROPICS. — TEMPESTS. — CALMS. — PROVISIONS EX-
HAUSTED. — TURKEY OR JACKASS. — SHARK. — ODORS OF
SPICES. — THE TORNADO. — HURRICANE BIRDS. — PITONS OF
ST. LUCIA. — ST. VINCENT. — PALM AVENUE. — THE SPA. —
HOSPITABLE PEOPLE. — BASALTIC CLIFFS. — RICHMOND VALE.

— FALLS OF BALLEINE. — THE WATERSPOUT.

A MILE from the town of Roseau are the cliffs
of St. Aramant, above which is the snug little
country seat of Dr. Imray, one of the oldest resi-
dents of Dominica. A friend and correspondent of
Sir Joseph Hooker, he is an ardent botanist, and has
several of the native plants named in his honor. For
a generation, the good doctor ministered to the sick
and afflicted ; for more than thirty years he was the
leading physician of the island. At last, feeling the
need of rest, well advanced in years, though in robust
health, he delegated his authority and practice, with

THE HURRICANE SEASON. 163

all needful pills and potions, to a most worthy suc-
cessor. Dr. Nicholls, a young Englishman, full of
love for his profession and energy in the practice of
its duties, and with the aged doctor's botanical pre-
dilections. These two gentlemen, then, active in
everything pertaining to the welfare of the island,
cultured and with scientific tastes, are of inestimable
value to the inhabitants, and a blessing to strangers.

Dr. Imrayis devoting all his time to the reintroduc-
tion of coffee into the island. Years ago it was cul-
tivated to such an extent that it acquired a name and
reputation ; in tlie latter part of the last century there
were over two hundred coffee plantations, giving an
annual yield of three hundred thousand pounds -, but
with the abolition of slavery its culture languished,
valuable cofTee estates were abandoned, and at pres-
ent the island does not produce sufficient for its
own consumption. About forty years ago there
appeared a blight upon the cofTee-plant that ruined
whole crops and aided in the abandonment of its
culture. This was in the shape of a coccus, a scale
insect that fixed itself upon the leaves and buds,
causing them to shrivel. This undoubtedly came of
neglect, and increased until it acquired the mastery
over the entire island. In Guadeloupe they have the
scale insect, but it has never gained ascendency over
the planters, as more attention has been paid to the
trees. Acting upon the theory that the leaf of the
Mocha variety was too tender to resist the attacks of
the insect, Dr. Imray has successfully introduced the
Liberian variety, the epidermis of the leaves being
thicker and tougher. At the time of my visit he had
a little plantation of trees about three years old, some
of which were in flower and bearing.

164 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Upon my return to Roseau I was suffering from a
low fever that would not be shaken off; and upon the
advice of the two doctors I decided to rest for a month,
either in the mountains or at some point on the west-
ern shore. The young doctor was going down the
island to visit a distant town, and it was decided by
my friends that I should occupy a seat in his boat
until he reached Battalie, Dr. Imray's lime orchard
on the Caribbean coast.

Aside from a large and constantly increasing prac-
tice, Dr. Nicholls was burdened with the duty, al-
most self-imposed, of medical superintendent of the
Yaws hospital. The name yazas, or yazv, is of Afri-
can origin, and is said to be derived from the resem-
blance of the fungoid ulcers or tumors, which cover the
skin in this disease, to a raspberry, or strawberry, of
which r«^ is the native African name. To present
a description of this disease, unknown in America
and Europe, I quote from the doctor's annual report
for 1878.

"The disease Frambesia, or Yaws, w^as introduced
into the West Indies by negro slaves imported from
Africa. The date of its ingress into Dominica is un-
known, but it existed in the island early in the present
century. It did not, however, make any great head-
way before emancipation, for each estate of consider-
able size had its ' Yaws-house,' and the infected
patients were there segregated and treated by a nurse,
under the direction of a medical attendant. Upon the
abolition of slavery, and the consequent impoverish-
ment of many estates and the total abandonment of
others, the medical surveillance of the negroes came
to an end, and the number of persons affected with

THE HURRICANE SEASON. 165

3'a\vs increased considerably. The rugged conforma-
tion of the country of Dominica, the smallness of the
population as compared with the area, tlie facilities
for ' squatting,' and the absence, until recently, of a
medical service, all tended to favor the spread of the
disease. About ei^jht years ago the number of cases
had increased to such an alarming extent that meas-
ures were taken for the repression of the disease.
Hospitals were established, yaws patients were ad-
mitted and cured, and it was hoped that the disease
would be extinguished ; but the system adopted was
stopped too soon, and the malady reappeared and
spread with great rapidity. The government, in a
few years, had to grapple with a contagious disease,
which was present in every district of the country, and
which held hundreds of victims in its grasp.

"Fortunately the disease is one amenable to medical
treatment, and the yaws hospitals, now in full work-
incj order, are fast removing the blot which has ex-
isted upon the public health for so many 3'ears. That
the disease will be finally eliminated from Dominica
is disbelieved in by many, but I see no reason why
this desirable event should not really occur. In
former days the disease existed in all the islands of
the West Indies, but now it is confined to few."

Empowered by the government to gather in and
isolate all persons found afHicted with the yaws, un-
dismayed b}^ opposition from the ignorant or by the
accumulation of filth in these Augean stables, this
young enthusiast went to work with a zeal and intelli-
gence that presaged success, to eradicate the disease.
Under his direction the police of the island scoured
the neighborhood of the villages, and brought into

l66 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the hospitals the filthiest offscourings of humanity.
Of course there was much difficulty in the way, not
only from the patients themselves, who preferred
hugging this living death and communicating it to
others, to separation from their friends, but from rabid
philanthropists of the " Exeter-Hall " type, who saw in
this an infringement upon the negro's liberty.

The disease is engendered and propagated by a
filthy mode of living and insufficient diet ; hence, the
most important agents in effecting a cure are cleanli-
ness and good living. No one would suppose the
natives would object to that, but they do, and neglect
no opportunity for escape from the hospitals ; thus
the doctor's position is one of thankless labor and
vigilance.

It was a five-hours' row to Prince Rupert's, and
half that to Battalie. We left Roseau in a long dug-
out, rowed by four men and guided by a cockswain,
and rapidly glided along the Caribbean coast. Re-
clining beneath an arched canvas, we could look out
upon a svvifdy-gliding shore, green sugar plantations,
bluff headlands, narrow valleys. Being June, when
all the flowering trees are in bloom, and when the
fruits are ripe and ripening, it was a pleasure to note
the vegetation. Conspicuous above all foliage was the
Flamboyant, the " flame-tree," with its broad umbrella-
shaped top, one mass of flaming crimson. Without
a leaf at the beginning of the season, its twigs and
branches are covered with gorgeous flowers. So far
as you can distinguish any object on shore, you see the
flame-tree, its bright coloring making it as prominent
at a distance as bright-plumaged birds, which, as in

THE HURRICANE SEASON. 167

the case of the " pink curlew," I have recognized when
mere specks in space.

At dark we entered a crescent-shaped bay and ran
the boat upon a pebbly beach, which was pierced by
two rivers as they entered the sea. Overhanging them
were cocoa palms, shading them almost to the sands,
while sea-side grapes hung above wave-worn rocks
and rounded pebbles, and a forest of lime-trees filled
a narrow valley enclosed between high cliffs. The
manager of the estate welcomed us with a good
dinner and comfortable beds in the doctor's own
house, which always remained ready for his occu-
pancy, though he rarely visited it. The next morn-
ing we whipped the streams with poor success, and
attacked the sea-birds with scanty returns ; in the
afternoon, my fever returning, and the doctor continu-
ing his journey, both fish and birds had a rest.

The valley of Battalie is one great field of lime-trees
— a smooth sea of verdure — hiding beneath its sur-
face golden fruit that is constantly dropping to the
earth, and being carried to the stone mill beneath the
cliff. Twenty years ago Dr. Imray conceived the
plan of converting a poorly-paying sugar plantation
into an orchard of limes, and he thus made of a nar-
row valley, riven from gigantic rocks and strewn with
volcanic bowlders, a garden of profit and delight.
The majority of the trees are fifteen years old ; they
first bear at three years of age, and yield good crops
at five years. Since the first full crop he has re-
alized a large income from these trees, his manager
informing me that during two seasons the returns
amounted to two thousand pounds sterling each.
The trees are thickly planted so as to shade the

l68 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ground, and after they acquire their growth need no
clearing beneath.

A corps of boys and girls gather the limes as they
fall to the earth — they are never picked — and carry
them to the mill, where they are passed between two
upright rollers, such as were in use when the sugar
cane was raised there. The expressed juice is con-
ducted to evaporating pans and boiled down to the
consistency of molasses — to a density of one-tenth —
and then run into fifty-gallon hogsheads for shipment
to England. It was worth, in 1877, about twenty
pounds sterling per hogsliead, and has brought thirty
pounds ; and the plantation has yielded from seventy
to eighty hogsheads in a season.

The juice is used in making citric acid, and is
shipped in its concentrated form to reduce freight. It
would seem possible to further reduce this item of ex-
pense by the complete crystallization of the juice.
Such an experiment has been tried in Florida, though
without complete success. There is not there a suffi-
cient quantity of limes, though, from the experience
of Dr. Imray, it would seem more profitable to
raise limes than oranges. I do not, however, think
the lime will flourish so luxuriantly, nor produce so
much juice, in Florida, as in the rich soil of the
West Indian islands. The trees are without fruit
during two months only in the year — February and
March — and at other seasons are fragrant with fruit
in various stages of growth.

One day, two or three weeks after my arrival, the
priest of a neighboring village, P(ire Michel, came
over to the plantation for a little recreation, and
gathered some of the people together for a partt'e

THE HURRICANE SEASON. 169

riviere. By different names do the residents of these
islands call these gatherings in the open air, which
in other places are denominated picnics. Fartie
riviere^ the French name, has a suggestiveness
about it that picnic has not ; and to go on a " maroon
party," as they sometimes stj'le it, transports one in
imagination at once to the wild forests.

In the afternoon we were all gathered at the upper
end of the valley, beneath a great mango ; cloths were
spread on the ground, and upon them were placed
our eatables : roast pig, chickens, and vegetables,
with ale, claret, and sherry. The pere and myself
were the only members of the party who were not, in
a manner more or less remote, connected with the im-
mortal Ham ; but that did not mar our enjoyment of
the festivities. Before the spread had been well dis-
cussed, a sudden shower came down with fury — as
showers are apt to do in the summer season — sus-
pending operations and driving us to shelter. As we
were on the upper bank of the river, and the stepping-
stones were covered a foot deep in fifteen minutes, we
were all obliged to wade the turbid stream, in great
discomfort.

These June showers, though lacking the force of
those of the later months of the year, are nevertheless
of frequent occurrence. They warned me away from
an island so mountainous, and but a week passed be-
fore I was speeding north to an island of lesser eleva-
tion, and consequently less rainfall.

Furnished with letters of introduction from the presi-
dent of Dominica, Mr. Eldredge, I visited the islands
of Barbuda and Antigua, spending there two months,
shooting deer, pigeons, doves, and wild guinea-fowl.

170 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

These islands are of coral formation, and the former
is a perfect preserve, being abundantly stocked with
game. Two gentlemen lease it from the crown,
though it formerly belonged to the ancient Codrington
family. Its horses are celebrated throughout the is-
lands, being descended from imported Arab stock.

The climate of Antigua is perceptibly warmer than
that of the mountainous islands, though a cool breeze
freshens a great portion of the day. It is hot in the
morning from seven to ten, when a breeze springs up.
At noon it is intensely hot, but in the shade the cool
sea-breeze makes it bearable. Another oppressive
spell is near sunset, before the evening winds set in ;
but by eight o'clock the air has cooled, and the nights
are endurable. In July and August, when I was there,
there were frequent showers ; rain fell for an hour or
two quite unexpectedly, and as quickly ceased. The
wind blows nearly always from the east, and when it
changes to the west, a hurricane may be expected.

In Antigua, alone, I suffered from mosquitoes, and
was obliged to protect myself by a net. Fleas, also,
disturbed my rest at night ; and not the universal flea
only, but a cousin of his, which can " discount " the
common insect largely. I allude to the "jigger,"
or chcgoc, which, not content, like his relative, with
a hop, skip, and a bite, penetrates the skin, and lays
its eggs beneath the surface.

I awoke one morning with an itching of my toes,
which frequent rubbing failed to allay; and examina-
tion revealed four white tumors. They were as large
as peas, and in the center of each was a little black
speck. Ignorant at that time of the existence of such
creatures, I called my boy, William, who at once pro-

THE HURRICANE SEASON. 171

nounced them jiggers. How to remove them was the
next question. WilHam soon settled that, for lie called
in the first old negress that happened to be passing,
and she turned those jiggers out of their nests with an
adroitness that showed long practice.

Care must be taken that none of the eggs remain in
the wound, as the larvas hatched from them burrow
into the flesh, and eventually create painful ulcers.
The eggs and insect are contained in a sac, which
must be turned out with a pin or needle with great
care, and the .cavity filled with tobacco ashes to de-
stroy apy remaining germ. After I had got rid of my
unwelcome tenants, there was a hole in each toe large
enough to contain a humming-bird's Qgg- This, my
first experience with the ^ulcx penetrans, was so satis-
factory that I carefully guarded against the develop-
ment of any more eggs of those loathsome insects.
A few hours are sufficient to give the jigger a hiding-
place, and as the sensation he causes is a rather
pleasant itching only, for a time, he is sometimes not
discovered until a painful sore is formed. The ne-
groes are very negligent in attending to these sores,
which increase to such an extent as to endanger their
limbs ; negroes with all their toes eaten away are
daily met with, and I have seen several who have lost
a leg from this same cause.

It was my intention to visit St. Kitts, with a view
to obtaining some specimens of monkeys residing
there, but an invitation to an island in another direc-
tion caused me to abandon it. Though St. Kitts may
be very interesting in many other respects, it is espe-
cially so to a naturalist, as it contains great numbers
of monkeys, being one of three islands in the Antilles

172 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

honored by these quadrupeds as their abode. Barba-
dos is said to have very few, and Grenada has large
troops of tliem. Those of St. Kitts are numerous and
do much injury to the crops. It is related that they
have access to a passage under the sea, to Nevis,, a
distance of six miles.

Before leaving Antigua I met an old acquaintance,
a dentist, who had sailed in the vessel in which I took
passage from New York, and who had left me at Mar-
tinique, the first island of the chain at which we touclied.
Though he had never taken a degree, he was gener-
ally known as "The Doctor." He was an apt manip-
ulator of the forceps, and had accumulated, during
the six months we were separated, twenty-five hun-
dred dollars, extracted from the innocent islanders.
Now, the doctor was a genius. He had a genius for
making money, and a special tact for taking care of
number one. Leaving New York with but sixty dol-
lars and his stock in trade, he landed in the West
Indies with his cash greatly augmented, and with the
captain, mate, cook, in fact the whole crew, deeply
in his debt. That I escaped with a whole tooth in
my head I attribute to some special interposition of
Providence. The doctor's period of sojourn on ship-
board may be divided into two portions : that in which
he was pulling, or " fixin'," teeth, and that in which he
was sea-sick. He was happy in tlie exercise of the
former, and unhappy in that of the latter. When the
doctor appears on deck with a particularly happy
expression on his countenance, and polishing some-
body's molar on the lapel of his coat, beware of him I
The whole crew would then shudder with apprehen-
sion.

THE HURRICANE SEASON.

173

The doctor and I went on shore. We climbed the
paved streets and descended again to the beautiful
yardin dcs Plantcs. On our way the doctor indulged
in a free flow of that happy humor peculiar to the
Western Yankee (for we are all Yankees in those
islands). We met boys and boys, bo3-s by dozens and
boys by scores, and some girls ; but the very first
group that drew our attention and provoked an out-
burst of the doctors
ever-ready wit, con-
sisted of boys.

"I say, young man,
pull down your vest !"

This was addressed
to a racTcred little
darky with beaming
face and bright eyes,
the center of a bunch
of the most ragged
and dirty gamins we
ever beheld. Tliere
was not a whole ar-
ticle of clothing fur-
niture among them.
If one had a shirt, he
had no pantaloons ;

and the one that boasted the latter, had the least of
the former. There was not even an apology for a
single whole garment in the crowd, yet every mem-
ber of it was as blissfully unconscious of the gro-
tesque appearance he made as were the doctor and
myself aware of it. But the most glaringly conspic-
uous feature of the collection was a huge vest worn

fi. jjROUP OF pAMINS.

174 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

by the brightest and sauciest of the five — a very
grandfather among vests, which, descending to the
urchin's thighs, left but a scanty drapery of shirt vis-
ible beneath.

We sailed away from Antigua one evening, the doc-
tor's store increased by nearly eight hundred dollars ;
mine, by one new bird. This was in September, the
very worst month of the 3ear for travel. Nearly every
craft that sailed these seas was drawn up on shore to
await the close of the " hurricane season ; " and this
one in which we had taken passage was on her way
to Barbados, hoping to escape a blow until she could
make shelter there.

The " hurricane season " extends from the middle
of July to the middle of October, and is at its height
in the autumnal equinox. It is a season of calms ;
the sea is deceitfully quiet, and the wind variable.
During the greater part of the year the wind blows
from the east or north-east in the well-known "trades ; "
but at this season it dies away, coming in puffs from
different quarters. The winds that precede the hurri-
canes usually commence blowing from the west or
north-west, and increase in strength until they acquire
that terrific force that devastates islands and destroys
in a few hours the work of years. They shoot through
the air in different directions, sometimes from above,
perpendicular to the earth ; and woe to the vessel
caught abroad at such a time.

In this connection I may speak of the seasons of
the year, which are not so distinctly marked as is
commonly supposed. The first three months of the
year are generally fine ; they constitute the best por-
tion of the hunting season, when the woods are driest

THE HURRICANE SEASON. I75

and coolest, and the birds in perfect plumage. In
April commence light showers, which sometimes ex-
tend through June, and are of daily occurrence. The
heat increases, and the months of August and Sep-
tember are the hottest, as they are the sickliest, of
the year. August ushers in the season of storms
and hurricanes, when the calm intervals are almost
insupportable on account of the heat. The last three
months of the year constitute the season of the great
rains, when for days together the rain falls heavily.
These are the months for endemic fevers. Though
the storms are frequently accompanied by thunder
and lightning, I did not see, during my stay of nearly
two years, such furious displays as I have witnessed
in the North.

We drifted south of Antigua without a breeze. The
morning and the afternoon saw Antigua's hills not
far away ; and the long, hot day was spent upon
a motionless sea, without a breath of wind to fan
our flapping sails. At sunset Guadeloupe's windward
island was in sight — a low, flat land, with misty
mountains far to westward. The triple peak of Mont-
serrat showed black against a glowing sky ; the sun
in its descent drew a pathway of gold along the sil-
very sea and darted into our faces its fiery beams.

"The western wave was all aflame ;
The day was well-nigh done."

In heat and discomfort the day went out ; but dark-
ness had scarcely enveloped us when the sea began to
dimple with little wavelets, that increased and lapped
with refreshing sound against our vessel's sides ; then
the sails felt the coming of the evening breeze, and

176 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

lay well over to leeward, and we moved slowly on
our course. To avoid being becalmed under the lee
of Guadeloupe, our captain had taken the longer route
to windward, and we were now crossing the pathway
of Columbus when he first approached these islands
of the Caribbees. Next morning, when we went
"about" for Marie Galante, the only island in sight
was that lone rock of Desirade — the "desired island"
of Columbus, when he was expecting to discover land.

Our captain was a negro, black as his African an-
cestor and without a brutish instinct the less. Plainly,
he had missed his calling, which was to labor in the
cane-fields beneath the lash of insolence-rebuking
overseer. His provisions of yam and fish gave out on
the evening of the second day, and my private store,
also, failed me. The only meat on board was in
living shape — a turkey and a jackass. That night
the turkey died, welcoming death as a relief from
sore disease. The jackass, patient for a day, waxed
wroth as time passed on without food or drink, and
broke the stillness of the second night with discordant
brays.

The deck was crowded With sable passengers ; the
"cabin" was filled high with bags of coffee and guano
and sundry boxes, and at the farther end was a stifled
room in which was a berth allotted by the captain to
me as a first-class passenger. Late in the evening I
worked my way with difficulty to the room to retire.
It was very dark and very evil-smelling, and I reached
my hand up to open a little slide above the bunk, for
air and light. It came in contact with something for-
eign, which, upon being shaken, gave signs of life
and alarm, and a woman's voice demanded what I

THE HURRICANE SEASON. 177

wanted. Retreating hastily, I inquired of the captain
if tiierc were not some mistake, and he replied that the
berth was mine, and he would have the woman re-
moved. She was one of several, who, having only
deck passage, had been allowed to lie down in the
cabin on the bags of coffee, as the deck was damp.
Waiting a little u hile, I again went down ; and my
anger and dismay may be imagined when I found
another colored female in the place of the first. Again
I sought counsel of the captain ; again was the cabin
boy dispatched to warn these interlopers out. Allow-
ing another interval to elapse, I again descended, re-
moved shoes and coat, and sprang lightly into the
bunk, ready to fall asleep in an instant. As I alighted,
a cry of pain saluted me ; I became conscious that
another of those detestable women had usurped my
place, and fled quickly to the deck. The cabin boy
rtscued my shoes and coat, and I sat down upon a
coil of rope, resolved to brave the dangers of the night-
damp rather than those of that vile hole below.

The third morning brought with it hunger, and a
drink of black coflee. Later, the turkey, having had
the feathers duly plucked from his bones, was placed
before us ; but my regard for the turkey was too great
to allow me to eat, and I drew my belt the tighter,
and looked wistfully toward the purple clouds that I
knew were mountains, south of us. The day passed,
and in the afternoon the sailors caught a shark. Hun-
ger had now overcome all scruples, and I ate with rel-
ish of the coarse flesh- that at any other time would
have been disgusting. Another night came, and,
warned by the experience of the previous one, I spread
my blanket on deck and slept soundly, though we had
12

178 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

several heavy squalls that careened our vessel alarm-
ingly.

At daylight I awoke, dreaming of coffee and lime
groves, for I recognized in the land-breeze that came
to us the odor of spices and the freshness of earth,
and knew that we were under the lee of Dominica.
We were off" Prince Rupert's Bay — a secure harbor
for a fleet — with the town of Prince Rupert's, hidden
in cocoa palms, lying in a fever-stricken valley. We
were again becalmed, and night found us just entering
the bay of Roseau, with a sea dashing over the sea-
wall and jetty too violently to allow us to land.

" We expect you at your old quarters,'' wrote my
good friend William Stedman ; and one of his do-
mestics shouldered my trunk and conveyed it to his
hospitable mansion.

What a delight it was to be back among these gen-
erous people ! Whatever the characteristics of English
or Scotch at home, they soon acquire, in the West
Indies, a feeling for a stranger fellow-man that is
wondrous kind. It seemed like getting home again,
this return to Dominica after a few months' absence,
and I would gladly have remained among my friends
of the coast ; I was soon in the mountains, however,
searching for some birds of which I had heard, and
was rewarded by the discovery of several new varieties.

Returning to the coast after ten days' absence, I
was caught in a thunder-gust, the rain coming from
three ways at once, out of three converging gorges ;
the path was flooded in a few minutes, and the river
roaring loudly and seething like a caldron. The
storm passed and hurried on over the town, drench-
ing it, and swept out over the sea, where it remained

THE HURRICANE SEASON. 179

visible a long time as a heavy cloud. I found my
friend putting up the " hurricane shutters " to his
windows, which overlooked the bay directly above the
sea-wall. The sea was agitated, and a dense cloud
of mist came hurrying up from the south-west with a
muffled roar. For a long time we were in suspense ;
the sun went down red and blinking behind a wall
of vapor. The storm passed us without doing damage,
though later intelligence reached us that it had struck
the island of Grenada and toppled over three hundred
houses.

Immediately preceding the hurricanes, there arrive
off the Caribbean coast vast numbers of birds called,
from their cries, "Twa-oo." They are said to be the
harbingers of hurricanes, and only appear during the
calms, immediately before a storm. They cover the
water in large flocks, and come in from the desolate
sandy islands where they breed. They are the sooty
tern (the Sterna fuliginosa~), but are known to the
natives as " Hurricane-birds." When I arrived in
Dominica the sea was black with them, but on the
morning after the storm they had disappeared, to a
bird, as completely as though blown into another
sphere.

Steaming south, past Martinique, and by the way
of Barbados, I found myself, one morning early in
October, under the Pitons of St. Lucia, two pointed
mountains rising out of the sea, the most beautiful and
curious of any in these islands. They are about six
hundred feet in height, wooded to their summits, and
dark green. St. Lucia is famous as being the home
of the infamous snake known as the " Iron Lance," —
of which I speak more at length in my description of

l8o CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Martinique. Poisonous and venomous, it has yearly
many victims, and is more feared than tlie fever,
for which Castries, St. Lucia's principal town, is
celebrated.

Crossing the channel south of St. Lucia, we arrived
in the afternoon off the northern end of St. Vincent,
which, from the steamer's deck, five miles off shore,
appeared a dream of an island, suspended between
sky and sea, yet solid and compact. As we glided
through the blue waters, and the afternoon sun fell
upon the island, we could view it from northern to
southern end, one block of hazy, purple cloud, an
immense amethyst, with shades and depths that varied
as the sun lighted up the yellow plains and dark
mountain-tops, and sought to penetrate the sombre
valleys and ravines. Behind a curving beach a little
town showed out, with red-tiled roofs gleaming from
beneath thick groves of palms, through which a church
pointed its spire skyward. There were no outlying
rocks or islands, no jagged cliffs or jutting promon-
tories, but, springing at once from the sea, every angle
sharp and clear-cut, the island presented the appear-
ance of a huge, opaque crystal. Though twenty-
five miles in length, it appeared so small that one
might fancy he could row around it in an hour
or two.

At five in the afternoon we entered Kingston harbor,
a bay open to the west and south-west, deep and spa-
cious enough to float a navy. A sandy beach curves
from headland to headland, and upon the northern
promontory, six hundred feet above the bay, is perched
a fort with massive walls, now used as a light-house
and signal station. A jetty affords a landing-place

ST. VINCENT. - l8l

from the steamer, fronting which and tlie sea is the
police station, a fme, large building of stone, the best
public building in the smaller English islands. A
broad street borders the bay, and two more run parallel
to it farther back, until the bordering amphitheatre of
hills prevents further building. Streets intersect these
at right angles and end at the base line of the hills,
save three or four which traverse the valleys to estates
amoncr the mountains, and two that ascend the hills
and extend around either shore to windward and lee-
ward. Valleys run up from the bay far into the moun-
tains, and the various spurs of hills increase in height
as they recede from shore, so that Kingston and its bay
are half encircled by a range of hills and mountains,
above and around whose summits the clouds continu-
ally play.

The highest peak is Morne St. Andrews ; rising
to the east of it, and commanding the town, is a high,
steep hill known as Dorsetshire Height, crested by a
ruined fort. When the Caribs, in the last century,
had overrun the island to windward, they swarmed
upon this hill, attacked the fort, made prisoners the
garrison, and were dislodged by soldiers from the
town only after a desperate fight. There are a few
old cannon remaining on the heights, but dismounted
and imbedded in the earth. Most of them were
bought by an enterprising speculator, during the late
war between North and South, and sold to one party
or the other.

The sunset view from here is superb. Conspicuous
are the palmistes, or cabbage palms ; one house is
encircled by them, a white house with bright red
roof J they raise themselves erect in clumps of a score

l82 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

or more, in rows like white pillars with dark green
caps, and stand in relief upon all the hills. A mile
from town is an avenue of seventy, which, though
its symmetry is marred by the loss of some by hurri-
canes, is still a beautiful sight.

Three miles from town, one mile from the palm
avenue in Arno's Vale, is a noted spa ; from a hole
six inches in diameter gushes out a volume of water
impregnated with salts that give it value as a medici-
nal drink. It is equal in strength and beneficial effects
to any water from the spas of Europe. It is averred
that the water is more strongly impregnated, and that
the flow is stronger, on the coming full of the moon.
Water bottled at that time will sometimes break the
strongest case.

When it became known that I was to visit the far-
ther coast, I was furnished with letters b}'^ proprietors
to the managers of their estates in different portions
of the island. These were given me mainly by Mr.
Porter, part-owner of a great number of sugar-estates ;
for the pleasure of whose acquaintance I was indebted
to the U. S. consul, Mr. Hughes. So efficient were
these letters, and so hospitable were tlie managers of
the many estates traversed, that I made the complete
circuit of the island on borrowed horses. When it is
considered that sometimes my excursions were into
the mountains over trails so rough that no one but a
West Indian or South American would think of cross-
ing them, and that I sometimes had a horse several
days, the extent of their kindness may be appreciated.

The coast along the entire western shore is pictu-
resque in tlie extreme, with volcanic rocks worn into
caves, beautiful bays and broad valleys. Near Cum-

ST. VINCENT. 183

berland is an arched rock which bears the appellation
of " Ilafey's Breeclies ; " and in the valley is a huge
cliff of columnar basalt, both of which are interest-
ing^ to view. The manager of Richmond estate, Mr.
Evelyn, received me kindly, and through his solicita-
tions, and by the rain which fell in torrents every day,
I was detained beneath his hospitable roof for nearly
a week.

In a small boat I visited, one day, the Falls of
Balleine, which are secluded in a deep gorge, about
sixty feet high, and interesting. On this trip I was
favored with a spectacle rarely seen even in this land
of storms. It was a waterspout which formed over
against the Pitons of St. Lucia, — a bulk of black
clouds like an inverted funnel, sailinsf beneath denser
masses above. It swept along with its tip trailing
just above the waves, an elongated, spiral-pointed
sack, until it met the sea ; then the water was drawn
up to it, forming a mighty pillar, spreading at base and
summit, and joining black sea with inky clouds. A
few moments it remained thus, then melted away,
leaving only great banks of clouds, out of which came
wind and rain. Seen across an angry sea, those
cloud-pillars, with the picturesque Pitons as a back-
ground, were most impressive. They appeared
at one time as if about to sweep down upon and
ingulf us.

164 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER XII.

A CAMP IN A CRATER.

THE LAST OF THE VOLCANOES. — THE SOUFRIERE OF ST. VINCENT.
— THE " INVISIBLE BIRD." — ASCENT5ING THE VOLCANO. — THE
" DRV RIVER." — bird's-eye VIEW OF ST. VINCENT. — THE OLD
CRATER. — THE NEW CRATER. — THE LAKE IN THE BOWELS OF
THE EARTH. — IN THE CAVE. — SUNSET. — PREPARING FOR
THE NIGHT. — TOBY. — FIVE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF MISERY. —
FAUNA OF A MOUNTAIN-TOP. — EXPLORING THE CRATER-
BRIM. — YUCCAS AND WILD PINES. — TOBY IN THE CAVE'S
MOUTH. — A TERROR-STRICKEN AFRICAN. — JACOB'S WELL. —
SNAKES AND PITFALLS. — TOBY's "STOCK." — THE SOUFRIERE-
BIRD. — A MYSTERIOUS SO.N'GSTER. — UNAVAILI.VG ATTEMPTS
TO PROCURE IT. — SOUGHT FOR A CENTURY. — A DREAM. —
NASAL BLASTS. — SEARCHING FOR THE BIRD. — THE CARIB
BIRD-CALL. — THE CAPTURE. — A NEW BIRD. — A PLUNGE L\TO
DARKNESS. — SCARED BY A SNAKE. — TOBY DESPERATE. — DE-
PARTURE FOR CARIB COU.VTRY.

ST. VINCENT contains the last of the West Indian
volcanoes from vvliich the present ct-ntury has
witnessed destructive eruptions ; the Soufriere, that
towered above and overlooked the Richmond planta-
tion, having, in 181 2, burst upon the island with ter-
rible force. Tiiis eruption, which seemed to relieve
a pressure upon the earth's crust, extending from
Caracas to the Mississippi Valley, was most disastrous
in its eflects, having covered the whole island with
ashes, cinders, pumice, and scoriaj, destroyed many

A CAMP IN A CRATER. 185

lives and ruined several estates. It lasted three days,
commencing on or near that fatal day, in 1812, when
Caracas was destroyed, and ten thousand souls per-
ished in a moment of time. '

Ashes from this volcano descended upon Barbados,
ninety-five miles to zvindward ; and tliis fact is cited
by Elise Reclus, in "The Ocean," to show the force
of different aerial currents : "'On the first day of May,
1812, when the north-east trade-wind was in all its
force, enormous quantities of ashes obscured the
atmosphere above the island of Barbados, and covered
the ground with a thick layer. One would have sup-
posed that they came from the volcanoes of the Azores,
which \\'ere to the north-east ; nevertheless they were
cast up by the crater in St. Vincent, one hundred miles
to the zvcst. It is therefore certain that the debris had
been hurled, by the force of the eruption, above the
moving sheet of the trade-winds into an aerial river
proceeding in a contrary direction."

Since that terrible outburst the volcano has remained
inactive ; having done its allotted work, it rested.

An eye-witness thus describes its appearance previ-
ous to the eruption : '" About three thousand feet above
sea-level, on the south side of the mountain, opened
a circular chasm exceeding half a mile in diameter,
and between four hundred and five hundred feet in
depth. Exactly in the center rose a conical hill nearly
three hundred feet in height, and about two hundred
in diameter, richly covered and variegated with shrubs,
brushwood, and vines about half-way up, and the re-
mainder covered over with virgin sulphur to the top.
From the fissures of the cone a thin white smoke was
constantly emitted, occasionally tinged with a slight,

l86 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

bluish flame. The precipitous sides of this magnifi-
cent amphitheatre were fringed with various ever-
greens and aromatic shrubs, flowers, and Alpine
plants. On the north and south sides of the base of
the cone were two pieces of water, one perfectly pure
and tasteless, the other strongly impregnated with sul-
phur and alum. This lonely and beautiful spot was
rendered more enchanting by the singularly melodious
notes of a bird, an inhabitant of these upper solitudes,
and altogether unknown to the other parts of the
island — hence called, or supposed to be, invisible^
as it had never been seen.

"A century had now elapsed since the last convulsion
of the mountain, or since any other elements had dis-
turbed the serenity of this wilderness, besides those
which are common to the tropical tempest. It ap-
parently slumbered in primitive solitude and tran-
quillity ; and from the luxuriant vegetation and growth
of the forest, which covered its sides from base to sum-
mit, seemed to discountenance the fact and falsifv the
record of the ancient volcano."

To ascend the volcano was the object of my visit to
Riclimond, and also to procure tiiat famous bird called
"invisible." For a century, the people crossing the
mountains had heard this bird, for a century no one
had looked upon it. No one could affirm that he had
f?een it. Its weird music, ascending from the fright-
ful ravines on eitlier side the narrow mountain trail,
seemed to float near tliem, but the bird ever remained
undiscovered. By a preliminary ascent I found that
it would be necessar}', in order to procure the bird, to
spend several days on the mountain-top, as it dwelt

A CAMP IN A CRATER. 187

in deep gorges and ravines, requiring courage and
patience to penetrate.

At last came the perfect day, when the Soufriere
emerged from the mist that had enveloped it for two
we^ks, and stood out clear against a sky of blue and
clouds of silver gray. A glorious day was that last
da\- in October, with itJ bright sun illumining the
mountain, over whose crest were flitting shadows cast
bv fleeing clouds. The good people with whom I had
rested for a week and more, added to my provisions
luxuries I could not purchase, such as guava jelly,
Java-plum wine, limes and oranges, and Mr. Evelyn
and his son rode with me a little way on my journey.

x\t first the road was along the shore, beneath cliffs
and groo-groo palms ; we crossed a turbulent river,
with wide, rocky bed, and soon came to the bed of the
famous " dry river," — the channel worn by that resist-
less flood of lava when on its way to the sea. It is
two hundred yards in width, barren of vegetation for
a mile from the sea, inclosed between high cliffs,
clothed in verdure, hung with vines, spiny palms,
tree-ferns — a wonderful hanging garden. There
are three of these ''dry rivers," w'here the lava filled
up the bed of some flowing stream, or excavated an
immense furrow for itself in its descent ; nothing will
grow in them near the sea, though their banks are
rank with vegetation.

We went through a cane-field, and then over an at-
tractive pasture land, leaving which I commenced the
ascent. Here, at the foot-hills of the Soufriere, my
friends left me, and here my friend's mule ("Betsey,"
the best mule on the estate) manifested a desire to
return also. Vigorously I applied the spur, and she

l88 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

slowly ascended the winding path, over ridges covered
with calumet grass, and through forest-like groups of
tree-ferns and wild plantains. Having given Betsey a
taste of the grass, while she was resting beneath a
shade, she was prone to stop and loath to go ahead,
and it was late when I reached the " maroon tree,"
half-way up the mountain-side.

Over and through the broad-leaved plants darted
the humming-birds — crested, violet-breast, and crim-
son-throat. Most conspicuous and numerous was the
latter, with back of purple-black and throat of crim-
son-gold ; I found him oftenest in the upper forests,
in the dark recesses of untrodden glens and along the
borders of the mountain path. If you hear a sharp
chirp in these silent woods, or are startled by a sud-
den whir, be sure it is he. Sparrows, finches, and
humming-birds were in profusion ; they flew hurriedly
across the space in front of the tree, and darted at once
into a thicket, as though afraid in the open, but re-
assured in the shade.

Finally my men appeared, loudly complaining of
their loads ; tliough I knew they had loitered and were
at that moment chucklincr to tiiemselves over the man-
ner in which they had " fool Massa Buckra." A
wood-pigeon had been all the while feeding in the
trees above, and parrots had proclaimed their presence
by loud cries below, but both disappeared at the ar-
rival of the men. After a biscuit and sup of beer, we
went on ; the trail, increasing rapidly in steepness,
left the tall trees behind, and led through smaller ones
scarcely fifteen feet in height. Soon even these alto-
gether ceased, and we climbed the backbone of the
long hill leading to the summit, which is destitute of

A CAMP IN A CRATER. 189

anything like trees, and densely covered with a fern
with flat, branching head, and giant lycopodiums.
One would fancy he could walk over this hill in any
direction, so dense and solid appears this leafy carpet,
but a step outside the trail almost anywhere would
jilunge him waist-deep in ferns, and probably neck-
deep into a hole. The view of the grand, rugged,
dark-green mountains near at hand, and of the con-
stan'ly unfolding shore, green with sugar-cane, is
superb. Here St. Vincent seems but tvvo or three
miles across, and one sees what a little island it is ;
but, upon reflection, how grand are the works of na-
ture contained herein I

Half a mile from the summit I heard the w^eird notes
of the " Soufriere-bird," that songster about which
hung the mystery I hoped to penetrate. Slowly climb-
ing the winding path, I at length reached a cave,
hollowed out of the bank, hung with ferns dripping
with moisture. My cave, however, was a mile far-
ther, and without halting I passed on ; a sudden turn
revealed the crater, deep and vast, on the very brink
of which I stood. As my mule refused to go farther,
and kicked and reared in a manner not desirable on
the brink of a crater half a mile deep, I was forced to
return to the cave and tie this mutinous mule ; then I
returned to the contemplation of the great work before
me. The vapors wafted on the trade-wind, vapors in
odor sulphureous, had, b}^ their strength, warned me
of its proximity.

It was a vast amphitheatre, a mile in diameter, as
nearly circular as it is possible to be, three miles in cir-
cumference ; the walls ran straight down from my feet
to a lake at the bottom. The lip, or top, is irregular,

190 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

of a wavy outline, rising into pointed peaks, sinking
into hollows ; but from any point in this vast circum-
ference the wall descends rapidly, and almost perpen-
dicularly, to the water beneath. The sides are covered
with a stunted vegetation, forming a smooth, sloping
surface, which might deceive the spectator into the
belief that he could walk down to the bottom. On
the southern and south-western sides it assumes more
the amphitheatre shape, perpendicular ranges of rock
being piled one above another, circling around the
south-eastern side in columns that call to mind the
ruins of the Coliseum.

The eastern wall divides the two craters — the
"old" and the "new"; the latter blown out in the
eruption of 181 2, where before was solid mountain. It
is a mere jagged escarpment, along which no one now
dares climb. Before the rain and force of the violent
winds had crumbled it so much, it was once scaled.
It is said that Prince Alfred attempted it in 1861, on
the occasion of his ascent of this volcano, but failed to
accomplish it. It is so narrow that one can stride it,
and so steep down either side that it makes the head
swim to measure it from above. The northern brim
is the lowest, and it is here that the lava poured out
towards the Caribbean Sea at Morne Ronde ; and be-
yond is the higher peak, against which was forced the
fiery flood, as seen by the wondering inhabitants of
the coast. On the southern side the trees and shrubs
seem blasted and blackened by sulphur fumes. The
southern wall rises high, and in its dome-shaped sum-
mit is excavated the cave, my home for nearly a
week ; its dark portal can be distinctly seen, though
a mile avvay.

A CAMP IN A CRATER. I9I

The whole shore of the lake at the bottom of the
crater is incrusted with sulphur, a gray and yellow
rim lining the base of the cliffs that dip down, no
one knows how deep, into the water of the basin.
Around the shore are little caves, grottoes, and black
openings to the many ravines that seam the side of
the bowl. A little islet is formed on the eastern side
— the "new-crater" side — by a detached rock, or
water-worn pinnacle from a submerged rocky base.
In some of the ravines are scattered tree-ferns, stunted,
to be sure, yet possessing grace and beauty that the
fern, especially the tree-fern, never loses.

But how shall I describe that sheet of water
slumbering in the bowels of the crater? It lies in the
bottom of the bowl at least twelve hundred feet be-
neath the brim, serene, unmoved, a lake beneath the
power of the elements to ruffle. Clouds of mist sail
over it, and are blown into the crater from the east-
w^ard, but the fiercest gusts, and they are strong and
frequent, cannot disturb that silent lake reposing
in its bosom. Its hue is almost indescribable : pearl-
green, creamy in hue yet with a decided greenish
tint, opalescent with a tinge of the faintest aqua
marine. Against gray cliffs, dark gorges and green
moss, as it lies with its circling rim of golden sul-
phur, it resembles a huge opal in setting of gold and
emerald.

In the apex of the southern hill bordering the crater,
some one, long ago, hollowed out a place for shelter.
It is only about ten feet across and in depth, and it is
open on the northern side overlooking the lake, and,
excepting a slight hollow, at the top, also ; but it gives
shelter from the keen, mist-laden winds of the Atlan-

192 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

tic, and by crouching in one corner, one can avoid
the rains from any quarter but the north-west. As the
winds and rains, and all storms save the hurricanes
and heavy gales — which latter are generally from the
westward when at their worst — come from eastward,
this cave gives protection in a majority of cases. It
is cut out of gray rock, probably part of the moun-
tain-side before the eruption, and the sides and frag-
ment of roof are fringed with ferns and wild pines.
I chose this cave as being more protected, nearer
the windward coast, my ultimate destination, and as
being near the only spring of fresh water on the
mountain.

It was five o'clock before the men came up. Paying
three of them, I dispatched them back to Richmond
with the mule, and my compliments to its owner, and
hurried on Toby to the work of preparing a camp.

Here, it is dark before six ; on the western shore
there is little or no twilight, for the sun drops into the
Caribbean Sea with a celerity that surprises a North-
erner, draws a nightcap of crimson and golden clouds
over his head, which soon turn lead-color then black,
and the day is done, finished at once without any dally-
ing, and the stars come out ready for business. The
blue vault is studded with silver stars and golden
planets gleaming like lamps ; and if there is a moon,
mountain and valley are at once flooded with pale
light. Forcibly such a scene brings to mind those
lines in "The Ancient Mariner" —

"The Sun's rim dips ; the stars rush out ;
At one stride comes the dark."

Toby cut wood for a fire, and soon had a good one

roaring in the little fireplace hollowed out of the

A CAMP IN A CRATER. I93

eastern wall of the cave. By my direction, he cut
four small trees having crotches at the tops, and planted
them in the ground with their crotched parts meeting,
where I lashed them together, one pair at either side
of the cave. Across these I laid a pole the length of
the cave, and secured it firmly with lines, thus forming
a secure framework, to which I swung my hammock.
Over the pole, sheltering the hammock, was stretched
a square of canvas eight feet across, with each corner
fastened to pegs in the ground. Thus was I provided
w^ith bed and shelter within half an hour from the
time we reached the cave. A pair of arm}'' blankets
to cover me, and a coat for a pillow, made a bed so
soft and tempting that I could scarcely wait for the
water to boil for the coffee ; and after a lunch of
sardines and crackers we turned into our respective
quarters.

Toby, my only companion, deserves especial notice,
for, though he did not conduct himself throughout our
stay on the mountain-top with that courage and
equanimity so desirable in an explorer, or the com-
panion of one, still he was the only human being
who accompanied me through it all. To begin with,
he was black : if a bottle of ink had been emptied
over him he could not have been blacker, it would
have been only a waste of ink. And his eyes were
white — that is, the whites of them ; and whether
the contrast between them and his skin was owing
to the whiteness of one and the blackness of the
other, or to the sootiness of the other and the chalki-
ness of the one, I could not determine. His nose was
broad ; to say that it was as broad as it was long
would be confusion to one's ideas of length and
13

194 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

breadth ; and the end, or what was intended for the
end, turned up, revealing such cavernous nostrils,
that I often wondered why he did not utilize them in
rainy weather and crawl into them out of the wet.
Beneath these wide, dilated nostrils protruded a pair
of lips without an equal this side of Toby ; the upper
one formed a protecting ledge, a threshold to the nasal
caverns, and met the lower in a line that looked like
a cut in a beefsteak. Between eyes and nose and
mouth, there was little of Toby left, except wool and
ears and a narrow strip of forehead, to constitute his
head. The wool was of the kinkiest; and the ears,
they might have been small for a large elephant, but
they were certainly large for even a good-sized negro.
The general make-up of Toby was in keeping with
his features : large was he from his crown to his feet.
As for those useful members of locomotion, I can only
affirm as my belief that if my hammock had hung
lower than it did — two feet from the ground — it
would have brushed Toby's toes as he lay prostrate on
his back.

In the night it commenced to rain, and during the
succeeding days and nights that we stayed in the cave,
five in all, rain fell with little intermission. I awoke
at daybreak, my watch indicating five o'clock. A
mist covered the mountains, a dense cloud filled the
crater. It had rained all night, and everything was
saturated ; a most comfortless morning ; yet, up from
the trees beneath the cave, from ravine and hidden
glen, from the crater's very heart, came the melodious
notes of the soufridre-bird. A little later, I heard
the whistle of a bird new to me, and the notes of the
" wall bird," the house wren, and the chirping of

A CAMP IN A CRATER. I95

sparrows. It evidently was not a comfortless morning
to them.

It required considerable time for Toby to get the
fire under way and coffee boiled ; but when we
had drunk the coffee and munched a biscuit, and I
had cleaned and oiled my breech-loader, and inspected
my photographic chemicals, we left the cave for the
opposite rim of the crater. Down the rather steep
hill, along the winding, rocky path, we walked rapid-
ly ; I once in a while halted to have a shot at some
bird, but not one showed itself, except a wren, that I
shot from a mossy stump only a couple of rods from
the path ; yet Toby could not find it ; indeed, as his
first step plunged him over head in a gulch that had
been concealed by ferns, disturbing several black
snakes that writhed around his legs, he was so terror-
stricken that he would not look, and ever after he
would only follow in my footsteps. Then we mounted
the near peak, where no trail led, and skirted the
crater-brim to the northern side. We went scarcely
three quarters of a mile, 3'et it took us over an hour to
reach the farthest practicable point.

Just there I heard the notes of the soufriere-bird, in
a deep gorge back of the crater-rim. There were
some pigeon-berry trees growing there, thick and
black in the shelter of a hill, and I distinctly saw a
black-backed bird giving utterance to wild notes.
This was the first time I had seen the soufri^re-bird ;
indeed, I had almost come to consider it invisible, as
it was popularly supposed to be, for this was the third
time I had hunted for it. In a previous ascent, for
the purpose of reconnoissance, I had sought it vainly,
heard it singing, apparently near me, but could not

196 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

discover it: around, below, above, the mysterious
music floated on tiie air, but the bird remained unseen.
The notes, I am certain, are ventriloquial, for they
never indicate the place in which the bird is at rest
while uttering them ; a bird may seem at a distance,
while in reality he is close at hand.

Cautiously I plunged into the dense thicket of wild
pines and yuccas that grew on a quaking bed of
sphagnum, waded into a growth of calumet grass
higher than my head, and so, plunging deeply and
holding by rotten trees, I got within shot. At the re-
port, the bird flew wildly and fell at a distance from
where I stood ; a few steps farther, and I found my-
self on the edge of a deep gulch over which hung a
tangled mass of dead bushes and grass. Toby came to
my assistance with his cutlass, but we only succeeded
in getting a foot or two farther. I was obliged to leave
my first soufridre-bird, Toby remarking, *^ No use,
make um too much bad." We retraced our steps, and
when within sight of our cave, discovered some people
there ; a nearer approach revealed a party of ladies
and gentlemen from the windward sugar-estates, who
had come up to the mountain marooning. At my re-
quest, they made their headquarters in the cave, and
then we all started for the " new crater," reaching it
after some tough walking, and plucky riding on the
part of the ladies.

The "new crater" lies east of the "old," and is
reached by a narrow trail half circling the huge basin
of the latter. The climb from the regular trail to
windward is steep and fatiguing, and made worse by
over-trailing grass and filamentous yucca, which will
get entangled in one's legs spite of endeavors to pre-

A CAMP IN A CRATER. I97

vent it. You come upon it as abruptly as upon the
first, and the bank is steep, even shelving in, so that
you are obliged to lie down and peer over the brink
to see to the bottom of the abyss. Unlike the first,
it has no water, save a small pool, dark and gloomy
enough to be an opening into the great infernal re-
gions below, as it undoubtedly is. This pool is in the
eastern side of the crater-floor, which is here com-
paratively level, with a dip in the direction of the
water. The walls arise from this floor, jagged and
rent, torn and water-worn, for nearly a thousand feet,
precipitous, seamed in places with ravines and cov-
ered with ferns.

There is not much of interest here outside the fact
that it had its origin in that terrible explosion in 1812,
before which the space occupied by this great crater
was solid mountain. At the same time also that coni-
cal island which rose I'rom the center of the other cra-
ter was blown into space. It has been entered and
the bottom reached, but all attempts to fathom that
black pool have been unavailing. From a little dis-
tance can be seen the bulging wall that arises from
the slope eastward, which gives this mountain surn-
mit a cone-like character. Beyond is an enclosing
ring of mountains, and in a narrow valley between
crater-cone and mountains are deep, very deep, ra-
vines and gorges, where flowed that fiery tide of lava
when it swept down upon the windward coast.

We returned to the cave, and soon the party left
us, with offers of assistance when I should arrive at
their plantations. Toby sat in the cave's mouth, nor
would he stir from it during the ensuing three days
and nights, except to get water and wood. His ex-

198 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

perience with the snakes had satisfied him. The
attendants of the party had related to him the idle
tale current among the negroes of the coast, namely,
that the first individual who saw the soufriere-bird
would surely die. Much more was the danger in-
creased when the bird should be killed ; and with
what vengeance dire the evil spirits would visit the
author of its death, they hesitated, shuddered even,
to think. Consequently Toby was in trepidation ;
his spirit was perturbed. Sullenly he performed his
daily work. He even hesitated to go for water to the
spring on the mountain-side — to "Jacob's well" —
which gushed from under a huge bowlder, forming a
little pool, half a mile from the cave. He was com-
pletely demoralized, and the incessant rain made him
disconsolate ; he sat in his corner resting his chin on
his hand, his nose on his lips, nodding assent to his
inward cogitations in a manner that boded no good to
my enterprise.

He had constructed a little shelter of sticks and
leaves in a corner of the cave, where he slept by
night on a scanty layer of leaves, and drowsed by
day. The second day he informed me that he felt
it imperative to go down to see his " stock ; " that he
had left his "stock" with no one to "care fur dem," —
a "pig high like dat" — measuring a distance of about
a foot above the ground, — "one high like dis, an' one
high so, sah." After this, I noticed that his anxiety
for his stock increased with the inclemency of the
weather. Altogether, I do not think Toby enjoyed
his residence on the mountain-top, especially as he
looked forward to the death of the bird with fear,
while I could only think of it with feelings of lively

THE SOUFRIERE-BIRD. I99

joy. Hence, he not only refused to accompany me
on my excursions, but exercised his little wit to throw
obstacles in my way.

The local name of the " Soufriere-bird," from the
French word soufrierc, a sulphur mountain, an in-
habitant of the volcano, has been obtained from the
Caribs and the negroes, as the bird is rarely heard
outside a gunshot limit from the crater. Its habitat
is strictly mountainous, and I do not think it is ever
found at a lesser height than one thousand feet above
the sea, and in the dark ravines and gorges seaming
the sides of the cone it finds a congenial retreat. It re-
sembles a closely-allied bird of Dominica, the "Moun-
tain whistler," in many particulars, especially in its
habits of seclusion, shyness, and melody of song. It
is, however, much sh3-er than even the Dominica
bird ; and while the latter seems to prefer the solitude
of dark gorges more from a love of retirement than
fear of man, the soufriere-bird is timid, even suspi-
ciously watchful of man's presence, and flies from
his approach. In its wild, sweet, melancholy music
it strikingly resembles the "mountain whistler," but
the notes are different.

From the dense thicket of trees bordering the trail
around the crater this bird sends forth its mystic mu-
sic, and darts awa}' at the slightest indication of human
proximity to its haunts. As the earth supporting the
trees it inhabits is cut into every conceivable shape
of hole, rut, and ravine, and as, moreover, the place
swarms with monster snakes, the terror of the negroes,
almost the only people crossing the mountain, it has
been connected with the superstitions of the negro,
and has ever remained the "invisible, mysterious bird

2CK) CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

with the heavenly song." Naturalists have sought for
it, and residents of the island have tried to capture
it, but without success. Misled by its ventriloquial
music and deterred by the character of its rough re-
treats, they have returned bootless to the coast, almost
believing, with the negro, that it was indeed invisible.
The Indians avoided its haunts, and regarded with
veneration this bird that filled the air with unearthly
melody ; for generations they have preserved the tra-
dition of its existence, and vaguely associated it with
the tutelar deit\^ of the volcano.

The third night passed wearily. My blankets, ham-
mock, and garments were saturated by the mist, and
the air was so charged with sulphur fume.s that it
seemed difficult to breathe. Toby rested uneasily ;
his uncomfortable couch and his anxiety regarding
his "stock" interfered with perfect repose. By the
aid of a line fastened to a stake, I managed to keep
my hammock moving, and thus rocked myself to
sleep; but my naps were short and fitful, and fre-
quently interrupted. Toward the small hours I was
asleep and dreaming. The events of the preceding
days, and the constant reminder before me of that
catastrophe of sixty years before, when this mountain
was shaken and rent and the fire in its bosom let loose,
gave shape to my dreams. I was living through that
terrible week in April, when the volcano vomited forth
the volume of ashes and fire that desolated the island ;
nay, more, I was camped upon its very summit. I
felt the heaving of the earth beneath, but could not
move ; I heard the gathering of those internal forces
preparatory to the bursting forth of flame and steam ;
the rumbling roar that came up from that subterranean

THE SOUFRIERE-BIRD. 20I

furnace grew louder and increased to the howling of
the hurricane, and seemed to approach the very crust
of earth upon which I lay ; the thin shell vibrated,
cracked, hre leaped forth, and, amid the most terrific
explosions, I descended — to the bottom of my cave.

Confused and astonished, I gathered my blanket
about me, and looked around. The hammock was
oscillating gently, small stones and particles of loos-
ened earth were falling from above in a gentle shower,
and Toby was snoring earnestly. Returning to my
hammock, I lay there cogitating, with the rain pat-
tering on my canvas roof, and watched Toby as he
emitted those nasal blasts. An idea struck me —
ideas often strike me. Why could not this wasted
power be utilized? Snoring causes vibration ; vibra-
tion communicated causes motion; motion was what
I wanted to swing my hammock, to rock me to sleep.
Instantly I had conceived a device for utilizing this
force ; and such was my faith in its merits, that, if
I had been on American instead of English soil, I
should have hastened at once to get the invention pro-
tected by patent. This boon to people who sleep in
couples, this invention that will do away with mid-
night rising to rock the cradle, is not yet patented;
hence it would not be policy in me to give the details
of its construction to the world.

The morning of the fourth day dawned dimly.
Toby prepared coffee, and I took my gun and game-
basket and went down the mountain a short way,
where I had heard the song of the bird the day be-
fore. It was a sort of shoulder in the hill, where a
curve in the crater-brim and a hollow in the hill gave
shelter from the vapor-charged wind from the "wind-

202 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ward." I entered the thicket of stunted trees with
dense tops, and sat down. As I did so, the whistle
of a soufriere-bird, that had emanated from it, sud-
denly ceased, and I knew he had seen me and had
flown. I waited a long time in silence, but they
seemed to have been made aware of my presence,
and only the distant murmur of their music came to
me from different parts of tiie slope. Tired of this
solitude, I started down the steep declivity. The first
step taken beyond tiie range of my vision as I sat,
plunged me into a hole to my neck ; it had been con-
cealed by ferns and mosses, and I slowly crawled out
through them with painful exertion.

I found that the surface was cut up into ravines
and gullies, starting from the crater-rim. Probably
the deepest of them were gouged out by the flood of
lava that poured over the crater's edge in that terrible
outflow of volcanic wealth. Rain flowing through the
loose volcanic ash may have cut the more re(jent, but
it Cvould not have descended with sutiicient impetuosity
to have hollowed out the deep well-holes and cut those
deep ravines with perpendicular walls. Starting from
the narrow edge of the crater, they spread out like
a fan, furrowing the outer surface of the cone, grow-
ing deeper, broader, and gloomier, until lost in the
dark recesses below. Over all grew the small trees,
densely crowded ; ferns, filamentous yuccas, moss
and wild pines covered the earth and rocks in impen-
etrable confusion, so concealing the openings to the
narrower gullies that it was impossible to ascertain
their whereabouts without a very careful examination.
It was into tiiis wilderness that I plunged, floundering
through tangled masses of branching fern and through

THE SOUFRIERE-BIRD. 203

dense clusters of ground-orchids. But I found few
birds save a sparrow or two and a sucrier, and the
prospect was most discouraging.

A death-like stillness pervaded that gloomy slope,
disturbed only by the sivirr of the volumes of mist as
they swept over the eastern spur, and the faint notes
of the soufriere-bird down below. Suddenly 1 be-
tliought myself of a bird-call taught me by the Caribs
of Dominica ; and with such success did I use it, that,
in ten minutes, the hitherto silent trees were alive with
stirring feathered forms, hurrying forward in anxious
flight. The first to respond — and I afterwards found
it always in advance of the others — was a flycatcher ;
it flew precipitately to the very tree beneath which I
stood, and hopped about the branches, peering anx-
iously beneath ; closely following him was his mate.
Then the sparrows (two species) took up the cry, and
close behind them came the certhiolas ; but these latter
satisfied themselves with a glance and then went about
their business. The little humming-bird, the crested,
was the most attracted and the most audacious, and flew
directly for my face, halting on buzzing wings before
me, darting from side to side, finally alighting on a
branch close by, crest erected, every feather of this
pigmy beauty seemingly electrified, darting glances
in every direction. Then the rapid whirring of wings
gave token of the coming of the great crimson-
throated hummer, and he seemed as anxious, and
circled as closely about me, as his little cousin ; he
likewise perched himself upon a near twig, his back
and throat resplendent in the fugitive sunbeams that
stole through the branches.

204 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

But, gratified as I was with this stir of animated life
that my seductive call had evoked, I still awaited
anxiously the appearance of thiat rara avis of these
solitudes. Soon I heard a low call-note, such as I
had heard that bird give utterance to, and imitating it
closely as possible, I was gratified to hear it repeated
nearer at hand, and then caught a glimpse of a dusky
body flitting on rapid wing through the farther shades.
Its flight was very rapid and noiseless. It suddenly
came into view a good gun-shot off, evidently excited,
twitching its tail, jerking its wings, and uttering a
low whistle. In a thought it saw me, just as I caught
a snap-shot as it darted through the closely-woven
branches. Through the thin veil of smoke 1 caught
sight of a few floating feathers, and hurried forward
without reloading, breaking my way through matted
masses of ferns, leaping gullies, and swinging myself
finally beneath the tree upon which he had for a
moment rested. There was nothing in sight. Dis-
appointed, I yet trusted those floating feathers had
not misled me, and renewed the search, carefully
displacing the ferns and fallen branches one by one.
It was only upon searching lower down, where a
steep incline had given it impetus, that I found it,
lodged in a wild pine on the verge of a ravine.

Exultant was I then, as that soft-plumaged bird lay
in view before me ; forgotten was the toil and previous
exertion, forgotten the rain and discomfort of the
night. I had triumphed over all obstacles in my path,
and was about to hold in my hand the first soufri^re-
bird known to have been shot within the memory of
any one now living. In ray anxiety, in my headlong

THE SOUFRIERE-BIRD. 205

eagerness to possess the bird, I neglected to examine
the ground beneath my feet; I saw only the bird, and
darted forward. The loose earth gave way, the
mass of orchids and roots, loosened by the rains, fell
without warning, and I, wildly grasping at overhang-
ing roots which broke in my grip, was thrown into
the ravine. It was not more than fifteen feet in depth,
and so narrow that my fall was broken by the adjacent
walls, and I landed on my feet, bruised and a little
torn, but without serious injury.

Joy at escape from immediate danger was quickly
turned to apprehension regarding escape from the
gulch, for the walls were as smooth as water could
wear them, and the lower portion of the ravine dis-
appeared suddenly in the direction of the lake. The
head of the ravine was a hole like a well, and into
this I had fallen. Through the crevice below me I
could see the shimmering waters of the lake, a thou-
sand feet beneath, and a few steps farther would have
precipitated me into its unfathomed ab}ss.

A shower heaA'ier than the others came down fierce-
ly, setting rivulets running down the crater and wash-
ing the earth from beneath my feet, warning me to be
out of the hole if possible. Clinging to some pro-
jections in the rock, I w^orked my way slowly up until
near the top ; when about to thrust my arm through
the vines that darkened my chamber, I w^as startled
by the appearance of a black, shining head with
glittering eyes, thrust right into my face. But for the
nearness of the opposite wall, I should have fallen,
this apparition took me so by surprise, for it was none
other than an immense black snake. Fortunately, I

2o6

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

could secure myself in position by bracing my legs
against each opposing cliff, and was near enough to
the top to clutch some roots, otherwise I could not
have maintained the ground I had gained. The snake
crawled out of a crevice in the rock, and though he
may not have intended to harm me, I will confess

to a feeling of fear
at that time, and
remembered with re-
gret how thoughtless-
ly I had laughed at
poor Toby, the day
before, when he fled
in terror from a snake
I had caught by the
tail. My gun, which
had not been injured
in my fall, was slung
at my back, and by
loosening it I man-
aged to strike the
snake a smart blow,
which, though it an-
gered him, caused
him to glide down the cliff instead of up. Thus
relieved, I scrambled through the dank vegetation,
and stood once more above the ground.

From the lake came up a strange hissing sound, as
though the water was boiling, caused by the many
streams set in flow by the rain running into it. Its
usually placid surface was agitated, and I could detect
a perceptible change in its color.

THE SOUFRIERE-BIRD. 2&J

My precious bird had landed safely at the bottom
of the gulch, though somewhat soiled, and he now
reposed in my game-basket, wrapped in a paper cone.
This was the first soufri6re-bird I secured ; the next
day I shot three others ; they proved to be a new
species and were named the Myiadestes stbilans.
Another species, shot in the same locality, proved to
be also new, and was afterwards named the L.eu-
copcza Dishopi.

The da}^ following, Toby's patience gave out
entirely, and I was obliged to descend the mountain
to the Carib country, which, as the cloud of fog lifted,
I could see from my cave as a lovely green slope,
lying between dark mountains and blue, white-rimmed
ocean.

2o8 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER XIII.

TRADITIONAL LORE. A MISADVENTURE.

CARIB COUNTRY. — SANDY BAY. — CAPTAIN GEORGE. — CAPTAIN
GEORGE'S FAMILY. — HIS SUPERSTITIONS. — A CARIB ROMANCE.

— A LOVE TEST. — COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. — PREPARING
CASSAVA. — FARINE. — AN INDIAN INVENTION. — THE OBEAH
CHARM. — THE CARIB WARS. — A BRAVE COWARD. — THE
CARIBS CAPTURED. — SENT TO COAST OF HONDURAS. — THE
SURVIVORS. — THE SEMINOLES. — A PARALLEL. — CARIB SONG.

— CAPTAIN GEORGE'S TREASURE. — A MISADVENTURE. — BAL-
LICEAUX. — A SEARCH FOR SKULLS. — BATTOWIA. — THE
"MOSES BOAT." — THE MONSTER IGUANA. — THE CAVE. — THE
TORTOISE. — A RELIC OF A PAST AGE. — TROPIC BIRDS. — OUR
BOAT SMASHED. — A NIGHT ON THE BEACH. — THE SOUTHERN
CROSS. — PAUL AND VIRGINIA. — CHURCH ISLAND.

CARIB COUNTRY is that portion of the island
of St. Vincent lying between the central ridge
of mountains and the Atlantic coast. It is the most
fertile and level, spreading from the foot of the hills
in gentle slopes and undulating plains. Formerly in
possession of the Caribs, it early attracted the English
by its fertility, and, by processes well known to the
white man when he desires his red brother's land, it
soon changed hands. Though one may lament this
usurpation of the Indian's territory, and deprecate such
deeds on general principles, one is soon reconciled to
the change after he has been domiciled among the
people in present possession.

TRADITIONAL LORE. 2O9

It has never been my fortune to meet a Scotchman
on his native heath, and whether he is improved by
being transplanted to another chme, I cannot tell.
One thing is indisputable, he could not be more
generous, more hospitable, more companionable than
are those rare Scotchmen in the West Indies, with
especial reference to the managers of those estates in
Carib country. As all the estates were owned by one
firm, and that firm held that there were no managers
so skillful and faithful as their own countrymen,
this part of the island was often alluded to as New
Caledonia.

From " Happy Hill," accompanied by its manager
and those of adjoining estates, I cantered, on a borrowed
pony, down the coast to the Carib settlement. At
Rabaca is the celebrated " Dry River " of the eastern
coast, which is very broad, and often swept by tor-
rents from the mountains. My friends rode with me
as far as Overland, a most interesting negro village
of wattled huts, built in a thick wood of cocoa-palms
and bread-fruits. Here they left me with friendly
adieus, and I went on alone. The Soufriere rose
grandly from out its surrounding forests, and the
great rock, shaped like a lion couchant, near which
my cave opened, was sharply cut against the bluest
of skies.

The Carib settlement of Sandy Bay is the most
secluded in the island ; it is also the most picturesque ;
but, as rocks and wooded hills are the principal ele-
ments of a picturesque landscape, I fancy the Caribs
isolated here would gladly exchange their portion for
the more fertile fields near Rabaca.

An Indian named Rabaca, a pure Carib, one

14

2IO CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

descended from an ancient family, met me and aided
me in my search for a house, and I was comfortably
fixed before night in a little house of reeds, wattled
and thatched. It contained two rooms eight feet
square, separated by a matting of tied wild-plantain
ribs. The result of my observations here is incorpo-
rated in chapter nine, but there are some incidents of
Indian life that have not been alluded to in that
narrative.

My nearest neighbor was " Captain George," an
Indian descended from the " Black Caribs." That is,
his father, or grandfather, was a negro, while his
mother, or grandmother, was a Carib. From either
paternal or maternal ancestor he had inherited a kinky
wool and rather thick lips, but the Indian blood
showed itself strongly. Captain George was intelli-
gent beyond the average Carib, and possessed a good
knowledge of the ancient language, which his grand-
mother, who had " brung him up," had taught him ;
and as he was always ready to impart to me the words
and idioms of the Indian tongue, I was a frequent^
visitor to his cabin, where 1 would sit for hours listen-
ing to the tales and traditions handed down from his
ancestors. He had an interesting family ; and, as he
had married a "Yellow Carib," a woman of uncontami-
nated Indian blood, his children did not resemble in
complexion either him or his wife. Nothing can bet-
ter show this difference than the photograph I took of
the group one afternoon, as we returned from hunting
in the hills. The children were blessed with abun-
dant, black, straight hair, which was worn by the
girls in long braids ; it was a trifle coarser than that
of the mother, but yet beautiful.

TRADITIONAL LORE. 211

Sandy Bay takes its name from a beach of gray
sand guarded by volcanic rocks, lined with tropical
vegetation ; at its northern end was a single cocoa
palm leaning over a thatched hut used as a boat-
house. Beneath this hut I encountered some of my
Indian neighbors, dividing their spoils from the sea ;
there were fish of every color: "parrot fish," "butter
fish," and " silver fish," radiant with all the hues of the
rainbow. To each man Captain George laid aside
his portion, and from each little heap took a fish for
the stranger sojourning among them. This done, he
retired with me to a log beneath the thatch, and over-
hauled his store of traditional Indian lore. The seas
came up with white crests, reaching far up the strand ;
the sun was down behind the volcano, leaving a long,
cool twilight, to which the leeward shore is a stranger.

Our conversation turned upon ghosts and those evil
spirits called by the negroes, and by the Indians,
jumbies, or jombies. "I have saw jumbie not more
than three times," said the old Indian. " Once time,
I runned away from Rabaca, an' when I reach de
dry ribah, walkin' along, swingin' my bundle, I see
man, high so, as a boss, an' he point me back ; but I
keep on. When I come to cross de ribah I see big
bull-calf to come down de bank ; he tail up, an' he
come fo' me an' swing roun' an' roun' an' bawl, an'
then he run back. It to make my bar stan' up, so ;
an' when I make to meet him at nex' ribah I was
want to cross, an' he came fo' me an' bawl, I say,
' Oh, good Massa, keep jumbie away ; ' an' he no
come no mo'.

" A young man, he courtin' he sweetheart ; he say,
'You lub me?' He sweetheart say, 'Yes.' He say,

212 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

*Like you life you lub me?' *Yes.* Well, he say,
' I try you : Ef you lub me, so ; ef you no lub me an'
no mine me, I kill you dead to-day.' So he go to ketch
some mouse — how he was to do dat I do' know ; but
he ketch um mice an' put him under calbash on de
groun'. Den he call um sweetheart an' say, 'I go to
leabe you now. You see dat calbash ! Under dat cal-
bash is my life, my lub. Ef you lif um up he make
um go ; ef you lub me, you no lif um up.' So he go
'way. When he gone, she walk all 'bout, she cannot
to stay still ; she mus' to see under de calbash ; so she
lif um up. Shi I out pop de mice an' runned away
with heself.

" When time come fo' dinnah, her lubah come back
'gin. She set down sad, sad, sad ; no tell him howdy.
He say, ' What de mattah? ' She no speak. He say,
* Kahna, inyiga ' (go and eat). She no go. He say,
* Kaima, goora^ (go and drink). She no go. She no
make talk, but take de big calbash, and go to de
ribah fo' watah. He say, 'Ah, my lub is out ob de
calbash.' He lif um up; no mice no pop out agin.
Den he go to de ribah — bam ! when she lif up de
watah, he mash he head with stone.

" When Carib court he sweetheart he must not. to
see her too often, only but once a montli ; an' den
when he courtin' he must to sweep all de yard clean,
clean, clean, by first cockcrow ; ef he to be see after
dat he cannot court dat girl no mo'. Ef he ketch fish
he must to bring um to her father's house ; an' he no
see he sweetheart, only lies father ; and he no see hes
mother-law 'tall, [great deprivation.] When he to get
married, he must go to de wood an' cut down tall
gommier an' make six-oar boat."

TRADITIONAL LORE. 213

The ancient marriage ceremony was very simple ;
the man and woman dug and washed some cas-
sava, boiled it, and baked very thick cakes. From
the liquor, boiled down, they made a drink which
they mixed with rum and resinous leaves. These
things were placed on a 4able around which were
seated the man and woman, her father and mother,
and two witnesses. The father cut the cassava into
six pieces, and handed one to the groom, who dipped
it in the liquor and gave it to his bride. She in turn
dipped another piece, given her by her mother, and
gave it to the groom. After this solemn ceremony
came feasting and drinking to the extent the groom's
purse would allow.

The inhabitants of the village were preparing cas-
sava, or rather they were making "farine" from the
cassava root, and Captain George and I went over to
the river where the women were at work. The juice
of the cassava ( yatrofha manihot) is very poisonous.
Cattle and children often die from eating the raw
tubers, or drinking water containing the juice. To
prepare it for use, the natives scrape off the dark
outer cuticle, wash the tuber thoroughly and grate it;
it is then again washed, and a small portion at a
time wrung out dry in a cloth, leaving it in dry cakes
which crumble. It is then sifted, rubbed through a
sieve of reeds split and woven, and afterwards baked
in very thin cakes on a large iron plate, over a hot
fire. These cakes will keep a long time ; they are
hung up over a pole or line, and used as wanted.
In some islands the people make more of the farine,
the grated root dried on a large copper or iron plate,

214 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

being well stirred the while. It is sometimes put
up in barrels, and always commands a ready sale.
During the baking process the poisonous quality,
which is volatile, escapes, and the people eat with
impunity these roots that in a raw state would prove
poisonous. The juice itself is made into a drink by
being boiled, which is palatable to a native.

I noticed here a curious method in use to press the
cassava dry after it was grated ; it was a cone of
woven reeds, so constructed that, when filled with
cassava and hung up with a weight attached to its
lower end, a continuous and equable pressure was
applied to the whole mass. This cone was about four
feet long, and perhaps six inches across at the mouth,
or larger end, and is an invention of the Caribs, having
been found in use by them by the earliest voyagers.

This farine supplies the place of bread to a great
extent, the natives preferring it to that article, and
eating it dry by the handful. There are two varieties,
the "sweet" and the "bitter" cassava; but the latter,
though so dangerous, is more extensively cultivated
than the former, which is harmless.

After inspecting the preparation of the farine, we
adjourned to Captain George's cabin, where he re-
galed me with numerous stories of the achievements
of the Caribs during the war with the English in the
last century. He firmly believed that his grandfather
and other Caribs owed the preservation of their lives
to certain charms obtained from an obeah man in Mar-
tinique.

"One time, six Carib kill um white gen'leman, but
dey not see he serbant hide in de bush. When serbant
get 'way he tell solaier, * Carib kill one buckra, my

TRADITIONAL LORE. 215

massa.' Well, soldier go dah ; bam ! bam ! de ball
fall all 'bout; hit um leg, hit um heel, but drop right
off, and no hurt Carib 'tall, 'tall, fo' dey hab obeah
charm to keep um from make to dead."

This allusion to the strife once carried on between
Carib and English drew out the entire story of the
war in which the Carib power was forever destroyed.
In 1772, the best part of the Carib lands having been
seized, the Indians commenced hostilities, but soon
came to terms. By treaty, they were then secured in
the best portion of their lands, and kept the peace until,
six years later, instigated and aided by the French
from Martinique, they revolted. Soon the entire island
was in French possession, without much, if any, blood-
shed. In 1784, the island was restored to Great Brit-
ain by the treaty of Versailles. Incited by the French
republicans, in 1795* the Caribs again revolted, de-
feated the troops sent against them, and swarmed
upon the heights above the town. By the opportune
arrival of soldiers and marines from Barbados, they
were driven back, but again assembled, and a great
fight ensued, in which the English were at first beaten ;
but finally, by aid of large reinforcements, the Caribs
were defeated.

Thus the war went on with varying fortune for a
year and a half. The negroes were assembled, ap-
praised at their full value, their owners to be reim-
bursed for any killed, and sent against the Caribs ;
but these "forest rangers," as they were called, though
they proved very active and useful in destroying the
canoes of the enemy, and in bringing in women and
children from the mountains after the warriors had
surrendered, did little good service. Doubtless they

2l6 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

were animated with the high resolve of saving the
colony the expense of paying their owners.

At one time, having been driven from Owia, a
point on the north-east side of the island, the Caribs
executed a masterly retreat over the volcano, to the
Caribbean coast, and committed great ravages ; a
party sent against them there was defeated. In all
their battles they showed consummate skill and great
bravery, seizing upon the most advantageous posi-
tions, fortifying them and holding them to the last.
The English were at first unfortunate in their gen-
erals. One of them, "Sir Paulus -^milius Irving,
Bart.," who was pursuing the Caribs with a large
body of troops, became frightened by a six-pounder
ball passing near him, and ordered a retreat. Sub-
sequently the English were nearly cut off, and lost
several hundred men under this gallant general.

The Indians understood and practiced the trick of
posting their best shots in the tall trees, for the purpose
of picking off the officers. At last there arrived the
famous General Abercrombie, fresh from his capture
of St. Lucia, who pushed the French and Caribs so
hard, with his army of four thousand men, that they
were obliged to surrender. The French and colored,
ofTicers and soldiers, were released on parole, with
the privilege of returning to their own island ; but
the poor Caribs, thus abandoned, were allowed only
unconditional surrender. Refusing these terms, most
of them fled to the mountains, and in the dense forests
found shelter for a long time, defeating several de-
tachments of troops sent against them.

Deprived of crops, and all provisions such as a
successful foray could obtain, they were gradually

TRADITIONAL LORE. 217

gathered in, by use of force and by the necessities
of their situation, until, of men, women, and children,
nearly five thousand were captured. These were re-
moved to the small island of Balliceaux, off the coast
of St. Vincent, deprived of canoes and arms, and kept
there for months. Captain George declared that the
English government aimed to destroy as many of
them as possible, and caused lime to be mixed in their
bread ; but of course this was false, and probably arose
from the fact that the water, being impregnated with
lime, caused much sickness and death.

In February, 1797, they were all carried to the
island of Ruatan, off the Honduras coast. When the
vessels arrived there, it was found necessary to dis-
lodge a party of Spaniards in possession, who had
built a fort. After a hard fight it was taken, and the
Caribs left to the mercy of whomsoever should appear
against them. The Carib lands were thus left deso-
late ; they were declared forfeited, surveyed and sold.
In 1805, the few remaining Caribs were pardoned, and
a tract of two hundred and fifty acres, near Morne
Ronde, was granted them, this territory not being con-
sidered fertile nor available for sugar-land. Here the
majority of the Indians have lived in peace ever since.

It appeared strange to me that this settlement at
Morne Ronde was composed almost wholly of Black
Caribs, the few families of pure Yellow Caribs living
on the eastern shore and. paying rent for land once in
full possession of their ancestors. It may have been
that the innate cowardice of the Black Caribs, born
of their negro blood, prevented them from taking an
active part in the war, and may have induced them
to seek the protection of the English. The " Rangers,"

2l8 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

also, who scoured the woods after the Caribs were
subdued and scattered, and committed many murders,
may have been moved to spare people so much re-
sembling themselves.

How similar has been the fate of the Caribs to
that of the Seminoles of the Southern States ! At the
beginning of the present century, the latter were peace-
ful and happy, cultivating their gardens with an in-
telligence that shows them to have been superior
people. They, too, were driven to war, stripped of
their property, and hunted by white troops. Their
resistance lasted for seven years, but in the end, nearly
all were captured and transported far from their homes.
Of them a remnant lingers in the hunting-grounds of
their fathers, engaged, like the present Carib, in agri-
cultural pursuits. With them, too, the negro found a
home, married with them, and to them communicated
the curse of his race.

The memory of the war of his ancestors stirred
Captain George to wild song, and his daughters
danced in the moonlight while he made music on a
drum hollowed from a log and covered with cow-skin,
chanting the while a song, of which I can remember
but two lines :

" Ncech-i-s^oo, bah-li, boo ni,
Leh-bi chi, wei-i-ga-mah, ah'-wah-si."

He attended me to my cabin, late in the evening,
and as he had imbibed freely of distilled cane-juice
(vulgarly known as rum) he was very confidential,
and communicated to me the important secret that, in
a cave on one of the islands to which the Caribs were
transported, there was a treasure. Of the exact nature
of this ''treasure" he did not inform me, but left me

A MISADVENTURE. 219

to infer that it might be gold, or might be of value only
to the archaeologist. To this latter opinion I was in-
clined when told that it belonged to the oldest Indian
of the nation, who, rather than allow it to be taken
by the English, buried it in the cave. I inferred from
this that it must be of the nature of a charm or token,
such as the Indians, when living in primitive simplic-
ity, carried about them.

Nearly three months later I visited the island
where the Caribs had been incarcerated previous to
their transportation, and as my discovery there strong-
ly verifies my Indian friend's story, it may be as well
in this connection to relate my adventures during that
short trip.

The island of Balliceaux, the scene of Carib cap-
tivity, is about twelve miles from St. Vincent, and is
one of the northernmost of the chain of islands and
islets known as the Grenadines. It is about a mile in
length and perhaps an eighth in breadth, rocky and
dry, covered for the most part with a sparse growth
of trees. It is owned entirely by one of the largest
land proprietors in St. Vincent, Mr. Cheesman, who
has stocked it with goats, guinea-fowl, and deer, in-
tending it as a preserve, to which he occasionally
resorts for sport with some friends.

As his guest, in company with a dozen more valiant
Scotchmen and Creoles, I left the blue hills of St.
Vincent, one morning in February, for Balliceaux.
We landed from the drogher on a sandy beach, above
which drooped a solitary palm, and wended our way
to the comfortable house, where we were met by the
manager, and to which, later, our store of provender
was transported. Our generous host understood well

220 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the art of entertaining guests, though it is almost
superfluous to say this of any West Indian, either
adopted or to the manor born, and as soon as our feet
touched the soil of his preserve we felt the truth of
his assurance, that all was ours as well as his.

I searched the shore for traces of the Caribs, but was
unrewarded save by a few shards of pottery ; however,
I was promised a guide for the morrow, who could pilot
me to a sepulchre of skulls. Alas ! that morrow did
not bring its promised pleasure, and those skulls may
yet linger for some other explorer, for aught I know
to the contrary.

Close in sight, about two miles distant, rose the islet
of Battowia. It was little more than a huge rock
several hundred feet in height, and clad with vegeta-
tion on its western slope. In the eastern cliffs was
the cave which some of the Indians had occupied, and
which we desired to explore. After early coffee the
morning succeeding our arrival at Balliceaux, three
of us embarked in a " Moses-boat " for Battowia.

The Moses-boat is a peculiarly strong boat built for
transporting sugar and other heavy freight through
the heavy surf of the eastern shore. In shape it is
something like the famous craft in which those " three
wise men of Gotham" departed on their sea-voyage.
It is very buoyant, and owes its great strength to
numerous knees and thick planking. Regarding its
name, whether it was named for Moses the great
"lawgiver," or for the man who built the first of the
kind, will forever remain a mystery.

In the Moses-boat we embarked : the sea was
smooth, and we made the passage without mishap.
There were four of us "buckras," or white men, and

A MISADVENTURE. 221

an equal number of negroes. The negroes pulled
the boat, and the whites encouraged the negroes, and
withal we made a very satisfactory voyage. Having
secured the boat a little way from shore, we marched
up the slope toward the summit. Our host had pro-
vided a substantial breakfast, to be eaten at the cave,
and the men staggered under divers kinds of nourish-
ment contained in bottles with wired corks, a tub of
ice and other necessaries.

Soon the bushes grew so thickly that we were
obliged to '' cutlass " our way, and took turns in cut-
ting out a path with the great, sword-like knives of
the blacks. It was hot, weary work, and we made
slow progress. C. started up a great iguana, quite
five feet in length, which was basking on the rocks.
Part of our party got lost in the thick growth, and this
delayed us so that it was well toward noon when we
arrived at the ridge and felt the cool breezes from the
east.

After a light lunch, we scattered down the cliffs in
search of the cave. A whoop from one of our attend-
ants drew us half-way down the precipice, where we
were introduced to a deep fissure-like hole in the rock,
hidden by trees. Crawling carefully over the loose
rock, three hundred feet above the surf beating at the
base of the cliff", we entered the cave and prepared to
explore it. A glance showed that it was not large nor
deep, and we soon found that it led in only a hundred
feet before the crevice grew so narrow that it could
not be followed ; but we were satisfied that it led
down to the sea as we could distinctly hear the boom-
ing of the waves.

Along each side of the cavern were hollows, evi-

222 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

dently artificial, begrimed with smoke, as though they
had been used as fireplaces. We found no living
things but bats and tarantulas ; the former flew about
in great numbers. While my companions were en-
gaged in the farther end of the cave, I groped among
the loose fragments of stone near the mouth, where,
one of the men told me, an Indian chair had been
found some fifteen years before. Carefully displacing
the stone chippings, I at last found what seemed to be
an image of stone ; but scraping with a knife revealed
that it was of wood. It was a tortoise, four inches
long and two and one-half broad, curiously carved.
Two holes, a quarter of an inch in diameter, are bored
through back and breast ; the back, upper part of the
head, and the throat, are covered with incised figures,
and the eyes carefully carved hollows, as if for the
reception of some foreign substance.

There is little doubt that this image once belonged
to an Indian living many years ago. I choose to con-
sider it a zcmi^ having as my authority the account
given in Irving's " Columbus," of the finding of simi-
lar objects by the Spaniards, among the natives of
Haiti. Speaking of their religion, he says : " They
believed in one Supreme Being, who inhabited the
sky, who was immortal, omnipotent, and invisible.
They never addressed their worship directly to him,
but to inferior deities, called zcmes^ a kind of messen-
gers or mediators. Each cacique, each family and
each individual, had a particular zemi as a tutelary
deity, whose image, generally of a hideous form, was,
placed about their houses, carved on their furniture,
and sometimes bound to their foreheads when they
went to battle. They believed their zemes to be

A MISADVENTURE.

223

transferable with all their beneficial powers ; they
therefore often stole them from each other, and, when
the Spaniards arrived, hid them away lest they should
be taken by the strangers. They believed that these
zemes presided over every object in nature. Some
had sway over the elements, causing sterile or abun-
dant years ; some governed the seas and forests, the
springs and fountains, like the nereids, the dryads,
and satyrs of antiquity. Once a year each cacique
held a feast in honor of his zemi, when his subjects

M J

formed a procession to the temple ; the married men
and women decorated with their most precious orna-
ments, the young females entirely naked, carrying
baskets of flowers and cakes, and singing as they
advanced."

In the "Smithsonian Report" for 1876 is an elabo-
rate article describing, with many engravings, a col-
lection of antiquities from Porto Rico, containing
several Indian "stools" of stone and wood. These
stools are ornamented with a head-piece resembling
this tortoise, and even the eye-sockets have the ap-

224 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

pearance of having been hollowed out for the recep-
tion of jewels or bright metal ; as the author of the
article mentioned above remarks : " In the wooden
objects, as in the stone one, the eyes excavated for
precious stones are plainly visible, but the stones are
wanting." '

The same author quotes Herrera's account of the
visit of Columbus to Cuba, when a party, having
penetrated to the interior, returned with glowing ac-
counts of their reception by the Indians. They found
a village where each house contained a whole gen-
eration. " The prime men came out to meet them, led
them by the arms, and lodged them in one of the new
houses, causing them to sit down on seats made of
a solid piece of wood in the shape of a beast with very
short legs and the tail held up, the head before, with
eyes and ears of gold."

This relic of antiquity was undoubtedly taken by
the Caribs from their enemies of Haiti, and brought
here by the captor, or it may have belonged to a
captive Arowak living among the Caribs. The same
old negro who found the " stool " was of our part}',
but he could not afford any further light except to say,
" Me tink him b'long to Injun seat."

Beneath the cave, a hundred feet farther down the
cliff, was a grotto sparkling with lime crystals. In
descending to this, we found some great birds, which
are seldom seen except high in air, sailing above the
ocean, the Tropic-birds {Phaclkon cethcrcus') ; and
they sat so quietly upon the shelves of the cliff, per-
mitting us to approach, that at first we took Ihem for
young birds. We soon were convinced that they
were adult birds by finding some eggs beneath them,

A MISADVENTURE. 225

and by the strength of tlieir powerful beaks as they
pecked at us when we inserted our hands into their
retreats to pull them out. Dotting the cliff here and
there, and floating above our heads, with their long
tails, of but two cylindrical feathers each, fluttering
in the wind, they formed a graceful element in the
picture spread before us from the ridge.

At the summit, where we had left our lunch, we
exerted ourselves to finish the contents of baskets and
bottles, and so successful were we that nothing was
left to burden our men down the slope but a few
chicken-bones and a little water. Then we hastened
down to the shore, anxious to join our friends on the
other island, and rejoicing in our good luck.

As we turned the great rock which hid the little
cove in which the boat had been left, we were greeted
by a loud cry : " De boat done mash, sah ! " A fact
we verified a few minutes later ; for there floated the
boat, its rail just above water, thumping on the rocks.

It was growing late, and there was no time to be
lost. Our men stripped and plunged into the water
and commenced bailing the boat, but it was labor
thrown away; then, by direction of Mr. C, they
hauled the boat up upon the pebbles of the narrow
beach at the base of the cliff', and turned her over —
no easy work — and we were all obliged to assist. As
the heavy boat came down, bottom up, it caught the
ankle of the manager and wedged it fast against a
rock. In releasing him, and hauling the boat into
position, we all got wet ; but this did not dampen our
spirits. Pieces of board were nailed on with nails
extracted from fragments of a wreck, pants and shirts
were torn up and calked into the seams, together with

IS

226 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

such moss as we could find, and then we launched the
boat again, with four men at the oars and two men
bailing, and started.

We had not gone a gun-shot from shore before the
water was up to the thwarts, and the boat fast sink-
ing. The seas met and howled, running up to the
rocks in huge, white-crested breakers, and it became
evident that we could not possibly survive the passage
across. Reluctantly, our captain gave the order to
go back ; we reached the little beach just as the water
touched the rail, jumped out and waded ashore. Some
sharks, whose triangular fins we could see cutting the
water outside the rocks, were evidently disappointed,
and manifested their disapprobation by darting in close
to the boat, much alarming the negroes.

All hope of escape by n>eans of the boat was
abandoned, and we turned our attention to the pros-
pect of obtaining help from our friends on the other
island. A portion of a sail was attached to an oar
and held aloft on a high point, as a signal of distress.
It was nearly dark by this time and the hour for dinner,
for the preparation of which Mr. C.'s cook had been
all day busy. We turned to our stores and discovered
nothing but the chicken-bones and a tin of sardines.
There was not a drink of water apiece, and we re-
verted regretfully to those bottles we had emptied so
lavishly a few hours before.

Darkness inclosed us, and we- sought a couch on
the bank ; my game-basket served me for a pillow, as
it had often done before, and a heap of grass for a
bed. Fortunately the night was warm and dewless,
and had it not been' for the groans of Frazer, whose
ankle was badly crushed, we should have slept

A MISADVENTURE. 227

soundly ; as it was, we lay awake most of the time
and counted the stars.

Very late in the evening we were aroused by a
shouting, and became aware that our friends had
sought us. They had all embarked on the drogher,
after becoming satisfied that some accident had be-
fallen us, and, after anchoring off our island, had sent
a boat to seek for us. The night was pitchy dark,
and the heavy seas clashed so fearfully that to attempt
a landing would have been certain disaster; so we
warned our friends back, to wait for us till morning.

Our voices seemed drowned in the roar of the
breakers, but the regular click of the oars, growing
fainter and fainter, told us that we had been heard.
Frazer told us, between his moanings, that sometimes
it is impossible to land for weeks, just about this
season of the 3'ear, and we fell to calculating upon
the chances of subsisting upon iguanas and wild
goats for a few days,' notwithstanding the proximity
of our friends. On the morrow, however, we safely
embarked, though hungry, weary, and exceeding
thirsty. Our more fortunate companions had indeed
devoured the dinner, while we were fasting on that
desert rock, but there yet remained sufficient to stay
our needs ; and they coaxed us with toddies and
punches and brisk champagne, until we forgot our
trials and remembered only our triumphs.

Ever memorable will be that nigfht on the beach —
the second time in a twelvemonth I had fallen a
victim to Neptune's rage — as that in which I for the
first time saw the Southern Cross. As the nicjht
waned, and the cross assumed an upright position
upon the horizon, there came to mind that passage

228 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

from one of the saddest of romances, in which the old
servant warns Paul and Virginia of the approach of
midnight, as indicated by the position of the cross.*
That glorious constellation, watched by the hapless
lovers in the far-off Mauritius, I saw gleaming above
the Caribbean Sea, north of and nearer the equator,
as I lay upon the beach. By a rare coincidence, it
hung in the sky above a cathedral-shaped rock known
to the natives as Church Island.

* " /// est tard, il est minuit ; la Croix du Sud est droite sur
Phorizon." — Paul et Virginie.

ON A SUGAR ESTATE. 229

CHAPTER XIV.

A MONTH ON A SUGAR ESTATE.

OUT OF THE FOREST. — INTO A SICK-BED. — MY GOOD ANGEL. —
CONVALESCENCE. — RUTLAND VALE. — THE HAPPY VALLEY. —
NOCTURNAL NEIGHBORS. — THE LABOR QUESTION. — A PLANT-
ER'S TRIALS. — COOLIE IMMIGRATION. — THE NEGRO, RETURN-
ING TO SAVAGERY. — A SELF-APPOINTED PHYSICIAN. — GOV-
ERNMENT HOUSE. — TREES OF THE TROPICS. — BREAD-FRUIT
AND COCOA-PALM. — FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH BREAD-FRUIT.
— ITS APPEARANCE. — TASTE. — HISTORY OF ITS INTRODUC-
TION. — ABUNDANCE IN ST. VINCENT. — THE PALMS, THEIR
GREAT BEAUTY AND UTILITY. — COCOA-PALM, PALMISTE, GROO-
GROO AND GRIS-GRIS, ARECA AND MOUNTAIN PALMS. — THE
VINE WITH PERFORATED LEAVES. — THE INDIAN MAIDEN.

ON the morning of the twentieth of December I
cantered into town from Carib Countiy ; at
night I la}' stretched out with fever, having galloped,
as it were, from the woods to my bed. For ten days
I had been suffering from the effects of a severe cold,
caught in the cave on the volcano. In two weeks
there remained but a wretched apology of my former
self, and the doctor ordered that I remove what little
there was left of me to the country as soon as I could
walk, or mount a horse.

The days passed wearily. I had exhausted all the
resources of the room ; had watched my favorite
lizard as he caught flies on the window-pane, and

230 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the great, naked-limbed spider, that every morning
caught a cockroach and dragged it to my head-
board, where he spent the rest of the day in absorb-
ing its juices. The question of convalescence seemed
a doubtful one, until, one day, I was startled by the
sound of a cheery voice, and my good angel burst
into the room like a mountain breeze.

"What ! down with fever? This won't do; can't
get well here ; must go down to my estate." And he
literally dragged me forth, assisted me to dress, packed
up some clothes and my gun-case, and carried me on
board the little steamer at the landing. At his beach
a horse was waiting, and he placed me in the saddle
and led the way on his own bay mare. Clinging to
the saddle, I rode slowly up the cane-covered slopes
to the house, perched on a spur commanding the
valley, surrounded by bread-fruit and almond trees.
There I was taken in charge by my friend's good wife,
and established at the house until fully recovered.

" Rutland Vale," to which my friend had carried
me, is a long, narrow valley, extending from the
Caribbean Sea to the mountains, nearly two miles.
The estate occupies the whole of this valley, and is
the best cultivated of any on the Leeward coast,
being, in the season at which I visited it, one waving
mass of cane, filling the valley and covering the 'oil-
lowy ridges.

The memory of ihose sunny days, in which my
strength came back to me, is the pleasantest, the
brightest, of the many delightful reminiscences of
that lovely island. My good host, James Milne, a
native of BamfT, in Scotland (celebrated as the home
of Tam Edward, the "Scottish naturahst"), had

ON A SUGAR ESTATE. 231

resided on this estate, as manager, for twenty years.
In all that time he had been sick but once, though
exposed to the morning mists and mid-day sun, and,
in the season of crops, sometimes engaged in the mill-
house whole nights at a time, without rest. Sur-
rounded by a large family of healthy children, who
enjoyed without stint the blessings of the delightful
climate, my friend reposed in this valley with his flocks
and herds in almost patriarchal simplicity. He was a
man of educated tastes, and had gathered about him
a large and well-selected library, which proved a
blessing in the heat of the day, when it was not pos-
sible to stir out of doors.

At that season, January, the sun sinks behind the
low ridge that barely hides the sea before six o'clock.
Hardly has it given its last wink, and left the valley
in cool shade, when the bats come out in large num-
bers, taking the place of the swifts of the day-time,
who, morning and evening, and after every shower,
are skimming the cane-fields and circling swiftly
about the trees and buildings. Thus the aerial in-
sect world is left without rest from incessant pursuit ;
scarcely has one class of enemies departed than an-
other comes forward, waging a nocturnal and diurnal
warfare that must be very destructive, when carried
on with so much vigor and by so many foes.

One evening my attention was called to some bats,
or birds, which appeared only when every trace of
twilight had faded, and circled rapidly around an
almond tree, either after insects or nuts. After one
or two turns, perhaps poising themselves on a twig
a few seconds, they would dart off, returning in ten
minutes or so to make their circuits about the tree.

232 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

They increased in number and frequency of visits as
darkness deepened. After waiting several evenings
on the veranda, I secured a quick shot at one, just as
it hovered above the top of the tree. Long had I
waited ; the wind had died away, leaving the trees
rigid as stone, every leaf motionless ; the depths
among the leaves were impenetrable, but against the
sky I could discern a dark object. Directly I had
fired, down dropped a large, dark body ; but though
we searched a long time with a lantern we could not
find it in the long guinea-grass ; and the hogs had
been through the place in the morning long before I
was up. Three months later I obtained the same
animals in Tobago, and found that they were frugiv-
orous bats ; in the latter island they were robbing a
spadillo tree of its soft fruit.

With a bread-fruit and a strip of salt fish, the Ethi-
opian is happy, is contented ; so long as bread-fruits
grow and fishes swim the sea, so long will the labor
question remain a perplexing one to the planter. In
the time of slavery the planters of the West Indies set
out a great many bread-fruit trees, so that at the pres-
ent time they may be found wild in the forest. That
their introduction has been a questionable benefit to
the islands, nearly every one viewing the subject with
unprejudiced eye is inclined to believe. The negro
will not work while he can obtain his bread so easily.
He will endure hunger and inferior food in preference
to plenty and work.

To aid the planters in their difficulty, natives of the
East Indies were imported as laborers. These came
out indentured for a term of years, generally five, to
work at a stated price per day. The planter is obliged

ON A SUGAR ESTATE. 233

to provide a physician and to keep a large stock of
drugs constantly at hand. The Coolie is protected by
government to such an extent that the planter is really
the slave of the " laborer." Upon the slightest pre-
text the Coolie can call his manager before a magis-
trate. If he does not choose to work, he can remain
in his house on plea of sickness ; if the manager or
overseer uses fore* in trying to make the laborer per-
form his task, he is at once summoned before the
governor, imprisoned or fined. For a few years the
Coolies worked well ; they are sprightly intelligent
people ; and if the anti-slavery party, in power in
England, had not hedged the planters about with so
many restrictions, prosperity might have attended their
efforts, ruined estates might have been reclaimed, and
these fertile islands once more have blessed the world
with their products. But the result has shown how
a party of fanatics can pervert power that, used
judiciously, might have brought about a new era of
prosperity.

The Coolie, though naturally docile, was intelligent,
and saw his opportunity ; and the planter now is not
much better off than when he was wholly dependent
upon negro labor. Wages, to be sure, are ridiculously
low, though the profits of cane culture do not seem to
warrant the payment of much higher rates. Twenty
cents per day ; for women sixteen cents ; for children
four cents and six cents per day. Some male la-
borers, by extra work, can earn thirty-six cents, and
those who have " tasks " assigned them as a day's
work can finish by noon, and prefer lying idle the
rest of the day to increasing their wages.

Even upon this small pay the negroes live com-

234 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

fortably ; two cents per day, I have heard it stated,
will keep them in fish — the only article the poorest
of them buy. In the mountains they have their pro-
vision-grounds, where they cultivate yams, plantains,
sweet potatoes, cassava, and bananas, and to which
they devote every Saturday. Sunday, with them, is
a day of recreation. Thus the estates get from their
laborers but five half-worked days in a week. To the
staple article of salt fish there should be added another
which they purchase when impossible to be obtained
otherwise — the native rum of the island, which is
their stay and strength.

The Coolies are even more frugal than the negroes,
and soon acquire money enough to purchase goats and
cattle, which they pasture in some obscure corner of
the estate. Upon the expiration of their indentures,
they flock at once to the towns, where, like the
Portuguese, they set up small shops — proving in the
end rather a detriment to the island than a benefit.
Though by the terms of their contracts they are
obliged to work six days in the week, none of them
do, appropriating to themselves Saturday as a holiday.

The labor question does not fall within the scope of
this book, and I fear I have trenched upon ground I
should not ; but these remarks were suggested by see-
ing my friend of Rutland Vale trying to persuade his
own hired laborers to go into the field. Even after
himself and his overseer had led the refractory Indian
to the field and placed a hoe in his hand, he refused
to work. It is between such fires as these that the
planter is placed ; and it is time some champion of
their interests should appear, to place them in a proper
light before the world.

ON A SUGAR ESTATE. 235

From the delightful retreat at Rutland Vale I re-
turned to town recuperated, though still shaky and
very thin. My first visit was to the treasurer of the
island. "Bless my soul," said he, "you haven't any
blood ; it is blood you want. Come with me ; I'll show
you what you must do now, if you would build your-
self up." Saying which, he led me by the hand
to the sideboard, poured out a glass of ripe old
Madeira and handed it to me. "Isn't that going to
restore your vigor?" said he, as I set down the glass
with a sigh of satisfaction.

Then I was suddenly converted to that man's belief.
Since my first skirmish with doctors, many years
agone, I had never met a physician who prescribed
and administered so sensibly as this one.

I looked at the old man with admiration ; I thrilled
through with hope and the effects of the potent wine.
It was blood I wanted, was most urgently in need of,
and I waxed blood-thirsty ; not all the Indians on all
the plains could be fiercer for blood than I. My
physician smiled — a complacent smile; said he, "I
knew it, hit the nail on the head that time. Bless
your soul, take some more, you don't get such wine
every day ; bottled myself, imported direct ; take some
more blood ! " It danced along every vein, and every
pulse beat responsive gratulation.

"Now," continued my friend, "you can't get that
medicine anywhere else, at present; I have thought
of that, and as we are, I think, agreed as to its efficacy,
you must accept a few bottles, which I shall send down
by Thomas, to-morrow. You know the dose : a wine-
glassful every three hours, and oftener if you feel it
necessary."

236 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

A mile from Kingston, at the base of the hills, is
Government House, the residence of the lieutenant-
governor of St. Vincent. It is in the center of grounds
formerly used as a garden of acclimatization for tropi-
cal plants and trees not indigenous to the West Indies.
The garden was opened in 1763, but given up in 1828,
and many of the plants removed to Trinidad. Here
are still found the teak, mahogany, almond, screw-
pine, Malacca-apple, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon, pi-
mento and areca palm, a grove of palmistes, bread-
fruit, bread-nut and cannon-ball trees. The latter is
very interesting, growing to a great height, with large
bole and branches, along which grow twigs and shoots
so thickly that they resemble a vine entwining them ;
on these grow great flowers which look like the
sarracenias of northern climes ; stamens and pistils
are packed away inside half a dozen protecting petals.
The petals are of a delicate rose-color, recurved upon
themselves ; when the blossom bursts it looks as rough
as the bristling burr of a chestnut. The fruit is as
large as a six-pounder cannon-ball ; it is spherical,
russet brown in color, and very heavy. They are
continually growing and dropping ; and are of no
apparent use except to stir idle people into activity, by
falling on their heads — people who might otherwise
be tempted to recline beneath the tree.

Mango and cinnamon, introduced into Jamaica by
Lord Rodney, were sent here also ; nutmeg from
Cayenne, in 1809; clove from Martinique, in 1787,
where it was introduced from the East Indies. It was
thought that these species would become abundant and
profitable, but such seems not to have been the case.
The nutmeg has best repaid the efforts made for its

ON A SUGAR ESTATE.

237

introduction and pres-
ervation, and has
grown into trees of
great size, appearing
at a distance like well-
trimmed orange trees.
The male trees, in
February, were just
flowering, while the
female trees hung
thick with nuts re-
sembling our walnuts
before they burst their
husk. Some of these
nuts liad burst their
outer covering, dis-
closing the mace ly-
ing between the out-
er shell and an inner
one inclosing the nut,
of a rich vermilion
hue, and possessing

Cocoa Palm, Bread-fruit.

a warm, spicy taste. There are several nutmeg groves
throughout the island, though but little attention is
paid to their cultivation. The income from each
nutmeg tree in bearing is estimated at five dollars per
year — a pound sterling per season.

The clove did not prove so successful as the nut-
meg, though its cultivation is attended with little labor
and the profits sure. A very instructive account of
experiments in clove culture is that of a gentleman
in Dominica, who wrote in 1796. For several years
he persevered on his estate, Montpelier, in the hills

2-^8 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

"O

of Dominica. From the first two trees in bearing
he gatiiered seven pounds of cloves ; he then had,
six years after commencing to plant, fifteen hundred
growing trees. Probably, even if this attempt was
successful, nothing farther was ever done by the other
planters, so wrapped up were they in cane culture,
and cane only. Montpelier is to-day gone to decay,
difficult of access, with fields of waste land, and with-
out inliabitants. A tradition only remains of clove
and cinnamon-trees being found in the wild growth
that covers the abandoned fields.

A broad walk leads under the nutmeg-trees, from
a little stream beneath the teak and mahogany, to
Government House, the residence of the lieutenant-
governor, — a long, low building, surrounded by a
veranda, having in front a flower-garden in perpetual
blossom, such a garden as only this climate is capable
of producing, with a row of lovely areca palms, and
vines in profusion adorning pillars and balustrades.

We are constantly reminded of the East Indies and
the South Seas by the numerous trees brought from
those far-off regions. Not the least curious is the
screw-pine, growing to the height of a tree, and bear-
ing fruit that closely resembles the edible pine-apple.

In the society of the governor, George Dundas,
Esquire, C. M. G., I enjoyed many delightful hours.
Like many another cultivated Englishman and Scotch-
man, he was a zealous votary of Daguerre — an ex-
cellent amateur photographer. To wealthy English
amateurs, who have pursued the study of photography
as a pastime, that science ovves its greatest advance-
ment, especially in recent limes. In the "dry-plate"
process — the process of the future — they have made

BREAD-FRUIT AND COCOA-PALM. 239

the greatest number of, and most valuable, discov-
eries. Governor Dundas was an enthusiast, and ex-
hibited to me many pictures, taken by himself, of the
scenery of St. Vincent and Barbados.

Of the many trees which were introduced into the
West Indies none have proved so great a boon to
the laboring classes, and bane to the planter, as the
bread-fruit. It was at once a success, and from this
garden of acclimatization many hundred plants were
distributed over the island. The tree would attract
attention from the arrangement of its deeply-lobed
leaves ; but the great balls of fruit, varying from five
to eight inches in diameter, make it a conspicuous
object even amongst tropical vegetation. Inside the
shell, which when baked is hard, though thin, is a
thick flesh like that of a melon. Though I cannot
recall any substance that tastes exactly like it, it is
certainly very good, and so nutritious that the natives
of the islands in which it was discovered subsist upon
it almost solely the year through. It is their " daily
bread," indeed, and takes the place of the manufac-
tured article entirely. It more than fills that place,
for those who are dependent upon its bountiful har-
vests need scarcely any animal food. The people in
the favored country of its growth do not need to labor ;
a score of trees planted by each man wnll furnish a
supply of food for a lifetime, and he need concern
himself about nothing else than sleeping and eating.
In its fruitfulness it exceeds even the generous plan-
tain, upon which the natives of the tropics subsist
almost solely where the bread-fruit is not grown. It
dispenses entirely with the labor of the agriculturist,
the miller, the baker ; there need be no care for seed-

240 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

time or harvest ; there is no threshing, no grinding,
no kneading ; in fact, the islanders of the South Seas
have their bread ready prepared, and have only to
place it on the coals as they need it.

In its native islands the tree bears for about eight
months in the year. Toward the close of the fruitful
period the natives lay the fruit in heaps and cover it
with leaves, where it ferments ; the core attached to
the stem is then pulled out, and the fruit, placed in a
hole, changes from sweet to sour, after which it will
keep until another season of fruitage.

This allusion to the home of the bread-fi-uit very
naturally recalls" the story of its introduction into the
West Indies — a story romantic, and worthy of fre-
quent repetition. In 1797, in answer to a petition from
the planters of the West Indies, the armed transport,
the "Bounty," was fitted out for Otaheite, commanded
by Lieutenant Bligh, who had been around the world
with Cook. Her cabin was fitted with a false floor
cut full of holes, sufficient to receive one thousand
garden-pots. She was victualled for fifteen months,
and carried Vinkets for trade in the South Sea Islands.
After many difficulties, being obliged to abandon the
route intended and seek a new one. Lieutenant Bligh
reached Otaheite. A tent was erected on shore to
receive the trees, some thirty of which were potted
every day.

On the 4th of April, 1789, the " Bounty " set sail, with
one thousand roots in pots, tubs, and boxes. On the
27th broke out the mutiny which has become a matter
of history. Lieutenant Bligh, with eighteen others,
was placed in the launch, which was cut loose with
one hundred and fifty pounds of bread, twenty-eight

BREAD-FRUIT AND COCOA-PALM. 24I

gallons of water, a little rum and wine, a quadrant
and a compass. A few pieces of pork, some cocoa-
nuts, and four cutlasses, were thrown to them as they
were cast adrift. The nearest civilized land was the
Dutch colony of Timoor, distant three thousand five
hundred miles. This they reached in forty-one days,
after incredible hardships and the loss of one man ;
here they received hospitable treatment, and event-
ually reached England. Ten of the mutineers were
afterwards found and executed; the others removed
to another island, where most of them led dissolute
lives and miserably died. The history of Adams and
his companions has been told in missionary tales so
often that every one is familiar with its minutest de-
tails. After sailing to Pitcairn's Island, in the Bounty,
they burned her, extirpated the male inhabitants in
three years, and laid the foundation of a colony upon
which England looked with interest, even with favor.

At a subsequent period Lieutenant Bligh was fur-
nished with another vessel, in which he accomplished
the object for which he was sent, and the bread-fruit
was introduced into St. Vincent in 1793. In this
island it flourished in greater abundance than in any
other of the Caribbean chain, and aside from forming
small groves on many of the plantations, it has ex-
tended its range into the forest-borders, and may be
found in some of the deeper valleys in a wild state, a
companion of the " trumpet tree," which somewhat
resembles it in appearance.

There was a hollow, near my Carib cabin in St.

Vincent, between two high hills, the center deepening

to a gutter where generally ran a little brook. Up

the bed of this gutter I climbed one day, at noon, first

16

243

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

§

• ■r>,'J-i

*^/

--'.^ '^

■•%•■> * ^-

' ■^.*-

y^^C

vvtV:-

•••'vt'Vi'

^_> ;

■ij<<

■:4'-l''i

y^* '■

: v.VaK

'i-'

&>

r^->.^^-'

^/i^

?*a''.'

-.^5*.

*^

:i!

--K i.

i

- • ;? .•

•>^

''j. '

. C^'-

-,

♦ ••. A'-

■':J

pROO-pROO ^ALM.

past a clump of
- cacaos, shaded
b}^ tall trees, and
tlien past a group of
groo-groo and gris-gris
palms. These palms are
erect and straight, but
aside from their own
graceful beauty, they art;
enriched and encircled by
a clustering vine, throw- *
ing out a mass of large,
perforated leaves. This
vine climbs up the trunk
by clinging closely — r- a
slender thread of a vine,
which throws out, when
it has attained a certain
height, a cluster of leaves.
As there are numberless
climbers, and as each

BREAD-FRUIT AND COCOA-PALM. 243

sends out its leaves in a group, the tree is sometimes
inclosed in a pyramidal column from top to bottom,
most beautiful to see.

The groo-groo is most abundant on the coast and
plentifully besprinkles the woods of the hillsides ; it
can be seen anywhere in long ranks on the ridges,
and in clumps and groups by the roadside. It is not
as tall as either the cocoa or the palmiste, is stouter
than the mountain palm, and with a denser head
than either of them. Its leaves are curled laterally
from the mid-rib, and droop feathery and plume-like.
It covers all the hills and upper valleys along the sea-
coast, and seems to take the place the tree-fern oc-
cupies in similar localities in other islands.

All the palms are beautiful : the mighty palmiste,
towering to a height of one hundred and fifty feet,
with its column-like trunk and spreading head of long
leaves, is unsurpassed in grandeur. The cocoa palm,
perhaps, is the most picturesque, as its stem is so
slender, and its loose leaves droop so gracefully, wav-
ing with every breeze, ever and anon disclosing its
wealth of fruit. Nothing can be more picturesque
than a cocoa bendmg above a thatched hut ; than a
group of cocoas on the bank of a stream reflecting
back their beauty. If utility were considered, then
certainly the cocoa would bear away the falm^ as it
assuredly is the palm of this tropic zone. The moun-
tain palm, found only in the high woods and on
elevated ridges, has a slenderer stem, and its long
leaves give it a resemblance to the cocoa. The
areca palm, the seeds of which are used with the
famous betel nut, with small straight stem and a
single tuft of plumes, is a very ornamental tree. No

244 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

matter which species of palm I look upon, I am
tempted to say, this is the most beautiful !

But to return to the groo-groo and gris-gris. The
former rises straight up, with a gray trunk, scarred
all the way up with little circles left by former
leaves, fusiform, swelling out in the middle like the
main-boom of a ship, supporting a solid head of leaves,
which are curled like the heated feathers of an ostrich
plume, and form a dense ball almost circular in shape.
At the base of these leaves springs out a branching
stem covered with the seeds which, when ripe, are
black, like small grape-shot, and sheltered by a
spathe shaped like a shield. Both trunk and leaf-
stalks are covered, especially in young trees, with
black spines ; which detract from its beauty some-
what in the estimation of one who has stepped upon
them. The seeds are made into a variety of chate-
laine ornaments, as they are black and hollow, and
take a fine polish. The wood is black as ebony, and
is also susceptible of a high degree of polish.

Scarcely had these observations on the palms been
written down when my retreat was invaded by a
buxom Indian girl of fourteen or fifteen, carrying a
cutlass. She stood by the stream for some time,
wondering, perhaps, what " buckra " was doing there :
comely features, black braids of hair, shapely limbs,
short and ragged dress. She was even more pictu-
resque than all the palms. And if there could be a
more attractive picture, it was when she returned, an
hour later, bearing on her head an immense bunch of
plantains, and stood poised upon a rock, where she
lingered for some time gazing at her image in the
stream.

GRENADA AND THE GRENADINES. 245

CHAPTER XV.

GRENADA AND THE GRENADINES.

BEQUIA. — CONTENTED ISLANDERS. — THE " BEQUIA SWEET." —
CARIB ANECDOTE. — UNION ISLAND. — CANOUAN. — AN ENER-
GETIC PATRIARCH. — CARIACOU. — ON THE ANCIENT CONTI-
GUITY OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. — THE LOST ATLANTIS. —
" WHAT IF THESE REEFS WERE HER MONUMENT ?" — A GLANCE
AT THE MAP. — AN ISOLATED GEOGRAPHICAL AND ZOOLOGI-
CAL PROVINCE. — GRENADA. — ST. GEORGE'S. — MORE CRA-
TERS.— THE CARENAGE. — THE FORTS. — THE LAGOON. — THE
" EURVDICE." — IGUANAS. — THEIR HABITS. — IGUANA-SHOOT-
ING. — OYSTERS GROWING ON TREES. — COLUMBUS AND HIS
PEARLS. — LIZARDS. — A MISSIONARY'S GRIEF. — FOOD OF THE
IGUANA. — THE MANGROVE. — CACAO. — ITS DISCOVERY. — PRES-
ENT RANGE. — ITS CULTIVATION. — CACAO RIVER. — COCOA AND
CACAO. — THE TREE. — THE FRUIT. — THE FLOWER. — IDLE NE-
GROES. — CHOCOLATE. — FOREST RATS. — MONKEYS. — THEIR
DEPREDATIONS. — AN INSULT.

THE GRENADINES, a great number of iskts
forming a connecting chain between the islands
of St. Vincent and Grenada, extend over a degree of
latitude. They are small and low-lying, many of them
being merely rocks protruding from the water, with-
out rivers, little cultivated, with no communication
with the larger islands except by small boats, and
yet some of them densely populated. The largest of
these is Bequia, nearest to St. Vincent, which is six
miles in length and above a mile in breadth, with

246 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

a range of hills eiglit hundred feet in height. The
character of soil and people of every island of the
Grenadines may be summed up in the following para-
graph from the "West India Pilot" :

"Bequia has no running streams, and there is no
watering-place. There are some wells at the head
of the bay, but the water is not very good. Wood is
plentiful, and maybe obtained by permission from the
owners, but it is doubtful if the natives would cut it.
Poultry may be had occasionally in small quantities,
and sometimes fish, but vegetables never."

The people are apathetic. The sea yields them
sufficient for the day ; of cotton and sugar their lands
produce sufficient to supply tliem with commodities
not obtainable from the sea. The contrast between
these silent, sleepy islands, whose people are content
to exist and will not work, and an island like Bar-
bados, where the negroes all must work or starve,
and where they harass a visitor nearly to the verge
of insanity, is refreshing. Some of the islets, like
Balliceaux and Battowia, are owned by single indi-
viduals, or firms, who raise there cattle and sheep ;
all are well stocked with wild doves, plover and ducks
in their season, and their rocky shores are surrounded
by myriads of sea-fowl.

In Bequia, and extending throughout the chain,
is a blackbird — a new species named the ^uiscalus
luminosus — which makes the air resound with its
joyous cry : " Bequia sweet, sweet, Bequia sweet."
The Caribs told me of this bird several months be-
fore I obtained it, as its peculiar cry had caused it to
be marked by them. They had preserved a touching
story of its connection with Carib captivity, when the

GRKNADA AND THE GRENADINES. 247

Indians were confined in the small island of Balli-
ceaux.

The island in which they were prisoners was low
and dry, without a tree large enough to shelter them
from the sun ; a few miles distant, full in sight, was
the island of Bequia, six times theirs in size, with high
hills covered with green forests. To them it was as
Paradise ; they longed for its breezy hills, sighed for
the cool shade of its trees, but sighed in vain. De-
prived of their canoes, of houses, of material for con-
structing more than slight shelter, these poor people
lay gasping beneath a tropic sun, gazing at the misty
mountains of their native island and the green slopes
of Bequia, without a possibility of reaching either.
All about them the blackbirds sang praises of the dis-
tant island : " Bequia sweet, sweet, Bequia sweet."
Though St. Vincent is but ten miles distant, the black-
bird is never seen there, affording but one of many
peculiarities in the distribution of animals throughout
these islands.

The natives of the Grenadines display a love for
their islands not easily understood by a resident of
more fertile and more attractive lands. I can under-
stand this, but can hardly explain it. There is a feel-
ing born of the isolation, of the very barrenness of the
land, of the loneliness of an island, that attracts one
to it, especially if one there had his birth and passed
his earlier years.

We steamed out of Kingston Bay and dow^n along
the lovely Grenadines. Their appearance is that of
a nearly submerged line of mountains. Sometimes a
whole ridge is exposed ; again, a conical peak or
a mound of green just appears above the water.

248 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBBBS.

Union Island and Cariacou, seemingly near together,
with a few water-surrounded peaks between them,
are whole chines of ridges. The latter has a well-
cultivated appearance, and on some hillsides are
houses thickly clustering. Grenada appears a cloud-
line when we are off Union Island, and gradually
emerges from the haze as we draw nearer, purple in
hue, of course, long, but not so high as St. Vincent
and the islands north. Canouan, half-way down the
Grenadines, appears small and dry, but the white
houses gleaming from a hill-top give it a cheerful
look. Canouan is principally inhabited by one fam-
ily, the descendants of one man, who has success-
fully emulated the patriarchs of old in the extent of
his family, if not in his domain.

Many years ago — I don't know just how many —
he came to Canouan, bringing slaves, it is said by
some, finding there a colony of blacks, it is said
by others. At all events, he set himself up as a
patriarch, and commenced a church. So successful
was this good man, whose name was Snagg, so suc-
cessful were his efforts in ameliorating the color and
condition of those around him, that the entire chain
has felt his influence. This zealous missionary had
a brother, an English baronet; and it is related by
those who cruise the Grenadines, that one cannot visit
any isle in this archipelago without encountering some
brown-skinned descendant of the missionary, who
boasts offensively of "my uncle. Sir William Snagg."

Union Island is black and gloomy from the east,
as we coast along, indicating a virgin vegetation and
little cultivation. Its sharp, serrated outline, remind-
ing one of a line of snow-drifts after a heavy mid-

GRENADA AND THE GRENADINES. 249

winter storm when a fierce wind has swept along,
leaving them combed or sharply cut, suggests either
immense denuding, eroding floods, or upheaval.

Were these islands once connected with the main
land of either continent? How often this question
arises in one's mind as he gazes on these mountains
peering above the sea ! Did they, in the language
oP Humboldt, "belong to the Southern continent, and
form a part of its littoral chain," or have they been
upheaved from the depths of the sea? The great
naturalist thus refers to these islands and the various
theories regarding their origin : " The supposition of
an oceanic irruption has been the source of two other
hypotheses on the origin of the smaller West India
islands. Some geologists admit that the uninterrupted
chain of islands from Trinidad to Florida exhibits the
remains of an ancient chain of mountains. They con-
nect this chain sometimes with the granite of French
Guiana, sometimes with the calcareous mountains of
Paria. Others, struck with the difference of geo-
logical constitution between the primitive mountains
of the Greater and the volcanic cones of the Lesser
Antilles, consider the latter as having risen from the
bottom of the sea. In opposing the objections of some
celebrated naturalists, I am far from maintaining the
ancient contiguity of all these smaller West India
islands. I am rather inclined to consider them as
islands heaved up by fire, and ranged in that regular
line of which we find striking examples in so many
volcanic hills in Mexico and in Peru. The geological
constitution of the archipelago appears, from the little
we know respecting it, to be very similar to that of
the Azores and the Canary Islands. Primitive forma-

250 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

tions are nowhere seen above ground ; we find only
what belongs unquestionably to volcanoes.''

We would fain connect these mountain-peaks with
a submerged continent, a continent that extended over
the vast space now occupied by the Caribbean Sea,
and into the Atlantic far over toward the coast of
Africa. We are ready to believe that the "lost At-
lantis" of the ancients is not a myth, that it is not a
"fabled island," but had a real existence, and that the
land discovered by those Tyrian navigators who sailed
beyond the Pillars of Hercules and were driven by a
storm many days westward, was part of a continent
now beneath the waves — the eastern shore of a region
which these mountains once traversed ; for —

"Who knows the spot where Atlantis sank?
Myths of a lovely drowned continent
Homeless drift over waters blank ;
What if these reefs were her monument ?
Isthmus and cavernous cape may be
Her mountain summits escaped from the sea."

The early geological history of the area occupied
by the Caribbean Sea, its coasts and its islands, has
excited the attention of many eminent scientific men,
and much light has been afibrded by the study of the
land and marine faunas and of the geological forma-
tion of the islands and adjacent coasts. The con-
clusions reached by the later scientists are, that the
West Indian islands present the remains of a sunken
continent. Says that eminent naturalist, Wallace :
"The West Indian islands have been long isolated
and have varied much in extent. Originally, they
probably formed part of Central America, and may
have been united with Yucatan and Honduras in one

GRENADA AND THE GRENADINES. 25 1

extensive tropical land." These remarks apply to the
Greater Antilles, probably, and do not preclude Hum-
boldt's hypothesis that the Lesser Antilles are islands
" heaved up by fire."

At a meeting of the National Academy, held in
Washington, in April, 1879, Professor Agassiz read a
report of his dredging operations during the previous
winter, expressing the opinion that he had brought to
light the outlines of old continents, of which the islands
enclosing the Caribbean Sea are the remnants. Mr.
Bland, of New York, the well-known conchologist,
who has especially studied the land-shell distribution
of the West Indies for many years, adds his testimony
as to the continental character of the faunas of the dif-
ferent West Indian islands.

And these few general remarks upon the Lesser
Antilles as a whole lead me to call the reader's atten-
tion to their regularity of position, as shown upon the
map. It will be seen that the distance between any
two adjacent islands lying between St. Vincent and
Barbuda, is about thirty miles : from Barbuda to
Antigua, from Antigua to Montserrat, Montserrat to
Guadeloupe, from the latter to Dominica, from Do-
minica to Martinique, Martinique to St. Lucia, St.
Lucia to St. Vincent. A sixty-mile circuit, with
Grenada as a center, touches St. Vincent, Tobago,
and Trinidad, and includes all of the Grenadines.

The almost semicircular line they describe cannot
but be noticed ; nor will it fail to be suggested to the
most casual observer that, if not vestiges of a con-
tinent, these islands once formed a continuous barrier
between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean ;
though facts may prove the contrary. I may also

252 CAaiPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

remark, in passing, that the avi-fauna, the bird-life, of
this cluster of islands is as distinct and isolated from
that of Tobago, Trinidad, and South America, as is
the geographical position of the group.

Grenada is the southernmost of these volcanic islands
and terminates in latitude twelve, north, the Caribbee
chain. It is a little over eighteen miles in length and
seven in breadth, and is very rugged, the interior of
the island being one mountain ridge with its offsets,
and there is a lesser comparative area of fertile land
than in St. Vincent. The mountains are volcanic;
there are several extinct craters, in the largest of
which there is an attractive lake two and one-half
miles in circumference, two thousand feet above the
sea.

St. George's, the only port of any size, lies on the
south-western coast, its walled fort, St. George, oc-
cupying a bold promontory comm.anding the town,
along and over the ridge of which it is built. With
its deep, fissure-like harbor, its sandy "carenage,"
its white-walled houses of stone, its encircling,
baltlemented hills seven hundred feet in height, St.
George's, harbor and town, is highly picturesque.

We reached the harbor at night, but our captain
dared not enter, and stood off and on till morning.
The sky was ablaze with stars, and the Southern Cross
appeared when the clouds passed. Two planets glowed
in the sky till sunrise, streaming fire from out the
murky clouds and casting bright reflections on the
water.

The harbor of St. George's seems to have been
formed by volcanic forces, as it is hardly more than a
narrow fissure, and the hundred-fathom line of sound-

IGUANAS AND LIZARDS.

253

Saint George's

ings is only a little over a mile from the fort. Veins
of deep water extend in from the sea, on both sides of
which the water is quite shallow.

Making out from the harbor proper is a bay or
lagoon, about a mile in depth, where are sandy
beaches bordered b}' mangrove swamps. Behind this
bay, ascending the hills, is the estate of Belmont,
where resided a gentleman to whom I had letters of
introduction. Chief Justice Gresham, who, like the
good governor of St. Vincent, was an amateur photog-
rapher of great ability. Very naturally, I gravitated
toward Belmont soon after landing, and passed a
pleasant week on and about the estate. Among some
excellent photographs which his Honor gave me, was

254 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

one of the unfortunate "Eury dice, "taken by the judge
as she lay under the walls of Fort St. George, just
prior to her departure for England on the voyage that
had such a terrible ending.

Skirting the belt of mangroves bordering the lagoon,
one morning in March, I anxiously searched the in-
tertwined branches for iguanas. Grenada is celebrated
as being the home of great numbers of these reptiles,
which may often be found basking on old walls within
the limits of the town. My boatman was a negro, who,
accustomed to the appearance of the iguana in the
trees, discovered one long before I could distinguish
the difference between green reptile and green leaves.
Even after it had been pointed out, I had difficulty in
recognizing it, so nearly did its colors harmonize with
those of the tree in which it was feeding.

It lay quite still, stretched flat upon a branch, its tail
hanging down like that of a snake. Though it was
evidently suspicious of our intentions, its quiet was
not due to that alone, for it is naturally a sluggish
animal. Yet, when once thoroughly aroused, it will
dash over the ground at great speed. I fired, yet it
still clung tenaciously to the bough, and a second shot
did not kill it, for it would have escaped had not my
boatman pinned it with an oar, after it had fallen into
the mud. From one that we captured that morning,
the man with me procured a dozen large, white eggs,
which he saved to eat.

As we rowed along, the breaking of overhanging
branches was accompanied by the crackling of shells,
as the oysters, clinging to the roots and branches,
closed their shells at the disturbance. Some of these
oysters were more than a foot above water, where they

IGUANAS AND LIZARDS. 255

had been left by the tide. The sight of them, hanging
there with gaping mouths, brought to mind the cruise
of Columbus in the bay of Paria, only one hundred
miles south of this island of Grenada. He was in
search of pearls, and " he had read in Pliny, that pearls
were generated from drops of dew which fell into the
mouths of oysters. There were great numbers of
mangroves growing within the water, with oysters
clinging to their branches, their mouths open — as he
supposed — to receive the dew which was afterwards
to be transformed into pearls."

The order Sauria, the lizard order, is well repre-
sented in the West Indies, though in none of the
smaller islands between Porto Rico and Trinidad is
to be found that greatest of the saiii'ians, the alligator.
The Indians of Dominica, to whom I described the
alligator, were greatly amazed to hear of a "lizard"
twelve feet in length, as they had never seen one
larger than the iguana, which seldom attains a greater
length than five feet, and is as mild in disposition as
the alligator is sanguinary. The islands, especially
the shores, are teeming with lizards of every color,
of every variety of marking, and of all sizes.

Especially do they love the cliffs, and if 3'ou are
walking through the bushes at the base of any sunny
precipice, or over any rocky tract, you will be startled
by the frequent dashes made by these reptiles across
your path. In a country where you must keep every
sense on the alert, to guard against sudden surprise
by serpents or poisonous insects, it is very annoying,
often startling, to be so frequently disturbed by these
active creatures. In the mountains are fewer species,
and they are more sluggish, but in the warm lowlands

256 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

you must be very active to capture one. The little
negro and Indian boys are very expert at it and catch
them by means of slip-nooses of grass, attached to the
ends of slicks, which they pass over the heads of the
lizards as they lie asleep in the sun. They are not
poisonous, though repulsive to many, and though
some of them will bite severely, they do not inflict
dantjerous wounds.

There are many hideous forms, especially among
those of South America, like the Basilisk and the
Flying Dragon ; but in the West Indies there is none
of more hideous appearance than the iguana. Never
was more harmless creature invested with more fright-
ful aspect. Clothed with scales, like the alligator,
but finer and more flexible, with a long, slender and
powerful tail, a gular pouch, hanging like a dew-lap
beneath its throat, and having along its back from
head to tail a crest of spines, it would not be attractive
were it not for its beautiful colors of varying green and
yellow, and its brightly glancing eye. In the islands
where it exists it is eagerly sought as food, and its
flesh is palatable and delicate, as I can testify from
experience, being white, tender, and nutritious.

The good father Pere Labat (worthy missionary
and boil vivant withal) compares fricasseed guana to
chicken for the whiteness of its flesh and delicacy of
its flavor. He gives a delightful account of catching
one, two hundred years ago :

" We were attended by a negro who carried a long
rod, at one end of which was a piece of whip-cord
with a running knot. After beating about the bushes
for some time, the negro discovered our game basking
in the sun on the dry limb of a tree. Hereupon he

IGUANAS AND LIZARDS. 257

began whistling with all his might, to which the
guana was wonderfully attentive, stretching out his
neck and turning his head as if to enjoy it more fully.
The negro now approached, still whistling, and ad-
vancing his rod gently, began tickling with the end
of it the sides and throat of the guana, who seemed
mightily pleased with the operation, for he turned on
his back and stretched himself out like a cat before
the fire, and at length fell asleep, which the negro
perceiving, dexterously slipped the noose over his
head, and with a jerk brought him to the ground.
And good sport it afforded, to see the creature swell
like a turkey-cock at finding himself entrapped. We
caught more in the same way, and kept one alive
seven or eight days ; but it grieved me to the heart to
find that he thereby lost much delicious fat."

The iguana eats only vegetable food, and passes
most of its time in the trees, though it has holes to
which it can retire. The mangrove is its favorite
resort, and many have I seen lying along the branches
feeding upon the leaves. This tree, though not ma-
jestic, nor really beautiful, is extremely interesting
from the aerial character of its roots. Growing on
the border of the ocean, so near that the waves lap
against its stem, and in salt-water lagoons, where the
water is shallow and the mud very deep, it sends
forth numberless roots from above the water, which
strike out in all directions, and finally seem to lift it
up as though upon a trestle-work. It is thus a curious
sight ; and as these mangroves grow in masses, their
roots form an intricate and impenetrable network, be-
neath which all sorts of marine and sea-side shell-fish
and vegetation abound.

17

258 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Though cacao grows in all the islands of the Carib-
bean Sea, I found it most abundant in Grenada, where
it shares with sugar exclusive cultivation, finding a
soil and climate most suitable for its perfect growth.
This plant was discovered in Mexico by the Span-
iards, who invaded that country in 15 19; we read, in
the " True History of the Conquest of Mexico," by
Captain Bernal Diaz, " one of the conquerors," that
fruit of all the kinds the country produced was laid
before Montezuma ; " he eat very little, but from time
to time a liquor prepared from cocoa, and of a stimu-
lative or corroborative quality, as we were told, was
presented to him in golden cups. We could not at
that time see if he drank it or not, but I observed a
number of jars, above fifty, brought in filled with
foaminjj chocolate."

Its adoption and introduction was rapid, and now it
flourishes nearly all over the tropical world, and in the
Lesser Antilles and along the northern coast of South
America it grows in perfection.

Much confusion exists regarding the names of two
totally distinct vegetable productions : the cocoa, the
palm which bears the nut, and the cacao, from which
chocolate is made — words so nearly alike that even
great men have used them interchangeably, much
to the bewilderment of the student of tropical flora.
The cocoa palm is the Cocas nucrfcra, and by some
the generic name of cocos has been abbreviated into
coco, which is the French and Spanish name also.
Grand old Linnajus gave to the cacao the beautiful
name, Thcobrorna — food for gods — and Thcobroma
cacao is the name by which it is known to botanists.

Unlike the towering cocoa, with smooth shaft.

CACAO. 259

crowned with waving branches, a notable object in
surrounding vegetation, the cacao seldom reaches a
height of over thirty feet, and would be passed by
without notice, were it not for its peculiar fruit. It
flourishes only in damp valleys, on the sides of shady
hills, and embosomed among mountain forests, where
the surrounding scenery is eminently interesting.

So little care does it need, and growing, as it does,
in soil so rocky that it will produce nothing else,
nearly every negro in the island has a few trees
around his hut, which yield him sufficient for his
simple wants. I found this to operate greatly to my
disadvantage, where, among the mountams, all lug-
gage must be transported on the heads of the people,
as I could get po one to carry my camping equip-
ments. By the aid of a half crazy mulatto, named
Maunie, I was able to reach a valley on the eastern
side of the mountain range ; but once there he left
me, and for several days I was obliged to remain
among the cacao groves, unable to return. My stay
was made delightful by the attentions of the physician
of the district, Doctor Lang, and the parish priest,
Canon Bond, both genial and cultivated gentlemen.
Through the valley ran the largest river in the
island, Cacao River, which in the rainy season over-
flowed its banks and committed great havoc among
the trees of the cacaotiere, or cacao grove. The trees
grow to the height of twenty feet, some to thirty,
with a leaf something like that of the chestnut. The
tops of the trees are intergrown, forming dense shade,
beneath which, among the smooth stems, one can
walk in comfort even at noon. Dead and fallen
leaves strew the ground thickly, even as the chestnut

26o CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

leaves in autumn, and all around are little heaps of
opened pods, from which the pulp has been taken and
the seeds extracted.

The tree is about as long in attaining its growth as
the orange tree ; it may produce in the third year
from tiie seed, but does not reach its full bearing
period until at the age of seven or eight. It is a
tender plant during the first stages of its growth, and,
like the coffee, must be shaded by some broad-leaved
plant like the plantain or banana, which, of quicker
growth, are set out near the seed at time of planting.
Heat and moisture are indispensable to its existence,
but one without the other proves fatal to its growth.

We may consider it as a blessing or a curse to the
islands, according to the light in which we view it.
As the bread-fruit is reckoned by the planters as a
curse, because it enables the negro to live without
work, and deprives the plantations of his labor, so the
cacao, by giving its cultivators a certain income with-
out toil, after the first few years of its growth, induces
the production of an idle, and consequently insolent,
population. Once started in life with an acre or so of
cacao trees, the negro asks for nothing more, his wife
and children gather the harvest, and he enjoys an
idle existence as only a negro knows how.

The fruit of the cacao resembles somewhat an
overripe cucumber about six inches in length, oval
and pointed. Many of the pods grow right out of
the trunk of the tree, hanging by short stems, and
remind one of tailless rats. They are beautifully
colored, varying according to the specimen and the
progress towards maturity ; some are green, some
yellow, crimson or purple, some variegated by veins

CACAO. 261

of different colors. Each pod is divided into five
longitudinal cells, containing a sweetish, agreeable
pulp, in which are enveloped the seeds, from twenty
to thirty in number, a white, pulpy substance in a thin
shell. When the fruit is mature it is gathered, and
the seeds removed and dried ; sometimes they are
buried in sand or dry earth for the purpose of absorb-
ing the moisture and pulp adhering to them.

Great care is necessary in curing them, as they
mold easily, and the planters generally provide large
platforms on wheels, upon which the seeds are spread,
which they run out from under a shelter, on sunshiny
days, and keep an old negro on the watch for rain.
When perfectly dry, the seeds are put in bags for ship-
ment to England. The native method of preparing
chocolate from the seeds, is to roast them, and grind
finely on a warm, smooth stone. When well kneaded
it forms a tenacious paste, which, with the addition of
a little sugar, is made into small rolls, or sticks. This,
in its pure state, is made into a delightful drink ; but,
as prepared in places foreign to the country of its pro-
duction, is largely adulterated. It is generally flavored
with vanilla, or some other agreeable extract, this
being the favorite.

Happy and contented as the negro may be in his
wealth of cacao treeSr he is sometimes enraged at the
depredations committed by the forest quadrupeds, for
the rats, not content with the succulent sugar cane,
eagerly seek out the sweet pulp of the cacao. Where
monkeys are abundant, as in Grenada, they commit
great havoc, not only gnawing holes in the pods as
they hang on the trees, but carrying awa}' all they

262 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

can hold in their arms. In one of my monkey-hunting
excursions I stopped at the house of a very agreeable
planter, in the mountains. He declared that one year
the monkeys nearly destroyed his crop ; and not only
ate the cacao seeds, but brought the empty pods and
placed them on his doorstep, thus adding insult to
injury.

A MONKEY HUNT 'IN THE MOUNTAINS. 263

CHAPTER XVI.

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS.

ZONES OF VEGETATIOX. — NAKED NEGROES. — THE ROAD TO
THE MOUNTAINS. — THE GRAND ETANG. — QUADRUPEDS OP
THE LESSER ANTILLES, EXTINCT AND LIVING. — -THE ALCO. —
PECCARY. — AGOUTI. — M ANACOU. — ARMADILLO. — • RACCOON. — •
A VISIT TO THE " TATOUAY TRAPS." — THE FOREST SURROUND-
ING THE MOUNTAIN LAKE. — '• IIAGINAMAH " : IS IT A CARIB
WORD? — "IIOG-IN-ARMOR," NOT A CARIIJ WORD. — "LE MORNE
DES SAUTEURS." — THE PLANTAIN SWAMP. — SIGNS 07 MONK-
EYS.— THE MONKEYS' LADDER. — HABITS OF WILD MONKEYS.
— THE MAMMIE APPLE. — IN AMBUSH. — FEATHERED COM-
PANIONS.— THE BETE ROUGE. — AN AGED MONKEY. — HIS CAU-
TION.— DESCENDING THE LADDER. — MONKEYS, GIDDY AND
GRAVE. — COUNTING HIS FLOCK. — THE MONKEY RECOGNIZES
A BROTHER. — " SHOOT ! SHOOT I " — A FREE CIRCUS. — A MAN,
AND A BROTHER. — THE MONKEY-MAMMA. — HER TERROR. —
AN IMPOLITIC IMP.

THERE are monkeys in Grenada ; many a poor
cultivator knows this to his cost. There are
troops of monkeys, who thread the mazes of the moun-
tain forest, living in the trees, scarce ever descending
to earth. To get them, one must go to the moun-
tains, must penetrate the great interior forests, and
hunt patiently the dark woods encircling the moun-
tain lake, the lake in the crater. He must camp by
the lake in the crater to get the " crayters " by the
lake.

264 CAMPS IN THe'cARIBBEES.

In this island there are two zones of vegetation and
of animal life, that of the coast and that of the moun-
tains. The shore lines are broken ; precipitous cliffs
shoot up out of the sea and huge rocks stand out gray
and bare, alternated by lovely bays. A vegetation of
low growth covers the hills along the shore, affording
shelter for few birds ; where a dense growth of vines,
or a flowering shrub occurs, a cactus, or a frangi-
panni, there may be found the humming-birds. The
second zone, or belt, comprises that portion contain-
ing the most luxuriant vegetation and the greatest
variety of tropical forms. It may be roughly esti-
mated as lying between one thousand and twenty-five
hundred feet above the sea. Here are nearly all the
birds of the lowland in profusion and many species
not found below. To the mountains, then, I must go,
if I would secure new birds or seek to slay a monkey.

Leaving the hot road that wound along the shore,
I took another, beneath volcanic cliffs, rode beneath
rustling palm-trees and out upon a river bank, where
were congregated the washerwomen of the town.
Cool were they in attire and in effrontery, as they
waded knee-deep the shallows of the stream, reclined
upon the rocks, or sat chatting upon the banks, with
no raiment save a handkerchief wrapped about the
loins. Old women, young women, girls and boys, and
little "pick'nees" waded the stream, most of them
naked as the rocks the river laved. Black were they
as those traditional crows, and no raven's wing could
be glossier than their shining skins.

Half-way to the mountain lake is the little hamlet
of Constantine, where, on a narrow ridge between
two deep valleys, a little chapel overlooks other val-

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 265

leys of palms to the sea. Above, the road is narrow
and steep, but flagged with rough stones ; it leads
throu(;h diminutive forests of cacao, each with a little
thatched hut as its center, and then houses and groves
are left, and the high woods entered, cutting through
banks of clay over which vines and trees lean, ready
to fall. On the crest of the mountain-ridge, three
miles from any neighbor, is a house surrounded by a
cleared space ; flowers bloom in a little garden, and

pRAND EtANG.

bananas wave tattered pennons in the wind. A ve-
randa looks to the south, and a negro policeman looks
at me as I ride to the door. This was the police sta-
tion, the "Grand-Etang House;" and to the man in
charge I gave a letter from his chief in town, directing
him to aid, by all lawful means, my attempts to secure
a monkey.

From the elevated character of the region, the
Grand Etang House was most unpleasantly cold at
night ; rude blasts assailed it, and fierce tempests

266 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

wrestled with it. In town, seven miles distant, the
temperature was ten degrees hotter than here on the
mountain-top, ranging from eighty to ninety. The
sudden change in temperature chilled me; the eleva-
tion depressed me. There were hooks for hammocks,
and an iron bedstead, but no mattresses; the hooks
were high up, and my hammock (a netted "Ashan-
tee ") from long use now bulged like a pudding-bag,
consequently I was doubled up all night, neck to heels.

The lake, elliptical in outline, two thousand feet
above the sea, is in full view from the house. A
range of mountains encloses all — two craters, and the
dividing ridge on which the house is built. An inner
circle of hills, clothed in tropical trees, rises around
the lake, forming the basin.

The man in charge of the house, its sole occupant,
had a number of traps, or dead-falls, set in the forest
beyond the lake, for the agouti and armadillo. These
two animals, with the monkeys, are about the only
forest quadrupeds larger than an opossum remaining
in these islands. At the time of their discovery, the
Lesser Antilles possessed several species now exter-
minated. The most interesting was a small animal
like a dog, found by the Spaniards among the Indians
of Haiti, a native of the New World, called by them
the "alco." In St. Domingo there were no other dogs.
It was a shy, gentle creature, and perfectly mute, and
was as much beloved by the Indians as their children,
being carried by then^ in their arms wherever they
went. It is now extinct. Tiie peccary, or " Mexican
musk-hog," once abundant in these islands, has been
exterminated from all but Tobago ; the hogs of Do-
minica and St. Vincent being the domestic species

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 267

run wild. The agouti {Dasyp?-octa agouti), a rodent,
native to the West Indies and South America, is the
most abundant of any quadruped in the Antilles, being
found in most of them at the present day. An opos-
sum, said to have been introduced from South Amer-
ica, called by the negroes the manicou, or manitou,
is very numerous, and is a terror to the negroes'
chickens. In Guadeloupe, alone of the chain, may
yet be found the raccoon, though the present species
is not considered an indigenous one. The armadillo,
once common in every island, is now found only in
Grenada and Tobago ; it is the nine-banded arma-
dillo, called by the natives the " tatou," or "tatouay,"
and is nocturnal in its habits.

To visit his " tatou traps," my new friend the black
policeman, and myself, sallied forth early in the morn-
ing. In a few minutes we were out of sight of the
house and in as deep a forest as any in these wilds.
All forests of the " high-woods " resemble each other
so much that my description of those of Dominica and
Guadeloupe will answer for this. They are composed
of giant trees, woven together by masses of vines,
through which a path must sometimes be hewn with
the cutlass ; trees and vines are hidden beneath thou-
sands upon thousands of air-plants and parasites,
which are the most conspicuous vegetation of these

forests.

" Like restless serpents clothed
In rainbow and in fire, the parasites,
Starred with ten thousand blossoms, flow around
The gray trunks."

We passed through groves of the mountain palm,
and here put to flight a mountain dove or two, and

268 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

found a nest containing two coffee-colored eggs. It
was built right in the center of a great parasite, a
plant with broad leaves resembling those of the sym-
plocarpus, attached to the stem of a tree, about four
feet from tlie ground. A humming-bird or two dashed
past us, and falling seeds, as we entered a tract of
high trees, warned us that there were wood-pigeons
in the leaf}'^ tops above us. All around was strewn a
sweet fruit, like a yellow plum, called "penny-apiece,"
which is much enjoyed by the negroes and by the
birds and agoutis.

My friend stooped, pointed to some impressions of
feet in the moist earth, and whispered, " Haginamah."
They were tracks of the armadillo, though the black
had designated them by a name unknown to me ; it
had a Carib flavor to it. So I asked him if " hagina-
mah " was a name for the armadillo, and he replied
that it was ; " Haginamah and tatou same with arm'-
dilla, sah." Here was a discovery — an animal that
retained its original Carib appellation.

In Grenada the Caribs once maintained supreme
control ; they were fierce, and a terror to the inhab-
itants of the continent, upon whose coasts they often
descended. At the northern end of Grenada is a high
bluff, descending to the sea in a precipice, over which,
tradition relates, the last of the Caribs leaped in de-
spair when pursued by their enemies. The cliff is
yet known as the Hill of the Leapers — Le Mornt
dcs SatUcurs.

It rejoiced me to find, as I thought, a pure Carib
name, handed down among the people of an island
from which the Caribs theqiselves had been extinct
a century ; but my pleasure was suddenly checked ;

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 269

"Haginamah, sah, because him have a7nah, an' look
like hog." Then I saw my mistake — hog-in-armor
— an applicable name.

We inspected several traps, but found no arma-
dillos. When two-thirds around the lake, we came
to the borders of a swamp containing acres of plan-
tains and bananas in a semi-wild state. What a trop-
ical forest — those huge plants rising fifteen feet above
the ground, with their broad leaves flapping in the
breeze ! It seemed as though I had been transported
to a world directly beneath the equator.

My companion enjoined caution now, for, the plan-
tains being heavy with fruit, it was possible we might
meet with monkeys, or at least such traces of them as
might lead to the capture of one on the morrow. We
floundered through the dark forest, the negro cutting
a path with his cutlass through the fallen leaves which
made a deposit sometimes waist-deep. In about the
center of the swamp he stopped me, and pointed to
the ground beneath an immense clump of plantains,
where I saw some scattered fruit, torn from the de-
pending stems above and thrown upon the ground,
half eaten by those wasteful creatures, the monkeys.
The bunches of plantains were some of them a load
sufficient for a man to carry, and now and then there
was a banana-plant, with a bunch of a hundred or
more. These plants, all of them, must have origi-
nated from some runaway negro's provision-ground,
abandoned many years ago.

Following a broken and interrupted trail, as indi-
cated by fragments of banana and plantain, we finally
traced the monkeys to the base of a high cliff form-
ing part of the enclosing wall of the ancient crater.

270 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Here we found the tree by which they descended
from the heights above when they visited the banana
swamp — an immense ^guicr, which had grown out
of a cleft in the rock, and had established itself on the
face of the cliff by a hundred roots and rootlets,
aerial and terrestrial, covering the rock with a mesh-
work ; from the upper branches hung long lianas, like
twisted cordage, down which monkeys would take
delight in swinging themselves. Down this great
natural ladder — the monkeys' highway — they always
came, whence they scattered through the plantain
groves. Often have they been hunted while there;
but upon the approach of any one, no matter how
silently, their noise ceased at once, though they were
grunting and barking noisily before ; and in a few
minutes they could be heard hundreds of 3'ards awa3^

It is difficult to find them if wounded, as they hide,
and cling tenaciously to bush and tree. While travel-
ing (always among the tops of the highest trees)
they grunt and bark like dogs, and while feeding they
have a peculiar, low, murmuring chatter. They are
invariably led by the oldest monkey, who is exceed-
ing sly.

The negro examined the ground where the monkeys
seemed to have held a last sitting over their harvest
of plantains, and declared they had been gone several
hours. He thought they would return in the morning,
as tiiey have regular circuits of travel, appearing in
one section in the morning, and in another miles away
in the afternoon ; among the wild plantains and nut-
trees of the mountains in the evening, and carrying
destruction to the cacao and nutmeg groves at dawn.
I have seen heaps of cacao-pods, each with a small

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 27I

hole in it, an inch or so in diameter, where the monkey
had thrust in his hand to scoop out the pulp. They
gather the nutmegs also, but after biting the shell
throw them away, not liking them. Yet they repeat
this every lime they visit a grove.

The man decided it was better to leave the place
till morning, and I yielded to his superior knowledge
of monkeys, though I could not refrain asking why it
was not as well to wait for them then. He turned
upon me with: "You know macaque^ otiit He heah
now, and den he no heah ; umph ! " Throughout
Grenada the natives speak French patois, and even
those who claim to speak English cannot avoid giv-
ing utterance to a French word now and then.

We returned to the house, where I passed another
wearisome night. People from St. George's passed in
the evening on their way to La Bay, a distance of
fourteen miles, carrying loads on their heads sufficient
to stagger an Irish laborer. From a woman who
came up from the negro village of Delphi I bought a
Carib basket ; this art of basket-weaving having
survived the Indians who practiced and taught it.
The plant from which the baskets are made grows in
the deep woods — a slender, reed-like shaft, with a
coronal of leaves about a foot in length.

A man shouted out to us at dark, as he passed, that
a whole troop of monkeys came down to his grounds
near his cacao, where he might have shot one had he
tried ; and a woman also stopped and told us that an-
other troop had been feasting on the " mammee trees "
near her grounds, a few miles distant. Just before
dark, our dog rushed out and barked furiously at
something in a tall parrot-apple tree in the basin below

272 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the house. We could just see that it was alive with
monkeys, before they were gone. Between monkeys
and dogs there is a strong feeling of antipathy ; the
former take pleasure in annoying the latter, and will
sometimes approach a house, when no one is in sight,
and sit at a safe distance, " making faces " at the dog,
who in turn nearly goes frantic with rage in vain
attempts to reach them.

At daylight, guided by a little black boy, I revisited
the plantain swamp. It was full of gloom, and I sat
down under a tree. Soon a black object descended
the cliff, and I was about to fire, when my little guide
whispered that it was only a wild-cat. Light appeared,
the birds awoke, and the forest was vocal with sounds.
The tree beneath which I had seated myself was a
"mammee-apple," whose huge bole swelled out above
me, and gnarled limbs stretched out and up, support-
ing a dense canopy of leaves, among which hung
clusters of fruit. This fruit is about as large as an
orange, has a large stone, a thin rind of yellowish
flesh, and tough, russet skin. The monkeys had left
the ground strewn with fruit, which they had bitten iu
mere wantonness, and then throwrn away. The many
fresh leaves on the ground here also attested their
recent visit. Behind me was the cliff, below me the
waving plantains, surrounded by forest so dense as to
hide the sky.

A large, brown humming-bird frequently dashed at
me with a ''whoof, whoof," of its wings, halting in
air to look at me, then 'darting off to return for an-
other look, regarding me with suspicious eyes. Hum-
ming-birds of the deep woods do not seem to be
familiar with the presence of man, for repeatedly in

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 273

the past two years I have been attacked, as it were,
by them. Instantly they see me they will dart at my
face, Jialting only a foot or so from it, or whirl in
dizzy circles about me. The whir of their wings will
often startle me, coming unexpectedly from some dark
thicket in some walled-in river-bed, or from behind
some great tree-trunk in the high woods. It is always
in the mountain forest that this happens. I can call a
few about me at any time, by imitating their excited
cries ; they dart at once to ascertain the cause, with
sharp, nervous chirps of alarm. Even when they have
flown right into my face they will not be satisfied, but
must perch near, and regard me for a while intently.
If I then move, they dart at me with a chirp of in-
dignant defiance, and at once disappear.

The fragrance of the bitten fruit filled the air, and
insects gathered on the broken skin, but no monkeys
came to claim the remainder hanging on the tree.
For nearly an hour a mountain dove had been " groan-
ing " near me — the hollow moan they oft reiterate is
aptly called a groan by the negroes. They have a
soft, rapid flight, with a hollow sktrr when startled or
surprised in their flight by coming near you and
suddenly altering their course.

Eleven o'clock. The sun had long since shone
through the trees above the cliff", yet the coolness of
this dense wood was little abated. Birds in the tree-
tops were shaking down berries now and then, and the
wind showered down leaves, but no monkeys yet dis-
turbed the branches above. Lizards leaped from
bough to bough, climbing up the tree and pattering
over the leaves ; they were pursuing one another
everywhere, and caused many of the various move-
i8

274 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ments in the trees that attracted my attention and
made me look up anxiously, expecting monkeys.

A little carthiola was building its nest ; he was
actively at work and had nearly finished it, and was
tearing strips from the dead and dry balisier with
which to line it. It defended its nest with great spirit,
and attacked any bird coming near. Now and then it
robbed another nearly completed nest of material,
making a squabble with its owner.

By an intolerable itching, which no amount of
scratching could allay, I became aware that my legs
were covered with that insect pest of the tropics, the
bete rouge — an insect so small as to be scarcely visible
to the naked eye, the bites of which cause great suf-
fering. In the rainy season, especially, is this insect
annoying; then one cannot walk in the grass without
getting covered with it. It sometimes causes sores or
ulcers, the result of scratching, and the only remedy
is to cover the body with grease or oil. So intense
became the pain that I could no longer remain quiet,
and was dancing a frantic jig when my little darky
pulled my coat and pointed to the cliff.

The vines hanging from the limbs of the great tree
were shaking, and a low murmur of many monkey
voices announced the coming of the troop. A round
head peeped forth from the leaves, a hairy face, that
was directly withdrawn, and its place supplied by
another, older apparently, and having a look on
its wrinkled visage of preternatural wisdom. This
wrinkled face was followed by a grisly body, and
soon an immense old fellow was clinging to the lianas
and swinging himself downward. He was followed
by a score or more of others, tumbling promiscuously

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 275

one over each other, clutching at the vines and at one
another's tails. There were old monkeys, fathers of
families, with serious countenances, cautiously feeling
then" way, and snifiing the air ; matronly monkeys,
with young ones clinging about their necks, a world
of care and responsibility expressed in their faces ;
young and frisky monkeys, who came trooping down,
hand under hand, snatching at a tail here and there,
or tweaking an ear, as they tumbled over the slow-
going fathers and mothers, stopping a second now and
then to bite the tail of some unfortunate baby-monkey,
who would instantly set up a howl of anguish.
. Ah ! how those young sports enjoyed themselves.
They had not a care in the world ; the gray old patri-
arch who had reconnoitred the situation had pro-
nounced " all safe," and upon him rested the responsi-
bility ; they would not burden themselves with care.
They ogled the maiden monkeys — shy and coy were
those virgin monkeys — and they snapped spitefully at
any gallant who seemed disposed to take unwarrant-
able liberties. They pressed upon the patriarch, who
at once resented such unseemly haste and familiarity
by seizing the nearest by the scruff of his neck, shak-
ing him violently, and then, without moving a muscle
of his solemn countenance, dropping him into a clump
of parasites.

This episode threw the foremost monkeys back upon
the column, so that they were so densely crowded to-
gether as to hide the cables ; they looked like a huge,
braided string of onions. Then they stretched out
again, over the hundred or so feet of lianas, a perfect
chain, like an immense link of living sausages, and —
though I do not claim to have discovered more than

276 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Darwin — in my monkey chain there was not t>ne
missing link.

At last they disappeared below the plantain-tops,
and I could hear the old chief marshalling them at
the foot of the cliff. " Hark ! " whispered the little
negro by my side, "he old man counting him ma-
caque." True enough, the old man was counting his
flock ; there was silence immediately after the descent,
broken by grunts, as old gray-back tallied them off —
** ump, ump, ump — go ! "

It really seemed as though he gave the word ; and
there is no doubt he did, as, at the last grunt, there
was a scampering, and the monkeys scattered them-
selves through the grove. Not so with the ancient ;
he duly felt the weight of responsibility, and did not
join the rest in their sport or search for food, but as-
cended the ladder of vines, and perched himself in the
fork of a limb overlooking the whole field.

During this time I was most assuredly excited. By
darting forward, when that chain of monkeys was sus-
pended in mid-air, I could have got two good shots
into them before they dispersed. But at least two
motives restrained me : first, I wished to observe their
actions ; second, I shrank from killing creatures so
human-like. The temptation was so strong, however,
that I could only withhold myself by great effort, and
was trembling with excitement. Again, what if there
was some remote relation in that throng? or — what
was more probable — some descendant of an ancestor
in common with the little negro crouching by my side?
Such thoughts restrained me.

Meanwhile, the grove was alive with monkeys,
tearing down bunches of bananas and plantains.

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS. 277

scaling the mammee trees and twisting off the fruit.
In a Httle while one of them reached the tree beneath
which we sat; a young male, about half grown, re-
joicing in his strength. The black monkey by my
side could not rest, and urged me, in excited whispers,
to shoot I He at least had no misgiv'ings on the score
of relationship, even though the resemblance between
the two — the monkey in the tree, and the African,
the monkey on the ground — was strong enough to
excite a smile.

I think the monkey in the tree must have noticed
this resemblance, for he saw us just then and stopped.
The more he contemplated my companion, the stronger
seemed to become his convictions that he had found a
long-lost brother. He let himself down by his tail,
and beckoned for the negro to come up ; and then
commenced a series of evolutions that would have
shamed an acrobat; all, evidently, with a desire of
impressing his brother on the ground with the ad-
vantages of an arboreal over a terrestrial mode of life.
And the little sinner near me was all this time urging
me to shoot that innocent animal in the t'^ee, whose
only fault consisted in being a monkey. But I could
not. I would as soon have thought of shootijig the
clown who performed for my amusement in the circus,
as of killing that little harlequin in the tree. I now
regarded the whole thing as the "biggest show on
earth," — as Barnum has it, — and would not sully the
pure enjoyment of it by what, I could not help think-
ing, would be murder in the first degree.

The little man in the tree swung himself into space
and disappeared ; in a few minutes he came skipping
gleefully along, followed by a monkey of maturer

278 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

years, evidently his mother, about whose neck was
dangling an infant a few months old. To her the
delighted reprobate pointed us out ; inquiring, in mon-
key language, probably, if those objects below were
not " a man, and a brother."

What a look of horror convulsed the old lady's face
when she saw herself in such proximity to a dreaded
man, an enemy to her race ! She turned about with
such violence as to jerk loose the infant that clung
about her neck, who fell to the ground. Maternal
solicitude, even, could not arrest her flight, as she
fled chattering to the vine-ladder, and hurriedly as-
cended it, followed by her wondering son.

A bark from the patriarch summoned the rest of the
gang so quickly, that they slid over those lianas and
out of sight behind the cliff, in less time than I can
write it in. Not one remained, save that infant
monkey on the ground, which was just recovering
its scattered senses as little Jim darted forward to
secure it. Quickly as Jim rushed out, the monkey
was yet more agile, and gathered himself up and
leaped into a clump of razor-grass. Into this the
little negro dashed, regardless of the cuts of the
cruel J)lades.

The razor-grass is a terrible pest in these woods,
climbing into trees and overhanging trails ; every
leaf of it which touches you clings to you and cuts
like a jagged-edged razor. Spite of his burning
desire to capture a monkey, Jim was obliged to stop
and disentangle himself, and before I had gained the
scene, the monkey was in the lianas. Slowly and
feebly it ascended, but I could not shake it down, and
to shoot it was out of the question.

A MONKEY HUNT IN THE MOUNTAINS.

279

As it reached the tree, its mother sprang to seize it,
and glided with it into the forest, and I awoke to the
fact that I had missed my opportunity, and had been
spared the pain of sLiying a monkey.

Palmiste.

28o CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER XVII.

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE.
FROM Crusoe's island, north. — frowning cliffs. — golden

SANDS. — birth of A RAINBOW. — ST. PIERRE. — THE VOLCANO.

— OUR CONSUL. — "OLD FARMER'S ALMANACK," GOOD FOR
ANY LATITUDE. — FRENCH BREAKFASTS. — "LONG TOMS." —
THE WIDOW AND HER WEED. — PATOIS. — COSTUMES. — GOOD
CLARET. — POOR CALICO. — MARKET-WOMEN AND WASHER-
WOMEN. — GAUDY GARMENTS. — PROFUSION OF ORNAMENTS.

— JARDIN DES PLANTES. — THE SHRINE AND THE TRAVELER'S
TREE. — CREOLE DUELING-GROUND. — PALM AVENUES. — THE
CASCADE. — SAGO AND ARECA PALMS. — THE LAKE. —
LAND-SNAILS. — LIZARDS. — TARANTULAS. — THE LANCE-HEAD
SNAKE. — VENOMOUS AND VENGEFUL. — THE MOUNTAIN REGION.

— HOT SPRINGS. — AN EXTINCT VOLCANO. — A HOLY CITY. —
SABBATH IN THE COUNTRY. — WARNED OF SNAKES. — HAVE
ALLIGATOR BOOTS. — THE HUMBLE SHRINE. — A SHRIEK. —
NARROW ESCAPE. — THE CRAFTY SERPENT.

UP from Tobago, the island of Crusoe's adventures,
I sailed, one week in June, for Barbados. Ten
weeks of camp-life in that historic island had brought
me rich returns, in rare birds and pictures of interest-
ing scenes. The captain of a Nova Scotia schooner
gave me passage from Barbados to the Isle of Marti-
nique, good captain Rudolph, who navigated his vessel
so skillfully that we sighted the mountains of Marti-
nique on the morning of the second day ; the same
mountains I had first looked upon eighteen months
previously coming down from the north.

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE. 281

The wind was light ; flying-fish darted in all direc-
tions ; little sharp-prowed canoes came sailing in out
of the distance, hailed us with cheerful bofi Jours, and
disappeared again in the spray and mist. We sailed
in under high, frowning cliffs, down which fell silver
streams into the sea ; past broad fields of cane, smiling
in the sunshine ; past long stretches of yellow sand,
overtopped by silent palms ; beneath a towering gloomy
mountain hiding its crest in cloud. A shower came
down from those impending clouds and pattered over
deck and sea, ending as suddenly as it had com-
menced ; and a rainbow, born of the mist and the
sunshine, spanned the bay of St. Pierre from head-
land to headland, dissolving at either end above a
little fishing-village, bathing houses and boats, and
nets, and beach, in glorious showers of light.

A second time I sailed into the bay of St. Pierre, a
second time looked upon the volcano rising above it.
The town is about a mile in length, straggling at the
north away down the coast, ending in scattered
villages ; and at one place, where a river makes a
break in the cliffs, creeping up toward the mountains.
A narrow belt between high cliffs and the sea, built
into and under them ; the houses, of stone and brick,
covered with brown earthen tiles, tier upon tier, climb-
ing up to the hills. With the soft mellow tints of the
tiles, the grays of the walls, the frequent clumps of
tamarind and mango, and with the magnificent wall
of living green behind it, St. Pierre strikes one as a
beautiful town — until he comes to analyze it. Then,
the windowless loopholes — there is hardly a square
of glass in town, save in the stores — the flapping
shutters, the conglomerate material used in its construe-

282 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

tion, combine to produce a feeling of revulsion. But
viewed from a vessel lying in the harbor, sufficiently
remote to hide its incongruous elements, St. Pierre
again appears charming, picturesque.

Aside from the hills which embrace the town and
come down to the sea in bold spurs, forming an arc
with a chord three miles in length, there is the noble
Montague PelSe, above four thousand feet in height,
a mass of dark green with jagged outline, cleft into
ravines and black gorges, down which run rivers in-
numerable, gushing from the internal fountains of
this great volcano.

The streets are narrow but well-flagged, and every
few squares is a fountain ; and adown the gutters
through them all run swift streams, carrj'ing to the sea
the refuse of the city. St. Pierre is the commercial
port of the island, and there are many stores filled
with the wines and wares of France. There are a fine
cathedral ; a theatre of large capacity, to which for
three months each winter a troupe from Paris draws
crowded houses ; a bishop's palace and governor's
residence, with large and handsome barracks for
the troops.

Landing, I went, as a matter of course, to the con-
sulate, where a picture of an eagle, grasping the red
man's arrows, and digging his claws into a prostrate
shield, smiled serenely above an open doorway. The
consul, a Massachusetts man, extended to me a warm
welcome. He had been in the naval service, retir-
ing wounded, and being connected with influential
politicians, had secured this mission to Martinique.
It is well known with what liberal hand our government
rewards its wounded heroes, giving the more importu-

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE. 283

nate, positions like this, where, with a sahiry of fifteen
hundred dollars, each year calls upon the incumbent
of the office for an expenditure of at least two
thousand. The British consul had resided in Marti-
nique fifteen years, and received a salary sufficient to
maintain him in comfort. Within eighteen months
the American consulate had had two representatives.
As soon as one is prepared to execute his duties, he is
kicked out and room made for another.

Knowing that the consul was from Boston, I was
not surprised to see in his office an " Old Farmer's
Almanack ; " but I was greatly enlightened as to its
uses when, one day, I saw him take it from its nail
and gravely announce that, according to the tables for
July, it was "time to take a drink." As the tables in
that almanac are prepared for the latitude of Boston,
I wondered at the genius that could adapt them to the
latitude of Martinique ; but it is probably owing to the
fact that much latitude is allowed, and that there a
drink is in order at an}'^ time.

Through the aid of the consul, I secured a room
and board in a private family, whose delightful
dejeuners and suppers will long be a pleasant remem-
brance ; and may the good old mulattress who pre-
pared them fulfil her mission for many years to come !
She could originate savory stews and ragouts from as
nearly nothing as any cook it has been my misfortune
to meet ; her " ros-bif " was excellent ; and with a few
potatoes and a little flour and fat she would produce
^^ j[)otnme de terre a la Martinique " — as she called
it — that would make an exile from Erin howl with
delight. With each plate a bottle of wine and a
little twisted loaf of bread ; and after the dessert, of

284 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

bananas, oranges, and sapadillos, or sour-sops, came
a decanter of rum, a little cup of black coffee with
sugar, and cigarettes. My vis-a-vis at these delight-
ful repasts was the Commissaire of Police, an ex-
officer of the navy of France, and a Chevalier of the
Legion of Honor. It need not be added that he was
courteous and agreeable.

The Creoles of Martinique, as well as the inhabi-
tants coming from France, have but few vices, the
chief of which is that they will smoke the vilest, rank-
est, most disgusting of cigars. These obnoxious
fabrications are of Americap tobacco, twisted by the
hand of the negress, or mulattress, into a long cigar,
called by the sailors " long-toms," and sold at a sou
apiece. The better classes smoke cigarettes of im-
ported French tobacco, and are as expert in rolling
them when wanted as any Cuban ; but the negroes
all, male and female, smoke the "long-toms." In
enumerating the good qualities of my ancient cook, I
overlooked the fact that from morn to night, while at-
tending to her domestic duties, anxiously bending over
the pots and kettles, she never once relinquished the
comforting weed.

Through the kindness of the photographer of St.
Pierre, Monsieur Hartmann, an amiable and accom-
plished gentleman, I was introduced into the cercle^
or club, where French in its purity is spoken. The
universal language, however, is that of the common
people, the patois, or provincial dialect ; and even the
cultivated speak, colloquially, the French tongue in
this rude form. The prejudice against everything not
exclusively French is exceedingly bitter, though the
increasing amount of foreign imports is bringing

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE. 285

articles from the United States into favor. Clothing
is higher than in the English islands, and tailors few
and inexpert. The business dress is the loose-fitting,
blue or black, blouse, and white pants. The hot and
stiff panama is preferred to all other hats, though its
closeness of texture, affording no chance for ventila-
tion, makes it the very worst possible for a tropical
climate. Some of the more sensible, however, are
adopting the cool and well-ventilated Indian pith hel-
met, so much worn in the English islands. Panamas
are the rage, and every street has its magasin, or
store, with the conspicuous sign, " Chateaux de Pana-
ma veritable,^'' some of which sell as high as fifteen
or twenty dollars. Silks and cottons are extremely
dear. The only thing cheap and tolerably good is
the claret, which comes direct from France duty free ;
and the vessel that bringrs the claret carries back as
ballast the essential logwood.

Nothing can be said against the costumes of the
ladies, which are really elegant and in good taste.
As in these islands there are no teachers of the terpsi-
chorean art, so there are no dressmakers — or, if
any, very few — and the ladies cut and make their
own garments. In this they take especial pride, and
their toilettes, as seen on a Sunday at ten-o'clock
mass, do credit to their hands and heads. There is
nothing that attracts a stranger's attention so quickly
as the costumes of the hucksters, the denii monde, and
the market-women : a single flowing robe of bright-
colored calico, or white muslin, sometimes of silk,
loose at the throat, and with a waistband high up
under the shoulder-blades. It is that of the past
century. These women are mulattresses, quadroons,

286

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

or octoroons ; among them are many pleasant faces
with regular features, and some are even handsome.
The colored Creole of French extraction is notably
handsomer than those of Scotch or English, and more
graceful and pleasing. The washerwomen and do-
mestics sometimes wear their dress with one shoulder

and arm exposed, and
to such an extent was
this carried but two
years ago that a law
was passed regulat-
ing the extent of ex-
posure.

Passionately fond
of jewelry, these
ladies of the street
carry their ornamen-
tation to an exagger-
ated length. It is
not uncommon to
meet one of them
with great coils of
beads around the
neck, with immense
earrings, brooches at
the throat, lockets and medallions suspended from
massive chains, and the turban completely covered
with pins and brooches, and the fingers with rings.
The earrings of this class deserve especial mention,
as they exceed in size anything worn elsewhere in
the West Indies. The most gorgeous and most
coveted are those composed of five gold cylinders,
each as large as a lady's little finger, bound to-

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE.

287

gether, and suspended from the lobe of the ear by a
large ring. All this jewelry is of pure gold, though
thin and fragile, as not a woman among them but
would scorn to be seen with an article of baser metal ;
and not a dealer in the colony can sell a spurious
piece. The wise French law that provides that every
thing sold for genuine shall be of eighteen carat
gold, and stamped with the eagle, is here enforced,
even to the confiscation of the stock of a dishonest
dealer. One of these females was pointed out to me
as having more than five hundred dollars' worth of
this character of jewels. Nothing exercises their taste
and patience more than the shape and fit of their
turbans or head-dresses. These are made from a
sinsfle brifjht-colored
or black handker-
chief, dexterously
twisted into shape :
and in this there are
as many styles as the
fancy of the wearer
can invent.

Contented and
happy are these peo-
ple, laughing and
singing and smoking
all the day long.
Even the old woman
who comes into mar-
ket from the moun-
tains, bearing upon
her head the vegeta-
bles and fruits of her JAarjuet y^oMAN.

....^^^^^^SP^

^^L

m

MjM

_ ^L ^^^^^^^pl^^^^S

n

^^=— ^sK--j^^t^^^"di'-^=^^

- - ^^K^^^^S^f

^ BLMilii'lUri ^

288 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

garden, carries herself with an air that betokens in-
dependence, and would sooner lose your patronage
than dispense with her pipe.

Through the Grande Ruc^ past the Gendarmerie^
up a narrow street to the rear of the theatre, I followed
a little gamin, one cool morning, to seek birds in the
Jardin dcs Plantcs. A shower dropped suddenly now
and then, but the summit of the volcano stood out cool
and purple against a sky of untroubled blue. Gain-
ing a level road at the base of high cliffs, I walked
beneath almond and tamarind trees, looking down
upon the savanc, or level field, beneath, where are
held the reviews and occasional shows that visit this
island, and across to the lower town, where a white
dome thrust itself up from a sea of cocoa palms. The
huge cone swept from cloud to foaming river — the
Riviere Roxelane, which divides the town, and from
which, even thus early, came the sound of blows,
telling the listening ear that inoffensive linen was
being maltreated by vengeful females. A broad
stretch of cane-field climbed well up the mountain,
meeting the forest, which sent out detachments of
trees to greet the cane, then spread out all over the
peak, vast and dark. Houses looked out from gar-
dens of fruit-trees; everywhere was cultivation and
growth.

Descending slightly, I passed a little shrine to the
Virgin, built right beneath the vine-hung precipice,
which sent down a wealth of trailing, clinging plants
to cover it. Leaning above it, as in benediction, is
the famous and beautiful Arbre du Voyageur, which,
if pierced, will give forth a stream of pure water.
Its long leaves, fan-like in their arrangement, de-

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE.

289

The y/'AYSIDE ^HRINE.

scribe a semicircle above its stem. Inside the shrine
is the sorrowful mother, carved of wood, and having
her heart, pierced with arrows, on the outside of her
robe, showing that sculptors, like poets, have a license
to do not as other mortals. "Mater Dolorosa,
Ora pro Nobis." Good Catholics are they who pass
this shrine, for, one and all, they cross themselves
devoutly.

At the entrance to the garden is a keeper's lodge,
of stone. A foaming stream rushes under a wooden
bridge, across which is a smaller garden, in which

19

290 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

are roses and choice plants, and a small museum con-
taining a good collection of birds, pictures of native
types, and insects and reptiles of the island, which
figured in the Exposition of 1867.

Near the main walk a grotto, in a bank covered
with vines, overhung by a palm, spouts out a glisten-
ing shower. This broad path runs by the side of a
stream, under tamarinds and screw-pines, ascending
between a double row of tall palmistes. This, my
guide tells me, was the old dueling-ground of the
Creoles, and the many holes with which the gray
pillars are perforated were caused by bullets ; the
names carved there, in memory of those who fell.
This may well be credited when I can state upon my
own evidence that there were three duels on the tapis
when I left the island. Though many of the affairs
of honor are merely farcical, and the empty air gets
the pistol-shot and sword-thrust, there are some in
which the participators are in dead earnest, and blood
is often shed.

Above the palms is a cascade sixty feet in height,
which flows from a deep cut in solid rock, in a single
sheet, into a broad basin below. From the cascade
another path, broad and shaded, leads to a gar-
den of acclimatization and a nursery, where are all
kinds of tropical plants — groups of palmistes, tree-
ferns, fan-palms, broken-leaved African palms, and
forms of plants strange even to these tropic isles.
Near the basin of a fountain, containing the Egyptian
papyrus, are the tallest sago-palms ever seen out of
their native isles of the Indian Archipelago, for they
are twenty feet in height, have stout trunks and dense
crowns. Candelabra cacti, night-blooming cereus,

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQyE. 29I

roses, honeysuckles, and a hundred other plants, may
here be found.

The gem of the garden is the lake in its center,
surrounded by great trees ; tall palms pierce the
leaves above it; a broken stream, tumbling down
from the hill, half screening some fern-covered grotto
as it falls, plunges into it. It is a small pond, but
contains vegetable wonders on its three small islets
that at home would be priceless. One island is com-
pletely covered with a mound of vines wound about
a screw-pine and frangipanni — a tangled mass of
jessamine and wild vines of the tropics, spangled with
white, red, and yellow flowers. Another, a mere
foothold for the tree, contains a "traveler's tree," its
macjnificent leaves reflected in the lake. The other
islet contains more rare plants, wild plantains with
golden cups, ferns and flowers, and is further graced
by two very slender areca-palms, exquisitely grace-
ful, shooting upward with stems not larger than one's
wrist, and forty feet in height. Their delicate leaves
droop above dense clusters of nuts — the famous nuts
with which the betel is mixed and chewed by the
natives of the East.

The low bushes are covered with land-snails, and
lizards dart out from every crevice, from under every
rock and dead limb, and run up the trunks of trees
by scores — lizards of all sorts, sizes, and colors ; and
they are sluggish, too, and it is easy to catch them.
But in searching for snails, I encountered an insect
not very agreeable, whose bite is certain fever, some-
times death. Horribly gay is this spider, the Taran-
tula, in the long hair that covers body and legs, which
serves well to conceal it while waiting for its prey,

292 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

in a dark crevice or under a drooping leaf. They
like to conceal themselves beneath the leaves of such
plants as the aloes, where one broad leaf underlaps
the other, and where they can rest almost unseen. You
see it also on the walks, its hairy legs outstretched,
its ugly body flat to the earth, resembling a bunch of
catkins from the trumpet-tree, which everywhere lie
scattered about. Poke it with a stick, and, instead
of trying to escape, it will climb up that stick so vig-
orously toward your hand, that, ten to one, you will
drop it and run. Turn it over, and it discloses a pair
of sharp, beak-like jaws, red within, which, with its
gleaming eyes, have a cruel appearance. With its
legs spread, this spider will sometimes cover the area
of a saucer. •

Centipedes and scorpions, also, abound here. In-
deed, it seems that nature has bestowed upon this
island of Martinique all the pests and scourges
known to these islands ; for only here and in the
adjacent island of St. Lucia is found that most ven-
omous and vengeful of all serpents, the Lance-head
snake — Craspcdoccphalus lanceolatus. The isolation
of this snake in these two islands, when its nearest
habitat is Guiana, is one of the most vexing stumbling-
blocks to one studying the distribution of animals.
How came it here? Was it introduced, or is it in-
digenous? Was it wafted here upon some floating
tree, or was its home here from the beginning? The
correct solution of this problem would, doubtless, throw
some light upon that more important and gigantic one,
Were these islands once a part of the continents? Cer-
tain it is, the adjacent islands of Dominica and St.
Vincent, separated from these by channels less than

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE. 293

thirty miles in widtii, are free from this scourge. Nay,
more ; it is recorded that, during the wars between
the English and Caribs, in the last century, the Lance-
head was carried to the islands just named, but could
not be made to live.

Annually, during the crop season, many laborers
are killed in each island, for this snake has its hidinor-
places in the canes as well as in the forests. It has
been so abundant in this garden that the pleasant
walks and shady drives are nearly always deserted.
A serpent over seven feet in length, killed in the gar-
den, is shown in the Museum. There is, it is said,
no antidote for its bite ; though the ever-traditional
old negro, living in some secluded spot, with herbs
and antidotes, likewise exists here. He is never found
when needed, however. The poison is quickly fatal,
and decomposition rapidly follows. A gentleman,
whose father was once a wealthy planter in St. Lucia,
and had many slaves, told me that an antidote that
generally proved efficacious if used immediately, was
forty grains of quinine in the juice of two lemons ; in
extreme cases he administered a glass of olive oil and
rum, and used the vapor bath. The remedy used in
the South, when bitten by the rattlesnake — whiskey,
all that the patient can drink — seems useless here.
The dread of this serpent is universal. It seems to
possess a hatred for man ; and it is seriously avowed
by the natives that it will lie in wait for an oppor-
tunity to inflict death. The country people live in
continual trepidation, and very few of them will ven-
ture from their houses after dark, even in the suburbs
of the city.

Martinique is the largest of the Lesser Antilles,

294 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

being about fifty miles in length, and containing, it
is estimated, about three hundred and eighty square
miles. The surface is veFy uneven, the interior being
one grand region of hills and mountains. The high-
est of these is Mount Pelee, over four thousand feet
in height, north-west of the principal town, St. Pierre.
Though a volcano which has emitted smoke and
ashes within tliirty years, there are now no signs of
an eruption. Late in July I was hunting in these
mountains, making my headquarters at Morne Rouge,
a little village occupying a central plateau near the
volcano. From there I made excursions to Morne
Calebasse, Morne Balisier, Mount Pelde, and Champ
Flore. There are many mineral springs in the moun-
tains, two of which — one reached from St. Pierre,
and the other from Fort de France — are famous re-
sorts for the inhabitants.

Morne Rouge is a holy city ; to it every year the
people of the coast, high and low, make pilgrim-
ages on foot. The church here is beautifully deco-
rated, the interior containing valuable paintings and
frescoings. The Virgin is magnificently arrayed and
enriched by the spoils of the faithful and credulous.
All about are shrines and crosses and sacred mounts
of Calvary ; and near the town is a most charm-
ing grotto, containing an image of the Virgin, over-
hung by tree-ferns, hollowed from a rock dripping
with water, with a clear pool and fountain at its
base.

Sunday is a fate day, and the busiest of the week.
Then the young ladies from the convent and the
brothers from the monastery attend church in a body.
Every one is dressed in the best he can afford. A ven-

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQL^E.

=95

der of cakes pitches a
small bench beneath
the shade of a ve-
randa and offers an
assortment not pro-
curable on week-
days. She drives a
good trade in the
morning, as the peo-
ple return from early
mass ; but as the sun
gets around in the
afternoon she leaves
bench and cakes to
themselves, covers
them with a ragged
blanket that has seen
unwashed service for

years, and contentedly sucking a cigar, snoozes
quietly in the shade. She has on a white chemise,
a man's hat of straw, a black skirt, and a white hand-
kerchief bound about her forehead. At three in the
afternoon, all go to church. The universal dress is
black coat and white pants. Here are a few costumes
of the blacks : Black turban, black dress, cut with
waist high up under the arms, and black shoes ; an-
other in bright colors and green shoes; again another,
sans shoes; one with a parasol; a diminutive darky
stalking gravely along with a dus/i for parasol and
feet thrust into yawning shoes. All wear high heels
when dressed. Men and women pass and repass with
huge bundles nicely balanced upon their heads.

When it was known that I intended shooting over

296 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

the fields and through the forests about Morne Rouge,
all my acquaintances of a day gathered about me,
frantically expostulating, and I with difficulty secured
a boy to pilot me. To satisfy these good people, to
some extent, I drew on a pair of boots of alligator
skin, old and grievously rent, which had accompanied
me through flood and forest for full five years. Seven
years had passed since these boots were sporting in
saurian shape in the warm waters of the " Land of
Flowers." The skin composing them I had wrenched
from the lifeless bodies of two alligators measuring
respectively nine and ten feet. They had shown
gallant fight, and it was to perpetuate their achieve-
ments, and to protect ray feet, that I had caused their
skins to be tanned and made into boots. Impervious
were they once, and gallant service had they per-
formed ; for they were fashioned and constructed by
no less a cordwainer than Shadrach Fisk, a worthy
knight of St. Crispin, Shadrach, and as honest a man
as ever trod or manipulated shoe-leather.

Much courage did these boots infuse into my heart,
and I strode forth valiantly, trusting that any well-dis-
posed snake would be magnanimous enough to strike
at the hide and not at the holes. Not Roderick Dhu,
with targe of " tough bull-hide," felt better protected
than I felt then. Let the short sequel show how vain
are man's pretences. We marched out into the fields,
my little pilot trembling with fear, and so craven that
he dared not retrieve my birds. We came to an im-
mense tree, a silk-cotton, which covered a broad area
with its shadow. In this tree was a little shrine, rudely
made, and a plaster figure of the immaculate mother;
at her feet a candle burning, and humble offerings. It

SOME SUMMER DAYS IN MARTINIQUE. 297

was the tribute of some poor laborer, this shrine.
It has often been forced upon my notice, this rev-
erence of the ignorant for a giant tree. Here they
will bring their offerings, and prefer these leafy
temples to the more pretentious 'cathedrals.

Steps were cut out from the great roots up to the
shrine, and I walked up to examine it. A shriek from
my attendant halted me, and I saw him upon his
knees, imploring me not to venture farther. Thinking
it was a foolish superstition regarding the approach of
an armed man to a place of veneration, I was about
assuring my boy that his fears were groundless, when
a movement above me drew my attention.

Coiled along a branch, with half the body hanging
and the head drawn back awaiting my approach, was
the dreaded serpent, venomous glances, that hardly
lacked the power to slay, darting from its fiery eyes.
Another step and I should have received the blow ;
and that it would have been a fatal one I have little
doubt. Shot after shot rang out until the loathsome
reptile fell ; but even when he lay stretched upon the
ground did I not dare to tread upon him, so completely
had I lost faith in the protecdon of alligator boots. I
recalled the facetious advice of our consul, given as
I was preparing for my excursion to the mountains,
that my only safety lay in encasing myself securely
in iron armor. As a substitute for this, he advised
me to procure a barrel, cut holes for my head
and arms, and thrust my legs through sections of
stove-pipe.

298 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE BIRTH-PLACE OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE.

FORT DE FRANCE. — THE PARK. — TAMARINDS AND MANGOS. —
STATUE OF JOSEPHINE. — THE TROIS PITONS. — HISTORIC HILLS.
— CORONATION. — INSCRIPTION. — AN EARTHQUAKE. — TER-
ROR. — PARENTS OF JOSEPHINE. — HER GRANDMOTHER. —
ALEXANDER DE BEAUHARNALS. — A VALUABLE DOCUMENT. —
MARRIAGE REGISTER OF JOSEPHINE'S PARENTS. — BUNGLING
BIOGRAPHERS. — MUSTV MEMOIRS. — FORT ROYAL BAY. — THE
PASSAGE-BOAT "JOH.N." — TROIS ILETS. — THE BOULANGER. —
A FESTIVE FATHER. — A DINNER IN JEOPARDY. — A LOW
COUCH. — A HIGH BILL. — CHURCH IN WHICH JOSEPHINE WAS
BAPTIZED. — A TABLET TO HER MOTHER'S MEMORY. — LA
PAGERIE, BIRTH-PLACE OF JOSEPHINE. — THE HURRICANE. —
THE ROOF THAT SHELTERED AN EMPRESS. — GROUND HER
FEET HAD PRESSED. — YOUTH OF JOSEPHINE. — ANOTHER
SHOCK. — THE NEGRO BARRACKS. — THE EMPRESS' BATH. —
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO ! — THE SIBYL. — THE HUMMING-
BIRD.— IN PERIL FROM A SERPENT. — A PEACEFUL SCENE. —
A RUDE AWAKENING. — THE RIVER COMES DOWN. — EARTH-
QUAKE AGAIN. — RAGS AND MELANCHOLY.

A LITTLE Steamer runs between St. Pierre and
Fort de France, the seat of government of the
island, coasting the shore, past a most interesting
landscape twenty miles, the banks high and precipi-
tous, exhibiting many different strata, and affording to
a geologist a glimpse of the manner in which the
island was formed. Huge rounded hills come down
to the sea, where they are abruptly cut down, looking

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 299

like the halves of Dutch cheeses, the slices smooth
and straiiiht. The summer rains had caused an ac-
cumulation of water in the hills above, and I counted
eight streams pouring over the precipices, all of
which a few days later would have disappeared.
Half-way down, the surface slopes farther back from
the shore, though there is but little cultivation until
the bay of Fort Royal is reached. A large stone
fortress, a large usinc, or sugar refinery, an open
park, a few government buildings, and a river, are all
that particularly claim attention.

Fort de France was originally known as Fort
Royal, but this was before the days of republican
rule. It is situated between two rivers, the Riviere
Madame and the Riviere Monsieur ; the former, on
the north, is very beautiful during its short length,
especially near its embouchure ; palms reflect them-
selves in the still water, and a church, on the bank,
sees its image on the glassy surface. The hills, such
as hem in St. Pierre, here recede a greater distance
from the shore, and the town occupies a low and level
plain, with wide streets crossing at right angles, lined
with well-built wooden houses. There are few trees
save in the park, which lies near the shore between
fortress and town. Here there are long and thickly-
planted rows of tamarinds and mangos overshading
the broad level walks. Enclosed by this double row
of trees is a large savane, or common, covered with a
luxuriant carpet of grass, in the center of which stands
the statue of her of whom I came to learn.

Majestic in poise, graceful in outline, carved of
marble spotless as her own pure soul, Josephine
stands calmly aloft, surrounded by a circle of mag-

300 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

nificent palms ; the orcodoxas, glories of the moun-
tains, add their glorious crowns to that which adorns
the head of the empress. For hours I have gazed
upon that beautiful creation, as, seated beneath the
spreading tamarinds, I have striven to impress upon
my memory an ineffaceable image of its loveliness.
There is one view that is inexpressibly beautiful, with
the snow-white statue sharply outlined against a dis-
tant group of mountain-peaks, the Trots Pitons, which
are sometimes deep blue, again light green, or par-
tially obscured by drifting clouds. Against this back-
ground Josephine stands out white as an angel. An-
other view, at a little distance, gives a background of
tamarinds ; another that of the purple-green mango.
From any position it appears a perfect composition ;
an inimitable grace pervades the sweep of the royal
robes, and the whole suggests a master's hand.

The statue fronts the sea, but the face is turned a
few points south, so that it looks toward a line of hills,
five miles away, nestled among which is the valley in
which Josephine was born. The sentiment conveyed
in the look of wistful yearning in that sweet face,
turned longingly to the scenes of her childhood, is as
beautiful as truthful. In front is the Caribbean Sea ;
the great fort hides the hills from the view of one
standing by the statue, but a few steps to the eastward
brings them insight.

Upon a medallion of Napoleon, Josephine rests her
left hand. On the pedestal, a bas-relief in bronze
represents the famous coronation scene, recalling that
extraordinary pageant, when Bonaparte surpassed all
preceding coronations in the magnificence of this,
summoning the venerable Pius VII. from the Vatican

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 3OI

to assist in his assumption of royalty : In the center,
the Pope ; Napoleon, in the act of placing the crown
upon the head of Josephine, who kneels before him.
The inscriptions upon the dies are as follows :

North: " Z'«« 1868. Napoleon III Regnant,
Lcs Habitants dc la Martinique ont eleve ce juonu-
mcnt a L'/tuperatrice Josephine. Nee dans cetie
Colonic."

East: ''NSe Le XXIII Juin, MDCCLXIIi:'
(Crown, shield, and eagle of France.)

South : The bas-relief, — Coronation scene.

West: ''Mari6 Le IX Mars, MDCCXCVI,''
(Draped shield, eagle, and crown.)

The statue is enclosed by a neat iron fence, and
is further surrounded by a ring of palms, planted, I
believe, at the time it was erected. In the distance,
on a hill, is an old fort and a little chapel, where the
Virgin Mother extends her hands in benediction, and
where a candle burns, bright by night and dim by
day.

As amateur photographer I sought a resident artist,
Monsieur Fabre, who received and aided me cheer-
fully, especially when he learned that I bore a letter
from our good friend Hartmann, of St. Pierre. In his
capacious court-yard I was soon busily at work pre-
paring my chemicals, wrapped in a vapor of collodion.
I was suddenly awakened by a strange shock, as
though some one had shaken me strongly and was
about standing me upon my head. At that instant,
in rushed my friend, the photographer, with loud
cries: ^^ Ah, mon Dieu I Tremblenient de ierre !
Tr emblement deterre!'^ "Earthquake! Earthquake!"

302

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

The ground shook, walls cracked, and, in common
with evLM y one else, I rushed into the street. There
was the entire populace crowded together in terror,
most of them wildly shrieking and gesticulating. The
shocks lasted but a few minutes, and then all went
calmly back to their houses. After this the sky was
as serene and blue, and the trees as quiet, as before,

P

IRTHPLACE OF JOSEPHINE

and I finished my photographs of beautiful Josephine,
who had been an unmoved spectator of it all, without
interruption.

The town of Fort de France is intimately connected
with scenes in the early life of Josephine, and of her
parents. In 1755, Joseph Gaspard de La Pagerie,

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 303

father of Josephine, returned to Martinique from
France, whither he had been sent to school. That
year war was declared between England and France,
and the young officer, first lieutenant of artillery, was
actively engaged in erecting batteries at Fort de
France, then, as now, the naval port of the island.
He aided in the repulse of the English under General
Moore in 1759, and took such active part in the second
defence, in 1762, when the town w^as captured, that
he was complimented by the general commanding the
Entrlish forces and allowed to retire to his estate at
Trois-Ilets.

In June, 1760, there was baptized in the church of
Saint Louis, at Fort Royal, an infant, born the pre-
ceding May, and named Alexandre de Beau-
HARNAis, who was destined to be the husband of
Josephine. An aunt of Josephine was godmother to
this child. The Marquis de Beauharnais, father to
Alexander, had been appointed governor of Marti-
nique and the French colonies three years previously,
with authority over all the respective governors of the
other islands. Leaving Martinique for France in the
following year, the Marquis left his infant son in
charge of Madame de La Pagerie, grandmother to
Josephine. This lad}'' resided principally in Fort de
France, and when Josephine attended school at the
near convent, she was a frequent visitor at the house
of her grandmother, if indeed she did not reside
with her.

But the most interesting event in the history of the
island w^as the marriage of the parents of Josephine,
the register of which I found among the musty
archives of the island, in Fort de France. The docu-

304 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

ment is long, and though I have a fac-simile copy of
that page in the ancient register containing it, I will
give but the substance here. It states that '' Messire
yoscph Gaspard de Tascher, chevalier^ seigneur de
La Pagcric, native of the parish of St. Jacque du
Carhct^ — of said island of Martinique, lieutenant in
the artillery, son in legitimate marriage of Messire
yoscpk-Gaspard de Tasckcr, chevalier y seigneur de
La Pagerie^ and of Madame Marie-Fran^oise Bou-
reau de La Chcvalerie, living in the town of Port
Royal," was married to" demoiselle Rose- Claire des
Vergers de Sanjwis, native of the parish of Trois-Ilets,
daughter in legitimate marriage of Messire yoseph
des Verzcrs de Sannois and of dame Marie-Catherine
Brown ^ natives of and dwellers in the parish of
Trois-Ilets," etc.

Thus we have in this register of marriage, dated
November the ninth, 1761, the names and rank of
the parents and grandparents of Josephine, and, what
is of equal importance, their place of residence at that
time, only eighteen months previous to her birth.

Let us turn for a moment to her biographers. One
or two will suffice to show how inaccurate are their
statements. Thus, in " Memoirs of the Empress Jose-
phine," by John S. Memes, LL.D., I find that the
parents of the Empress were — " both natives of
France, though married in St. Bomingo, about
1761." . . . "Of this parentage, the only child,
the subject of these Memoirs, was born in St. Pierre,
the capital of Martinico, on the 23d of June, 1763."

A French dictionary of biography also repeats that
Josephine was born in St. Pierre ; but this is refuted
by the register of baptism at Trois-Ilets, which the

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 305

author of the " Hisioire dc V Imf6ratricc 'Josejt>hinc"
M. Aubenas, (to whose volume I am indebted for the
facts relating to the early life of Josephine,) quotes
entire.

A deep bay nearly divides the island of Martinique
near the southern end. On its northern side, Fort
de France ; at its bight. La Montague and Riviere
Salee ; and directly south of Fort de France is the
little town {petit bourg^ it is called) of Trois-Ilets —
the Three Islets — hidden from sight by a high cape.
I was going to hire a boat and three men to carry
me across the bay ; but just as we were ready to go,
early one morning, the rain came down in sheets,
and we were obliged to wait. I then learned that
a boat plied regularly between the town and the
petit hou7'g, and that it was but a mile and a half to
^'^ IS habitation de La PagericT Its usual hour of
starting was at four, but the rain delayed it until five
in the afternoon. John, my. self-appointed domestic, —
a negro with an ugly face and one white eye, — had
safely stowed my apparatus, hunting gear, and him-
self, and I found with difficulty, between a couple of
negresses, a place for myself. There were twenty-
five of us, and I, as the only white man, duly felt my
insignificance.

Amid a great deal of jabbering, we pushed off.
The boat was a long, open, flat-bottomed one, with a
large mast, to be shipped in the bow, with a leg-of-
mutton sail, and a smaller one perched right in the
peak. A small negro boy had charge of the latter.
They pulled out a bit, then shipped the mast. The
wind came in puffs, at times very strong, and the
captain at the helm was repeatedly shouting: ^^Gar-
20

306 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

dez ! Fort vent ! Couf de vent / " — " Look out 1
Strong wind ! A squall." And when the wind
struck the boat, instead of luffing, they had three
negroes swinging at the ends of three ropes attached
a little more than half-way up the mast, who, with
feet braced against the rail, would sway their bodies
out over the water, and thus restore the equilibrium
when she heeled. It was a novel and interesting
sight, but one calculated to excite reflection, when
wind should prove stronger than African, with the
sheets made fast, a stubborn helmsman hanging to the
tiller for dear life, and the water pouring in over
the lee rail.

We rounded the point and opened up the view
of Trois-Ilets just after dark. A low church, with
straggling tile-covered houses about it, backed by
purple hills, with a cane field stretching to the east, in
its center the presbytery surrounded by trees. The
stars were gleaming in the sky as we landed and
walked up to the house of the owner of the boat, a
boulangcr, who also kept a shop. There was no
other place likely to afford me shelter, so I went to the
baker's shop ; but the first square look I had at the
owner convinced me that he was not a man prone to
hospitable acts. Subsequent events, I am happy to
say, proved conclusively that I was right. He said he
could give me a dinner, but no bed, so I went out with
a cobbler who could speak a little English, in search
of the cur^, the parish priest, to whom I had a letter.

We arrived at the presbytery at about half past
seven, knocked, and after some delay were bidden
to enter by the housekeeper, a comely woman. The
curd entered the room ; short, corpulent, with sensual

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 307

face, black hair and evidences of an abundant beard
in reserve. As he came in he cast an anxious glance
at the neatly-spread table, where one plate, one bottle
of wine, and bread and napkin for one, plainly indi-
cated that the cure did not expect visitors, — and then
at the sideboard, where was a dish heaped with fruit,
and another bottle of wine ; and then a smile spread
over his countenance, and he advanced to meet me.
After a few compliments — for I saw the worthy curd
was unhappy about something — I handed him the
letter, which stated substantially that I washed per-
mission to photograph the church, and desired a
glimpse of the ancient registers, and recommended
me to his good offices. As he read, there appeared
upon his face a multitudinous smile. He assured me
that most certainly I could photograph the church,
that it would give him actual pain if I did not, etc. ;
then ensued a painful pause. My friend had told
him that I could find no place in which to sleep,
which he had not apparently heard, or, rather, con-
cluded that it mattered not to a naturalist, who could
probably sleep anywhere, like a bat, hanging up by
his toes.

Meanwhile, a savory odor came in from the kitchen.
It was pretty evident that soup was ready and being
kept in waiting over the coals ; that the mutton even
was ready to be served, and the fish swimming in its
sauce. The cure's nostrils dilated, while a look of
sadness stole over his face. My friend then suggested
that I had ordered dinner at the baker's ; after discuss-
ing which, my only thought was for a couch, a rug,
a floor — anything, so I had shelter from the even-
ing damp. The cure's face brightened, then clouded

308 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

again, and he hastened to say that he was really dis-
tressed, but he had no room to spare. " He has three
chambers," said my friend, in English. This was
enough. I hastened away, leaving the cur6 with one
eye on me and one on the table, uttering the most
dismal of lamentations, that he could not be of ser-
vice to me. Well, thought I, here is a brace of
generous men to welcome a stranger to the home of
Josephine.

The clock in the church struck eight as we reached
the baker's. There I found that John had arranged
to sleep on the floor, where I was obliged, after a
greasy dinner, to sleep likewise. Awaking in the
night, thirsty, I was agreeably surprised to find some
rum and water wiih sugar. I found them also, next
morning, in the bill, which, unlike my bed, was not
low. At daylight I hastened on, anxious to escape
from such a place.

Later in the week I visited the little church hard
by, and took the first picture ever made of the church
in which the infant Josephine was baptized. Pre-
suming that the exterior has been slightly altered
since Josephine's time, the present spire constructed
and the clock inserted, it is the same structure that
existed a century ago. On either side the doorway
is a "flambeau-tree," which at the time of my visit
were scarlet with blossoms. Two bells, rung for
Sabbath mass, are beneath a rough shed near by, the
prevalent earthquakes forbidding they should be raised
to the steeple. Above the clock is the image of the
patron saint. Back of the church, stretching down to
the seaside, is the cemetery. The interior is attrac-
tive, the altar, as in all Catholic churches, being par-

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 309

ticularly ornamented. The two most interesting ob-
jects to a visitor are, first, a picture on the right of
the chancel, given by Napoleon, and on the left a
tombcaii^ or tablet, to the memory of the mother of
Josephine.

And here let me venture a remark upon the falli-
bility of certain biographers. In Meme's "Memoirs
of the Empress Josephine," I find the following:

"The infancy and youth of Josephine were passed,
not under the paternal roof, but with an aunt. In-
stead, therefore, of returning to St. Domingo with
her parents, the infant remained in the island of Mar-
tinico. We can discover no cause for this save a
family arrangement in the first instance, and the pre-
mature death of her mother. Without being aware
of this circumstance, however, and perhaps not recol-
lecting that her father died before she had become
known, the reader might deem it remarkable, and
even ungrateful, that Josephine so seldom mentioned,
and consequently has left such slight and imperfect
memorials of, her parents."

Headley* is careful not to commit himself upon
this point, and truly says : " The data are imperfect
from which to gather a complete biograpliy of their
gifted daughter." But J. S. C. Abbott, in his history
of Josephine, launches forth the following remarkable
statement, evidently culled from Meme's Memoirs :

"But little is known respecting Mile, de Sannois,
this young lady Vv'ho was so soon married to M. Ta-
scher. Josephine was the only child born of this

* Headley's " Life of the Empress Josephine " is the most com-
plete, and comprises all data at that time published regarding her.
It is an interesting and valuable book.

3IO CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

union. In consequence of the early death of her
mother^ she was, while an infant, intrusted to the
care of her aunt. Her father soon after died, and
the little orphan appears never to have known a
father's or a mother's love." And this careless state-
ment of a stay-at-home biographer has gone forth
to the world.

Here is a literal translation of the inscription upon
that tablet in the church at Trois-Ilets, in which the
parents of Josephine were married, she was baptized,
and in which her mother lies buried :

HERE LIES

0

THE VENERABLE
MADAME ROSE CLAIRE DUVERGER DE SANNOIS,

WIDOW OF MESSIRE J. G. TASCHER DE LA PAGERIE.
MOTHER OF HER MAJESTY THE EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH,

DIED THE SECOND DAY OF JUNE, MDCCCVII,
AT THE AGE OF LXXI YEARS.

PROVIDED WITH THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH.

It will thus be seen that the mother of Josephine
died in 1807, when her daughter wasy^r/y^/i^r/r years
of age, having lived to see her married to Beauhar-
nais at the age of sixteen ; to welcome her back to
her home when separated from her husband ; to hear
of the latter's death, in 1794, of her marriage to Napo-
leon, in 1796, and of her coronation as Empress of the
French, in 1804. Fortunately, she passed away before
the cruel act of divorce, and while Josephine was the
happy wife of Napoleon, but did not leave her daugh-

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 3II

ter at what is generally considered a tender age. And
again, Josephine is spoken of as being an only daugh-
ter, when the records of the parish show the registers
of the baptism of three and of the death of two.

From the bourg to La Pagerie the scenery is un-
interesting, being only of cane-fields. About a mile
out we reached a narrow valley running up from the
sea for about three miles. In this valley once stood
the house in which Josephine was born, in 1763. Jut-
ting hills hide the site until you are close upon it,
when a turn in the road discloses a secluded vale,
and a few rods farther brings you to a low wooden
house with roof of tiles, old and dilapidated, with a
little " shingle " over the doorway, having upon it
the common shop-sign of the country, ^^Dcbit de la
J^ermc" which means that you can buy there rum
and salt fish in limited quantities.

I will confess to feelings of disappointment and dis-
gust ; and it was with a sinking heart that I drew
my water-logged and mud-clogged feet toward the
doorway. But I was at once reassured by a sight of
the face of an honest man, a good-looking, intelligent
one, with blue eyes, and a pleasant mouth shaded by
a heavy gray moustache. He readily gave me per-
mission, and assisted me so ably that in a short time
I had secured four photographs of the two build-
ings coexistent with Josephine, and had explored the
rooms where she resided in youth. I was made happy
by learning that the house he occupied was not one
of the original buildings, but had been constructed
of materials from the house in which Josephine was
born, which had been destroyed by a hurricane shortly
after her birth.

312 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

We traced the walls of the ancient building, which
gave evidence of one of ample dimensions — the walls
once «supporting the gallery and those enclosing the
court. The only buildings now standing which were
in existence at the time of Josephine's birth are two —
the ancicnne cuisine^ the kitchen once attached to the
dwelling, and the sucrerie^ or sugar-house. Lowly
and humble, with walls of stone and roof of earthen
tiles, whose mellow tone and gray lichens suggested
great age, was the old building which once had
been the home for many 3'ears of the mother of Jose-
phine. For tradition, as authentic as tradition can be,
states that here lived Madame Tascher de la Pagerie
after the death of her husband, and while her daugh-
ter was the wife of Napoleon. Those two small win-
dows in the roof look into two chambers, now dilapi-
dated and unused, chosen as the widow's abode when
left solitary and alone. Not many years ago there
died in Trois-Ilets a very old woman, once a domes-
tic in the family, who attended Madame La Pagerie
in her later years, and it is through her this tradi-
tion was preserved. Above the humble roof droops
a stately mango, rich in golden fruit and dark-green
leaves.

Lieutenant La Pagerie resided with his bride, in
1761, on the estate of his father-in-law, a portion of
which was given him at the time of his marriage. A
few years later he came into possession of it, and it is
known at the present time as La Pagerie. The es-
tate was a large one, employing one hundred and
fifty slaves in the cultivation of cane and coffee, and
yielding a large annual revenue.

Here, on the 23d of June, 1763, Josephine was

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 313

The jiotAE of an ^mpress.

born. She had scarcely reached the age of three
years when the island was visited by a terrible hurri-
cane that destroyed an immense amount of property
and many lives. The hurricane was accompanied by
shocks of earthquake, thunder and lightning. None
so serious had occurred in the memory of man. The
mansion of La Pagerie was utterly ruined and the
crops swept away. The walls of the sugar-house
alone were left standing, and to this building M. La
Pagerie fled for shelter with his wife and two children.
Shortly after they had taken up their residence in the
sugar-house, a third child, a daughter also, was born
to Mme. La Pagerie. This child, with the other sis-
ter of Josephine, died young ; and a mistake on the
records of the burial of the youngest caused the erro-
neous statement subsequently that Josephine had an
elder sister.

Down the hill, within a stone's-throw of the dwell-
ing, is the sugar-house to which M. La Pagerie re-
moved after the visit of the hurricane. It is of stone,

314 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

its walls are very thick, at least two feet, and it is
covered with the durable brown tiles so in harmony
with the landscape. In the eastern half are, or were,
two large chambers extending two-thirds the length
of the building, which is above one hundred feet long
and fifty wide. The roof is fallen in at one place,
and you can look into the interior of one of the cham-
bers in which Josephine and her parents lived during
her youth.

Ah, if those massive walls could speak ! Through
these low windows how many times has the youthful
empress looked out upon a landscape that once pos-
sessed all the beauties of the tropics ! Through the
wide doorway on the southern side how many times
has she descended to indulge in the gambols which
she loved so well !

I climbed to the great rafters, from which the floor-
ing had been many years removed, and looked through
those windows, and stood in the same doorway in which
the happy Josephine had so often stood — a doorway
bordered by blocks of granite, connecting the two cham-
bers. But there was nothing there to recall her who
had once illumined these walls by her presence, and
who had now been absent a hundred years. Above,
the roof was black with bats clustered in noisy groups,
hanging from the tiles; beneath, the rafters; and be-
low, the ground. The sun sank low behind the hills
that ringed this lovely valley round, and fell with fee-
ble glare through the rent in the roof that once had
sheltered an empress. Nothing could be evoked from
empty space ; I could merely say that I had seen the
home which once was hers, and had trodden ground
her feet had pressed.

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 315

Of the first years of this illustrious child we know
little. She resided here with her parents until ten
years of age, when she was sent to the convent at
Fort Royal, where she remained until fifteen. During
the brief period which elapsed between her return
from the convent and her marriage to Beauharnais,
she dwelt with her family, engaged in domestic duties
and in the education of her sisters. At the age of
sixteen she was married to Alexander de Beauhar-
nais, in France. In 1788, having separated from her
husband, she returned to her birthplace, and passed
three tranquil years. With her little daughter, the
charming Hortense, then five years old, she rambled
over the hills and valleys endeared to her by the
memory of her childhood days.

With a loving mother and father, and in the com-
pany of her youngest sister, surrounded by sympa-
thetic neighbors, she seems to have passed some of
the happiest days of her existence. Thus she writes
of her retreat, during the separation from Beauhar-
nais :

"Nature, rich and sumptuous, has covered our fields
with a carpeting which charms as well by the variety
of its colors as of its objects. She has strewn the
banks of our rivers with flowers, and planted the fresh-
est forests around our fertile borders. I cannot resist
the temptation to breathe the pure aromatic odors
wafted on the zephyr's wings. I love to hide myself
in the green woods that skirt our dwelling ; there I
tread on flowers which exhale a perfume as rich as
that of the orange grove, and more grateful to the
senses. How many charms has this retreat for one
in my situation ! . . . I find myself in the midst of

3l6 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

my relations and the old friends who once loved and
still love me tenderly."

On the day succeeding that on which I took my
photographs, some of the tiles above the dormer win-
dows were shaken down by an earthquake. Around
the house are cocoa and mango trees, sapadillos and
avocado pears ; but none are left of the majestic palms
that are said to have surrounded the dwelling. The
quiet beauty of the place, the gentle manners of Mon-
sieur Mareschal, the proprietor, and the historic asso-
ciations of the valley, all combined to form an attraction
not to be resisted, and I begged permission to stay
a while. My ne^ friend readily acceded, but hesi-
tated to offer me the only accommodations the estate
afforded, a room in the negro barracks ; but I assured
him that I had camped in worse places, and before
nine o'clock that night I was established. My room
was very small, but in it Madame Mareschal had
placed an iron camp-bedstead and a chair, and to it
my faithful John had removed my effects. It was in
the center of a long, low structure, built against the
garden wall, once used as quarters for the servants
when the estate was in flourishing circumstances.
Right and left of me were negro families ; but
of their dirt and noise, and kind attentions, I will
not speak. For ten days I stayed there, having a
seat at my friend's table, and sleeping at night in the
barracks.

Over the hills which surrounded the valley on every
side I rambled, with a little negro as guide, and ex-
plored many a nook, that, if it could speak, would tell
delightful stories of the historic past. Of the many
pleasant days passed there, let me give a description

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 317

of one,*the last. It was morning, the sun had not
appeared above the hills,- as, guided by a little negro,
I took the footpath up the valley, south, reaching the
narrow lane between the hills on the west and the
river. Cool and grateful was the shady vale. Jessa-
mine and frangipanni and acacia, bent low beneath the
weight of last night's showers and sweetened the air :
birds, few in species but many in number, burst into
song as we passed. A little wren, that had its habita-
tion beneath the eaves of the sugar-house — doubtless
a descendant of those who sang carols to Josephine —
delighted me with a trill of melody. We passed
beneath a tall silk-cotton tree, hung with silken flowers,
about which were buzzing bees and glancing hum-
ming-birds ; across the stream on rude stepping-stones ;
a little farther, past groups of mangos, and across a
rude bridge, till we reached a cliff, its face hidden be-
hind a veil of vines. Then beneath a wide-spreading
mango we halted, and I climbed a great rock and pre-
pared for my morning bath.

There were places in the river better than this,
deeper and wider; but there was an association here,
clinging to water-rounded bowlders, to gray cliif and
gravelly basin, that rendered this little nook doubly
charming. It was the favorite resort of Josephine,
where daily, at early morning, she came to bathe.
This tradition has been handed down from parent to
child among the negroes, whose ancestors were slaves
here, on this very estate, and is better based than the
tales of distant biographers. "Z,e bain de Vlm^era-
trice,^^ it is called to this day. Though time and flood
and earthquake have changed it much since then, and
its original proportions somewhat lessened, it still

3l8 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

remains, with solid towering rocks on one side, and
bowlders above and below, as in the days of her who
once blessed it with her presence.

It must have been somewhere on this very path, if
not within a gunshot of this same bathing-pool, that
Josephine met the Sibyl who prophesied so truly her
future fate : " You will be married soon ; that union
will not be happy ; you will become a widow, and
then — then you will be Qiieen of France ! "

It is not difficult to imagine her here again, sporting,
dancing, along the bank of this rocky stream. From
her own pen we have a glimpse of her at that period,
one hundred years ago: "I ran, I jumped, I danced,
from morning to night. Why restrain the wild move-
ments of my childhood? "

And this maiden, who graced in later life the salons
of an emperor, who lives in the memory of the peo-
ple as a creation of our own generation, this "lovely
Creole," passed the happiest da3's of her existence
here; roamed over these very hills, danced along these
self-same valleys ; gazed perhaps upon this same silk-
cotton that rears its towering crown above me now !

One hundred years ago !

Leaving the river, we climbed the hills to the west
and began our search for birds. Above a tangled
mass of thorny acacia hovered a tiny humming-bird,
with slender beak and pointed helmet, darting at the
spicy blossoms of an unknown vine ; gold and silver
was he in the sunshine. The little gem dropped into
the thicket, with quivering wings that never again
would bear their owner upward. Qj.iickly my little
companion darted forward to tear the vines apart to
get at the bird which lay upon the ground beneath.

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 319

He had hardly forced his hand through, when he
uttered a shriek of terror and fell back, then ran
quickly to me and clung to my legs, trembling and
weeping. Pointing to the bushes, he faintly mur-
mured, "7^?r dc Lance'''

Cautiously approaching, I saw a wicked-looking
head, belonging to a snake as large around as my arm.
It was broad, triangular in shape, and flat, with gleam-
ing eyes, and thrust itself toward us savagely, murder
in its every look and motion. My gun was charged
for another humming-bird, and the load of small shot
I fired into the snake did not cause its death, and it
unwound itself and crawled rapidly toward us, its
eyes flashing fire, intent upon striking us with its
fangs, one blow of which would cause certain death.
When he got within reach of a stout cudgel my boy
handed me, I mauled him so severely that he gave up
the ghost after a short but severe fight ; for the
"7^?r de Lance " is no coward, and, like the rattle-
snake, will fight even fire.

I soon had the satisfaction of seeing him hanging
limp and lifeless from my stick, drops of deadly
poison dripping from his jaws. Between shot and
cudgel he got badl}' mangled, and made a sorry
specimen for preservation ; I substituted for him a
smaller one, killed later in the day, to send to 'Wash-
ington. Nothing could induce my boy to retrieve
the bird, and, relying upon his sagacity, I did not
myself make the attempt.

Finally, about eleven o'clock, we reached the sum-
mit of the hill overlooking the valley toward the bay.
I sat down upon a grassy knoll, beneath the shade of a
small tulip-tree, and feasted my eyes upon the pros-

320 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

pect. The sea was like glass, upon the bay rested
the three little islets which give the bourg of Trois-
Ileis its name. Beyond the bay, five miles away, lay
Fort de France, and yet farther were the extinct vol-
canoes of the Trois Pitons^ and away east, just a
hint of the Atlantic. Below me rolled hill and valley,
enclosing in their embrace La Pagerie, birthplace of
Josephine.

Never was scene more peaceful, nor solitude more
sweet. Little wonder that Josephine should recur to
it in memory again and again, when surrounded by
the pomp and magnificence of courts. An hour
passed, I lay in silent musing, gazing on the waving
fields and shimmering sea :

" 'Tis the fervid tropic noontime ; faint and low the sea-waves beat ;
Hazy rise the inland mountains through the glimmer of the heat"

From this day-dream I was rudely awakened by a
tremor of the earth beneath me ; it seemed to tremble,
to vibrate ; and then ensued that feeling of uncertainty
that one experiences when, at the crest of a mighty
wave, he is about to descend into abysmal depths,
with his heart in his mouth.

Sadly I retraced my steps, not so much in love,
I fear, with this beautiful spot, as an hour before the
shock.

That afternoon, the river came down from the
mountains a roaring torrent, washing away a bridge
and a great deal of cane along its banks ; and my
host lamented the loss of several hundred francs the
flood had cost him. That night, another earthquake
occurred, which awoke me all too rudely and caused
me to reflect upon the strength of the thin strips of

HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 32I

bamboo, above my head, that had supported the heavy
tiles for a hundred years.

My little garcon went with me to the boat at early
morn, and wept bitterly because I would not take him
with me ; and I left him, regardless of my douceur of
silver, a picture of rags and melancholy.
21

322 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

CHAPTER XIX.
ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE.

POINT A PITRE. — THE RIVIERE SALEE. — USINES. — EARTH-
QUAKE, FIRE AND HURRICANE. — A LIVING BULWARK. — THE
CARAVELS OF COLUMBUS. — OUR LADY OF GUADELOUPE, —
THE CARIBS. — BASSE TERRE. — LE PERE LABAT. — ORPHANS.

— THE CHOLERA PLAGUE. — A PERMIS DE CHASSE. — MIXED.

— A HORSE WITH POINTS. — GOVERNMENT SQUARE. — THE CON-
VENT. — A SUMMI:R RETREAT. — MATOUBA. — MY THATCHED
HUT. — DOCTOR COLARDEAU. — THE COOLIE. — THE COFFEE
PLANTATION. — FIRST COFFEE IN THE WEST INDIES. — ITS CUL-
TIVATION. — TEMPERATURE OF THE COFFEE REGION. — BLOS-
SOMS AND FRUIT. — PICKING AND PREPARING. — THE HIGH
WOODS. — THEIR GRANDEUR. — GIANT TREES. — HUGE BUT-
TRESSES. — LIANAS, ROPES AND CABLES. — EPIPHYTES AND
PARASITES. — AERIAL GARDENS. — THE SULPHUR STREAM. —
THE CONE. — THE SUMMIT. — THE PORTAL. — BLASTS OF HOT
AIR. — nature's ARCANA. — SULPHUR CRYSTALS. — ERUP-
TIONS. — A GRAND VIEW, — IMPENETRABLE FORESTS. — AN
EXTINCT BIRD. — JUAN PONCE DE LEON. — THE FOUNTAIN OP
YOUTH. — THE DESCENT INTO GLOOM.

IT was in the height of the " hurricane season," in
August, that I left Isle of Martinique, the birth-
place of Josephine, for Guadeloupe. At four o'clock,
one calm morning, we steamed into the harbor of Point
h. Pitre, Guadeloupe's metropolis, and fired a gun. It
was very dark ; only the light-house lamp sent its
gleam abroad ; but in an hour the water about us was
alive with boats.

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 323

Guadeloupe is separated into two islands, one of
volcanic origin, uneven and mountainous, the other
low and flat, without even a hill. A narrow creek
divides them — a shallow, salt passage, called the
Riviere Salee. The banks of this creek are lined
with mangroves ; and it is one of the hottest places in
the West Indies, as my shooting excursions verified.
Point a Pitre is situated at the southern mouth of this

salt river. It is regularly built, with broad, straight
streets, with a fountain in the center of a square, a
fine cathedral, and many good houses. Here is, also,
one of the largest tistnes, or factories for making sugar,
in the world, second only to the largest known — that
of the khedive of Egypt.

What strikes the visitor with surprise is the neio

324 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEBS.

appearance of all the buildings, and the scarcity of
trees. The explanation of this is found in the records
of the city ; it is just recovering from the effects of a
destructive fire. Within the past few years Point ^
Pitre has passed through at least four trying ordeals
by the elements. First, it w^as shaken down by an
earthquake ; then all the buildings were of stone,
large and massive. Rebuilding their city, these in-
domitable Frenchmen constructed their houses of
wood. It was not long, not many years, before, in
the language of my informant, " there came along the
tallest kind of a hurricane, and tumbled their wooden
houses into ruins." To add to the horrors, a fire
broke out, which swept their city clean. The wise
men cogitated, how to build to escape earthquake, fire,
and hurricane. The result was the adoption of the
present system of construction, with strong iron frame,
filled in with brick or composite. The loss of life in
these successive disasters has been fearful, but these
courageous Creoles have faith in the future of their
city ; and I doubt if they once give a thought to the
mighty power against which they are contending, or
that they are fighting forces controlled by Nature's
laws, that always will operate in the same way and
place, without regard to the little doings of mankind.
But it was not to remain in Point 5, Pitre that I came
here ; the blue mountains forty miles away beckoned
me to their cool retreats, and before night I had en-
gaged passage on board a little schooner, the " Siren,"
for Basse Terre, at the foot of the mountains. I left
Point h Pitre in the evening — the sea like glass, the
mosquitoes like fiends. For many hours we drifted
aimlessly. The cabin was a black hole full of mer-

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 325

chandise, and I was obliged to sleep on deck, which
was covered with negroes. With a bulwark of fat and
garrulous negroes, men and women, on either side of
me, I stretched myself upon a narrow ledge and fell
asleep. If those blacks had given way, I v/ould have
been lost. To their credit be it said, they did not, but
sat there the livelong night, and soothed me to sleep
with the musical numbers of their patois. The night
was dark, the sky black, with stars shining in it as
through holes in a vaulted roof. In the middle of
the night there came up a rain-storm, driving, pitiless.
Awakened by the plashing of drops in my face, I
drew my rubber poncho over me and fell asleep again
to the murmur of their patter on the waves.

These are historic waters. I was coasting a shore
along which sailed the caravels of Columbus ; but
even the consciousness of this fact could not induce
me to go to the rail and peer into the darkness for
some ancient landmark. Spite of historic reminis-
cence, and in spite of my odorous enclosure of natives,
I slept the sleep of the just man who is taking his
second night's rest in his clothes ; thanks to years of
camp life.

I have said that this was historic ground, this island
of Guadeloupe, and fraught with deeds dear to
America's existence, these waters that lave its shores.
Let me quote, in confirmation, the words of Irving as
he describes the second voyage of Columbus : " The
islands among which Columbus had arrived were a
part of that beautiful cluster called by some the An-
tilles, which sweep almost in a semicircle from the
eastern end of Porto Rico to the coast of Paria on the
Southern continent During the first day that

326 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

he entered this archipelago, Columbus saw no less
than six islands of different magnitude. After seek-
ing in vain for good anchorage at Dominica, he stood
for another of the group, to which he gave the name
of his ship, Marigalante. Here he landed, displayed
the royal banner, and took possession of the archi-
pelago in the name of his sovereigns. The island
appeared to be uninhabited ; a rich and dense forest
overspread it; some of the trees were in blossom,
others laden with unknown fruits, others possessing
spicy odors, among which was one with the leaf of
the laurel and the fragrance of the clove. Hence
they made sail for an island of larger size, with a
remarkable mountain ; one peak, which proved after-
ward the crater of a volcano, rose to a great height,
with streams of water gushing from it." [This is the
volcano I hope to reach by and by.] " As they ap-
proached within three leagues, they beheld a cataract
of such height that, to use the words of the narrator,
it seemed to be falling from the sky. As it broke into
foam in its descent, many at first believed it to be a
stratum of white rock. To this island, which was
called by the natives Turuqucira^ the admiral gave
the name of Guadeloupe, having promised the monks
of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, in Estremadura, to call
some newly-discovered place after their convent.
Landing here on the 4th of November, 1493, they
visited a village near the shore, the inhabitants of
which fled in affright, leaving their children behind
in their terror and confusion. The isdand on this side
extended for a distance of five-and-twenty leagues,
diversified with lofty mountains and broad plains."
This was the first island in which Columbus saw

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 327

the wonderful Caribs^ of whom he had heard so much
in Hispaniola. The account he gave of their neat
villages, of the finding here of the fragment of a
vessel, and the first pine-apple, is extremely interest-
ing, as are all descriptions of first things, or the
discovery of things previously unknown, to us of the
present day.

And this coast, which 1 later saw in all its grandeur
of lofty clifls and towering mountains, in its loveliness
of curving bays and palm-bordered beaches, this
coast was right abeam, hidden behind the impene-
trable wall of night. A second time I sought a land-
ing on Guadeloupe shore before daylight. We sailed
into the roadstead of Basse Terre, on the open sea at
the southern end of the island. Darkness covered
everything ; a few cocks commenced crowing, a few
lights gleamed out. At five, a gun boomed out from
the fort, and the cathedral bell commenced at once,
as if from the vibration, tolling for early mass. Day-
light crawled slowly in and revealed the open market
by the landing, already crowded with people, the
noise of whose wrangling had reached us long since.

Basse Terre is the seat of governm.ent of Guade-
loupe, as Fort de France is that of Martinique. Like
Fort de France, also, it is chosen by these far-seeing
Frenchmen as the dep8t of government property, that
other towns, like that of Point a Pitre, and St. Pierre
of Martinique, may not, by their superior advantages
for commerce and trade, draw all the population
thither. To this end, the distribution of wealth,
and the better cultivation of the soil, the French
have covered both their islands with roads, in striking
contrast to the rough bridle-paths of the English

328 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

islands equally mountainous. The government build-
ings are in the upper part of the town between two
rivers, behind a large stone fort. They surround
three sides of a square bordered by mighty palmistes,
and with an elegant fountain of bronze as center-piece.
North and east of the town tower the mountains, the
land commencing to rise to their summits at its very
outskirts ; its upper streets lead into the hills. The
houses are built of stone, but are not large or pre-
tentious. The streets are straight, parallel with the
shore, and at right angles with it. In the center of
the town is an open market-place, in which is a foun-
tain fed from the mountains, around which is a row
of tamarind trees. All the serving-women of the place
come to this fountain to fill their jars with the cool
water that perpetually drips from the bronze lips of
the basin. The cathedral, or more properly the
Basilique, is a good old structure of stone, dating
from the time of Le Pere Labat.

As the founder of this town, and an author of note,
whose valuable book on the Antilles contains the most
comprehensive account of these islands, this worthy
pdre deserves especial notice. Born in Paris in 1663,
he jomed the Dominican friars in 1685, and two years
later was appointed professor of mathematics and
philosophy at Nancy. In 1693, while in Paris, he
saw letters from the Superior of that order in Marti-
nique to the Brothers in France, imploring them to
send out missionaries to replace those who had died
from contagious disease. Seizing this opportunity for
consecrating himself to mission work, and carrying
out a resolution he had a long time cherished, he
departed for Martinique, arriving there in January,

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 329

1694. Two years later he was sent to Guadeloupe.
Later, returning to Martinique, he found his place
occupied by another, and was, as a mark of confi-
dence, appointed -procureur general of the mission.
In this capacity he visited all the isles of the Antilles,
French, English, and Dutch; but passed the greater
portion of his time in Martinique and Guadeloupe.
In 1703 he founded the town of Basse Terre, and
took an active part in the defence of the island against
the attack of the English, in March of the same year.
The " Bellicose Pere Blanc" as he was called by the
people of the island, could not prevent his monastery
from being burned, by which disaster he lost all his
books, manuscripts, and instruments. He returned to
France in 1705, resided in Paris and Rome, and in
the former city prepared his different voyages for
publication. He there died in 1738. His most im-
portant work, ^^JVouveau Voyage aux lies (TAmSr-
ique,''^ is as valuable as it is at the present time rare.
It was published in Paris in 1722. He wrote, besides,
six large works of travel, chiefly from the manuscripts
of other travelers. A genus of plants, containing a
species indigenous to Cuba and one to Cayenne, was
named, in his honor, Labatia. The old Basilique re-
mains, in defiance of earthquakes and hurricanes, a
monument to the activity and zeal of this good father.
Its front, however, was rebuilt a few years ago.

During my sta}'^ in Basse Terre I was struck by the
number of children fatherless and motherless, and
upon inquiry was told that these orphans, whose
sweet faces so appealed to one's sympathy, were sur-
vivors of the great cholera plague not many years
since, in which some fifteen thousand persons, I be-

330 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

lieve, were swept away. Outside the town, but a few
minutes' walk along the bluff, lies the cemetery, where
crosses and quaint tombs mark the last resting-places
of many poor souls. Beyond, below this place of
sepulchre, is a depression in the hillside, which, I
was told, was once a deep ravine, into which were
cast the bodies of those who died of the plague. So
rapidly were they stricken down that people enough
could not be found to bury them, and the living hardly
sufficed to take away the dead. Finally vessels were
employed, which, laden with corpses, departed one
after the other into the offing with their freight of
death. There was scant ceremony in the carrying
away of these stricken ones from the place where
once they had enjoyed life to be given over to the
dwellers of the deep ! For many months the corpses
strewed the strand, and fish from the sea were ban-
ished from the tables of the island for a twelvemonth
after. What is remarkable in this plague is, that it
extended to the higher and generally healthy mountain
villages, and killed as ruthlessly as along the heated
coast.

The heat in town was intense, and I was glad to
be allowed to depart for the mountains, after having
been compelled to wait for my permit to shoot. Every
one desirous of shooting in these islands is compelled
to pay ten francs for a pcnnts dc chassc, which the
French official, with characteristic courtesy to a stran-
ger, gave me without the usual fee. It was a lengthy
document, exceeding in size my American passport
from the Secretary of State ; and, in the comparison
of the two papers, each of which affects to describe
me accurately, there is much food for reflection upon

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 33I

the fallibility of passport-makers. Indeed, were I
furnished with a few more acctiraie descriptions, I
should certainly lose my identity and wander about in
a maze of uncertainty, feeling, like those immortal
twins, decidedly mixed. My American description
gives my eyes as brown, mouth small, nose straight,
hair brown, and face oval. To this a justice of the
peace has affixed hand and seal. A French official,
in the name of the governor, positively asserts that
eyes and eyebrows are black, mouth large {bouche
grandc), nose aquiline, "visage ovale" and com-
plexion blanc — which is supposed to be light. To
avoid any unpleasantness with the numerous gen-
darmes who patrol the country, I carried both pa-
pers.

Armed, then, with my f emits de chasse, and sped
on my way with a hearty bon voyage from the chief
of police, I turned my horse's head toward the moun-
tains. He was a picturesque animal, that horse; and
when I say picturesque, I use the term in its most
artistic sense, for by no other can I do justice to his
man}'' projecting points, bold features, and rough angu-
larities. He, indeed, was a horse of many points —
good ones, too, perhaps, in a certain sense. Hang-
ing my umbrella from one of his shoulder-blades, and
grasping his mane with one hand, I vaulted into the
dilapidated saddle, deeply sunken between loins and
withers. With a groan he started forward, putting in
motion his somewhat formidable array of joints, and I
ascended the hills to the rattle of bones.

Beyond the government buildings is the Convent
of Versailles, where the girls of the island are edu-
cated ; and higher up, occupying a broad plateau

332 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

some fifteen hundred feet above the sea, is the sum-
mer camp of the governor and the troops. Spacious
buildings, including a hospital, barracks, and gov-
ernor's house, are almost hidden by trees, among
which the palmiste towers conspicuous with its gray
column and green coronet. Passing these, my road
led me to a little hamlet on the mountain-side over-
looking the Caribbean Sea, called Matouba. Nearly
all its little thatched houses were full, as the people
of Basse Terre, all who can afford it, come up here
at this, the sickly season, to enjoy the baths and the
cool air. Through the kindness of a friend I was able
to hire a small room, one of two, in a little thatched
hut eighteen feet by fourteen. The other half, sepa-
rated by a partition, over which I could easily make a
hand-spring, was occupied by the owner of the house,
his wife, brother, and three children. Contentedly I
swung my hammock from two corners of the room,
thanking a good Providence that I could enjoy all by
myself as much room as sufficed for the other six.

For ten days I remained in Matouba, roaming over
the coffee plantations and climbing the hills in quest
of birds. Many streams dash hurriedly down from
the mountain, and there are waterfalls and cascades,
and high up the hill is the bain chaud, a warm spring
difficult of access. Tired of the continual rain, and
wishing for the society of some one speaking my own
language, I set off one morning, under guidance of
my boy " Co-co,** to find the mayor of a neighboring
commune — the commune of St. Claude — who could,
I was told, speak English. Passing through the litde
village, I entered a higher region devoted to coffee
plantations, and climbed to a spur of the Soufridre,

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 333

right beneath the volcano itself, where I found a com-
fortable little country house, was greeted in English
by the proprietor, who had heard of me before, and
welcomed. A delightful week was passed here, for
my host. Monsieur Colardeau, was a graduate of Yale
College, and had lived in America, practicing his
profession of physician, for eighteen years. He was
a naturalist withal, and the remainder of that day was
devoted to the animal life of the mountains, and espe-
cially the birds.

The " hurricane season," from July through Octo-
ber, is one of calms, tempests, and rains, and it was
several days before the weather cleared sufficiently
for me to undertake the ascent of the Soufriere. At
last, one night, just before the sun dipped beneath the
sea, the jagged outlines of the volcano showed against
a clear sky, and my friend predicted a fair day for
the morrow. At daybreak, the Indian provided by
my friend came for me ; not an Indian native to the
island, they were long since extinct, but one from the
far East, the land to which Columbus in his voyages
thought he was discovering a shorter route — an In-
dian under indenture, a coolie from Calcutta. He
brought a knapsack full of provisions which Madame
Colardeau had provided the night before, and he car-
ried upon his head my photographic apparatus, and
marched before me into the mists of the morning which
came pouring down from the mountain-tops. After
drinking a cup of black coffee, I seized my gun and
followed my guide.

Behind the house, far up the slope, stretched a broad
area of coffee-trees, an inheritance, this coffee estate,
from the ancestors of Monsieur Colardeau, who in no

334 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

particular allowed it to deteriorate from its pristine
vigor of a century ago. Coffee-trees of many years*
growth grew by the side of young plants set out to
replace the aged and enfeebled ones. The plantation
is divided into small squares a few hundred feet in
length, by long rows of quick-growing trees called
^ots douccy -pommt rose, and oleander. This is to
protect the tender coffee-plants from the wind, and
from the hurricanes which sometimes ravage these
islands. These long rows of high trees give the cof-
fee estates a striated appearance at a distance. The
coffee-tree is allowed to grow to a height of but six
or eight feet, as this insures more perfect berries and
renders the gathering easier. The younger plants
are further protected and shaded by plantains and
bananas, which attain a great height in a twelve-
month.

Coffee was early introduced into the West Indies.
It is said that, of three plants entrusted to the captain
of the first vessel bringing it, two died, and that the
remaining one was only kept alive by water withheld
from a famishing crew. The first coffee was grown
in Martinique ; hence, though that island does not
raise enough for its own consumption at the present
time, all coffee exported from Guadeloupe is known
as "Martinique coffee." Its cultivation is easy and
pleasant, although somewhat expensive and difficult
during the first years of its growth. Being generally
situated on the mountains, the coffee plantations are
considered as the most healthy and desirable places
of residence in the West Indies. At the height of two
thousand feet, in the mountains of Guadeloupe, the
temperature varies from fifty-five degrees, Fahrenheit,

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 335

during the winter months, to eighty degrees during
the hottest days of August. A few miles below, on
the sea-shore, it reaches one hundred degrees.

The coflee-plants are raised from seeds generally
sown in beds. When from fifteen to eighteen months
old, the plants are transplanted from the nurseries
into the fields at a distance of six feet apart each way.
The young trees sometimes give a light crop in the
third year from setting out, and increase in yield from
that time for several years. A coffee-tree is in its full
strength and beauty at the age of twenty years, and
will last a century. The tree blossoms, generally,
every month from February to May. The fruit ripens
from August to January, and is picked carefully by
hand, there being ripe and green berries on the same
branches, and, Indeed, often blossoms also. As soon
as the berries are all removed, the trees commence
blossoming again, and so on for many years. The
fruit, or "berry," as it is called, is red, and somewhat
resembles a cherry, and is quite sweet. The kernel,
which is the cofTee, is divided into two parts with their
flat sides adhering.

After having been picked from the trees, the ber-
ries are passed through a mill made for the purpose,
which divides the red pulpy skins from the kernel.
These last, which are the only parts saved, after a
slight fermentation of a few hours, in order to remove
the mucilaginous coating with which they are cov-
ered, are washed freely in cold water and then dried
in the sun. They are still covered, after being dried,
with a tough, yellowish pellicle, which is removed by
placing the cofTee in large mortars with ovoidal bot-
toms, made of hard wood or iron, and under the

336 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

action of heavy rounded pestles, working like the
fulling-mills of woolen factories. Beneath these pes-
tles, which are generally worked b}^ water-power, the
pellicles are broken off into small scales, like bran,
and the coffee liberated. The whole is then carried
to the fanning-mill, from which the coffee comes out
freed from the chaff. Lastly, the coffee is spread
upon large tables, and all the black, brown, or broken
grains removed by hand ; though this is done only
for the superior article called cafe bonifieur^ which
has a local value of two cents more per pound than
that not thus treated.

Nearly all the coffee raised in the island goes to
France, where it is much sought after ; but it is ex-
pensive, its value being, in the island itself, from
twenty-three to twenty-six cents, when purchased
from the producers. Mocha coffee \i raised only in
small quantities, but it is of excellent quality. In
order to increase the cultivation of coffee, the colonial
government has lately offered a premium of forty dol-
lars for every new hectare (two acres) thus planted.
The coffee plantations do not interfere with the sugar
estates, as they are generally on the mountains, while
the latter occupy land near the seashore. There are,
at present, nine hundred and sixty-five coffee estates
in Guadeloupe. This description of coffee-culture was
given me by Monsieur Colardeau.

From the glossy green leaves gleamed berries, yel-
low and red, giving a beautiful effect. In one of the
squares I observed a large bed of straw^berries, the
only ones I have seen in these islands. Higher up I
found a species of rubus^ a raspberry found only in
high altitudes, and the only representative of its family

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 337

in these wilds. Beyond the limits of the coffee grove
we came upon the borders of the high-woods, where
one must go to see the vegetation of the tropics in its
greatest perfection of growth and luxuriance.

There is a suggestiveness of giant trees and a re-
freshing thought of cool retreats in the appellation,
universal throughout these islands, bestowed upon
these high forests, to distinguish them from those of
the lowland. As you set foot over the sharply-defined
line of demarkation, you leave the sun with his scorch-
ing beams behind, and enter a gloomy arch beneath
a canopy of leaves. The trail is sinuous and slip-
pery, and winds beneath huge trees, which we feel —
for we cannot see their crowns — rear their heads
aloft. Overhead is a leafy vault, through which the
sun cannot send a gleam, save now and then a needle
ray ; and through this vaulted roof are thrust up the
trunks of mighty trees, with a diameter, from but-
tress to buttress, of twenty feet. And these broad
buttresses, which spread out on every side as sup-
ports to the main trunk, are studies in themselves.
In the spaces between them there is room to pitch
a tent. Fifty, sixty feet up, begin the broad-armed
limbs, which spread over a vast area ; and from these
limbs depend attractive and wonderful ropes and cord-
age of nature's making, which descend from out the
canopy above as from the zenith of heaven, and touch-
ing the earth, climb again into space, no one knows
where, no one knows how. They are of all sizes,
and twisted into every conceivable shape — some like
huge hawsers and cables, and others small as bass-
lines and stretched as straight and taut as the rig-
ging of a ship. Surrounded by the net-work of lianes
22

338 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

and lialines alone, the trunks would be barely visi-
ble ; but this is not all. Up their rough circumfer-
ence creep vines and climbing-plants, clinging closely
and firmly by multitudinous rootlets, hung with broad
and pendulous leaves. Attached again to the vines
and lianes are groups and clusters of epiphytic and
parasitic plants, some like pine-apples, some large as
cabbages, some like huge callas ; and among them
ferns and tillandsias, scores of species, piled, plant
after plant, one above the other, in seeming confusion,
each striving for a foothold in its aerial world. Now
and then there will be a great spike of blossoms, crim-
son, scarlet, or pure white, at which a humming-bird
will dart, fluttering up and down, the whole scene
reminding one of those lines in " Evangeline," where
the vines —

•' Hung their ladder of ropes aloft, like the ladder of Jacob,
On whose pendulous stairs the angels, ascending, descending,
Were the swift humming-birds, that flitted from blossom to blos-
som."

No sound broke the solemn stillness of this moun-
tain forest save the cooing of a distant wood-pigeon,
and nothing showed itself except an occasional -per-
drix, or mountain partridge, as it flitted like a ghost
across our path. Up and higher we ascended ; the
trees diminished in size, and there came to our ears
the murmur of falling water, which we could not see,
from the rankness of the vegetation. Balisicrs^ or
wild plantains, with broad green leaves and spikes of
crimson and golden cups, now lined the trail, and
glorious tree-ferns, in majesty of beauty unsurpassed,
spread their leaves above them.

We reached the stream, and found it warm — so

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 339

hot that vapor arose on this not too cool atmosphere.
It was sulphur-impregnated, also, as the discolored
leaves abundantly testified, and flowed over a bitu-
minous bed. The luxuriance of the vegetation here
was marvelous, and pen of mine cannot describe the
beauty of the ferns, orchids, and parasites, arches and
bridges of tropical trees and ferns, that overhung and
spanned this tepid stream. A few rods farther up
we came upon a basin of colorless water, walled off
with blocks of lava, the overflow of which formed the
stream. At it I cast a wistful glance, but could only
stop to feel its w^armth with my hand and note the
beauty of the banks of ferns above it. Here we left
my apparatus, plunged anew into a depth of green-
wood, and commenced an ascent that, for steepness,
left all former paths behind. We had to lift ourselves
up by successive broad steps, and cling to roots and
trees for aid.

Emerging from the darkness of this tunnel-like
passage, we came upon another zone of vegetation,
where the trees were dwarfed to shrubs, and so inter-
twined and malted together that a path had to be cut
with the cutlass. Every native laborer of these islands
carries a large and ugly-looking machete^ or cutlass,
nearly two and a half feet long and two inches broad,
which serves them in a variety of ways. There we
found the path washed into deep, cistern-like cavities,
down which we descended on one side only to climb
out at the other. After much hard work this rough
road was gone over, and we came abruptly upon a
plain of small extent, and, looking up, saw the cone
whose side we fain would climb. Straight before us
was the trail of former tourists, which climbed directly

340 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

up the mountain-side, so steep it seemed impossible to
ascend it. There was no vegetation now to obstruct
the view. All about us the plain and steep acclivity
was covered with a matted carpet of coarse grass.
Immediately above us towered an immense rock, so
delicately poised and so far-jutting, that it appeared
ready to fall. Undoubtedly, the next earthquake will
dislodge and hurl it below, to join its fellows that
thickly stud the plain beneath. For an hour and a
half, with many stops for breath, we mounted up-
ward, and made a final pause beneath the rock to
gather strength to meet the tempest of wind that
howled above. Here my taciturn guide pointed out
a narrow ledge where a man died of exhaustion, and
was found at midnight by my informant, who was
sent in search of him, on his knees, with his face
covered with his hands.

Imagine an immense pyramid, truncated by some
internal force that has rent the sides at the same time,
leaving the summit-plane strewn with huge rocks, and
reft in twain by a mighty chasm, and you have the
Soufri^re of Guadeloupe at the present day. We fol-
lowed a narrow path over sounding rocks that told of
caverns beneath, and entered, through a great portal
formed by two adjacent rocks, upon a plateau cov-
ered with a carpet of sphagnum and lycopodium,
spangled with pink blossoms, wild hemp, and yellow,
trumpet-shaped flowers. Narrow trails crossed and
recrossed this little track, like rivers on a map. It
was now eleven o'clock, and we stopped to lunch at
the portal, — for, since my coffee, I had not tasted
food that day, — then pursued our way across the
plateau. We reached a dark chasm, made as though

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 34I

^^^^^^ --■■v^--

^

4^^^^^^^^j^>-C^^""^ '

.•^^^^&i^^^-^-5t-*.''V'>'> ^-.

M

^^^^^'''-^i-^^^^^S?r?*'' ' *"

m

"^s

fmr^ "^^mSf^

k^M"

«

■1^: "'"'*'^^^

\

.-/:a|v'?rg-'"ivy

f- .<'^, ■ i *■ ^ . ^^^^^B^^^^H

mm^

' ' 1. %

^^^^\M^^^^^---^^^H

w 4^

■k-^-«i. rSlk i^b> .zM

fldi^!fe?^^|^Hfe;L^i; > .' j>^S[9^^^^M|^M

k^'

^=. "^fe "1 '^^^^

p^?'"" ■ ^ '>^^^^^^i^''^^^9iB^^H^^^b

The SoUFRIERE of pUADELOUPE.

some Titan had rent the solid rock asunder — so deep
that we could not see the bottom of the dark abyss
until we stood upon a narrow bridge of rock that
spanned the central space. The southern end is a
perpendicular wall, running down into depths the eye
cannot penetrate. From a fissure near its base arose
blue fumes which stained the face of the cliff a long
way up, as though away down in the earth's center,
where the Vulcans are at work, there burned a very
hot coal fire.

We crossed the bridge and scaled the opposite cliff,
and were greeted, at the top, with loud blasts and

342 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

snorts, like those of a high-pressure steamer, and vol-
umes of vapor blown in our faces. Following this, I
found an aperture in a mound of stones, sulphur-lined,
only a few inches in diameter, through which was
forced a column of steam with noises so loud that we
could not hear each other speak. This aperture is in
the center of a desolate area, having on its borders
numerous openings, whence issue blasts of hot air
that taint the atmosphere for many feet around. I
peered into one, arched like an oven, and it was like
a glimpse into the arcana of nature, — into the min-
iature palace of a genie ^ — for the whole interior was
encrusted with sulphur crystals glistening like yellow
topaz ; and a small black passage led down into un-
known depths, whence issued rumblings, groans, and
grumblings. Up from this black throat came such
blasts of old Vulcan's fetid breath, that I was glad to
escape with onl}' a few crumbling crystals for my
pains. Ravines seam the sides of the cone in every
direction, some spanned by natural bridges of rock ;
but that to which I constantly recurred was that cen-
tral gorge, with its wicked-looking throat, from which
there have been two eruptions recorded — one in 1797,
the other in 181 5. Doubtless it will again, at some
future time, act as the vent for the internal ebullitions
of mother earth.

According to Humboldt, the summit is over five
thousand feet above the sea, and the view afforded
me, as an occasional rift occurred in the masses of
mist, was grand beyond description. Climbing to an
elevated rock, I obtained shelter from the terrific gale
that nearly swept me off my feet, and awaited a break
in the cloud of mist. It came : I looked upon a scene

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 343

well worth a year of common life to view. Beneath
me, in full view, were those six islands discovered by
Columbus on that memorable November day in 1493.
Far away, east by north, lay Desirade, the first land
seen by Columbus on his second voyage, a low, table-
surfaced rock. South by east lay Dominica, looking
like a glorious vision of cloud-land, the first of the
Caribbees at which Columbus touched ; and east, right
below, the island of Maricjalante, where first in this
archipelago the royal banner of Spain was displayed.
I looked down to the eastward, over a sloping plain
of verdure, upon forest almost as impenetrable and
wide-spreading as on that day, nearly four centuries
ago, when it resounded to the blasts of trumpets and
the firing of arquebuses. For, the second day of his
arrival here, one of the captains of the great admiral's
fleet strayed into the forest with some men and was
lost. For several days they wandered in trackless
forest so dense as almost to exclude the light of day.
"Some, wlio were experienced seamen, climbed the
trees to get a sight of the stars by which to govern
their course, but the spreading branches and thick
foliage shut out all view of the heavens." A party
sent in search wearied themselves in wading the many
streams, which number, at this day, more than fifty.

Almost under the cliffs of the volcano lay the
Saintes, a cluster of rocky islets discovered on All-
Saints' Day. There is a significance and poetic mean-
ing attached to every name bestowed by Columbus
on these islands, as witness those already mentioned.
With but few exceptions, fortunately, they retain his
perfect appellations. Away north is the triple crown
of Montserrat, and I fancied I could discover the dim

344 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

outlines of St. Kitts, an island named probably for the
good giant who bore his lord aloft, rather than for the
great navigator who discovered it. Farther yet, and
forty miles out of sight, lies St. Eustatius, where the
American flag was first saluted by a foreign power ;
and a few miles beyond is Saba, a single volcanic
peak, ending on the north this chain of volcanic
islands. The Virgin Isles, named for St. Ursula and
her ten thousand virgins, yet farther lie obscured.
Nearer is Antigua, but low and dim. The curtains
of mist again drew together, and I prepared to de-
scend.

This mountain was once the home of a bird of ill-
omen, (described in former pages,) the Diabloiin^
or "Little Devil," which lived in holes in the rocks,
and vvas hunted with dogs by the planters in olden
time. Its discovery was my principal motive for
ascending the Soufriere ; but I returned without find-
ing a trace of its existence. Fatigued, and bathed
in perspiration, I arrived at the hot bath, on the bor-
ders of the high-woods, and plunged into its limpid
waters ; but half an hour's immersion in its tepid cur-
rent removed every trace of weariness, and I floated
blissfully until the sinking sun warned me to be on
the march again.

Years ago — three hundred and sixty-five — there
landed upon this island of Guadeloupe, Juan Ponce
de Leon, noblest and gentlest of all those old con-
quistadoresy fresh from his discovery of Florida. But
two years previously he had sailed in quest of that
wonderful fountain of youth, lured on by the tales of
the Indians of Cuba. And who knows but that he was
still seeking that fountain of rejuvenescence when he

ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 345

essayed to explore these wilds and met with disastrous
defeat from the Caribs? I have floated on the glassy
surface of the wonderful spring of Wakulla, in Florida,
and one winter's day sailed down the bright waters
of Silver Spring, and do not wonder that the simple
natives should invest these mysterious creations with
occult power. But it is a pity that the old Spaniard
could not have found this mountain spring, one dip in
which were worth a month's immersion in those of
Florida.

A velvet-backed humming-bird came down from
the odorous banks above me — a -tiny bird, with a
Latin name too long to mention here — and danced
in the sunlight, his garnet throat glowing like a coal
in the departing beams, as I bade farewell to this
enchanted spot and descended into the deep gloom
of the high-woods.

APPENDIX.

From Proceedings of United States National
Museum.

A General Catalogue of tlie Birds noted from the Islands of the

Lesser Antilles 7>isited by Frederick A. Ober j with a Table

shoiving their Distribution, and those found in the United

States.

Bv George N. Lawrence.

Birds of the Lessf.k Antillhs.

-3

<

O

"i
3
O

TuRDUS NiGRiROSTRis, Lawr . . ( .

TURDUS CARIBB^US, Lawr

Turdus-'

Margarops herminieri (Lafr. ) . . . .
Margarops densirostris (Vieiil.) . . .
Margarops montanus(Vieili.) . . . .
Rampliocinclus brachyurus (Vieiil.) .
Cinclocerthia ruficauda, Gould . . .
Cinclocerthia gutturalis, Lafr . . . .

Mimus gllvus, Vieiil

Myiadestes gcnibarbis, Sw

Myiadestes sibilans, Lawr . . .
Thryothorus rufescens, Lawr. .
TuRYOTurRus Musicus, Lawr . . .
Thryothorus grenadf.nsis, Lawr
Thryothorus martinicensis, Scl. . . .

Siurus njevius (Bodd.)

Siurus motacilla (Vieiil.)

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

* New Species in small capitals.

X

X

X

347

X

X I

X

348 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Catalogue of Birds. — Continued.

Birds of the Lesser Antilles.

•a

s

Xi

«

i

C
<

i.
§

3
0

.3

Q

i

'S

1

c

>

c

0

8

5

I

a

13

X
X

X

X

X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X

X
X
X

X
X

X

X

X
X

X

X
X

X
X
X

X
X

X

X
X

X

X
X

X

'9

X
X

31
33

Dendroeca petechia var. ruficapilla (Gm.)
Denurceca petechia var. mklanop-

X

X

23

X
X

X
X

X

X
X

X

X

X
X

X

25
36
27

VlREOSYLVIA CALIDRIS VAR. DOMINICANA,

38

X
X

29
30

3«

Certhiola dominicana, Taylor

Certhiola saccharina, Lawr

X

X

32

X
X

33

X

X

34

3S
36

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X
X

X
X

X
X

37
38

Phonipara bicolor (Linn.)

39

X

X

X

X
X

X

43
43
44

X

X
X

MviASCHUs Oberi, Lawr

X

46
47
48

Blacicus brunkeicapillus, Lawr . . .

Tyrannus rostratus, Scl

Tyrannus melancholicus, Vieill

X

X

• •

X
X

49

SO
5«

Eulampis jugulnrix (Linn.)

Eulampis holosericeus (Linn.)

X

X

X
X

X
X
X
X

X

X
X

X
X

X
X

X

X

5*
S3
54

a

S6

Orthorhynchiis exilis (Gm.)

Orthorhynchus ornatus, Gould

Orthorhynchus cristaius (Linn.) . . . .

X

X

X

S7
S8
S9

Swift »p.?

. ,

X

. .

. .

APPENDIX.
Catalogue of Birds. — Continued.

349

Birds of thb Lesser Antilles.

a

X

X

X

X \ X

X X

X !• .

X

X

x|- .

X ! X

Cypscloidcs niger (Gm.)

Melancrpes I'hcrminicri (Less.)

Ceiyle alcyon (Linn. )

Ceryle lorqnata (Linn.)

Coccyzus minor (Gm.)

Ciotophag.i ani, Linn

Chrysotis augusta (Vig.)

Chrysotis guildingi (Vig.)

Parrot sp. ?

Strix fl.\m.me.\ v.\r. nigrkscens, Lawr.

Speotyto a.maur.\, Lawr

Pandion lialixtns (Linn.)

B\iteo pennsylvani(;us (Wils.) ' X

Uribitinga antliracina (Nitzsch.)? .... i X

Falco communis var. anatum, Bp. ?... X|X ....|..j..
Tinnunculus sparvcrius var. antillanim ,

(Gm.; X : X

Fregat I aquiki (Linn) XX ••

Phsthon a;thereus (Linn.) , . . X

Ph.Tthon flavirostris, Br. lu't , X • • • •

Pelecanus fuscus (Linn) X X • •

Sula fiber (Linn.) , • • i • • • • i X

Ardca herodias, Linn XX •• ••XiXlX

Herodias cgretta (Gm."i X • • . . i . . • . I . . | . .

X

X

XXX

X

Garzetta candidissima (Gm.) j . . X • • X

Florida ccerulea (Linn.) . X • • X

Butorides virescens (Linn.) jXiXlXX

Nyctiardea vio'acea (Linn.) . . . X ' • •

PLatalea ajaja (Linn.) ..'..!....

Dafila bahamensis (Linn.) i • • i X ! X • •

Clangula glaucion (Linn. ) X

Coliimba corensis, Gm ,

Colnmba leucocepliala, Linn ....

Zenaida martinicana, Bp

Chama;pelia passcrim (Linn.) . . . ,

Geotrygon montana (L nn.)

Geotrygon mystacea (Tomm. ) . . . ,

Numidia meleagris (Linn.)

Ortyx virginianus (Linn.)

Rallus crepitans, Gm

Porzana?

X . X
X X
X i X

X

X

Porphyrio martinicus (Linn.) . . . | X

I i I

X

X

• •{ X X
••XX
X I X i X

•|X

• X

X : X

X X

X

X
X

X

350

CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Catalogue of Birds. — Continued.

tot

I02
103
104

105

ic6
107
io3
IC9
110
III
112
»I3
«>4
"5
iiO

"7

II i
119
120
121
123
»-3
'2*
«25
126
127

Biros of thk Lesser Antilles.

X

Gallinula gnleatn (Licht. )

Fulica?

Squatarola helvetica (Linn.) ....

Characlrius virginicus, Borkh

iEgialitis semipalmata ( Bp.) ....

Strepsilas interpres (Linn.)

Himantopus nigricoU.s ( Vieill. ) . . .
Callinago wil:>oni (Tcmm.) .....
Tringa minutlUa, Vieill. ......

Tringa maculata (Vieill.)

Ca.idrisarcnaria (Linn.)

Lreunetcs pctrificatus (111.)

Symphemia semipalr.iata (Gm ) . . .

Gambctu flavipcs (Gm.)

G.'.mbetta mclanoleuca (Grn. ) . . . .
Khyacophilus solitanus (W.ls.) . . .
Tringoides macularius ( Linn. ) . . .

Niimenius longirostris (Wils. ) ]. .

Numcnius hudsonicns(Lalh./ | X

Anous stolidus (Linn. ) 1 . .

Sterna maxima, Pod.' X

Sterna dougalli. Mo. t i • .

Sterna aniillarum (L,s"..) .

Sterna fuliginosa (Gm.) .

Sterna anxsthcta, Seep I . .

Larus atricilla (Linn. ) ' X

-Estrelata? | . .

Podilymbus podiccps (Linn.)? ! X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X I X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X X

The separate catalogues comprised in the above general one are
all published in the " Proceedings of the United States National
Museum," Washington, Vol. I., that of the Birds of Dominica
occupying pp. 46-69; that of St. Vincent, pp. 185-198; those of
Antigua and Barbuda, pp. 232-242 ; that of Grenada, pp. 265-278 ;
that of Martinique, pp. 349-360 ; that of Guadeloupe, pp. 449-462,

New York, March 20, 1879.

* APPENDIX. 351

[From the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.]
BY GEORGE N. LAWRENCE.

Description of New Species of Birds. Island
OF Dominica.

An exploration of some of the least known of the West India
islands, for the purpose of elucidating their natural history, has
been undertaken by Mr. Fred. A. Ober, of Beverly, Massachusetts,
under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution.

He has already sent every species heretofore obtained in Domi-
nica, with twenty-three additional ones. His first collection consists
of one hundred and fifty specimens, embracing thirty-one species,
three of which I consider new and have described below. Of this
collection he writes as follows : " The first collection was made in
the mountains of the Caribbean side of Dominica, though it includes
also birds of the lower hills and valleys, there seeming to be but few
kinds of the low lands that do not ascend to the mountains ; though
there are many birds of the mountains and upper valleys that never
descend into the low country near the coast."

Besides the three species of humming-birds well known as inhab-
itants of the island, I was greatly surprised to find another species
in the collection, viz., Tha/urajiia IVag/eri, of which there are seven
specimens — all males. The only locality heretofore given for it is
Brazil, and it is considered rather rare ; it looks now as if its head-
quarters were Dominica, yet it seems strange that none are recorded
from any intermediate place. It would appear to be not uncommon,
as more specimens were sent than o( Enlaf/ipis holosericeics s.nd Or-
thorhyjic7is exilis, which are abundant species. EulatJtpis jugularis
was sent in large numbers. On the label of one of the examples of
T. Wagleri is, " Sulphur lake, 2,300 feet above the sea."

The second collection was made on the eastern or Atlantic side
of the island; it contains eighty-two specimens, and has in it ten
additional species, but no novelties. There are two specimens of
that fine and rare species of parrot, Chrysotis augtista.

I. Thryothorus rufescens. "Rosignol."

Male. Entire plumage rufous, much deeper in color above, of a
lighter and brighter shade underneath ; tail dark rufous, regularly
and closely crossed with narrow bars of black ; the coloring of the
under part of the tail is duller, but is barred in a similar manner;
inner webs of quills blackish-brown, outer webs and both webs of

352 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEE^.

the innermost secondaries dark rufous, with distinct narrow bars of
black ; upper mandible dark-brown, the under yellowish-white ; feet
pale brown.

Length, 4J in. ; wing, 2| ; tail, i|; tarsus, \\; bill from front, -j^ ;
from rictus, |.

Type in National Museum, Washington.

2. Dendrceca -plumbea.

Male. The whole of the upper plumage is dark plumbeous ; a
narrow white line extends from the bill, over and beyond the eye,
and there is a wiiite mark on the lower eyelid; the lores are black ;
the under plumage is of a lighter plumbeous than that of the upper;
the chin, middle of the throat and of the breast intermixed with
white, center of abdomen white ; the two middle tail-feathers, and
the outer webs of the others, are like the back in color ; the inner
webs are blackish slate-color ; on the inner web of the outer tail-
feather, at the end, is a spot of white ; on the next feather is a
smaller one, and the next two have only a terminal edging of white ;
the middle and greater wing-coverts have their outer webs of the
color of the back, and their inner webs black ; they end conspicu-
ously with white, forming two bars across the wings ; quills with
their outer webs like the back, and their inner blackish slate-color ;
under wing-coverts and axillars white ; upper mandible black, the
under light horn-color ; tarsi and toes light brown.

Length (skin), 5J in. ; wing, 1^ ; tail, 2\ ; tarsus, | ; bill from
front, '{^.

The female is above of a dark greenish olive ; it has black lores,
with a white stripe over the eye and on the lower eyelid, just as in
the male ; below it is of a much lighter or grayish -olive, the chin,
middle of the throat and of the breast mixed with pale yellowish-
white, the middle of the abdomen is pale yellow ; the ends of the
wing-coverts, the under wing-coverts, and the axillars, are white,
with just a tinge of yellow ; the spots at the ends of the tail-feathers,
as in the male, but less distinct ; bill and feet of the same color as
those of the male.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

3. Vircosylvia calidris, var. Dominicana.
[Dominica Catalogue, p. 55.]

APPENDIX. 353

4. Myiarchus Oberi. "Sunset Bird."

Male. Pileum*nape, and sides of the head dark umber-brown,
upper plumage dark olive-brown, upper tail-coverts edged with dull
ferruginous ; two middle tail-feathers blackish brown, the other feath-
ers are colored the same, except on the outer two-thirds of the inner
webs, where they are bright ferruginous ; outer web of lateral feather
and ends of .the others, ash color ; quills brownish black, the prima-
ries narrowly edged with dark ferruginous; the outer secondaries
are margined witli very pale rufous, and the other secondaries with
pale yellowish white ; wing-coverts dark-brown, ending with pale
ashy tinged with rufous ; under wing-coverts pale, dull yellow, inner
margins of quills light salmon-color; lores, throat, upper part of
breast, and sides, clear bluish-gray, lower part of breast, abdomen,
and under tail-coverts, pale yellow ; bill and feet deep black.

Length, 8| in. ; wing, 3^ ; tail, 3| ; tarsus, | ; bill from front, ^f.

The female does not differ in plumage from the male.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This is a large species, exceeding M. critiitus in
size ; the fourth quill is longest, the third and fifth nearly as long,
and equal ;-the bill is large and strong, and of a deep black through-
out ; the upper plumage is dark, much like that of M. tyraiiniiltts,
but is even darker.

In the collection are seven specimens. They agree closely in plu-
mage ; two only differ from the type in the dimensions of the wing,
one having it three and three-quarters, and the other four inches in
length.

Mr. E. C. Taylor (Ibis, 1864) records a ?,^tc\t?,oi Myiarchus from
Dominica, which was for a good while undetermined. In a List of
Birds from St. Lucia, given by Mr. Sclater (P. Z. S., 1871, p. 271), he
refers it to M. erythrocercus.

I have a specimen of this species from Bahia (verified by Mr. Scla-
ter) ; on comparison I find the two birds to differ very decidedly.

M. erythrocercus is smaller ; above it is of a lighter brown, more
ochreous, especially on the crown ; the bill is weaker and more
depressed ; they are somewhat alike in the coloration of the tail-
feathers, but the line of contact of the two colors is more decided
in M. Oberi.

I do not determine that this is the same as the species obtained
by Mr. Taylor ; possibly the two forms may exist in Dominica.

I have named this species in compliment to Mr. Fred. A. Ober,
who has so industriously worked up the avifauna of Dominica.

23

354 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

5. Blacicus hrunneica-pillus.

Blacicus Blancoi, Lawr., nee Gundlach.

Male. The plumage above is of a clear olive-brown, assuming
an ochreous cast on the rump ; the .crown is of a much darker
brown, forming a decided cap ; tail and quill-feathers brownish-
black ; the tertials are edged with very pale fulvous ; the throat is
gray with just a tinge of fulvous on the lower part ; middle of
breast, abdomen, and under wing-coverts reddish-pchreous, under
tail-coverts of the same color, but paler ; sides of the breast oliva-
ceous ; upper mandible black, the under pale yellowish-white ; tarsi
and toes brownish-black.

Length (fresh), sf inches ; wings, 2| ; tail, 2| ; tarsus, |.

Habitat, Dominica. Mr. Ober says : " Everywhere abundant m
the ravines and dark valleys of the mountains."

Type in National Museum, Washingfton.

Remarks. In "A Provisional List of the Birds of Dominica,"
published in 'Forest and Stream,' December 6, 1877, this bird was
put as Blacicus Blancoi, Gundlach. Wishing to make a comparison
with the type, I desired Dr. Gundlach to loan it to me for that pur-
pose, with which request he kindly complied. The specimen was
received quite recently, and I found that, though closely allied, the
two birds are quite distinct.

B. Blancoi is from Porto Rico ; the specimen sent is mounted,
and is of somewhat smaller dimensions than the bird from Domin-
ica ; the wing measures 2\ inches ; the tail, i\ ; the tarsus, ^. The
crown is olive-brown, which color gradually merges into the greenish-
olive of the back and rump. In the new species the crown is deep
brown, and the upper plumage olive-brown ; it also differs in having
the throat gray, which in the other is light fulvous ; the color of the
abdomen is rather paler than it is in B. Blancoi. ■

In another specimen of the new species, a female, "in young of
the year plumage," the feathers of the wings and back are strongly
marked with rufous, yet the upper plumage is as decidedly brown as
in the adult, and the throat gray.

6. Strix jlammea^ var. titgrescens*
[Dominica Catalogue, p. 64.]

APPENDIX. 355

7. CkcBtura Dominicana. " Hirondelle.*'

ChcEiura poliura, Lawr. (nee Temm.), Proc. U. S. National Museum,

page 62.

Male, Upper plumage smoky-black ; lores black ; rump dark
ash ; upper tail-coverts brownish-black, just edged with whitish ; tail
glossy black, the spines fine and projecting for nearly a quarter of
an inch ; wings glossy black ; throat dark grayish-ash ; breast and
abdomen of a warm smoky-brown ; under tail-coverts brownish-
black ; bill black ; feet yellowish-brown.

Length (fresh), 4f inches ; wing, 4^ ; tail, i-|.

The female is similar to the male in plumage.

Habitat, Dominica.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. In my Catalogue of the Birds of Dominica (Proc. U.
S. Nat. Mus. 1878), I referred this species provisionally to C. poli-
ura, Temm., being partly induced to do so because that species was
noted from Tobago, comparatively a not very distant point. I then
stated that it agreed quite well with the measurements given of that
species by Mr. Sclater, in his Notes of the Cypselidas (Proc. Zool.
Soc, 1865, p. 593), but that the wing was shorter. The measure-
ment of 3| inches, given by me, was taken from Mr. Ober's note, and
is clearly an error, as, in the four specimens sent, the wings of each
measure 4^ inches.

Quite lately I received a collection made in Tobago by Mr. Ober,
and found in it an example of C. brachyura, Jard., which Mr. Sclater
says, " Does not seem to be decidedly different from C. politcra,
Temm., although the tail is rather shorter and the upper coverts are
much produced, so as to reach nearly to the end of the rectrices."
In Mr. Ober's example from Tobago, the upper coverts reach quite
to the end of the tail-feathers.

The species from Dominica is very distinct, and I think is unde-
scribed. The Tobago bird is blacker above, and has the abdomen
also black ; it is at once distinguished by its light ashy upper tail-
coverts.

The only other species requiring notice, if it really does, is the
Hirundo acuta, Gm., from Martinique, which does not seem to be
recognized by late writers, and is not noticed by Mr. Sclater in his
Notes of the Cypselidas. The locahty given for it, Martinique, is
what has induced me to allude to it.

Gmelin's name is based upon the " Sharp-tailed Swallow " of

356 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

Latham, who gives the size as that of a wren, " length three inches
and eight lines;" he cites Buffon and Brisson. It is " L'Hiron-
delle noire acutipenne de la Martinique " of Buffon, PI. Enl., No.
544. He describes it as being very small, the size of a wren, the
lengtli 3 inches and 8 lines ; the whole upper part of the body with-
out exception black, etc., the wings extending beyond the tail eight
lines. Boddaert refers this to H. pelasgia, Linn., but they do not
agree in size or color.

8. Dendroeca -petechia^ var. melanoptera,

[Guadeloupe Catalogue, p. 453.]

9. .^utscalus Guadelotipensis.
[Guadeloupe Catalogue, p. 457.]

New Species of Owl, from Antigua.
10. Speotyto a7naura.

" Owl. Length, $ , 8^ in. ; alar extent, 21^ ; wing, 6f.

" Length, 9 , 8^ in. ; alar extent, 21 ; wing, 6^.

" Iris bright yellow. Called here, 'coo coo,' from its hoot at night.
I considered it for a time as almost mythical, reports concerning its
existence were so conflicting. Some described it as a large Bat,
others asserted that it was (judging from the size of its eyes) as large
as a 'Guinea Bird' ; all agreed that it was a night-bird, that it lived
in old drains, holes in the cliffs, and ruined walls : and that its hoot
would strike terror to the stoutest heart.

" Like its congener of Dominica, it has a bad name ; and though
it may not be called here, as in Dominica, the ' Jumbie Bird,' or bird
of evil spirits, — the name implies more than that, — still it has the
reputation of being a bad character. The blacks declare that it will
not hesitate to tear the eyes out of any individual unfortunate enough
to meet it at night. 'Me rudder see de debbil, any time,' is their
forcible way of testifying to the powers, supernatural and otherwise,
possessed by this poor owl. Finding it impossible to shoot one, I
offered a reward of two shillings for the first owl brought me, and
within three hours had three living birds which the men dug out of
a cliff in the Chalk-hills. One that I kept two days gave frequent
utterance to a chattering cr)% especially if any one approached, but it
did not hoot. It feeds upon lizards and mice, it is said."

Male. Upper plumage of a fine deep brown color, marked with
roundish spots of light fulvous ; the spots are smallest on the crown,

APPENDIX. 357

hind neck, and smaller wing-coverts ; they are conspicuously large
on the other wing-coverts, tlie dorsal region, scapulars, and tertials ;
the quills are blackish-brown with indented marks of pale reddish
fulvous on the outer webs of the primaries, and large roundish paler
spots on the inner webs ; under wing-coverts reddish fulvous, sparse-
ly mottled with black ; tail dark brown, of the same color as the
back, crossed with four bars (including the terminal one), of light
reddish fulvous, which do not quite reach the shaft on each web;
bristles at the base of the bill black, with the basal portion of their
shafts whitish ; front white, superciliary streak pale fulvous ; cheeks
dark brown, the feathers tipped with fulvous ; upper part of throat
pale wliitish buff, the lower part grayish-white, with a buffy tinge,
separated by a broad band of dark brown across the middle of the
throat, the feathers of which are bordered with light fulvous ; the
sides of the neck and the upper part and sides of the breast are dark
brown, like the back, the feathers ending with fulvous, the spots
being larger on the breast ; the feathers of the abdomen are pale
fulvous, conspicuously barred across their centers with dark brown ;
on some of the feathers the terminal edgings are of the same color;
the flanks are of a clear light fulvous, with bars of a lighter brown ;
under tail-coverts fulvous, with indistinct bars of brown ; thighs
clear fulvous, with nearly obsolete narrow dusky bars ; the feathers
of the tarsi are colored like the thighs and extend to the toes; bill
clear light yellow, with the sides of the upper mandible blackish ;
toes dull yellowish-brown.

Length (fresh), 8^ in. ; wing, 6f ; tail, 3| ; tarsus, i|.
The female differs but little from the male in plumage ; the bars
on the abdomen appear to be a httle more strongly defined, and at the
base of the culmen is a small red spot. There are two females in
the collection, the other also having the red spot ; in one the tarsi
are feathered to the toes, in the other only for two-diirds their length.
Length of one (fresh), 8 in. ; wing, 6^ ; tail, 2| ; tarsus, i^.
Length of the other, 8^ ; wing, 6^ ; tail, 3 ; tarsus, i^.
Mr. Ridgway suggested a comparison with his S. guadelojipen-
S2S, the tj'pe of which belongs to the Boston Natural History Society,
and by the courtesy of Dr. Brewer I have been able to make it.

Compared with giiadelonpeiisis, the prevailing color is dark brown,
instead of a rather light earthy-brown, and the spots on the inter-
scapular region are much larger ; it is more strikingly barred below,
the other having the breast more spotted ; the bars on the tail are
four instead of six. In the Antigua bird each feather of the breast
is crossed with but one bar, while those of the other are crossed
with two.

358 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

11. Myiarchus Sclaleri,
[Martinique Catalogue, p. 357.]

Descriptions of Seven New Species of Birds from
THE Island of St. Vincent, West Indies.

When Mr. Ober had completed his investigations in Dominica he
proceeded to St. Vincent ; but unfortunately, while there, he had two
attacks of fever, one early in October, from which he soon recovered,
but in December he had a relapse ; by this he was completely pros-
trated, and it was not until the end of January that he was convales-
cent.

There were also constant rains, and consequently his collecting was
seriously interfered with. He thinks, however, that the specimens
obtained, and the birds observed, complete quite thoroughly the avi-
fauna of the island.

He left for the island of Grenada about the ist of March, at
which time he forwarded to the Smithsonian the collection made in
St. Vincent. There are only ninety specimens, representing thirty-
five species ; seven of these I consider new to science, and their
descriptions are given below. Besides the species sent, lie enumer-
ates twenty-four others, which he either saw, or had named to him
as undoubtedly frequenting the island : making the total number
fifty-nine.

12. Turdus nigrirostris.

Female. Front, crown, and occiput dark warm brown, each
feather of the crown and occiput with a shaft-stripe of dull pale rufous ;
upper plumage reddish olivaceous brown, deeper in color on the
upp)er part of the back and on the wing-coverts ; the latter have
their ends marked with small spots of bright rufous, which p)Ossibly
may be an evidence of the example not being fully mature ; the tail
is of a dark warm brown, the shafts black ; inner webs of quills black-
ish-brown ; the outer webs reddish-brown, of the same color as the
tail-feathers ; the shafts are glossy-black ; under lining of wings
clear cinnamon red ; under plumage light brownish ash, with the
middle of the abdomen and the crissum white ; on the upper part of
the breast a few feathers end with dark reddish -brown, forming an
irregular narrow band ; the throat unfortunately is soiled with blood,
but as well as I can judge, it has stripes colored like the breast, and the
feathers edged with whitish ; the thighs are dull fulvous ; the bill is

APPENDIX. 359

large and strong, the upper mandible is black, the under also, but
showing a brownish tinge ; tarsi and toes dark brown.

Length (fresh), g} in. ; wing, 4J ; tail, 3^ ; tarsus, i^ ; bill from
front, |.

Type in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. There is but one specimen in the collection ; in the
section {Platiesticus) which this species comes under, the sexes do
not differ.

In the distribution of colors on the under plumage, it is much like
T. albiventris, but the color of the breast and sides is darker, and
the upper plumage is of a much deeper and richer brown. The
strong black bill is a striking feature.

Mr. Obersays: "Not abundant; obtained in Rutland Vale, Janu-
ary 25, 1878."

13. Mytadestes sibilans. " Soufriere Bird."

The upper plumage is black ; the front, lores, and sides of the
head for a short distance under the eye, are intense black ; the
crown, occiput, hind neck and ear coverts are deep black ; the upper
part of the back is not quite so deep in color, as it has a slight
smoky tinge ; the lower part of the back, rump, and upper tail-cov-
erts have a wash of dull olivaceous, the latter terminate with black ;
the ear-coverts have tlieir shafts narrowly streaked with white, less
striking than in Af. gefiidarbis ; the lower eyelid is pure white ; the
chin and the anterior part of the rictal stripe are white, the posterior
part of the latter is cinnamon-red ; a very distinct black moustachial
line starts from the under mandible, and joins the black of the side
of the neck, separating the rictal stripe from the bright cinnamon-
red color of the throat ; the breast and upper part of the abdomen
are of a clear plumbeous gray ; the middle and lower part of the
abdomen and the under tail-coverts are of a rather paler cinnamon-
red tlian the throat ; the thighs are blackish plumbeous, some of the
feathers ending with light-red ; the quills are black, the edge of the
wing and bases of the quill-feathers are white ; the tail-feathers,
except the outer two, are brownish slate-color, marked transversely
with black bars, which are not very conspicuous ; the first lateral
feather has the inner web grayish-white, with a blackish diagonal
mark at the base, the outer web is black for one quarter of its length
from the base, the remaining part of a dusky ash-color ; the second
feather is blackish, except that it has for half its length, on the inner
web, an elongated white mark along the shaft, widening out to the

360 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

end ; the bill is black ; tarsi and toes very pale yellow, claws black ;
"iris bright hazel."

Lengtli (fresh), 7^ in. ; wing, 3f ; tail, 3 ; tarsus, I.

The sexes do not differ in plumage.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This differs from all the West India species in its
black upper plumage. The color of the throat is much lighter than
in M. genibarbis and solitarius ; in both of these the color is of a
deep chestnut red ; it has the black moustachial line as in M. geni-
barbis, but it is more defined.

M. arviillatiis (according to the description and plate) differs in
being of a lighter color above, slate-gray {qris ardoise) ; in having
the red of the under plumage darker, brownish-red {brun roux) ; it
has no moustachial line, and the eye is encircled with white ; but it
varies especially in having the feathers of the thigh terminating in
bright yellow.

Mr. Ober writes : " This bird has been an object of search for fifty
years, and has so long eluded the vigilance of naturalists and visitors
to the mountains, that it is called llie ' invisible bird.' From being
seen only on the Soufriere Mountain, it has acquired the name of
* Soufriere-bird.' "

Mr. Ober is entitled to great credit for unraveling the mystery
connected with this bird. By his indomitable perseverance, and
camping out on tlie top of the mountain for several days, he secured
seven specimens.

14. Thryothorus viusicus. "Wall-Bird."

Male. Above of a dark ferruginous, somewhat darker on the
crown and brighter on the rump; lores, and a line running back from
the eye, white tinged with rufous ; the exposed portions of the wings
ara dark rufous, conspicuously barred with black ; the inner webs
of tlie primaries are blackish-brown ; under wing-coverts white ; the
tail-feathers are dark-rufous, barred with black ; the entire back and
upper tail-coverts are marked inconspicuously with narrow trans-
verse dusky lines ; the feathers of the rump have concealed white
shaft-stripes, which become wider toward the ends of the feathers;
the feathers of tlie back, also, have the basal portion of their shafts
marked with white ; the throat, breast, and middle of the abdomen
are white, the latter tinged with rufous ; the sides are light ferrugi-
nous ; the under tail-coverts are rufous, each feather marked with
a subterminal round black sf)ot ; upper mandible black ; the under
whitish, with the end dusky; tarsi and toes light brownish flesh-color.

APPENDIX. 361

Length (fresh), 5^ in. ; wing, 2 J ; tail, i\l ; tarsus, f.

There are three male specimens in the collection, but no female j
one example is evidently not mature ; in this, the white dorsal and
rump spots are wanting, and tlie crissum is immaculate ; the sides
are dull rufous, the under plumage is tinged with rufous, and marked
widi faint narrow, dusky bars. This specimen was killed February,

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. In its white under plumage, this species somewhat
resembles 7". mesoleiiciis^ Scl., from St. Lucia ; but it is bright rufous
above, instead of earthy-brown, and the flanks are light ferruginous
instead of fulvous : it is also of larger dimensions. The transverse
markings on the back, and the round black spots on the crissum, are
strong characteristics.

Mr. Ober states that it is common, and is known as the " House
wren " and "Wall bird," breeding in holes in houses and trees. He
says : "The sweet warble of this lively little bird may be heard
morning, noon, and night, about the houses and sugar mills, as well
as far up the mountain-sides and valleys."

15. Certhiola atrata.

Male. The entire plumage is black ; on the head and throat it
is of a deeper color ; the breast, upper part of abdomen, and rump,
on a side view, show a just perceptible tinge of greenish olive ; bill
and feet black.

Length (fresh), 4| in. ; wing, 2|- ; tail, i|; tarsus, |.

The female differs only in being smaller.

Length (fresh), 4 in. ; wing, 2|- ; tail, i|- ; tarsus, |.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This is certainly a remarkable departure from the reg-
ular pattern of coloration, which prevails so uniformly in this genus.
Had there been only a single example, I should have considered it
as probably a case of abnormal coloring ; but it seems to be the
representative form of the genus in this island. Mr. Ober says it is
very abundant, and "seems to have almost entirely replaced the
black and yellow one of Dominica," &c. He has sent four speci-
mens, two of each sex. But what is surprising is, that there is like-
wise found in St. Vincent a species of the usual style of coloration,
of which he sends but two specimens, stating that it is not abun-
dant. This I have described as a new species also.

$62 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

i6. Certhiola saccharina. " Molasses Bird."

Female. Crown, occiput, lores, and sides of the head glossy
black ; back of a dull {grayish or smoky black ; rump dull greenish-
yellow ; a very conspicuous white superciliary stripe runs from the
bill to the hind neck ; tail black, the first two lateral feathers have a
small patch of dull white on their inner webs at the end, the third
feather has the end narrowly white ; wings black, with a white patch
at the base of the primaries ; these have their outer webs narrowly
margined with white ; edge of wing light yellow ; under wing-coverts
white ; throat dark plumbeous, breast and upper part of abdomen,
clear light yellow, the sides and lower part of the abdomen are light
ashy-olive, under tail-coverts yellowish-white ; bill and feet black.

Length (fresh), 4^ in. ; wings, 2\ ; tail, i ^^ ; tarsus, |. Two speci-
mens are in the collection ; one, marked (J, has the plumage greatly
soiled ; the other is marked as a $ with a ? ; this I have taken for
the type, the plumage being in a much better condition.

The male measvu"es, length, \\ in. ; wing, 2\ ; tail, \\ ; tarsu.s, \.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This, in appearance, comes nearest to C. Portoricen-
st's, but differs in the superciliary stripe being wider and extending
farther back, in the throat being many shades darker in color, in
having the flanks of a darker olive, and the yellow on the rump
darker and duller. The color of the breast and rump in C. Fortori-
censis is of a deeper yellow.

17. JLeuco-peza Btshopt,

Male. The general plumage is smoky-black, rather darker on the
head ; the sides are blackish cinereous ; a circle of pure white sur-
rounds the eye ; a large roundish spot on the middle of the throat,
the upper part of the breast, and the middle of the abdomen, are
dull white, somewhat mixed with blackish on the throat and with
cinereous on the abdomen ; a very small spiot on the chin, and the
tips of the feathers on the upper part of the throat, are dull white ;
the black on the upper part of the breast has the appearance of a
broad band, separating the white of the throat from that of the lower
part of the breast ; the under tail-coverts are cinereous-black at base,
ending largely with dull white ; wings and tail black, the outer two
tail-feathers have a small white spot, triangular in shape, on their
inner webs at the end ; bill black ; tarsi and toes very pale yel-
lowish-brown, p>erhaps much lighter colored in the living bird, nails
ako pale.

APPENDIX. 363

Length (fresh), 55 in. ; wing, 2| ; tail, 2^ ; tarsus, |.

Two specimens marked as females do not differ in plumage from
the males.

Length (fresh), 5^ in. ; wing, 2| ; tail, 2| ; tarsus, |.

Another specimen, marked male, and of quite different colors, I
have no doubt is the young of this species ; though Mr. Ober, in his
notes, says of it (No. 428) : " The quickest to respond to my call on
the Soufriere, was this little bird. It seems an associate of the pre-
ceding species {L. BisJiopl), though I never saw them closely togeth-
er ; yet in general shape and habits, especially in search for insects,
they resembled one another. As I have got both male and female
of tlie other, it precludes the possibility of its being the adult of the
former. That there may be no doubt, I have preserved one in rum."

The color of this specimen (No. 428) is of a dark olive-brown
above, lighter below, and where the white markings are in the adult,
it is of a pale dull rufous ; on the throat showing some white, and
around the eye partially white ; the" marks on the ends of the tail-
feathers are precisely as in the black specimens ; the quills are dark
brown ; the tail-feathers are black. But what I consider conclusive
evidence of its being the young of L. Bishopi is, that on the crown
the black feathers are beginning to appear. Had it not been marked
as a male, I should have taken it for the female of this species. But
according to Mr. Ober, the sexes are alike.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This is a remarkable species, and at first I was at
a loss where to place it properly ; I determined it to be a Sylvico-
line form, yet unlike- any of that family in coloration. On comparing
it with the description and plate of Leitcopeza Setnperi, Mr. Scla-
ter's new form from St. Lucia (P. Z. S., 1876, p. 14), I determined it
to be a second species of that peculiar genus, and, like that species,
having long and light-colored tarsi.

Mr. Ober requested that I would bestow the name of our friend
Mr. Nathaniel H. Bishop on some West India bird of his procuring,
if the opportunity offered ; and it gives me much pleasure to connect
his name with so remarkable a species.

The habits of this bird would seem to be like those of the wren,
as Mr. Ober has on the labels, "Wren? " He states that they are
" very rare and very shy, and found in the crater and dark gorges of
the Soufriere."

Three specimens were obtained in November, 1877, and ^^^ ^^
February, 1878.

364 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

18. Calliste versicolor. " Sour-sop Bird."

Male. Front, crown, and occiput of a bright deep chestnut-red ;
upper plumage golden fawn-color, clearest on the sides of the neck
and on the rump, in some positions showing a pale greenish-silvery
gloss ; upper tail-coverts bluish-green ; lores and partly under the
eye black ; sides of the head and ear-coverts dull dark-green ; tail-
feathers black, except the two middle ones, which, with the outer
margins of the others, are bluish-green ; quills black, conspicuously
edged with bluish-green ; wing-coverts black, with their exposed
jKJrtions bluish-green ; under wing-coverts of a light salmon color ;
the under plumage is changeable according to position ; viewed from
the bill downward it is of a light bluish-lilac, the blue color deepest
on the lower part of the throat and the upper part of the breast ; on
a side view the abdomen is of a purplish-red ; the feathers of the
upper part of the throat are tipped with gray ; the under tail-coverts
are bright cinnamon color ; upper mandible black ; the under, light
brownish horn color ; tarsi and toes black.

Length, 6^ in. ; wing, 3f ; tail, z\ ; tarsus, \\.

The female differs in having the top of the head of a lighter chest-
nut color, and the upper plumage of a pale green; the under plu-
mage has the same colors as the male, but much subdued ; the abdo-
men, sides, and under tail-coverts are of a light cinnamon color ; the
wings and tail are black, but margined with a paler bluish-green ;
the markings about the head and on the throat are similar to those
of the male, " iris hazel."

Length, 6 in. ; wing, 3^ ; tail, 2^ ; tarsus, {|.

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This fine new species belongs to the group which
contains C. vitriolina^ cay ana, cyanolama, and cucullata; it some-
what resembles the latter, a species I have never seen, but accord-
ing to the plate (Mon. of Calliste, Scl.), the colors of the present
bird are generally darker, with no tendency to ochreous-yellow
above, as in C. cucullata, and the abdomen is purple instead of red-
dish ochreous ; the crown is of a clearer and brighter chestnut-red.
It is larger than any of its allies ; and a strikingly different character
is its very large and stout bill, exceeding in size that of any of them I
am acquainted with, being fully as large as the bill of Tanagra cana.

No species of Calliste appears to be on record before from any of
the West India islands proper. There are five specimens in the
collection, three $ and two 9> procured in February, 1878. "Fre-
quents the mountain ridges and valleys."

appendix. 365

Descriptions of Supposed New Species of Birds
FROM THE Island of Grenada, West Indies.

19. Turdtis Caribbceiis.

Male. Upper plumage dark-olive, with the forehead dull reddish-
brown ; tail dark brownish-olive ; quills dark-brown ; lower part of
throat, upper part of breast and sides, clear ash ; lower part of
breast, middle of abdomen, and under tail-coverts white ; upper part
of throat white, with distinct narrow stripes of ashy-brown ; the
under wing-coverts are pale cinnamon ; upper mandible blackish
for two-thirds its length, the end yellow ; the under is yellow,
with the base black; tarsi and toes brown ; "iris red, naked skin
around the eye orange."

Length (fresh), 9J in. ; wing 5 ; tail, 4^ ; tarsus, 1^5.

There are two specimens in the collection, both males ; the length
given of the other is 9^ inches ; the tarsi are blackish-brown.

Habitat, Grenada. Mr. Ober says : " Rather numerous, but shy."
Type in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This species has a naked space around the eye, sim-
ilar to that of T. gymnopthalmus ; but it is of larger dimensions ■
and differently colored from that species. The upper plumage of the
new bird is clear deep olive, not at all brownish as in the other ; the
under plumage is of a lighter ash, and has a much greater extent of
white ; the striations on the throat are darker and more clearly de-
fined.

20. Thryotkorus Grenadensis. "God Bird."

Female. Upper plumage of a rather bright ferruginous, a little
inclining to brownish on the head and hind neck, and brighter on
the rump ; lores whitish tinged with rufous ; a light rufous stripe
extends over the eye to the hind neck ; tail dull rufous, barred with
black ; the primary quills have their outer webs of a dull light rufous,
with broad black bars ; the inner v/ebs are brownish-black ; the
wing-coverts and tertials are rufous with narrower black bars ; under
wing-coverts pale rufous ; the throat is very pale rufous, inclining to
whitish ; the breast light rufous ; the middle of the abdomen is of
a rather paler shade ; the sides and under tail-coverts are of a bright
darker ferruginous ; the upper mandible brownish-black ; the under
pale yellow, dusky at the tip ; tarsi and toes hazel-brown.

Length (fresh), 4| in. ; wing, 2^ ; tail, i^ ; tarsus, \ ; bill from
front, \\.

366 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES.

There is also a specimen of the male, but as it was in poor condi-
tion, I chose the female as the type, from which it does not differ in
plumage ; its measure is given ; length, 5 in. ; wing, 2^ ; tail, l^.

Habitat, Grenada. " Abundant."
Type in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. This species differ from T. rufescens, from Dominica,
in having the coloring lighter throughout, especially below, the entire
under plumage of T. rufescens being of a dark rufous ; there are
subterminal black markings on the under tail-coverts of T. rufescens,
whereas those of the new species are immaculate.

T. musicus, from St. Vincent, is at once distinguished by its white
under plumage.

21. ^liscalus luminosus. ** Bequia-Sweet."

Male. The general plumage is of a lustrous dark bluish-violet ;
the upper and under tail-coverts are dull dark green ; tail dark glossy
green ; tertials, outer webs of larger quills, and the middle and larger
wing coverts, glossy-green like the tail ; the inner webs of the larger
quills are black ; smaller wing-coverts the color of the back ; under
wing-coverts black ; the bill and feet are black ; " iris yellow."

Length (fresh), iO:|- in. ; wing, 5 ; tail, 4^ ; tarsus, i^ ; bill, \\.

Female. Upper plumage of a fine dark brown, light on the
crown, the feathers of which are margined with duJl pale rust-color ;
the tail is blackish-brown, with a wash of greenish, quills dark-
brown ; the under plumage is dark brownish-ash, lighter on the
throat and breast, and fuliginous on the flanks, lower part of abdo-
men, and under tail-coverts ; on the lower part of the neck is a wash
of dull rust-color ; bill and feet black ; " iris yellow."

Length (fresh), c\ in. ; wing, 4J ; tail, 4 ; tarsus-, -^^ ; bill, \\.

Habitat, Grenada. /

Types in National Museum, Washington.

Remarks. The male of this species, in dimensions and general
appearance, somewhat resembles Q. brachypteriis from Porto Rico,
but is of a brighter and more uniform violet ; it may be at once
known by its upper and under tail-coverts being green, the other
having the upper coverts colored like the back, and the under ones
black. The females are totally unlike, — that sex in Q. brachypte-
rus being black like the male, only duller.

Bmffi^

I'MVCRSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

Los Angeles
k is DUE on the last date stani|>ed below.

liEJEC

-m^

■V

s^B uY BmBERY

DEC 1 8 l^bb

Korm^I/t-SiTies 444

•^A' ■/•_ -.j =

I" .iliimlm III j||i|||,||jj||( ill j

,i^V UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY J^ O ll 58 00207 07Q4

A A 000109 649 4

/v \: • .--^('^

>^\">

::;aa