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“...36 GUIDE TO THE WEST INDIES
concluded, that our little leakie companion,” a
small vessel which had been keeping up with
them, “ was buried.” Off the islands called “ the
deserts,” a sail was sighted which “ we doubted was
a Turke”; and “made us putt ourselves in a posture
of defence, and the next morning, findeing that he
had chased us all night ... we prepared all things
for a fight, and continued in that posture all the
day and night.” On arriving at Madeira they were
“ verry neare loosing our shippe, the master being
unacquainted, and comeing too boldely in near
the shoar, in a daingerous place.” On Tuesday,
the 18th, they crossed the Tropic of Cancer, and
were much diverted by the flying fish, “which,
though common at sea, may be a subject of wonder
to such as are home-bred . . . they fly in whole
shoales, but not very farre, for no sooner are
their wings dry, but they drop into theire element,
the water. It is usual for them to fly into the
shipps. We had one...”
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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...”
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“...182 GUIDE TO THE WEST INDIES
experimental plots. There is also a small Stock
Farm attached to it, where pedigree animals are
kept. The pupils of the school, about twenty-five
in number, receive a sound education in practical
agriculture and applied sciences free of cost to
their parents. Visitors can inspect this institu-
tion also on application to the resident master in
charge. Both the Cotton Ginnery and Agricultural
School are under the control of the Imperial
Department of Agriculture.
Soufrière. If time Permits> an expedition should be made
to the Soufrière, the volcano (3500 feet high)
situated at the northern end of the island, which
suddenly burst into violent eruption on 7th May
1902, a day in advance of La Montagne Pelée in
Martinique, after being quiescent since 1812, and
continued in a state of activity until March 1903.
The following account of the eruption, which re-
sulted in the loss of 2000 lives, was given by the
Rev. J. H. Darrell of Kingstown...”
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“...Constitu-
tion.
276 GUIDE TO THE WEST INDIES
retired to the mountains, but a desultory war was
kept up until Leclerc cajoled the native chiefs
into a suspension of hostilities, and, having invited
Toussaint to an interview, seized him and sent him
to France, where he died in prison in 1803. The
blacks were infuriated, and renewed the struggle
under General Dessalines. In 1803, on the
approach of an English fleet, the French agreed
to evacuate the island, and in 1804 independence
was declared, and the aboriginal name of Hayti
revived. Dessalines was made Governor for life,
but later in the year he proclaimed himself
Emperor. He was assassinated in 1806, and two
rival chiefs, Cristophe and Pétion, established
themselves in the north and south respectively;
while the Spaniards retook the eastern part of the
island, which they called Santo Domingo. Pétion
died in 1818, and, Cristophe having committed
suicide in 1820, General Boyer became master of
the whole of the...”
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