The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-07
A VOYAGE TO JAMAICA
ON THE FAST oLlvETTE OF THE
PLANT LINE.


Rsi1road-Views of the Natives
other Interesting Matter.
PoRr TAMPA, FLA, Nov. 2.-Having
bean down in this country for several
weeks. investigating the remarkable and
extensive discoveries of phosphate and the
facilities at this place for transporting the
ea,,a vour correspondent was informed on
Oct q that the ''record breaking" steam
ebtn Olivette of the Plant Steamship line
wss sppointsd to sail the following morn
,ng for tie island of Jamaica, consequently,
he hecame one of the many passengers for
the excursion and the initial trip. We
sailed at 1906 a. m, and after a most
pleasant sail of thirteen hours arrived at
t-av West. where a few hours were passed
insnecting the many points of interest. As
there, is so much to particulariZe, l will
on,it il all and come to our actual de-
Tar,ure which occurred ct 7:l0 on Sunday
morning. Only these who have had the
--od fortune to sail over the
sn1diro blue waters of the gulf stream
en- form correct idea of
lis effect. After sailing five hours land was
made on the port bow. Very shortly there
sfrer we were passing through a narrow
onening between two of the double-headed
s5ot GAYS. tie larger one of the two, and
mon our port hand. being the northeast
Elbow Cav, whereupon there stands light
house. These Gays are correctly named, as
thew are very much double-headed. People
who have had opportunity for travel in
Florida are accustomed to surprises,
bnt no one could have been more
AZ than We were at this very
mace. our attention having been taken
from the water TO the lighthouse for mo-
n1eDt. during which time it had changed to
most beautiful light green and was ap-
narently very shallow. One of the passen-
GERS became frightened and asked the cap
fain if there was any danger of running
aground. He replied, he thought not, but
In order to convince the timid gent, or
dered the officer on watch to take the sound
ings. which proved that we had 81 faith
ons or 80 feet. AS we were only drawing
70. the above mentioned passen-
ger concluded that it was pru-
dent to proceed. The remainder
of our party were grati6ed at our timid
members relief At this place we began to
cross the Salt Cay bank sixty miles in
length Just before sunset. Land on the
port bow was again made, which proved to
be Lobus Cay at distance of 27S miles
from Key West During the night several
sailing ships and two steamers were passed.
At s O'Clock on Monday morning we
sighted steamer on the horizon, and dead
ahead at 2 o'clock .. m. she was "hull
down astern. Her name was Franciscan.
We had been for two hours running along
the northeast coast of Cuba, and about a
mile from il. At o'clock p. 10. Cape Maysi,
the eastern point of Cuba, bore west, and
the captain shaped our coarse for Point
Morant. on the eastern coast of Jamaica
In a few moments the high land of Hayti
was sighted.
As we ran around Cape Maysi, in the
windward passage, our attention was
called by an old sea captain to the very
strong current that we were fighting. His
yarns concerning this current and his
battling with it in a sailing ship in days
of yore," were very interesting. The land
was rapidly being left astern, and before
sunset we had lost it; so after a very busy
ana most interesting day we babe each
other good night and retired to dream of
the coming day and its bringings.
We were all on hand early on Tuesday
morning looking out for land, and we did
not have long to wait, as our good steamer
had been doing wonders At 500 o'clock
the light house at Point Morant bore west.
Right here permit me to say that those of
our party who had approached the rugged
and picturesque coast of Iceland were of
the unanimous opinion that the present
scenery far surpassed that or any they had
ever before seen. The mountains extend
along the coast and about half mile from
the water, with the Blue mountains in the
distance, the highest peak of which is 1860
feet above the sea, all Of which is, indeed,
pleasing TO the eye. At s o'clock we
stopped and took a pilot and at s 80 o'clock
We were at anchor in the land-locked harbor
OF Kingston, having made the 9Sl miles in
torty-nine hours and fifteen minutes.
We had EOf been at anchor. long hafnro
several gentlemen came off aboard, all of
whom were surprised at our early arrival
they not looking for the Oiivette before
Wednesday morning, and especially were
they astonished when Capt Mckay pre-
sented them with New York papers of the
Zod, only hve days old. Among our callers
was the United States consul toiwhom all of
us are indebted for valuable Information
and attentions.
VIII not attempt to give the history of
Jamaica as 1t has been so often written, but
VIII refer all that may be anxious to learn
to the hand book of Jamaica, published by
Messrs. A. {. Sinclair and S. P. Musson. OF
Kingston and London.
we went on shore at II o'clock, and were
taKen to the Constant Spring hotel, six
miles from the Jubilee market (yyhere we
landed. The hotel we found to be ouite
new and thoroughly American managed
0Y Z. A. Merritt, well-known boniface of
ne" YORK, and one that would be a credit
10 many Of our cities. After having lunch
we were taken for drive, and as we rode
along the various roads leading out of the
Guy we were surprised to see such ouanti-
tieS OF women and children en- route for
Town with fruits and vegetables Din baskets
bundles OF logwood, pigs and various other
artlcles' which in every case was carried on
une mead. | am Of the opinion that were
some OF our professional jugglers to see
Vaese people balance pail of water BOTTLES.
evc'' on their heads, they might learn. a
and carriage. Wv A'' III
oo we were surprised to see SO few Ameri.
uans ana English on the island. Out of a
population of $4,000 there are only II 600
EmnlteS' the remainder being blacks and
-, during our visit in Kingston we had the
SieaSqre OF an interview with his excellencv
ia. a1enry Arthur Blake, governor of the
sn1 l.. oir Henry is a progressive man,
~, MS administration being conducted
bo tCu ms broad views, can only be a most
Uenenclal one to Jamaica He is the prime
mover OF the coming exposition, which is to
aary to May q.
~, on Wednesday. at O'Clock in the Morn
s 4s, we met r. B. Campbell, general man
seS " The Jamaica Railroad COMPANY and
panied him over the railroad, through
t-as e plantations of sugar cane, cocoannt
r rgGs and bananas. The equipment of the
LII Odo is decidedly English both as To en-