The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1891-07-11
In QUEER MARTINIQUE.
II Looms LIKE A BIT OF FRANCE
GONE ASrRAY.
ihey Have Many Peculiar Thing. There
and Two Very Many Things In n
Peculiar way-The women,
Their Babies. etc.

Martinique Is a garden OF romantic
beauty, extending from the edge of
'ne pretty harbor TO the foothills OF the
mountains and looks like a fragment
OF france gone astray. says a writer
IN the Wayerly Magazine. Every
building Is OF venerable stone, antique
IN structure, large and roomy, and
Widowed by deep ~jalousies. The
heavy tile roofs overhang the stills like
the eyebrows Of a man. and are COW
cred with silvcry mosses and trailing
vines.
The streets ere nearly all paved with
Belgian blocka. and sparkling water
rusae' down the middle of each in the
gutter, toward which the pavement
slopes.
Everybody liYes out OF doors. The
harbor is skirtcd by a wide boulevard.
shaded by palia trees aud furnished
with iron seats where the populace
gather In the evening and chatter like
magpics. During the day the women
SIT In the gardeis and at night sleep
In hammocks ucder the varanda, ex-
cept In the rainy season. when they
keep their houf5s. There is no glass
In the windows AID not "A chimney In
the place. All The cooking is done in
charcoal stoves, or upon shelves OF
stone like a bla1Ssmith's forge.
The town OF Port de France. which
was known as Fort Royal during the
time of the entire. is the seat OF the
government. there the lieutenant
governor lives aud commands "A garri-
son OF 800 or 800 colored soldiers II
Is about twenty miles FROM st. Pierre
and has 10, 0c0 inhabitants. but the
latter place is the commercial capital
and the fashionable residence. The
blacks and whites live together as
brothers and sisters OF the common
family, often intermarrying. Many of
the colored families are wealthy and
aristocratic and send their children
abroad to bs educated.
The upper classes wear the latest
French fashions and live with consid-
cradle comfort. but the colored WON
en OF the ecmmon class. as elsewhere
In the, tropics, ire clad in a single gar
ment OF cot'on. without any particular
design of -oncenling or exposing their
anatomy. Thew load themselves with
a large amount OF iewelry OF peculiar
designs, md ON Sundays and feast
days get themselves M in "A most clab-
crate and outlsndish manner. men
and women both rivaling the plumagc
Of the birds in tho myriad colors they
assume. There are no poor. no aims
houses. no asylum for the INDECENT.
The ONE of Martinique carry
their babies in % peculiar manner by
placing them astride the left hip and
strapplrr them there by wide strips OF
cloth. Martinique has n population OF
$50. 600, OF whom II. 600 are white.
30. 900 of mixed blood. and the re-
mainder colored.
The island Is covered with fields ol
sugar cane. mostly cultivated. by the
women. while tho men do the heavier
labor in the sugar mills and in the
harbor. There are no carriages on
carts. but the Women and donkeys are
she common carriers.
One OF the most beautiful parks In
the world is known rs the Place Berth.
where there il a magnificent fountain
of bronze. "A most graceful water nymph
fourteen feet high. bearing upon heI
head n basket from the rim OF which
Jets OF water flow.
Tn August this fountain exhibits
what u strangers is n most amazing
phenomenon. spouting myriads OF little
fishes about as large as whitehall with
bodies as transparent as crystal. These
are called titirc and come from tho
mountain streams with which tho
fountain is fed. In the month OF Au.
gust they come from the sen and ar,
caught by the pipes That feed the foun'
tain. The people expecting them
come down with baskets. scoop then
up. and. taking them home fry then
in oil; they make delicious morsels.