Camps in the Caribbees; the adventures of a naturalist in the Lesser Antilles

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Preface

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The islands to which reference is made in the following chapters are those known as the Caribbees, or Lesser Antilles, extending over eight degrees of latitude, between Porto Rico and Trinidad, connecting 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 physical 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 Institution, 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

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VI PREFACE.

in the way of discovery ; for which the curious reader is referred to the Appendix, and to the various catalogues 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 populated, 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 aforementioned, 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 photographed 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 following 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 halftones 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.

Chapter I. Dominica

PAGE

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. — Queer Customs. — Delightful Temperature for March. — The Hunt for Birds. — A Day's Duties. — Strange Birds and Scenery. — The "Trembleur." — 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

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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 Coucher." — "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 Humming-Bird. —The Valley of Desolation. — Misled by a Bottle. — Boiling Springs. — Hot Streams. — Sulphur Baths. — The Solfatara. — Building the Ajoupa. — Cooking Breakfast in a Boiling Spring 5 2

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 Sovereigns. — 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 Ancestors -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 Hospitality. — 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. — Crusoe's Island. — Black Caribs. — Weapons and Utensils of Stone. — '• Thunderbolts." — Carib Sculpture. — A Sacrificial 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 Montagne." — In the Haunts of the Parrot. — Immense Trees. — Parasites and Lianes. — Wood for Canoes and Gum for Incense. — The " Bois Diable." — Constructing 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 Accident. —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

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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 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. — 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! — Cooking by Steam. — The Rosewood Cabin. — The Chief Disappears. — 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 Edible Seeds. — A Priestess of Obeah. — African Witchcraft. —

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

CHAPTER XL

A CRUISE IN THE HURRICANE SEASON.

An 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 Islands. — An Immense 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 Waterspout .■...* 163

CONTENTS. Xlll

Chapter XII. A Camp In A Crater

The Last of the Volcanoes. — The Soufriere 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 Songster. — 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 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. — 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 Physician. — Government House. — Trees of the Tropics. — Bread-Fruit and Cocoa- Palm. — First Experience with Bread-Fruit. — Its Appearance. — Taste. — History of its Introduction. — 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 229

Chapter XV. Grenada And The Grenadines

Bequia. — Contented Islanders. — The " Bequia Sweet." — Carib Anecdote. — Union Island. — Canouan. — An Energetic 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 Missionary'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. — Forest Rats. — Monkeys. — Their Depredations. — An Insult . 245

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. — Peccary. — 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. — Habits 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 Impolitic 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 Country. — 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. — 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 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 Sibyl. — 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 Salee. — Usines. — Earthquake, Fire, and Hurricane. — A Living Bulwark. — The Caravels of Columbus. — Our Lady of Guadeloupe. — The Caribs. — Basse Terre. — Le Pere Lahat. — Orphans. — The Cholera Plague. — A Permis de Chasse. — Mixed. — A Horse with Points. — Government Square. — The Convent. — A Summer 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. — Eruptions. — 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 Author's Photographs and Sketches.

page The Island of Cocoa Palms Frontispiece.

Roseau 9

The First Camp 14

Marie, the Naiad 31

Humming-Bird Hunters 47

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

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XV111 ILLUSTRATIONS.

Volcano 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 2S3

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 Soufriere 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, mysterious current. Not subject, apparently, to the laws 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 were 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 disturbance of waters, and that dependent upon its different 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 drawing 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 lurking fear of centipedes and scorpions, and fell asleep. Soon the wheezy pumps awoke me, 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 every halt-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 north-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 crest of the mountain-ridge that showed in the distance 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 the glassy sea, — a heat that made itself felt with a glare that 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 the 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. The 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, doubtless, 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 captain 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 information of a character novel and startling, and informed me that what I proposed was not only useless, but impossible.

Struggle against the current of the mighty Orinoco ! 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 whatever.

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 drifting 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 the 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 clouds. 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 his 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 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 caravels, 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 obstacles 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 appearance, 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 mountains, deeply cut and rent into ravines and hollowed into valleys.

"To my mind," says Anthony Trollope, " 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 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 considered." 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, considering 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 of hills, with valleys deep and dark behind, half encircling the town. These hills 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, cultivated grounds infrequently gleam golden-brown on their slopes, 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, when the sun sinks beyond the Caribbean Sea, and the cool evening breeze plays through the trees. From it we look upon the town ; many palm-trees, few houses, a rushing, 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 doorways, 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 inviting 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-surrounded, dashes over its rocky bed with a roar that reaches our ears even at this height of several hundred feet, and runs at the foot of a high white cliff across another plantation into the sea, peaceful enough at the end.