The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-12-19
BARBADOES.

in fact, they are as thick all over tn,
island as plums in a pudding. It i
said that il is not possible to raise you
, voice in any part of it without being
heard by some neighboring house
These huts are dotted about withou
the slightest regard for regularity
sometimes number of them in kint
of promiscuous heap, sometimes one o.
two by themselves. They frequently
have little patches of land or gardens
attached to them, but often are SCI
down on the bare face of a piece o.
stony or waste ground. Sometimes al
almond or a agooseberry tree grows close
to them, but apparently more by acci
dent than design. Some of the huts are
kept nicer than others and many have
a pig, or sheep, or goat tethered be,
side them, or in rarer cases even a COW
or a donkey. Chickens and turkeys
abound among the huts. Sheep have
no wool, but kind of coarse hair, and
are of as various colors as our COWS
black, brown, chestnut, and piebald,
occurring nearly as commonly y as white.
Cows are much smaller than the aver
age size in England. Oxen and mules
are the beasts of burden, horses being
kept solely for riding and driving.
The first thing that struck me on
entering West Indian house was the
extreme want of privacy in their mode
of life in fact, this is carried so far
that one does not even shut ones bed
room-door at night. The reason is, of
course, that everybody wants to create
a draught-a thing as much sought after
here as it is avoided at homeland so
windows and doors are all left open.
There is seldom hall, but the veranda
| generally opens directly into the living
rooms and everybody walks directly
into the drawing-room when he comes
in from riding or driving. In the rooms
there are never carpets nor curtains.
On the beds are no blankets-the only
covering for body at night is single
sheet, not even q counterpane and all
the time windows and doors are open,
and there is a great draught, but no one
thinks of taking cold.
THERE'S one thing in Barbados Iquar-
rel with immensely-that is, the way
| the tall black hat is worshiped. That
institution, so ugly, so uncomfortable
even in cold England, is twice as ugly,
| three times as uncomfortable, in tropi-
cal Barbados, where blackness is sun
misunderstanding color to be sedulous-
| ly avoided, and tightness heat-giving
quality to be as sedulously Stunned.
o little Grundy-ridden island of Barba-
| does you, SO small that everybody is
either related to, or an intimate of eve
rybody else, do you say that black hat
is a token of respectability? Surely
you know who is respectable without
that mark of Grundyitish slavery. o
black hat the blacklist blot on fair
Barbados, would that could drown
you in yon blue sea, and so wash away
that stain of Gruudyism forever
The Barbadian ladies do not seem to
have much taste for flowers. While
the most beautiful flowers grow all over
the island, I saw many bouquets at the
ball composed of English chrysanthe-
ums and spindly rose-buds. In few
of the houses in which l have been
have there been natural flowers about
the house, but what requirement there
was for floral decoration was satisfied in
many cases by a vase of artificial or
paper flowers. A vase of paper flow
ers inside, and lovely jasmines and ipo-
mBas, and the treasures of our green
houses, outside, is a rather surprising
sight to an Englishman.
The peasantry of Barbados is nearly
entirely black, though there are some
few poor whites. They are civil, in
dustrious, and contented; and since
the island is so thickly inhabited, they
are obliged to work for though they
generally own their little huts. and get
a good deal out of the little patches of
land attached to them, still it is not
sufficient to keep them without work
ing. They have the credit of being in
q measure immoral, but since the fe-
males very largely outnumber the emales, |
it is so accounted for. They are, as a
rule, very b 0nest, and no great crimes
prevail among them. Offenses against |
the person, as assaults and such like, |
are rare. The greatest temptation |
placed in their way, and one to which |
they seem not unfrequently to fall vic
Tins, is the facility for stealing sugar
cane from the cane-felds, which are
totally unprotected except by watch
men, who, of course, cannot be in many
places Mt one time. The negro is very
fond of cane, and practically lives upon
it during the crop-time-that is, while
sugar is being made. The punishment
for a first offense of stealing cane is
three months imprisonment on Sec
ond conviction, six months, which term
is also the punishment for all after
offenses of the same nature. Fowl
is not very prevalent, though
one sometimes hears of it but for that
also there is great facility. because of
the quantity of poultry kept at the
various estates. Chill 1ren abound, and
the boys run about clothed in nothing
till they are eight or ten, but the girls
are invariably decently dressed.
The negroes are very religious on
Sundays, and flock to church and chapel
dressed in the most wondrous manner
but they do not carry their religion
with them every day In the week, nor
does it penetrate very deep. A negro
one day, after hearing powerful and
uprousing sermon, announced to his
friends that he was quite ready to die
that night. One of his friends then,
while the negro in question was going
to bed by the light of a candle, ap-
preached his front-door and knocked
three times in most sepulchral man.
ner. "Who dere ?" asked the negro.
No answer, but three more knocks.
/" Who dere?" again he shouted. In a
deep bass voice his friend answered, "l
am Michael, the angel of death"
Sc What you want here?" parleyed the
negro INSIDE. AIN COD16 4OE luS 6OEl |
of Thomas Jones'" A scuffle inside,
and go Lori o Lor' !" in smothered
voice. Out went ,he candle, and care
fully peeping through the window of
the hut, he said, "You come for Tom
Jones, eh? Well, him just gone OUT"
and off he bolted as fast as he could
the back-door. Another tale.
much to the same purpose, is the fol-
lowing: A niger hut had a pumpkin
vine growing over the roof, and fellow
once climbed up to steal the pumpkins,
when, to his horror, the vine gave way,
and he was let through the roof, and
came down between the owner and his
wife, who were in bed. AT his wits
end for an answer to the indignant COM
plant and question of the disturbed
sleeper, "Who dere? ?" his disturber
''I ana de debil himself, come
10 take you away" Away went the
man and his wife, one one way, another
another, leaving the thief in possession
Of the house and his stolen pumpkins,
which had fallen through with him, and
with which he decamped in peace.
There are some colored families who
are wealthy in Barbados, but the line