The record-union., 1894-09-20

Who Want England to Fight.
alt seemed to Inc that l was getting
pretty well out of the world when l
landed in jamaica" said a young botan-
ist, describing his West Indian expert
ences to Sun reporter, "but learned
atterward that Jamaica is positively met
ropolitan compared with some of the
other islands. 1 had the good fortune to
find schooner about TO sail from Jamaica
for st. Kits that would land me at Mont
serrat.
Perhaps had better give you little
idea of what travelling in the West Indies
means. l was in Jamaica, for instance,
and | was anxious TO get to Montserrat.
II had insisted upon going by steamer
should have had to go in a steamer first
to Colon, and there have taken another
steamer for Barbados. AT Barbados /
should have caught one of the Royal Mail
steamers that would have carried. me to
Montserrat. This journey would have
taken pretty nearly two weeks and would
have cost me about $l50. This is why the
people on one island in the West Indies
know SO little about any OF the other
IN one OF the steamers goes ottener than
once in two weeks, and If your business
on any island takes a longer time than
the three or four hours the steamer stops
there, you have to remain for fortnight
The Royal Mail Is the great steamship
line in that part of the world. The
steamers go direct from southampton To
Barbados, and then on TO Jamaica, and
smaller steamers-'lnterinSula steam
ers, they call them-carry mail and pas
sengers from Barbados to the smaller
British islands. SO you see if a man can
lind schooner sailing just when he Is
ready to go he is very fortunate.
81 suppose thai hardly any inhabited
island OF the West Indies is less known
10 the world than Montserrat. Two
American anGt wo British steamers touch
there every month, put there are rarely
any passengers going or coming. Ii 1t
were not for the labels we sometimes see
on lime-juice bottles, Pure Montserrat
Lime juice we should hardly ever hear
OF the place. 1t Is the great lime-julce
producer of the world; and as no British
snip is allowed to leave port without a
supply OF lime juice for the sailors, the
business is a large one. 1t is pretty
nearly in the heart OF the tropics, being
in latitude l6o AZ north. 1t is
tiny place, only twelve miles long and
eight broad in It's largest parts, and con-
talns less than ntty square miles with a
population of 10000. " hen l landed l
made the I93d white person on the island;
there were 1872 before l arrived, all the
others being colored.
"W hen we approached Plymouth one
of the first things saw was long stone
wall halfway up the hill, surmounted, as
l thought, with a row OF cannon balls at
regular intervals. But as we drew nearer
! found that my supposed cannon balls
were the heads OF colored gentlemen who
stood on the ground behind watching our
arrival. A dilapidated wooden pier
reached out thirty OF forty feet into the
water, and soon the greaUer part Of the
300 Inhabitants OF the town were there
TO see us land. Our first effort to throw a
line was a failure, and the sailor who
threw it made some uncomplinentary
remarks This brought reply from the
man onshore who was supposed to catch
1t-a coal black negro OF great size.
"'Oh, phwat are ye givln' us?' the
black man shouted. BE Jasus, how can
] catch the loine when l can't rache it?
There were shouts of derision from
the crowd, and every word spoken was
in as rich an Irish brogue as one could
hear in New York or Killarney. The
brogue would have been a pleasant re-
minder of home ii its coming from
crowd of West India negroes had not
given it an uncanny sound.
why, these fellows talk like black
Irishmen," l said to the Captain of the
schooner.
Irish p' he replied, They're as Irish
as Billy-be-dam. Nine-tenths of the
darkies on this island are of Irish de-
scent They say they are the only Irish
darkies in the world.'
lit was not till | was settled in the Red
Lion Hotel in Plymouth that solved the
mystery of these Irish negroes. Many
years ago a company of Irish Quak ers
bought large tract of land in Montser-
rat. and went into the lime-juice business
extensively. They imported great
many Irish laborers, and a large proper
tion OF these men were unable to resist
the attractions OF the native women, and
married and settled down there. Their
children, OF course, were half Irish and
half negro, but the Irish blood was the
stronger, and the negro characteristics
had to give way before it. The original
1rishmen have been dead and gone for
years, but their descendants have re-
peopled the island, and the brogue and
other Irish characteristics remain.
The physical results OF this union of
two races are often startling. Some of
the Irish negroes are almost as white as
you and L, and others are coal black.
There's no telling what may happen III q
Montserrat family. One baby is typi-
lcal African, and the next is fair little
thing with straight red hair. 1t is not
only In Montserrat, either. that such
L
one OF the other islands, man of wealth
and refinement, without the slightest
sign OF any black blood in him, whose
1ather also was perfectly white and edu
Gated. This man married a beautiful
American girl, and there was mourning
IN the family when In due time there was
norm 10 them child as black as the ace
OF spades. The man knew w hat il meant,
and he had 10 explain that there had been
trace OF black blood in his grandfather,
which had land dormant through two
generations, but had thus made itself
painfully manifest in the third. The
child was hurried off to America to be
reared and educated, and is here now,
ana four or hve perfectly white children
were porn tc The couple afterward.
'lhe schooner had nothing to do at
Montserrat but to land me, and she was
off again before l had nv baggage away
from the wharf.
81 have way of keeping my mouth
shut about my occupation when | go into
a small place just for amusement They
see me going in and out at all hours with
my mysterious leather case, and nv
movements excite their curiosity. | in
tended 10 have this little amusement in
Monserrat by keeping quiet; but NV
visitors were so intelligent and so nolite
that / could not with any decency conceal
my business from them, and when thex
learned that l was botanist thev conld
not do enough for me. A botanist. in the
West India mind, is an official nerson
who has charge OF large Government gar
dens somewhere; they hardly grasp the
idea of an amateur who makes collections
merely for his own pleasure. bad hearty
offers not only of a home, but Of ponies.
of servants and of everything else the
country afforded.
zone colored man went back to his
house and brought large album in which
were pasted great variety of the flowers.