, 1888-03-24

such a place was a ridiculous mOckery,
and would only be another name for swind-
ling and jObbery. Black the vessel was,
black it would remain The conditions
were never likely to arise which would
bring II European population, but a
Governor who was Il sensible man, who
would reside and use his national influence.
could manage it with perfect ease.
THE INTERIOR OF TRINIDAD
cit was my first sight of the interior of
the island, and my first distinct acquain-
lance with the change which has come
over the West Indies. Trinidad is not one
of our oldest possessions, but we have
held it long enough for the old planter
civilization to- take root and grow, and our
road led us through jungleS Of towering
shrubs, which We're running wild over
what had been once cultivated estates.
Stranger still, for one associates colonial
life inStinctively with what is new and
modern, we came at one place on an aven-
lie of vast trees, at tire end of which stood
the ruins Of a mansion Of some great man
Of the departed order. Great man he
must have been, for there was a gateway
half crumbled away on which were his
crest and shield in stone, with supporters
on either side like the BlrOn Of Brad.
wardine'S bears fallen now, like them,
but unlike them, never / fear, to
he set up again. The AngIo.W West In.
dianS, like the English gentry in Ireland,
were a fine race OF men in their day. and
perhaps the improving them off the face Of
the earth has been a less beneficial process
in either case than we are in The habit of
surprising. Entering among the hills we
came on their Successors. In Trinidad
there are $4,000 freehoIders, most Of them
,au,A, .,l A:. - ~ I
slaves. Their cabins are spread along the
road on either side, 0verhung with bread
fruit trees, tamarndS, calabaSh trees, out
of which they make their cups and water
Jugs. The luscious granadilla climbs
among the branches plantains throw their
cool shade over the doors oranges and
lines and C%ltr0nS, perfume the air, and
drO0p their boughS under the weight of
their golden burdens There were vans
in the gardruS and COWS in the paddocks,
and cocoa bushes loaded with purple or
yellow pods. Children played about in
swlrmS, in happy idl~ueSS and abundance,
with schools, too, at intervals, and an
occasional Catholic chapel, for the old
religion prevails in trinidad, never having
been dIStnrDpd. What form could human
life assume more charming than that which
we ne now looking on ? Once more, the
FdlIH 'NFN itcN EplidIll any DedSUIlUly SO
well off, 50 we'll cared for, so happy. so
sleek and c0ntented as the sons and daugh-
terS Of the e~mancipated slaves in the Eng.
fish West Indian Islands. Sugar may fail
the planter, bur cocoa. which each peasant
may grow with small effort for himself,
does not fail and will not. He nav g better
his condition. If he has any such ambition,
without stirring beyond his own ground,
and so far, perhaps his ambition may
extend, if it is not turned off upon politics.
Even the necessary evils Of the tropics are
not many or serious. His skin is a proof
against mosquitoes. There are snakes in
Trinidad as they were snakes in Eden.
"Plenty snakeS,' said one of them, who
was at work in his garden 9 plenty snakes,
but not bites" AS to costume, he would
prefer the costume Of Innocence if he was
allowed. Clothes in such a climate are
SuperluOus for warmth and to the minds
at negroes, unconscious as they are of
shame, Superfuous for decency. European
prejudice, however, still passes for some
thing. The women have love for fnery,
which would prevent a complete return to
African simplicity and in the islands
which are still French, and in those, like
Trinidad, which the French originally
colonized, they dress themselves with real
taste. They hide their wool in red or
yellow handkerchiefs, gracefully twisted, or