The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-03-17

! low nsh, red nsh, or black hsh, eacl
of which is designated by its color, tn,
most beautiful of anything | ever saw
which, after being dressed, If il require,
to be preserved for future meal, it is bu
the simple act Of hanging it up in the oper
air--the atmosphere being 50 dry that il
will cure aud be preserved indefinitely
without the use Of salt. While for hii
meat he "hooks it," or trades for it some
Of his wild fruit His bed is the soft side
of plank. His happiness is complete
About all the labor he is known to do is
begging Of the white strangers for a tup,
pence two pence, or perhaps some of the
smartest will gather "curiosities" and sell
to strangers, charging you five or six dol
ls's, from which they gradually fall iii
you fail to tumble1 down TO about two to
four York shilliugs.
The streets for miles and miles are mac
adamized, and are as smooth and as clean
as floor. They look almost as white as
snow, from the limy stone from which they
are top-dressed. The reflection from the
sun is very trying to the eyes at the first
venture forth, but soon you get used to the
glare and you have the most lovely ram
bles in the world almost (if it were posi-
ble) second garden of Eden.
The houses are mostly built of species
Of white mari, or limestone, which is
very soft in its natural state, and is sawed
out in blocks of the desired dimensions
with large cross-cut saw and hardened by
exposure to the air. The grounds sur
rounding them are handsomely ornamen-
ted with vines, flowers and trees.
The city has good public library of
over 1000 volumes And talk about ''the
city Of churches !" Why, Nassau beats
them all, aud | haven't seen them all
either | can count now twenty-one.
What says Brooklyn now2 They repre-
sent all creeds, and seem to be prosperous.
The scenery, both seaward and inland
is varied and beautiful. 1t is simply i'm
possible to describe it; and for the lovers
of nature it is a rare and not costly treat.
The harbor is perfectly safe in all
weathers, for boating, fishing or bathing;
while the shores are covered with marine
treasures the most beautiful and wonderful
and pleasing to the eye-in the shape of
shells, corals, and the sea beans, which
float in from other shores. Game is abun-
dant, and the sportsman is well rewarded
for his toll.
People coming here need bring nothing
but greenbacks; it is received the same as
gold or silver at the stores and hotels. Our
hotel was built by the British government
in 1860, and neither pains nor expense
was spared in answering the requirements
OF the most modern and scientific theories
of architecture and ventilation. 1t is four
stories high, each of the three first stories
being surrounded by piazza ten feet
wide, forming an uninterrupted promenade
OF over 1000 feet in extent; and this is
well patronized bv the handsome ladies'
from "the States The rooms are large
and most all Of .nem provided with French
easements opcaing on the piazza, and each
door and window has a transom. Sea
bathing IS convenient and near the hotel,
and salt water baths can be had at the
hotel at any time.
| forgot to say that the streets are thor
oughly swept every morning by convict
labor, all Of whom are negroes, and mostly
all convicted on the charge of larceny.
The prison is large handsome building,
and there are about 140 prisoners confin
ed. Those at hard labor, when there is
nothing else to do, are required to carry a
bag of shot, say 25 pounds, from one place
to another and then, to keep up the amuse.
ment, quietly but carefully return the ar
ticle from whence it came, The unproft-
able labor is kept up until some other Job
of work or play turns up. Those convic-
ted for long service wear chains attached
to the waist and thence to the ankles.
We have here the tamarind tree in all
its perfection, from the half-grown pod up
to the ripe, luscious fruit. The negroes
use it as a preserve, and have also tasted
it as pickle and found it quite toothsome.
Here also grows the cactus, in endless
variety and artistic shapes and designs,
and covering sometimes ten rods of stone
wall, dressing it off quite handsomely.
The fences, or stone walls, are what you
might call burglar-proof-that is, they are
built solid up to about four or FIVE feet,
and from one to two thick; on top are fas.
tened all shapes and sizes of broken bot
ties, firmly cemented, so that to climb over
a fence without ladder looks like an i'm
possibility; but where in the name of all
that's good so many of these empty bottles
all came from is a mystery. One would
think that the inhabitants must have
bathed in liquor, though have not seen
a case Of intoxication since have been
on the island.
| also have seen the banyan tree, the
same that is known in the East, aud those
who have seen the original in far-away
India land which are capable of sheltering
an army Of three thousand mem say that
this is undoubtedly the same, only on a
smaller scale. Relic hunters cut il away
so fast that it does not spread with the
rapidity, nor have chance to grow SO
large, as those of India. But it is a Gu
riosity, with its limbs and tendrils twined
and interviewer, forming as handsome aud
square knot rs it is possible for Jack
Tar to make on shipboard.
The water in the harbor and outside is
so clear that l myself have seen distinctly
a five cent piece fully fifty feet under
water, and could see the fish moving
slowly around among the sponges, and
darting here and there as the boat neared
them.
They have but two specimens here Of
the regular date palm Of the east, on the
whole island, but these are beauties. They
look as if they were painted masts with a
palm tree nicely spliced to the top,
----.-s-----
BEWARE OF BENzINE.-The Tidionte
Ne,cs says Last Saturday the wife of
Swede named Anderson, living in New
London, was seriously burned by a singu-
lar explosion. She was engaged in clean
ing the wood work in her kitchen with
benzine, the room was shut up close with
fire in the stove, Its supposed that the
evaporation Of the benzine filed the room