Birmingham state herald., 1895-11-17
A TRIP ID THE TROPICS
A Bicycle Ride Over a Beautiful
 Island.
ROADS ARE MAGNIFICENT
The State Herald Correspondent Is Impressed With the Value of the Monkeys
 He Saw.

St. Kitts, Oct S.--(Speclal Correspond e.)-Bright and early next morning 1 was up and anxious to go ashore, but 1t was several hours before the customs officer came aboard and gave us pra- tique, which means permit to land and trade
 In the meantime I busted myself get ting my bicycle ready and secretly won derlng what kind of roads I would find ashore. The scene which met my eye as I came on deck was peculiarly grate- full, succeeding the seventeen days at sea with it's unrelieved glare of waters. The town of Basse Terre. with its low houses and red roofs. nestled at the foot of high, verdue clad mountains, with fields of sugar cane encrcling them like lands of pale green velvet. On promon- tory commanding the anchoring ground is an abandoned old fort that was once formidable menace to the incoming mar iner and served to protect the town against the buccaneers that infected the West Indies in ye olden times. Brim- stone Hill, fifteen miles distant, is an- other point formerly fortified, but it, too, is now disinthraIled and Is garrsoned by hordes of monkeys, who swarm in the surrounding forests.
 About o'clock the captain and I were finally rowed ashore. Groups of negroes, in variegated dress gathered along the wharf to meet us. But for a peculiar gibbersh, difficult to be understood by those unfamiliar with the patois. they are but little different from the negroes seen at home.
 The first thing to be attended to was to try and sell the cargo or part of the cargo of lumber. l had struck the island at an opportune time and soon disposed of the deck load and some of the load below deck, 50,000 feet in all. 1 could have sold the entire cargo, but got tip to carry part of it to Martinique, where 1t would bring a much better price.
 While the cargo was being unloaded and floated ashore I had ample time to take in all the sights of interest on the island. The roads are perfectly grand, so that with my wheel I took in the whole island, which contains but sixty five square miles.
 I met several young Englishmen who possessed bicycles They joined me on several of my excursions and acted as guides. They were thoroughly familiar with the history of the island, and from them l gained lots of information about its floods, its cholera epidemics and it's hurricanes. I was shown piece of board which demonstrated the tremend- ous force of one of these hurricanes. It had been torn off the Catholic church during the tornado of 1871, carried long distance and driven through four thick nesses of heavy plank, intruding about feet within the buildings wall. It had been left there as a curiosity.
 In 1880 a sudden night flood from the mountains swept away a portion of the town and drowned 240 people. A few years ago the island suffered a loss of about 5000 from cholera. The bodies of the victims were buried near the seashore and the action of the waves is gradually uncoverfng the remains, skulls and bones being washed out by the encroaching wa ters. There Is no yellow fever here and earthquakes are unknown.
 Of it's 30000 inhabitants but 2000 are whites, yet there is no race trouble. There are no soldiers here to preserve order and what few policemen they have are all black. The women outnumber the men and compete with the men in all lines of business.
 In the upper part of the town there is a small park containing handsome palm trees and tropical plants of all kinds, but what caught my eye was banyan tree which is gradually overshadowing the entire park. It has but one trunk, but has a number of pendents which reach down from the limbs and take root, becoming trunks i'm turn and putting forth fresh OffshootS. It is just a question of time when this tree will own the entire island
 The mornings were little too warm for cycling, but the afternoons were de- lightful, and I made frequent trips in and around the island. The roads are as good as any found around Birmingham, and in one evening I rode the entire length of the island, and returned early next morning along the crest overlook ing the sea coast to windward. Fruit trees were plentiful, the cocoa-paIm, orange, mango, lime and bread fruit trees growing side by side.
 I met few white people in carriages and a great many negroes afoot They appeared to be clean. generally well dressed, cheerful and polite. The young er children were clad in garments too brief even for bathing suit. Some of them were as free from clothes as nations yet unborn
 This island, like all the West India group. is of volcanic origin, and extinct craters are to be seen in several places. The hardest days work I ever did was In climbing Mount Misery, 430O feet above the sea, to get a glimpse of the crater and the rest of the island. It was worth the trouble though, for the view that met my gaze was magnificent. I saw the islands of St. Eustatius, Nevis. Antigua Sabo, Bartholomew and Barbuda, some of them seventy-five miles distant and presented but a dim,- blue outline on the horizon.
 On my way down could hear the mon- keys. for which the island is famed, chat terlng in the woods. got sight of but one. huge, ugly looking thing These monkeys are said to be very easily tanned ans trained.
 wonder that some one don't buy an island near Mobile and stock it with these monkeys. They could be taught to pick cottno and would be worth $10 apiece to any farmer. When I return to Birmng- ham I will try to organibe a stock com pany to go into a monkey farm project There are millions in it. If properly man. aged It now costs about s7 per bale to pick cotton, or at the rates of about 50ceffts per 100 pounds. One negro. can pick only about 200 pounds of cotton per day and only in fair weather, but one of these monkeys can pick 800 pounds per day in any weather and then not feel tired Then it costs much less to feel and nothing to clothe 1t. The annual saving on the cot ton crop to farmers would be at least $S0,oOO,o0O, sufficient sum to buy S.0OO,- 900 monkeys at $10 apiece. The net profit on each monkey will be about s4. so you can readily see what good invest ment 1t will be.
 l believe such a scheme was once be- fore contemplated, but fell through on account of the difficulty in finding the right kind of monkey. From my observa- tion of these St. Kit monkeys I think they will be admirably adapted to the purpose They are docfle affectionate