The Portland daily press., 1893-07-14


Blue eyes and yellow mustache pro
claimed English blood was in his veins
and general bleached out appearance
indicated fruit and an occasional fish
was not a diet to be longed for. His
speech was very broken, though what
variety of brogue he employed is vet
mystery. After asking S. he was final.
ly eager to pilot us for So. It is the
fashion among these aborigines to de.
mand double the price they expect. Ir
80 much are they civilized. Aided by a
fading zephyr and the enormous palmet
to worn by our guide. our vessel glided
past reef and curling froth to safe
anchorage. The tropical twilightis short,
b ere the stars had polished their faces
ji.Dopsail, flying jib and jib had come
down, topsails, foresail and mainsail
were furled, and the anchor chain had
ratified through the hawse hole.
A typical tropic isle showed itself i'm.
mediately on the vessels quarter. A
narrow strip of land it was, with a
foundation of coral; the bushes thickly
clustered and the trees in clumps stood
green against the blue sky. On each
end the surf was heaped like snow. and
roar was borne to our ears. The green
water rolled in surges upon a beach OF
the whitest, finest, softest sand. This
stretch of beach terminated at each end
OF the bay in a sharp horn, where the
waves leaped up and fell helplessly back.
The glistening rim of sand was lining
to dark green band of vegetation
crowding closely upon it. In the back
ground a row Of cocoa palms marked
sharp against the sky, and MANILA
plants pressed the feet of them.
Such was the first Bahama isle we
gazed upon. Nor was the land alone
wondrous to us. To use an ominous
simile, the Emily seemed suspended, like
Mohammeds coffin, in the air. Through
the 20 feet of ocean under us we could
make out every detail on the white sand
of the bottom. We could view the star
fish, corals and huge sponges and see the
great sea fans casting shadows from the
sun. The sea was pellucid and tremu-
lous as jelly.
Where the schooner lay the water was
the limpid tint Of the interior of lem
on. Intersecting this was a strip of
grass green, and closely following in a
bewildering succession came emerald,
robins egg and olive-all these colors
and every tint of green possible thrown
lavishly and recklessly together in an
always sharp contrast till the eye was
drunk with the display. Above all these
scenes Of land and sea are the blazing
tropic sun and the transparent atmos-
phere kissing the check as softly as a
mothers caress.
Off to the westward from the Emily
was coral reef, and though Astounding
in curiosities 1t was the most aboui-
nable place conceivable. Dante's ssIn-
ferno" can furnish hardly fitting
parallel. The surface of the. moon as
pictured in ASTRONOMERS must resemble
the place-a back of gray coral barely
protruding above the waves. Every inch
of surface is jagged and scarifed as
lava, and SO hard and sharp are the
countless projecting points that the
stoutest boot is cut to shreds. Not
particle of softness is to be found, not a
variation in the dingy, cold grayness,
and overhead innumerable gulls and
tern soar and scream
The inhabitants of this desolate SPOT
are hideous rock crabs. AS the boat ap-
preached they scrambled in hundreds
down the rough banks into the sea, and
their gathering was almost an uproar.
creatures are they, large and
sprawling, like spiders, notified and with
protruding eyes and menacing claws.
They move with exceeding swiftness and
gave us shock as they tumbled out of
every Granny our fingers or feet entered.
If the animal world has its imps and
COLLINS, these dreadful crustaceans oc-
cupy that sphere.
The name Of this reef is Little Egg is
land. Its sister, Egg island, where is the
beach before described, is about half
mile to the northward. High on an ele-
walton, sheer above the vegetation, shine
the white walls of lighthouse and the
keepers dwelling The keeper and his
Fon are the only persons living on the
isle. He is an Englishman, Of course.
tie has been here two years-ever since
the light was placed. 1t is lonely life,
and he says he is sick of it. One of the
Two people must be constantly at the
lighthouse, and the other at intervals
must go to neighboring island for food
and necessary articles.
Being of Johnny Bull instincts, Mr..
FINDER has very confused idea of the
United States. He said he had a. broth.
er-in-law there. His name was Smith
and we probably knew him. We did.
Mr.. Pinder also had the notion we had
come down TO annex the Bahamas
''The hold woman 'angs onto these hi
lands pretty well, doan't she?n he remark
ed suspiciously FDT, SspI-S