The Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1834-184?, 1845-01-16
H STOLEN BRIDE.
A TALE OF ANTIGUA.

TALE OF ANTIGUA.
In 1910, the English settlers were disturb
ed IN their possession of Antigua by the Ca
ribs, who made a descent upon the island,
pillagfng If, and destroying every thing that
fell in their way. After many lives being
lost on both sides, the English were enabled
10 re pei their invaders, who, however, sue
ceeded in carrying away the Governors wife
and her two children. 1t is maintained by
some authors that the after fate of this I'M
fortunate woman was not known; but that
everything the worst might be imagined from
the character of the Caribs, goaded on as
they were by the loss of their country.
There is, however, a tradition still extant
in Antigua, which most probably relates TO
this catastrophe. In the first years of this
island becoming an English colony, it was,
of course, but thinly peopled by Europeans,
and consequently thete was but little force
10 repel any invasio,n. Parties of Caribs
from the different isllnds-particularly, Do
mlnlca, used frequently TO land upon it, and
distress The inhabitants. In these invasions,
no mercy was shown, M quarter given, TO
the unhappy people who fell in their power
land after a combat, Numerous were the
bodies left upon the field OF battle. Armed
with their massive clubs ard sharp spears, at
the end of which was inse rted a fsh-bone,
dipped in the poisonous juic e of the lianas
or the machineel, the Caribs were no mean
fees.
No sooner had they set fire ~ a cluster OF
houses, or destroyed a field OF It bacco, the
chief production of the island in those days,
than they Immediately few TO thtir canoes,
which were 81 fast in sailing that b eiore the
alarm had subsidized in one part Id ey were
burning and plnndering in another. Atthat
period, the house where the Govern or resid :
ed was situated near Falmouth Bay,' and in
the village itself the principal of the .nglish
settlers lived. Government House, from its
situation, was particularly open to the attacks
of The Carbis; and here the first part of the
scene took place, which gave rise to the ''Le-
gend of Ding-a-D:ng Nook.''%
II was night. The wind, which had been
blowing rather hard during the day. as even
ing drew in, gradually sunk, until at mid
night, the time when the legend opens, it
was a dead calm, Nothing was TO be heard
but the dull moaning Of the waves, as they
broke heavily upon the beach, or, now and
then, the distant bark of a dog from the
house of the settlers, which, with the natural
fidelity of that animal, had followed his mas
Ter TO these sunny Islands, when he came in
search of that fortune Which bis native land
denied him.
The family of the Governor consisted of
himself, his young and beaittif wife, two
lovely children, and his numers.Nls domestics.
AT an early period Of this evening, his lady
with the warm solicitude Of a mothers love
had seen her infants safely deposited in their
cot; and with a mothers prayer for their
happiness upon her lips, watched beside item
until the deepening rose upon their cheeks,
and tEeIr measured breathings, showed that
they slept the quiet sleep of childhood.
Hours rolled on, and all beneath that roof
sought their resting place-all but the gov
%ernor's wife were quickly in the arms Of sleep.
As il some "spirit of the night' had whisp-
cred a hint of the sufferings she was lated to
endure, an irresistible feeling of melancholy
hung over her. Sleep she could not; and to
aIlay the fever other brow she rose from her
couch, and throwing her robe around her she
opened the lattice. The scene she looked
upon was wild and beautiful. Dark masses
of clouds still hung about the heavens, and
strove TO hide the beams of the rising moon,
but she, "fair Cynthia" kept on her way in
peerless majesty. and shed on every object
her mellowed light. The simple houses Of
The English were visible amid the trees, a
bove which the stately cocoa-nut reared lis
head, its long pendant branches perfectly
~motionless. On one side the bay of ,Fal-
~,tE L.. 49, a.. 49, H. - E H.
gazer, every snow crested wave of which
conld be counted; and on the other were the
dark mountains, except in the opening ofthe
bay, wheve nothing was 10 be seen but an
%textent of water.
Long did that beautiful lady gaze upon
this scene; many thoughts did its loneliness
%conjure up--thougbts of her native land, lis
vertent hills and spangled dells, and all IFS
towering cities. Present objects were fast
fading away, when a splash of the waters
were heard, aud as her eye sought the oc-
can, a swift gliding canoe came in sight. At
this moment, the moon which had been late
ly obscured, shone out with redoubled bright
ness, and she could plainly discover that the
canoe contained about twenty armed men
and was quickly followed by a%notAer, with
even more than that number. Who could
these strangers be? was the first thought: and
what was their business at such on hour?-
Were they Carihs? And one more glance at
their wild forms and the dreadful truth rush
ed across her mind, that they were coming
to storm the house. Soon sac awoke her
husband and told him her fears, the domes-
tics were aroused aud armed, ard the house
put into a posture of detence.
The canoes wpro M Lonnar 10 ba eoau.