The Atlantic Islands as Resorts of Health and Pleasure ... Illustrated

Front matter

[Page 70. GREVE AU LANQON THE ATLANTIC ISLANDS AS EESORTS in- HEALTH AO PLEASURE. By S. G. W. BENJAMIN, Al'THOR OP "CONTESU'OiURV ABT IN KIBOFE," ETC. ILLUSTRATED. "Summer isles of Eden lying in dark-purple spheres of sea.'1— Tennyson. "O, health! health! — the blessing ofthe rich, the riches ofthe poor! who can buy thee at too dear a rate, since there is no enjoying this world without thee." — JoNSOar. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET. 1S78.

Preface

. THIS work on the islands of the North Atlantic has been prepared with the hope that it will meet a growing want of the travelling public. These islands, for the best reasons in the world, are becoming more and more the resort of the invalid and the pleasure-seeker. But, np to this time, no guide-book has existed giving a comparative and compre hensive statement of the advantages of such islands, whether as summer or winter resorts. No islands are included in these pages except such as are free from the visitations of yellow fever or persistent malarial and zymotic epidemics. Great care has also been taken to obtain the fullest and most correct sanitary statistics on the subject, in which the author has perhaps been assisted by* his interest in medical topics. Official documents and data have been consulted, and the opinions of the ablest resident physicians have been received and compared.

And in every instance, regarding all points of information, the writer has gathered his facts from careful personal obser vation or from the highest authorities. As all of these islands have been recently visited by him, be has thought tit to leave the description of them in their original narrative form, as he saw all the important places mentioned, while the book may thus perhaps be rendered more attractive to the general reader by the introduction of incidents of travel and adventure. The Appendix, although placed at the end, really contains the pith of the book. It is intended to convey copious information regarding the attractions of each island for both invalids and sportsmen, sanitary

PREFACE.

. statistics, the means for reaching these resorts, and the hotels and ex penses of living. The islands are there distinctly classified in the order of their respective advantages, without bias or prejudice. It may be that one or two well-known resorts receive less indiscriminate praise than has hitherto been awarded to them, while other less known resorts come in for a share of credit that may surprise some who are ignorant of their merits. But the writer can honestly say that he has stated the facts as they appeared to the best of his judgment. The author avails himself of this opportunity* to express his hearty acknowdedgments for the genial hospitality, the many kind attentions, and the uniform courtesy he has met in his rambles among the Atlantic Isles, whether from the officials of the local governments, the consuls of the United States and other countries, or from private citizens. CONTENTS.

Appendix

ILLUSTRATIONS. Page Greve au Lancon.. Frontispiece. Hopetowx Harbor, Abaco 13 Government House 15 Old Gcnnybags 10 Sponge Yard 17 Entrance to Port Nassau 10 Blackboard, the Pirate 20 Fort Eincastle, Nassau 21 The Hermitage, Country-seat of Lord Dunmore, at Nassau 21 Royal Victoria Hotel 23 Public Library, Nassau 24 Silk-cotton-tree, Nassau 20 Dunmore Town 28 Glass Windows 30 Street in Nassau 32 Azores, or Western Isles 31 Flores Cart and Peasant Hut 37 Pico, from Fatal 38 Pico Peak, from Fatal 39 The Pico Ferry 41 Market-day in Eayal 47 Hospital of Villafranca do Campo 40 Jetty of Ponta Delgada, St. Michael. 51 A St. Michael Wagon 53 The Channel Islands 57 St. Peter's Port, Guernsey 58 Monument to Prince Albert, Guernsey 50 Market-place at St. Peter's Port, Guernsey 00 Children Begging for "Doubles" 01 Dolmen and Martello Tower, Guernsey 02 Hauteville, Victor Hugo's late Residence in Guernsey G4 Guard-house described in "Toilers of the Sea" G5 The Corbiere and Light-house, Jersey 00 Mount Orgueil Castle, Jersey 08 The Pinnacle, Jersey 00 Page St. Brelade's CrinRCH, Jersey 70 Vraicking 71 Creux Harbor, Sark 72 Entrance to the Creux Landing-place, Sark 73 The Autelets, Sari. 71 Creux du Derrible, Sark 75 Natural Bridge, Pont-du-Moulin, Sark 7si Seigneur's House, Sark 77 Sand Dunes and Wrecks. between Amherst and Grindstone Islands 7!)

The Magdalen Islands 80 Amherst, looking toward Demoiselle Hill SI Landing on Entry Island 82 Old Man and 0 i.d Woman 83 Dragging the Hull of a Schooner to the Beach S"> Through the Surf 80 Port and Village of Etang du Nord, Grindstone Island 87 Cap au Meule and Wreck, Grindstone Island 80 Part of Cape Alright 00 The Serene Joseph 01 The Madeira Islands 0."> Funchal Harbor and Brazen Head... 00 Loo Rock 07 The Sledge-hack 00 The Mountain Sled 101 Church of Nostra Senhora do Monte 103 Hammock-riding in Madeira 107 Village of Cama do Lobos 100 A Threshing-floor 110 A Grist-mill Ill Peasants' Hut and Peasants 115 Penha D'Aguia 117 Plaza de la Constitucion, Santa Cruz 121 The Canary Islands l-'2 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page Teneriffe 123 Spanish Senorita 124 The Postigo 125 Mn.K-YENDERS 120 Camels and Cochineal-carriers 128 Group of Chuzas, or Huts, near La- GUNA 129 Teneriffe Costume 130 Guanche Mummies at Tacaronte 131 City of San Juan, Orotava 133 Dragon-tree as it was 134 Botanic Gardens, Orotava 135 View of the Peak from Orotava 137 Peasant Spinning 138 A Peasant-woman of Icod 139 Peak of Teneriffe, as seen on approaching the Large Crater 141 Costume of Peasant 144 The Spout off Cape Broyle 147 Entrance to the Harbor of St. Johns 149 Ascent to a "Flake" 151 Cape Ray. — Telegraph House 153 St. Johns, from Signal Hill 155 Cleaning Fish 157 The Bermudas 101 Cuba and the Bahama Islands 162 Hamilton, Bermudas 163 Floating-dock 105 Trinity Church, Hamilton 106 Moore's Calabash-tree 107 View from Light-house 168 Cottage and Garden in Hamilton 169 A Street Scene in Hamilton — The Wharf 170 A Street Scene in St. George's 171 The Devil's Hole 172 Caves on the Coast 173 Ravine on South Shore, Bermuda 174 Pitts Bay 175 India-rubber-tree 177 Fish-women of the Morbiiian 179 Cesar's Table, or Table of the Merchants, LOCMARIAQUER 180 Le Palais, Belleisle 182 Peasant-girl, Belleisle 186 Sambro' Light. — Entrance to Halifax Harbor 188 Entrance to Strait of Canso 189 Halifax, from the Citadel 190 Light - house. — Entrance to Pictou Port 191 Government House, Ciiarlottetown... 192 Methodist Church and Part of Ciiarlottetown — East River in the Distance 103 Page Avenue leading to Government House 104 Market Building, Charlottetown 195 Carrying the Mails across Northumberland Strait in Winter 107 Scene on Hunter River 108 Fish - house and Stage, and Fishing-boats, Rustico 199 Fishing -boats beating into Rustico Harbor, between the Bar and the Spit : Bathing - house in the Foreground 200 Fishing Party 201 Shag and Mingo Rocks, Duck Island. 205 Isles of Shoals 200 Whale's-back Light 208 Duck Island, from Appledore 210 Laighton's Grave „ 211 South-east End of Appledore, looking South 212 Haley's Dock and Homestead 213 Ledge of Rocks, Haley's Island 214 Smutty Nose 215 Old Church, Star Island 210 Captain John Smith's Monument, Star Island 217 Gouge, Star Island 218 White Island Light 218 Cliffs, White Island 210 Covered Walk and Light-house, White Island 220 Londoner, from Star Island 221 Fishermen Cruising 223 Tall Fishing 225 Riding out a North-easter 227 The Micmac Indians 228 One of the Fisherman's Perils 220 Taking a Sight 232 Isle of Wight 234 Ryde 235 Grave of the Young Cottager 237 Legii Richmond 238 John Wilkes 230 Shanklin Chine 240 Ventnor, from Pulpit Rock 241 The Natural Enemy 243 Bonchurch 244 The Well of St. Lawrence 245 A Crab-nitoner 240 Black Gang Chine 2+7 Faringford, the Residence of Alfred Tennyson 248 Scratchell's Bay 0411 Tomb of the Princess Elizabeth 251 Carisurooke Castle 232 Osborne AS RESORTS FOR HEALTH AND PLEASURE.

Chapter I. The Bahamas

WE had been heading southward in the steamer City of Merida for two days, followed by raw northerly winds, when the wind suddenly shifted to the south. The change in the temperature was magical. Over coats were thrown aside at once, and all hands were called aft to spread the awning; the waves went down, the clouds disappeared, the cold gray color of the sea turned to azure, and every breath of the " sweet south " seemed to sing a welcome to enchanted isles where reigns perpetual sum mer. On the fourth night M*e passed the Elbow Light, on the north-east angle of Abaco, and sighted Hole-in-the-Wall at midnight. Many of us also now saw for the first time the Southern Cross gleaming over the bow, while the North Star and the Bear were still visible on the quarter. At dawn a long, low line of green keys lay abeam, and soon we saw the graceful groves of cocoa and the spires of Nassau gleaming in the sun, now rising in a cloudless sky.

The vessel drew too much water to go over the bar, and therefore came to anchor outside of the light-house at the western end of Hog Island, a beautiful coral islet three miles long, which, by furnishing a breakwater cheaper and safer than that of Plym outh or Cherbourg, enables Nassau to claim the best port in the Baha mas. Boats of all descriptions darted from the shore, manned by negroes, presenting sometimes a diverting variety of raggedness in the slender wardrobe prescribed by conventional propriety rather than by any need of protection against the weather. As we rowed in over the bar the first object to attract our attention was the absolute clearness of the water — hyaline, as a poet might truthfully call it — which enables the eye to see everything on the white sand bottom, and the vivid, almost dazzling, green hue of the surface, mottled with varied tints of the same color, giving exactly the appearance of polished malachite.

On landing, amidst a hub bub of negroes, we found the streets of almost snowy whiteness, intensified by the glare of the white walls, so that straw hats and shade umbrellas were at once called into requisition. One ver}' soon gets accustomed to this, however, and the effect could be greatly modified if the worthy citizens would only content themselves with lower walls around their gardens, or would color those they have with some sober gray. This is evident when one rides out beyond the city, where the roads are of precisel}7 the same character, but much more tolerable, because lined with verdure instead of staring white walls. It was a charming transition from the glare of the streets to the cool, spacious verandas of the Royal Victoria Hotel, which occupies noble grounds on an elevated position commanding a superb prospect over the city, the harbor, and the ocean beyond ; and a breakfast of turtle steak, chocolate, and tropical fruits freshly plucked, reminded us again that for a while at least we were free from the furnace-heated prison-houses of the North, and the icy, capricious, penetrating winds of our Northern spring, if it is not a misnomer to call it spring.

Nassau is not only the chief town of the island of New Providence, bnt also the capital of the Bahamas. There the Legislature meets and the governor resides. The Government House is pleasantly situated, and the approach to it is appropriately adorned by a colossal statue of Christopher Columbus. The Legislature is elected once in seven years, and generally includes several colored members. The black population largely predomi nates, for not only did the early settlers own slaves, but many cargoes of captured slavers were taken to Nassau and left there to shift for them selves. The aboriginal race of the Bahamas is now entirely extinct. The negroes are generally tall and well formed, and very civil in their de meanor, and great crimes are uncommon among them. Theft and licentiousness are their chief " irregularities."

It is creditable to the people that the spacious and handsome prison recently constructed at liigli cost is half empty, which gave the jailer a curious uneasiness, because, as he said to me, he had a piece of road-mending to be done in the broiling sun of mid-day, and the number of criminals under his charge was not equal to completing it within a given time ! The old prison, a rather picturesque building resembling a mosque, is now turned into a public library; the cells, once filled with pirates and boozy blockade -runners, now form the alcoves of a very well-arranged library, stocked with some six thousand volumes, generally well selected, and open to the use of the GOVERNMENT HOUSE. public. As this institution is near the hotel, it is of great advantage to strangers sojourning on the island.

Some of the mulattoes display considerable talent as artisans. The shell-work they produce shows exquisite taste and skill; and Bethel, the best ship-builder of the group — and a very clever man he is, too — is of the colored persuasion. Captain Stuart, who commands the light-house and revenue schooner, is a man of commanding appearance and marked intelligence, and is regarded by the negroes of Nassau as " a sort of god round heah," as they phrase it, because he foretold the great hurricane of 1866. The colored people of Nassau are much addicted to church going, and it is pleasant of a calm evening to hear the singing from the churches all over the town. Poppy Rumer, as he is familiarly called, a quaint, unique character, is their most noted preacher, and many of his curious sayings and eccentrici ties are current.

He is, in addition, a man possessed of intellectual pow er, and is thoroughly in earnest. Old Gunnybags is another noted charac ter of Nassau, a modern Diogenes, who takes up his residence in Grants town, the suburb affected by the black gentry. The old fellow, not to speak disrespectfully of him, was crossed in love in his earlier days, it is said, since which melancholy event he has worn a suit of gunny bags of a fashion not borrowed from Paris, and has slept in a hogshead laid on its side under a wall by the M*ayside ; owing to the narrowness of his quarters and the heat of the climate, he cooks his meals in the open air. A little beyond Grantstown are the OLD GLNNYBACS. places called Jericho and Jericho-beyond-Jordan, which show what thrift the negro can display on occasion. As a class, however, the negroes of the Bahamas are far more supersti tions than religious.

They are great cowards at night, shutting up their cabins tight as a drum to keep out the wandering powers of darkness. Although the fact is resented by many of the most intelligent colored residents, there is no doubt that the more ignorant negroes of these islands entertain an almost incredible belief in fetichism. The obeah men drive a thriving business, and it is seldom a sponging-boat goes to sea without first enlisting the valuable aid of the man-witch or warlock. They are said to be lazy, and certainly they seem to take life very easily, lying on the ground sometimes for hours under the full blaze of the noonday sun chewing the end of a sugar-cane, or brawling in grandiloquent and often meaningless rodomontade at the street corners. But there is little need of exertion when it takes so little to supply their immediate wants.

A recent pastoral of one of the ritualistic priests, giving directions for the observance of Lent, created "inextinguishable laughter" in Nassau, for, among other ordinances, it forbade the eating of sugar. As sugar-cane forms a staple article of food with the negroes, a strict observance of his directions would have been followed by lamentable results. But I think the charge of laziness unfounded, if one but considers the severe labor the negroes often accomplish, as, for example, in the sponge fishery, which gives employment to the owners and crews of five hundred licensed craft of ten to twenty-five tons burden, and is carried on with some risk from the weather, and much hardship, for the sponges are two or three fathoms below the surface, and must be torn from the rocks with hooks attached to long poles.

The position of the sponges is ascertained by means of a water-glass, which is a simple oblong box a foot square, open at the upper end, and containing a pane of glass at the other; on holding this perpendicularly over the water one can see everything through it as clearly as in an aquarium — fish, sponges, coral, or shells. Tlie Bahama SPONGE YARD. sponges are chiefly of four sorts — sheep-wool (which is the most valuable), reef, velvet, and glove; and, although inferior to the finest Mediterranean sponges, are very strong, and serviceable for washing carriages, surgery, and the like. The sponge -boats usually get in on Saturday, and the sponges are assorted in the markets, each boat-load and variety by itself. On Monday they are disposed of at auction, only members of the sponge guild and those making genuine offers being permitted to bid, which is done by written tenders.

Talking aloud to themselves is another trait peculiar to the negroes of the Bahamas. As a proof of their love for large -sounding phrases alluded to above, which are often used without the slightest idea of their meaning, I give here a copy of a letter written by a soldier of one of the native regiments, addressed to his physician, who kindly placed it at my disposal, selecting it at random from a number of similar precious doc uments he had received : "Feb. 23, 187-. " Sir, — I thy most worthy servant, have the honour, at this time, to im plore and beseeche thee, this 2d time to Pore this thy patient and impen itent hand Maid, for although it has pleased the Almighty to deal thus with her, as she at present is, still i trust that it may please him also to release her, out of her present pains and sufferings, to her former position again.

And we trust that his Never failing providence may and will sup port thee to listen to the Tortures and cries of the Afflicted, for his mer cies sake. Sir the present positions of thy penitent hand Maid is thus, a severe and Protrnbeiance pain in the back, and a cough in proportion to the pain in the back, and a pain in the stomach in proportion to the cough, and a standing weakness, and a stubborn faintiness, with restlessness day and night, and Sir she stands at present in need of a good proportion of blood, for Sir she loose a good set, before she came to thee the first time. For Sir, she was losing it from Sunday to Sunday, which was eight days, and it began to abate on the ninth da}*. And Sir by the help of God and thy assistance, I implore thee to try for her for " I am thy humble Servant."

Wrecking is another branch of business for which the Bahamas have long been famous, owing to their intricate navigation. At one time this was very lucrative, but it has been falling off of late years. Formerly everything saved from a wreck was sold at auction in Nassau ; now all goods not of a perishable nature, and undamaged, are reshipped to the port of destination. Collusion between ship -masters and the pilots was also frequent ; but increased vigilance on the part of the insurance com panies has interfered with this nefarious business, while the numerous light-houses recently erected by the Government, with noble self-sacrifice have operated in the same direction. The uncertainties attending monevmaking in this precarious wa}- have their effect on the character of the people, as is the case when the element of chance enters largely into business ; the prizes in the lottery are few, but are occasionally so large as to excite undue expectations, and thus unfit many for any pursuit, more steady but less exciting.

For months they will cruise around, watching and hop ing, and barely kept alive on a scant supply of sugar-cane and conchs ; then they fall in with a wreck, and make enough from it, perhaps, to keep them going another year. It is not a healthy or desirable state of affairs. One Sunday morning acommotion arose quite unusual in the uncom- ENTRANCE TO PORT NASSAU. monly quiet and orderly streets of Nassau. There was hurrying to and fro, and the sound of voices shrill and rapid indicated some sudden and extraordinary excitement. The wharves of the little port were thronged and positively black with eager negroes, and great activity was noticeable among the sloops and schooners. Some were discharging their cargoes of sponges, shells, fish, and cattle in hot haste; others were provisioning or setting up their rigging; others again were expeditiously hoisting their sails and heaving up their anchors ; while the crews, black and white. sung songs in merry chorus, as if under the influence of great and good tidings.

What could it all mean ? It meant this : another vein in the Bahama gold mines had been struck, another lead discovered, and the miners were off to develop it, each hoping to be the luck}* one to turn out the largest nugget, and to retire on it for life. In other words, news had just been brought of the wreck of a Spanish vessel on the Lavadeiros Shoal, one hundred and fifty miles away. She was none of your wretched colliers or fruiters, with a cargo valueless to wreckers, but a ship whose hold from keelson to deck beams was packed with a thousand tons of choice silks and stuffs for the black-eyed brunettes of Havana, just enough damaged to oblige them to be sold at auction in Nassau, where all goods wrecked in that archipelago must be brought for adjudication. Verily, we thought, " it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good;" the misfortune which has wrung the soul and perhaps ruined the happiness of two or three in far-off lands has made glad the hearts of several thousand dark ies, mulattoes, and whites in the Bahamas.

Here is a text for La Roche foucauld, the modern cynic. The manufacture and exportation of salt have also been among the most lucrative pursuits of the islands. With the single exception of Andros Island, which seems to be still in a formative state, there is not a freshwater lake or stream in the whole group; but lakes of some size, containing more or less salt, are found on many of the islands. Vast quantities of salt have been made at Exnma, Long Island, Rose Island, Inagua, and Turk's Island. The latter is now un der the jurisdiction of Jamaica, and the production of salt at the other islands is at present in a very languish ing condition, the result of the high duties imposed by our Government on the article, which act in two ways, like a two-edged sword, forcing our people to pay a higher price than they otherwise would for what salt they BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE. consume, and effectually crippling one of the most important trades of the West Indies.

But the branches of business which in past years have brought most wealth into Nassau have been buccaneering, privateering, and blockade running. The buccaneers were at one time in high feather there ; they bought up or captured the governors, toasted and roasted the people when recalcitrant, and, hiding behind the low keys in their little vessels, sprun<>* out, spider -like, on any unwary trader 'quietly sailing by. Blackbeard, who is represented in the cut given above, from an old print, was the most celebrated of the ruffian chiefs who at various times ruled over these islands. An immense silk-cotton-tree stood until within a few vears on Bay Street, in Nassau, under the broad branches of which he admin istered high-handed justice, and caroused with his harridan dames. He was finally killed off the coast of South Carolina in a desperate fight, and the land had rest for certain years, the escutcheon of the colony bearing since that time the significant legend, aExpulsis piratis, restituta comrner cia."

After the pirates came the pri vateers of the Revolution. Fincastle (Lord Dunmore), when he left Vir ginia, settled in the Bahamas, of which he was appointed governor, and he was followed by many Tories. Al though not a great man, his is one of the most noted names connected with the history of the Bahamas. Traces of his administration still exist in many FORT F1NCASTLE, NASSAU. places. There is a quaint fort named Fincastle behind the Victoria Hotel, curiously resembling a paddle-box steamer ; and the country-seat where he resided, now called the Hermitage, is still standing by the water, ad mirably situated, surrounded by a noble grove of oaks and cocoa-palms. Royal Island, having a snug little harbor easy of access, was a rendezvous where arms and stores were concealed, and royalist privateers made it a common resort during the American Revolution.

An old stone house still remains there which has doubtless witnessed many wild, mysterious scenes in days gone by. THE , HERMITAGE, COUNTRY-SEAT OF LORU DUNMORE, AT NASSAU. We may add, in passing, that one of the most noted characters who ever figured in Nassau was Blennerhasset, notorious for his relations with Aaron Burr. It will be remembered that after the excitement pro duced by the trial had blown over, Blennerhasset passed off the scene ; but Blennerhasset still lived. There is excellent authority for stating that the Bahamas, a refuge for so many rovers and adventurers, gave him a shelter during some of the remaining years of his life. Leaving his wife (whom the classic oration of Wirt has made famous) to care for herself, he there assumed the name of Carr, and received the position of Attorney general.

The secret was known to but few. Another wife consoled him for the absence of Mrs. Blennerhasset, who once discovered his retreat, but was spirited out of the island, and maintained elsewhere on a separate allowance. Those were roistering days, when gentlemen drank hard, played high, and fought duels like devils — days now fortunately passed, it is hoped, forever, at least in Nassau — and Blennerhasset acted his role well, by no means a looker-on in Vienna. And now we come to the most remarkable episode in the history of the Bahamas, the part they played in the Southern rebellion, about which a volume of entertaining information could be written. On the 5th of December, 1861, the first Confederate vessel arrived from Charleston, with 144 bales of cotton; and between that time and tne close of the war 397 vessels entered Nassau from Confederate ports, and 588 sailed thence for Southern ports.

Of these the steamers were to the sailing ves sels in the ratio of three to one. Of the clearances 432 were ostensibly for St. John, New Brunswick, and of the total number only thirty-two carried the Confederate flag — a pretty fair indication of the amount of complicity practised about that time bv Her Majesty's subjects and officials in Nassau, and of the value of the British capital engaged in this ques tionable traffic. In nothing was this connivance on the part of a neutral power more evident than in the case of the Florida, or Oreto, which was three times seized by the commander of the British man-of-war Bull-dog, and three times released by the decision of the insular Admiralty Court on grounds afterward wisely disavowed by the Home Government. During the Confederate years the little town actually swarmed with Southern refugees, the captains and crews of blockade -runners cotton brokers, rnm-sellers, Jews and Gentiles of high and low degree, coinin"* money and squandering it as if they owned the secret of the transmuta tion of metals.

They played toss-penny in the verandas of the Royal Vic toria Hotel with gold eagles! The shops were packed to the ceilinc-s* the streets were crowded with bales, boxes, and barrels — cotton comino* in Confederate uniforms and pills of lead and quinine, to pepper patriots and patients, going out. Semmes and his bold boys twisted their mus taches at every corner, danced involuntary reels and hornpipes from grog gery to groggery, and from the waxed floors of the Government House, where they were always sure of a cordial reception, to the decks of the Banshee and Alabama, or brandished their revolvers in the faces of Union men, whose lives were too uncertain to insure thereabouts in those rol licking days. A spicy little paper called the Young Punch, edited by a witty Confederate in Nassau, under the sobriquet of " The Can't Get Away Club," gives a glimpse of the state of things then existing, and shows that there was some real fun connected with blockade-running.

A ROYAL VICTORIA HOTEL. rather grim joke was played at the expense of the rebels via Nassau. A large invoice of prayer-books was brought from England and reshipped to Charleston, with the express understanding that they were suited to the devotional wants of the Confederacy. Quite a number had been distrib uted before it was discovered that the prayers for the President and Con gress of the United States had not been altered ! It is not a creditable fact that some of tlie goods smuggled into the PUBLIC LIBRARY, NASSAU. Confederacy by way of Nassau were from Northern ports, as, for example, ship-loads of pistols brought from Boston in barrels of lard. On the other hand, there are many instances of noble patriotism on record. The name of Timothy Darling, Esq., is deserving the honor and respect of every true American.