, 1888-02-29
IMPRESSIONS OF NASSAU.
An Island of Intending Summer Not Far
Awny-The Lazy InhabItants.

An Island of Intending Summer Not Far
Away-The Lazy Inhabitants
Nassau is one of the smallest of the
Bahama islands, covering a length of
twenty miles by an average of five miles
in width. The city is built, facing the
north, upon the slope of n ridge, running
west to east, and nearly 100 feet at its
highest. The soil is thin, the island ON
sisting of an old coral reef, elevated grad
ually from the ocean, and during hat
period subjected to the action of the
waves, leaving it h~oneycombed and
pocketed. This rock is compact, of sand
made from disintegrated corals, yellow
ish creamy in color and soft in texture,
SO that it is quarried by saving and CHS
cling, becoming considerably harder by
exposure. The surface OF the rock is
covered with loose pieces, exceedingly
irregular in form. Over this is a very
little soil.
The streets are graded through this
natural rock, with natural cutters and
walks. The streets Mt right angles to the
water front cross the ridge generally
through deep cuts in the natural rock in
order to lessen the grade. The dwellings
of the better sort are square or oblong
square, seldom more than two stories
hiBh, Will IOW CtlllIRo ana 10" pNTa-
midical roofs. These houses are always
surrounded on at least two sides with
broad %verandas, closed In with Stats to
keep out the light. For this reason the
houses appear larger than they are.
Dormer windows abound. The house
colors are stone, light yellow, cream; the
blinds are brown or green. High stone
walls, with broken glass bottles cemented
into the ridges, inclose the houses and
gardens; ornamented openwork gate
ways afford a glimpse within.
The c%ocoanut, the royal the palmetto
and the silver leaf palms abound. The
giant Cuba, or silk cotton tree, oleanders
OF large size, enormous amarylids, with
h many species of the citrus family,
hang up their yellow fruit against the
sun The russell japodilla just coming into
fullness adds n special charm TO its back
ground of dark green waxy caves. The
vegetation seems rather sub-tropical than
thoroughly tropical. This results not
from want of heat, may be, but need of
soil.
The city of Nassau is. extremely pict-
uresque with the quaint narrow streets,
white, deep cutters cut from living rock,
large dwellings, with the lower or street
story, for warehouse or shop, the outside
stairways and balconies? Every building
has some special individuality about it
which adds much to the sum total of the
charm one finds in quietly roaming round
the streets.
Here it is literally always afternoon.
No one works. Ask n question and it
will be answered the day after to-mor-
row. The few shops open about break
fast time, and are then shut up during
thnt nnnnl md lrnnlfogt t,r,n l., ~
early. / went into a wholesale store Mt
noon time. The one clerk was fast
asleep in his chair, and l left him undis-
turbed. The blacks, seemingly twenty
to one of the whites, sit lounging, CAB
bling, chatting, talking loud md laugh
ing, but have not seen one at work.
The English majesty of law is thor
oughly respected here. The principal
crimes-profanity, jawing and SANDER
are among the colored races, and they
enjoy defending themselves Mt law.
Shops close ut 8 p. m. Saturday is a
half holiday and Sunday n P~uritanical
one.
Back of Nassau proper, over the ridge
and down on to lower levels swarm the
colored people. Their small garden
pieces are walled in with the loose pieces
of coral rock. Their cabins are small,
with one or may be two rooms, of rock
or coral, palmetto matched. The gar
dens are bare honeycombed coral rock,
where with a crowbar the banana, the
cocoanut or maize is planted. They arc
unkempt, unthrifty, dirty; but every
where ind mother nature covers the
garden walls with lichens and the con-
v%olvulus, and the great lobed leaves of
the bread fruit, the alumna and the
palms give to the eye an ever varying,
an ever entirely satisfying picture.
These cabins of tho colored people Jour
inheritance from Spanish cruelty liter
ally swarm with children. The tra-
ditional stair of from five to twelve littis
p%ickaninnies Is found in every cabin.
''Massa, glib me copper for breadl'' They
are inveterate beggars. They say they
can't get work, or if they do get any but
little is paid-twenty-five to fifty cents a
day. The truth is, there is no desire,
perhaps no incentive, to work, no ambi-
by fruit, sweet potato, yams and fish.
But little fruit is exported, and that from
the outlying islands, not from here.
Sponge fishing is the n industry which
here is active.
For the climate, 1 would judge we had
in the United States no spot equal to this
for unonding summer. For people ad-
vanced in life who desire to avoid our
winters, for tired brain workers, for
cases of low vitality, for the beginning of
throat and lung troubles, / should say
Nassau is the place.-Fred Stearns in
Detroit Free Press.