, 1888-07-08
THE BAHAMAS.


remember them us little, almost lndlstln-
guishable, specks in the wrinkly lines that
stand for water away off the southeast
coast of the United States, but had you
been at sea and studied the ocean charts,
you would have had more respect Tor
them. They are between six and seven
hundred in number, when the Gays or
keys are included, and had the wonderful
coral formation, SO interesting to study
aud so dangerous to navigators, which
hides just beneath the surface of the sea
in all this region, risen but a few feet
higher, here would have been land meas
ured from Northwest Mantinella, oppo
site the Florida bay of st. Lucie, to Nav
idad bank, Just above the northeast coast
of Cuba, nearly a thousand miles long
aud from two to four hundred miles in
wldth-almost a continent, and situated
in eternal summer In the order of ex-
tent in area the larger islands are Great
Abaco, Andres, Great Bahama and New
Providence. The latter is the most pop
ulous, while the greatest historic aud
"a ~ WV VI
the smallest of the group-San Salvador,
where Columbus first landed in the new
world, and Turks island, famous for its
export of salt.
The Bahamas are said TO have been
settled as early as 1929, and their popula-
ton Is estimated to be about 40, 900 souls.
But they are a ~listless. Indolent lot, TO
whom simple existence is the highest
oararnN.A- H. 0hn Waaa $500 IL. l.
guage is a curious mixture of the English,
Spanish and negro tongues. Sponge
gathering. fishing, couch gathering, fruit
picking and wrecking constitute about sIl
the labor done. The islands swarm with
these wreckeIs. nearly all good natured
souls, who regard everything cast upon
the shores, every vessel that grounds upon
the dangerous wrecks and Gays, and every
craft that can even be lured upon the
rocks, as their rightful gain, and receive
all such ocean salvage as If the blessing OF
heaven accompanied it; though for that
matter our own government permits quite
us bad a state of things at Key West and
along the Pine islands, off the south coast
of Florida. In the capital, Nassau, there
is some wealth, some refinement, and
some regard for the fitness of things, but
even here the enervating blight of u soci-
ETY. largely i~mpregnated with politi-
cal and moral castaways has fallen. In
deed, Nassau, while one of the worlds
attractive resorts for the invalid or tray
eler, has ever been this sort OF a refuge
in the early days for pirates and later for
blockade runners, political nomads and
pVblic defaulters. 1t was here Lord Dun
more came from Virginia, and the willy
but brilliant Blennerhasset, under the
uop,a oc Ga.r Inra c,,nl ,1. Eu.u.
the torment Of public detestation and
grave behind these coral lined, zephyr
kissed shores.
Ordinarily the traveller reaches the Ba-
hamas by steamer. Three days are re-
CURED Tor the trip from Boston, New
York or Philadelphia; or, if in Cuba,
one must travel around tho south coast
from Cienfuegos, past Santiago de Cuba,
to Nassau, the capital city of the islands.
Having many a good friend among the
Havana guadaneras and queer waterside
folk, | learned of another delightful way.
The owner of a little Spanish coaster, the
Donna Enriqueta,' who looked as
though he might have spilled with old
Pancho Marti, the last of the Caribbean
ireebooters, took me along for two
ounces in Spanish gold, swearing by all
the saints it was only done for my own
goodly company. FL Capitano Renaldo,
for that was the old %corsalr's name, be
tween fishing, smuggling and wrecking,
makes occasional trips to the Bahamas for
boat loads of sponges. He never pays
outright for these but loads his iaunty
craft lightly with sugar, mollasscs, villain
Gus cheap CONNECTIONS, ~tassaios or South
American jerked beef, and cheap palm
Lao and tfppf-faAno hnf5 Wick thaa. ka
coasts about the reefs, keys and unfre-
quented bays and inlets of the Bahamas
and dickers with the mongrel inhabitants
for sponge. His crew consisted of his
wife, a veritable Meg Merrilies, three
piratical looking sailors from the Isle OF
Pines, seven half breed children, and an
even dozen Cuban dogs of every variety
of size, shade of color, and tone of yelp.
The captain, who was either all radiance
OF buster, smilingly staggered, lolled,
dozed and did no labor; his wife, who
was first and second mate, cook and sea-
man combined, raved and rioted and
never smiled; the three Isle OF Pine sail
ors ate like sharks, slept like-Cubans,
danced and sang as though the perma.
manent END men of some invisible
minstrel band, never lifting a finger to
labor unless tempestuously charged upon
by the black hellyon who truly command
ed the little coaster; the children, naked
and half naked, romped the decks and
climbed the rigging, or played at hide and
seek from beneath the anchor chains to
the duskiest depths Of the hold; the
dozen dogs made pretences of horrible
attacks upon every visible moving thing
beneath the sky. from ghostly sails leagues
to starboard and port, c~ircling gull, shoals
of flying fish. and even the occasional
wave crests that broke and cracked along
side to seethingly disappear astern. while
this denied, they ,scurried from wheel TO
capstan, barking bravely by day at the
lair horizon rim, and at night at the very
stars pulsing and glowing in the tropic
armament. 1t was a novel experience
from any standpoint. The trip was done
l%eisurely and without hurry, as the inte-
rior farmer and all who are within his
heart and home do the semi-annual trip
to town. with more or less visiting"
along the way. 1t gave insight to a kind
of seafaring family lite, that | found ex-
listed to quite an important degree in all
West Indian waters. 1t revealed to me
...l, ar 49,. .l..ln - -. Il