Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-04-28

Alexander Hamilton an orphan in INDECENT
circumstances, when he was about 10. Then
be was sent to friends in New York, where
in his 10Th year he entered Kings College,
now Columbia.
The Island of Guadalupe, which was
the first land touched by Columbus upon
his second voyage of discovery, in 1893, is
little Garden of Eden. The eastward half
or Grande Terra, as it is known, is low, and
can scarcely be seen from the sea, but the
westward island, divided from it by a salt
marsh, Is massive volcanic mass which
stands as one OF the grandest features of the
entire archipelago. The peak called
Soufriere rises directly $500 feet above the
sea, and looks much higher than it really is
because of its abrtptness and rugged out
lines. In shape and general formation the
mountain resembles Vesuvius, being about
the same altitude and covered with extinct
craters, masseso of lava, pumiee stone, scoria
and other volcanic substances The sides of
the mountain are cut into monstrous ravines
and eraters which show the violence of its
connections in the past centuries, but toward
the edge, where lies the little port of st.
Francis, it is very fertile and produces most
incredible crops of sugar, coffee and other
tropical products. Back of the town, upon
the foot hills, are broad slopes facing the
western sun, covered with fields of sugar
cane and dotted with handsome estates, some
of them centuries old, and embowered in
mangoes, bananas, tamarinds and palms.
The mountain is an uncomfortable neigh
borhood, however, and the people live in
perpetual terror of earthquakes and erup-
tions.
1t was in 1S43 that the last great convul-
sion occurred, which was one of the most
frightful on record. The town of Point-a-
Petri, the capital of the island until that
time, and one of the most populous and
prosperous cities in the West Indies, was
entir ely destroyed. Five thousand people
perished instantly, and as many more died
of injuries afterwards. There have been
gentler shakes in later years, often enough
to keep the people in a state of apprehen-
sion, and old Soufriere is always in an ugly
| and uncertain state, vomiting volumes of
pumice stone and ashes at times, and
almost always breathing much smoke and
sulphurous vapor.
GATHERING LINES.
1t was on the island of Guadaloupe that
the Carrib Indians had their stronghold in
the days of the Spanish conquest, and here
their king or cacique lived, whose power
and ability are described in Washington
Irving's Life of Columbus" This tribe,
like the rest of the aborigines, is almost ex.
terminated, and the remnant, consisting of
few people, is located in the mountains of
Dominica, living IN huts, cultivating little
gardens, and making baskets, which are
sold throughout the West Indies. All the
islands in this group are favorable to fruit
products, but the best are not suitable for
shipment and decay upon the trees. Lime
Juice and citric acid are produced in large
quantities, and are a profitable source of
revenue. There are extensive lime orchards
or1r o11 ic1a Tba
small and thickly planted, and require little
attention except in keeping the under
growth cleared away. They bear two crops
year, Boys and girls gather the lines as
they drop from the branches, and carry
them to the mills, where they are crushed
be tween heavy mahogany rollers. The
iui ice runs into pans and is then boiled
do. vn in iron kettles to a consistency of
svrl Up, when casks are filled and shipped to
Eur ope where they are sold at from S100 to
S15O each. Another source of revenue is
the cultivation Of cloves, cinnamon, nut
megs .7nd spices. The hurricanes often de-
vastate the plantations, destroy the shipping
in the harbor, and ruin in few hours the
labor of years.
The sland of Martinique is, in some
respects, the most interesting of the whole
group, an, more delightful than the others
for a prolo nged stay. AS the steamer ap-
proaches th first land visible is the lofty
peak of Mount Pelee, 4, 500 feet high, whose
slope is broken into great ridges, between
which are fol md wild ravines, roaring tor
rents and pic 'turesque cascades. The coast
scenery is vile and beautiful. Naked cliffs
rise 1000 feel; perpendicularly from the
waters edge. As the vessel rounds the
Point of Pearls rock the beautiful embow-
cred city of st. P. ierre appears in view and
awakens shouts of delight from the passen-
gers, for it is splendid panorama, with
background of 1 mountain magnifcence.
Here the great rock. s are piled up at angles
with which the laws OF gravitation and
geology seem to have nothing to do. Soma
are lying bottom pward, some on their
sides, precipices seem to have been opened
the wrong way and G orges appear in the
most unaceountable places. Mountains
have been heaped toget her by some mighty
cpnvulsion, and vast M asses of detached
Tocks are piled upon each other like coal in
bin, illustrating the tun 1ultueus passions
Of nature BFy ERLY CRU1LP.