, 1888-10-30
MoRNINo IN MARTINIQUE
The Boy Divers of st. Pierre-A Scramble
Beneath the Waves

Beneath the Waves
Morning. gold sunrise. The wind
has fallen. 1t is a great warm caress.
The sea is deep indigo, the sky a cloudless
and tender blue. Martinique looms before
us. At first it appears all gray-a vapory
gray-then it becomes blush gray, then
all green 1t is another of the beautiful
volcanic family; it owns the same hill
shapes with which we have already be-
come acquainted; its uppermost height
is hooded with the familiar cloud; we SEQ
the same gold yellow plains, the same
wonderful varieties of verdancy, the same
long green spurs reaching out into the
sea-doubtless formed by old lava tor
rents. But all this is now repeated for
us more imposingly, more grandiosely; it is
wrought upon a larger scale than any
thing we have yet seen. The semicircu-
lar sweep of the harbor, dominated by the
eternally yelled summit of the huge
Mount Pelee (misnamed, since it is green
to the very cloudsl from which the land
slopes down on either hand to the sea by
gigantic fluctuations, is one of the fairest
sights that human eye can gaze upon.
bus viewed, the whole island shape is a
mass of blazing green, with streaks or
shadows of darker green here and there
glooms of forest hollows or lowering
hadows of a cloud.
The city of st. Pierre, on the edge of the
land, looks as If it had Sided down the
entire height of the hill behind it, SO.
strangely do the streets come tumbling
down the steep in cascades of masonry,
with a red billowing of tiled roofs over
all, and enormous palms poking up
through it, higher even than the creamy
white twin towers of its antiquated
cathedral
We anchor in limpid blue water; the
cannon shot is answered by a prolonged
~
Then from the shore O strange fotilla
bears down upon us. There is one boat,
two or three canoes: but the bulk of the
craft are simply white wooden frames
HAT bottomed structures made from
shipping cases or lard boxes, with tri-
angular ends. In all of these sit naked
boys-boys between 10 and IA years of
age-varying in color from a fine clear
yellow to q deep reddish brown or choco-
late tint. They row with two little
square fat pieces of wood for paddles,
clutched in each hand, and these lid shaped
things are dipped into the water on either
side with absolute precision, in perfect
time, all the pairs of little naked arms
seeming moved by a single impulse.
There is much unconscious grace in this
padding, as well as consummate skill.
Then all about the ship these ridiculous
little boats begin to describe circles, cross
ing and intercrossing SO closely as almost
to bring them into collision, yet never
touching.
The boys nave simply come out to dive
for coins they expect passengers to fling
to them. All are chattering creole, laugh
ing, and screaming shrilly; every eye,
quick and bright as a birds, watches the
faces of the passengers on deck. ""Ten-
tion-lal" shrek a dozen soprani; some
passengers land has descended into a
money pocket, and all are on the alert.
Through the air, twirling and glittering,
tumbles an English shilling, and drops
into the deep water beyond the little feet.
Instantly all the lads leap, scramble, top
pie head foremos out of their little tubs,
and dive in pursuit. In the blue water
their 1.-the figures look perfectly red, all
but the soles of their upturned feet,
which show quite white. Almost imme-
diately they all rise again; one holds up
at arms length above the water the re-
covered coin, and then puts it into his
mouth for safe keeping. Coin after coin
is thrown in, and as speedily brought W
a shower of small silver follows, and not
a piece Is lost. These lads move through
the water without apparent effort, with
the s~uppleness of fishes. Most are decid-
edly fine looking boys, with admirably
rounded limbs, delicately formed extremi-
ties. The best diver and swiftest swim
mer, however, is a lemon colored lad; his
face is rather commonplace, but his slim
figure has the fluent grace of an antique
bronze.-Lafcadio Hearn in Harper's
Magazine.