Sharp County record., 1881-04-28
Life in the Bahamas.

/ should YlSlt the QudNS Ucl"OSH ~ III
and eight o'clock in the morning
Then there is a great hustle at the
market-place, where the fishermen
bring in the nights catch, and remark.
able varieties OF strange creatures OF
the deep. glowing with prismatic hues'
are tumbled out upon the planA3'
Grotesaue old women display their
little stock of fruit and vegetables. NO
| one seems to possess more than a few
cents worth; but if their business IS not
extensive it is conducted with amazing
volubilitv. a little pile Of cocoanuts, a
small basket of oranges, and bunch OF
bananas. will be enough to furnish a
stall of the better class; while the
smaller dealers set forth penny
salads. consisting of half an onion and
two or three minute tg-tomatoes, ar
ranged in piece of cOcoanut-shel, with
maybe a sprig of some saVory herb
Here is tray of shelled peas; there
a dozen or so of wretched Irish potatoes,
quite put out of countenance by a
mighty yam. An armful OF crooked
sticks-the tlOtsam OF the reets-ls
offered for fre-wOod, commodity OF
which there is but small consumption
in a town where nearly all of the houses
are built without chimneys. At every
turn there are supplies of sugar-cane,
cut into lengths convenienttor chewing.
Almost everybody has piece; the
Nassua negro must be wretched, indeed,
who cannot afford himself this luxury,
and it's offered for sale at most OF the
cabins along the roads. Close by the
market is the moOring place OF the
sponge-fshers; on a neighborlng wharf
is the Sponge Exchange, where the
product of the fisheryis is sorted in heaps
according to quality and there are ware
houses on Bay street where it is packed
in bales for expectation. The sponge is
obtained in various parts of the BAHIA
ma waters, some of it by divers, some
with the aid of grappling-hooks, and 1t
undergoes a preliminary puriticatlOn be-
fore it is brought into pOrt-a necessary
precautiOn, for the smell Of fresh
sponge is not niR. The boats OF the
spongers are not pleasant to look at.
Most of them are shabby, sloppy, and
dirty to the last degree. The negro
crew is generally a large one in proper
ton to the size of the vessel. There is
a dreadful little cabin at the stern, and
amidships on deck is an open box filled
with sand and stones as a fireplace or
cooks galley. l have noticed pig on
board these vessels; but | cannot de-
eide whether he sails as a passenger
or as a scullion. Perhaps the captain
takes him along for the sake OF his
company.
Nothing is more amusing in the mar
ket-place and on the adjacent quays and
streets than the costumes Of the women.
Three quarters Of the population are
black. and the crowd in all public re-
sorts is almost exclusively black. The
women in the town have strong taste
for inery, and for many OF them the
market becomes a place Of fashionable
assembly. Their broad straw hats are
lined with white lawn, wreathed
with pink flowers and bits of gay ribbon,
and tipped up jauntily behind. The
gown of muslin or thin calico is brigkt
in color, clean, well fitting, amply
founced and ruffied. and in most cases
it expands behind into long sweeping
train. But when the dusky wearer has
added to this dress a pretty necktie and
maybe snowy belt, her ingenuity in
personal decoration comes to prema-
ture stop. The gown is short in front.
and below it appear bare feet, OR else
pair of ragged boots, badly broken at
the toes and invariably cut down at the
heels; they are kept on with difficulty,
and reduce the gait to a Gathering sort
of scuffie, so that in the movement of a
crowd of women there is peculiar and
altogether comical resonance. She
who can show a ''proper good pair of
shoes is proud indeed. | met young
lady Of color yesterday who had laced
her Oxford ties with rose ribbon, fin
ished off with large bows; and it is need
less to add that her skirts were not per-
mitted to hide these luxuries from the
public eye.
Out of town the apparel of the colored
people is by no means so elaborate.
Women half cover their shrunk
shanks with a single scanty petticoat,
and throw over their bodies wretched
garment of a character and color
equally impossible to define. The dress
of the men consists almost universally
of rags. and very little of them. met
an old negro who wore, besides panta-
looms, the sleeves and yoke of a blue
shirt without any body, the tattered re-
mains hanging like fringe across his
chest and shoulder blades. Except fol
appearances sake | should think he
might as well have worn no shirt at all
On the same road | encountered 8
young gentleman of about fifteen years
who carried a burdun on his head. anC
wore a doubled-breasted waistcoa
with nothing whatever below it. The
weather. in this delectable isle, where
the summer lasts all winter long, con
tinues to be very like the northern June
1t is true that the general disturbance
of the elements which has vexed botl
hemispheres this season has not beer
without some influence even in Nassua
but the deviatiOns from the norma
warmth and sunshine have not beel
great. The thermometer of late ha
stood three or four degrees below it
customary mark, but it has been a