The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-09-12
QUAINT ST. PIERRE.
LIFE IN AN ANTIQUATED WEST
INDIAN CITY.
The Isle Of Martinique, Where Dwells
the Finest Race in the Antilles
Stately Women in Fan
tastic Costumes.

tastic Costumes.
st. Pierre, Martinique. writes CORE
spondent in the Times Democrat, is the
quaintest, queerest and the prettiest
withal among the West Indian cities, all
stone built and stone tagged, with very
narrow streets and wooden awnings,
iron balconies and peaked roofs of red
tile piert ed by gable dormers. Most Of
the buildings are painted in clear, pale
yellow tone, which contrasts beautifully
with the burning blue ribbon of tropical
sky above, and no street is absolutely
level. Nearly all of them climb hills,
descend into hollows, curve, twist, de-
scribe sudden aud amazing angles.
There is everywhere continuous
chant of running water pouring through
the deep cutters contrive1 between the
paved thoroughfare and the absurd little
sidewalks varying in width from one to
three feet. The architecture is very old
it is seventeenth century probably, and it
reminds one great deal of that charac-
terizing the antiquated French quarter of
New rleans. But one must imagine
| New Orleans idealized by artistic con.
ception, made intensely tropical and
pro: :ected audaciously upon the side of a
huge volcanic hill.
All the tints, the forms. the vistas
would seem to have been especially Sc
lected or designed for aquarelle studies,
lust to please the whim of some extrava-
CANT artist No ruin was ever more
picturesque than these living streets in
their perfect solidity and undilapidated
qua ntness. The windows are frame ess
openings without glass; some have iron
bars; all have heavy wooden shutters
with movable Stats, through which light
and air can enter as through Venetian
blinds. These are usually painted green
or bright blush gray.
And everywhere rushes mountain
water, cool and crystal clear, washing
the streets. Every few squares you come
to some fountain tinging its silver col
umn to the sun, or showering d amond-
bright spray over group of brazen
swans or black bronze Tritons. Those
Tritons on the place Bertin you will not
readily forget; their torsos might have
been modelled from the forms of the same
sinewy ebon men who toll there all day
tirelessly in the heat, rolling hogsheads
Of sugar, puncheons of molasses, casks
of rum. And very frequently you see
little fountains contrived in the stone
walls that border the mountain roads or
that inclose the parks-glittering threads
Of water falling from lion lips of stone.
Some m ,untain torrent, skilfully di-
vided into thousand streams, is thus
pe petually purifying the city, feeding
its fountains and cooling its courts.
A population, fantastic, astonishing
population of the Arabian Nights. AS
the general tone of the town is yellow,
30 is the general tint of the people yellow,
in the interbending of all the hues char
scterizing griffone, mulatresse, metisse,
messive, chabine, capresse, quadroon-
a general effect of rich brownish yellow.
You are in a population of half breeds,
the finest mixed race of the Antilles.
Tall, supple, straight as palms, these
women and men impress you powerfully
by their dignity of carriage and easy ele-
gance of motion. They walk without
any swinging of the shoulders; the per
fectiy set torso seems to remain rigid ;
yet The step is long, full stride, and
the whole weight is poised sprightly on
the very tip Of the bare foot. All, or
neatly all, are without shoes; the passing
Of all these hundreds of naked feet makes
q great whispering over the burning
pavementS.
But what produces the most novel
impression on the stranger is the sim
guarity and brilliancy of the women's
costumes. They were developed at least
hundred years ago by curious sump-
tuary law, regulating the dress Of slaves
and colored people of free condition, q
law which allowed considerable liberty
as to material and tint, prescribing only
form. Bat these fashions suggest the
Orient; they offer beautiful audacities of
color contrasts; and the eoifure, above
all, is 80 strikingly Eastern that you
cannot help wondering whether it was
not first introduced into the colony by
some Mohammedan slave.
It is simply an immense Madras hand.
kerchief, which is folded about the head
with admirable art, like turban; one
bright end, pushed through at the top
in front, being left sticking up like q
plume. Then this turban, always full of
bright canary color, is fastened with
great golden or silver brooches, one in
front and one at either side. As for the
remainder of the dress, it is simple
enough; an embroidered, low cut gar.
ment with sleeves; skirt or jupe, quite
short in front and very long behind, but
caught up and fastened in front below
the breast so as to bring the hem every
where to level with the end of the long
garment; and finally foulard, or silken
Serchief, thrown over the shoulders.
These jupes and foulards, however,
are exquisite in pattern and color, bright
crimson, bright yellow, bright blue,
bright green, lilac. violet, rose some
times mingled together in plaidings, or
chickering's, or striplngs; black with
orange, sky blue with purple. And
whatever be the colors of the turban,
which vary astonishingly, the brighter
parts must be yellow-brilliant, flashing
yellow: the turban is certain to possess
yellow stripes or yellow squares. To
this display add the effect of costly and
curious jewelry; immense earrings, each
pendant being formed of five gold cylin-
ders ;oined together (cylinders some
times two inches long and an inch at
least in circumference); necklace OF
double, trip'e, luadruple, or quintuple
rows OF large hollow beads sometimes
smooth, but generally gravenl, the won
derful collier chorx. Now this glowing
iewelry is not mere imitation of pure
metal; the earrings are worth $35 pair