The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-09-16


strong. for had seen some Of the noun
tam streams swell into torrents after a
I lew minutes shower. We were hardly
out before the colored driver stopped his
/ horses and got out and began to roll
down the curtains.
/ w hats the matter2' I asked him.
Shower comm, boss, he replied; and
the curtains were hardly fastened down
/ before II came. / had not noticed the
| Dlackness Of the clouds about the noun
tain peak, but the boy had been accus-
toned all his life TO watching for such
Lhlngs. 1t was only gentle shower for
I 81. hlIIS, ABOUT such a gentle shower as
/ we should call a cloudburst at home, aud
fastening down the curtains, found was
merely matter Of form, for the top of
the carriage was like a seive, and in a
minute or less l was drenched from head
TO foot. But in few minutes more the
sun was shining again.
The negroes who were at work in the
| corn-helds, I noticed, paid no attention to
the frequent showers, but kept on with
their work. The rain could not hurt
their clothes, which were often coffee
sacks, and in some cases did not reach
above the waist, These field laborers
work always in gangs, digging holes
with heavy hoes, in which the young cane
shoots are planted. They never let the
carnage pass without stopping long
enough to take of their hats and give US
| a 'Mawnln,' boss The people we passed
IN the road were just the same There
were hundreds of them on their way to
town with trays of produce on their
heads, and every one gave US bow and
'Mawnin, boss"
About mile ahead of US. and off to
! the right, there doomed up great Cliff of
rock that the driver said was 1000 feet
nigh, and l think he was right. The wall
| was Just bare rock, and the top was COM
paratively level. 1t was high enough at
any rate, to make mans neck ache TO
| look up at the top of it. Indeed, nv neck
ached half the time while was in the
West Indies from looking up at the i'm
mensely tall palms. While l was looking
at this mountain on a mountain man
appeared at the very edge of the summit
with pair of horses and pillow Evil
IDENTIFY he was blowing the ground 1000
feet up there in the air, and as he turned
ne and mis- horses were so near the edge it
gave me a start. At that distance thew
looked like liliputian horses with speck
of driver.
what is that fellow doing up there?'
l asked the driver.
HE plowin', sah,' was the answer.
Dat cane field up dere. Dey say OATS
de highest sugah plantation in de world,
sab
"'Then that's where we are going
bO4NA hlLls IL bLGlG > any way 10 uElNG up.
What view they must have; and what a
chance to break their necks'
Easy huff TO drive up by goin' round
sab the driver said obviously; but l
don believe you wants to stay up dere,
sah.'
why not3' asked. There was some
thing IN the mans manner that made me
suspicious. Would they murder me up
there, or rob me-?
The boy roared with laughter at this
oh, no, sab, he said. ''Taint never no
body murdered on dis islam. An nobody
wouldn't rob you. But de man, he he
Well. boss, DON t'ink you wants to stay
up dere, sah.'
Il insisted upon knowing why not, and
at length the boy said, with many shakes
OF his head ana ShrugS of his shoulders
Well. sab, de planter, he is not one of de
gemmar planters, sab. He is a common
sort O. man, sah.'
This was a small objection in the eyes
of traveller who was looking for botani-
cal specimens rather than for society, and
the horses heads were turned toward the
highest sugar plantation in the world or
rather, they were turned toward the
road leading 70 that place, for the route
was roundabout one. taking us com
pletely around the great hill and grad
ually up the further side.
II do not see how any words-certainly
| any'words of mine-could do Justice to
abe scene from the top of that mountain
We were as l learned afterward, more
than 5000 feet above the sea. The town
of Basse Terre seemed to lie at our feet.
/ Vessels, looking like toy yachts, dotted
| the ocean; and in the distance Law An
tigua, Montserrat, Redonda, Nevis and
several other islands. Immediately over
| our heads, like dark roof. were the som
Der clouds that chung ever to the peak of
/ a-1vr Co.
! Before we had been on the plateau ten
minutes the clouds increased to such an
| extent that they came down and sur
rounded US, then broke into rain and dis
appeared. In front of as was the planta-
] ton house; low building of stone, look
/ ing very strong as it had need to be at
that elevation, but without any preten-
! sions to beauty.
LAS we drove up to the house there
/ came out to meet US light-brown colored
/ boy of perhaps 10, in distinctively West
! India costume IL had once been a shirt,
| the sole garment that he wore, and in its
better days it had perhaps saved him
4 from entire nudity, but hardly that much
could be said Of it when | saw it, 1t had
gradually given way in all quarters, and
! so many tears extended from the hem to
the collar that, with the sleeves COM
/ pletely gone, it seemed more like circet
| of fringe surrounding his plump body.
| The high wind blew this fringe in all di,
rections without disturbing the boys
equanimity in the least. In reply TO my
questions he summoned the mistress of
/ the house by calling:
Miss NJ ria Miss Mira!
Miss Mira, the planters wife, proved
1 to be a very comely woman, with far
skin, but with the hair and features
which showed Enthusiastically that she
! had, as they say in the West Indies, a
touch of the TAR stick. When I made
/ known my errand she welcomed me to the
/ little house with great hospitality, adding
that her husband was at work in the
fields, and that she knew he would be
! glad to receive me as a guest, though he
! certainly would accept no pay for my en-
! tertainment
This was a clear case of West Indian
| hospitality, for it did not need a second
/ glance at the interior of the house to see
| that the family were extremely poor and
working hard for a competence. The
/ furniture was as nearly nothing as posi-
BILE, the beds were hammocks, and the
children. of whom there were a large
number Of assorted sizes and coors, were
dressed to match the boy had first seen.
| As supper time approached Miss Mira
/ ground the corn as had seen it ground in