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“...50 GUIDE TO THE WEST INDIES
' is strongly represented in the West Indies.
Much of this masonic spirit may be traced to
the military occupation of these islands; while
the register number of two lodges in Jamaica,
207 and 268, and one in Demerara, 246, under
the English constitution, show their antiquity.
Masonic visitors are, of course, welcomed at
these lodges in true masonic spirit.
Language. It may seem superfluous to add a paragraph
regarding language, but the writer is prompted
to do so by the many inquiries he has received
from intending visitors to the West Indies, who
seem to think that the islands are peopled by
savages speaking unknown tongues. On the
contrary, the inhabitants are mostly English-
speaking. The mode of speech attributed to
them in books, such as “massa” for “Master,”
&c., does not really adequately describe their
style, which owes its piquancy to the drawling
and sing-song method of delivery which is ac-
centuated to a marked degree in Barbados, where
even many...”
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“...XVII
mm
mÊÊSm
Photo
CLIMBING A COCOA-NUT PALM
The natives show great agility in gathering cocoa-nuts.
rum
wsm
mm
wm
mm
HSSS...”
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“...to Botanical
the west of Basseterre, and the Signalling Fort Statlon'
form a pleasant afternoon’s drive along the Bay
Road, which was constructed during the Governor-
ship of Sir William Haynes-Smith.
Brimstone Hill, a dismantled fortress ten miles Brimstone
• • • • jjill
from Basseterre, is deeply interesting. The hill is
a mass of volcanic rock some 700 feet in height,
which looks as if it had been ejected en bloc from
the craters of the central mountains of St. Kitts.
Records in the island show that it was bought by
the Government for ^500, and that the fortifica-
tions were built by slave labour, each estate’s pro-
prietor furnishing one out of every eighty slaves he
possessed, for the purpose of their erection. For
many years this Gibraltar of the West Indies, as
it is called, was impregnable; but the French, by
placing heavy guns on the hills behind, once...”
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“...generated by water-power
Post Office, from one of the rivers. The Post Office is situated
almost opposite the new “ Bell ” jetty, and can be
The Botanic seen from the steamer. The Botanic Gardens at
Gardens. back 0f Roseau are well laid out, and form a
nsS tb
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lever-failing source of interest to visitors. Almost
every variety of tropical plant known can be seen
there, and the oranges, limes, cocoa, rubber, nut-
megs, pine-apples, &c., which are cultivated in
quarter-acre patches, serve to show at a glance
the advantages of the soil and climate of Domi-
nica. The view from the hill at the back up the
The Market, valley can only be described as magnificent. The
Market, situated to the left of the “ Bell ” jetty,
and at the back of the Post Office, though less
commodious than others in the West Indies, is
well built, and amply serves its purpose. There
is also a railed-off space which is used as an open
market, for the use of which a small toll is exacted
from those having wares and produce...”
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