The morning call., 1890-07-27

Donkey car.
The old historian reasoned well: Color
is to them natural, and not by their going
naked; and this is proven by the fact that
the little Dutch Youngsters, who toddle
about, are naked as Adam before the zig
leaf was invented. and retain IN later years
the faXen hair aud pink and white COM
pleXfOns. 1T is to them natural" also, to
speak the bar barous dialect Of the island
CALI Papiamento, patois more barbarcus
than any I have heard anywhere else IN the
West Indies. The Papiamento is structur-
ally SPANS h, with an intrusion of Dutch,
little English and African, nodded in the
mouths of ignorant negroes. The residents
claim that their island is singularly exempt
from disease; and certainly, there seemed
to be hone. except universal poverty. Many
wears ago the negro slaves were freed, and
since then they have had to shift for them
selves, so that labor now is very cheap,
barely supplying these simple folk with
food and raiment. An English shilling per
day is 4 fair average wage earned by
laborers, while skilled labor does
not receive much more than double
that amount. A master mason or car
penter receives but 90 cents per day; yet
there are no troublesome strikes, Tor the
laborerS knOw-if they know anything
they would be futile. The fact is, there are
more negroes than the island can care Tor,
more even than it can feed.
All the steamers of the great Red ID "
line, which make the island OF Curacao
their rende zvous, rely upon the natives to
load their ships, and even ship them as
common sal lOTS for their voyages. They
are honest ami faithful, and work for less
than the labOrers of the Venezuelan main
land. On the arrival Of every steamer q
crew of Curacao laborerS is taken aboard
for service throughout the round trip to
Venezuela, via the ports of Puerto CabellO
and La Guara. There may be about 10000
negroes and colored" people on this
island. The land Is poor, mainly sterile,
even bananas and plantains having to be
brought from the mainland, to be found IN
the market in quantities. The phosphate
hills are rich in the elements of fertility for
other and distant lands, but are not capable
themselves Of producing crop of cane or
corn. The valleys Of comparatively fer
tile land are too few to be considered, and
the poor labOrer is even worse off than he
Of Barbados. where the land Is rich, though
devoted almost exclusively to sugar cane.
The vegetation, such as it is, has Il tropical
cast, and in the gardens you will ind ali the
members of the citrus family, pineapples,
paw-paws, cuStard apples, sour Sops, man
Cos, guavas, ca>hera apples and many other
fruits and vegetables The island is ceie-
brated for lis nisperos or sapadillos.
There are
No STREAMS AT ALL,
Either above ground or below, and the peo-
pie depend upon the heavens for their sup
ply VI NdlCI. Sbolillk IL UP III SlCdL ClSttllio
and doing IL out carefully. The fields and
hills are dry, covered with cactus and
prckly pear, but they have beauty of
their own. There is comfortable inviting
look about them that unless you stick
prickly pear spine into your shln) entlces
you to wander abroad.
a rarity of us one day set out on hunt
ing expedition 10 u distant plantation. We
rOWed up the lagoon some miles aud landed
al wharf on mangrOve-frinIed shore,
" here tile herOns perched, the lizards
and iguanas hasked III the sun, and the
fiddlecrabs erawled by thousands over
the mud. This great lagoon is called the
Schattegat, and Is deep enough and large
enough to float the entire Dutch navy. 1t
is completely land-locked, and is protected
by a most picturesque fortress, perched on a
cliff, and used now as signal station. Be
hind this towering cliff the pirates Of the
Spanish Main used to lie in wait for their
prey, their masters watching from the
rock, their masts hidden completely from
sight. Through the narrow passage to the
sea they used TO Slip out warily, spread their
sails and bear down upon the richly
frelghted galieons bound with treasure to
Spain. Many ships crew has been muir
deTed within sight of these gray cliffs, and
many a million Of treasure here divided.
Pirates and buccaneers have long since
passed into the unknown, and the blue
waters of the peaceful lagoon are rarely
yeXed by any keel whatever OF any size. l
fear haven't made out this tropical island
to be the
HAPPY HAVEN OF REST
l myself have found it; but describe it as
it appears, without eXaggerati0n of its
merits or defects. Perhaps its charm lies
in the climate, the air is so cool in the
morning, though 50 hot at noon, but de-
licious and refreshing Mt evening time.
There is here perpetual invitation to
rest, and the q, GEO composing its pOpula-
tiOn have not disTegaided it, The Govern
ment, as | have said, is Dutch, paternal
and beneficial as far as it can be, and one
should visit the old fortress church, the
fort and the Government building to see
specimens Of Holland architecture modi-
fed to suit climatic conditions This Is a
free port, CuracOa The shops are many,
and tile goods are cheap Most of the busl-
ness seems to be in the hands of the Jews,
although the Dutch hold the wholesale
trade There is an immense liberia, or
bookstore, here-tht It OF Bltancourt, whose
principal trade is in Venezuela. COmmuD-
icatiOn is maintained between various
parts of the island by means of excellent
roads, and around the lagoon of SchearlO
runs a tramway. L may be accused of
adopting an English term instead OF an
American, in calling this a tramway, and
not hurse-car line. But the truth is the
car is drawn by donkey. The car itself
is not over large, and perhaps nine people
can secure transportation al one and the
same time, while the donkey is hardly as
big as a billy goat 1t may not always be
the same donkey that draws il, but if it is
not there is strong family resemblance.
especially as TO size. One day a party OF
three ladies went on shore from newly
arrived steamer and seeing the car stand
ing there boarded 1t. As ii was rear end
on they did not see the donkey, and when
it began to move they were filled with Won
der. They made the trip around the lagoon
and back, alighted and went aboard the
steamer delighted. How lovely it was
And what charming ride that was on the
electric carr And all de time" said
the old DutcEman who told me the story,
- dere vas man on der vront seat, und dey
didn't see der yackass ~
THE "sIGHrs" OF CURACAO
Are peculiarly West Indian, and the peo-
pie, especially the blacks objects of never
ceasiDg interest. Everywhere, squatted
against the walls along the streets, one
sees groups of aged negresseS and young
girls, their rags scarcely hiding their skins,
keeping guard over small heaps of fruits
and vegetables. Exceeding the market
women in interest, the washerwomen at
tract the attention Of the stranger. After
they have worried the life out of garment
"a shirt, for instance-smashed all the but
tons of and punched it full of holes, they
spread IL out on cactus bush to dry, or
fasten 1t down on rock with Jagged frag-
ments of coral. Witnessing such a sight
makes the average man unhappy. and it is
small wonder that many of the natives seek
to drown their sorrows in the flowing bowl.
Their favorite tipple is that delicious drink
bearing the name of the island. Curacao,
which is made in Holland, but receives its
flavor from peculiar orange peel exported
hence to the land of dikes. Gin also being
very cheap, about 80 cents a bottle, is much
approved. And 50, reveling in the luxures
a free port invited to their doors, best with
a delightful climate. secure in their envir-
onment of sea, ana imbibing the golden
nectar of the gods, these exotic Dutchmen