Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-08-27

trees that grow out of the sand. the
flats to the right where later we hunted
land crabs by moonlight, the rising for
ests in the background the highest
point of land, little less than a thou
sand feet above the level Of the sea. is
what we see at a glance as the order is
given to "let go the anchor
The island boasts of two hundred in
habitants and a governor The latter
selected from a lot of English soldiers
that showed pluck in the Afghan war
while his subjects Were mingling of
African, Madagascar and French that
produced a conglomeration of shades
not particularly pleasing to look at
while the language spoken was a
twisted one with Frenchy foundation.
Madagascar accent with the silvery
cadence of the African tongue to en-
liven lingo" seemingly all their own.
CocoanutS, bananas, sour oranges-or
as the natives call them "citron''-grow
profusely in all directions lemons or
lines, SuaVaS, bread fruit. and in some
of the mountain glens a large and de-
ilclouS raspberry can be gathered in
unlimited quantities. With sailors
ashore it is always the proper thing to
make 4 day of it, in the mountains,
eating your fill of fruit, drinking the
juice of the "cetrong" pronunciation a
Ia francaiS) and gathering a sailors
clothes bag full of the acid fruit to
carry on board ship for use at sea The
carrying two bushels of lemons two
miles down the mountain is no snap"
and but for the name of it would seldom
be INDUCED III FOR there was scarce a
man on the island but what would
have been glad to have done the job
for a shilling, (25 cents) while you took
things easy among the sights on the
shore.
Kodrique is almost unknown; but to
whalemen it supplies sweet potatoes,
yamS. pumpkins, or rather squash CO.
coanuts and fruits, beef of fair quail
~, all at a very reasonable price
Wood can be obtained here by paying
'stumpage." The trees grow very large
with immense limbs curving to the
ground The latter are Topped off. cut
into convenient lengths and carried on
the back to the boats sometimes a dis
lance of more than half mile This
is labor in earnest but it IS surprising
what a quantity of fuel twenty five
men can get out even under such a dis
advantage. Pure water from the noun
tam, making a clean leap of twenty feet
into IA circular pool a couple of fathoms
in diameter, then ripping over the
rocks for an hundred yards, furnished
us 4 watering place and here we filled
our casks to the disgust of half a score
of washerwomen that pounded the
rocks below us with the clothes they
We're washing, in that way beating out
the dirt and making the buttons fly in
all directions. AS we bailed out the
water faster than it run into the pool,
the women gave up in disgust balanced
their baskets of dripping clothes upon
their heads and with variGated looks
Of contempt upon their many shaded
faces went their way leaving us to do
the rejoicing.
The cabbage palm is found half way
up the mountain side, and. although |
strictly forbidden. we took the chances
of discovery and fine, felled a small |
tree and treated ourselves to the de- /!
liciouS. PUPPY, cabbage like growth at |
the top We tried the bread fruit, raw
and cooked. In its natural state pre-
fer something else, cooked, l have no |
doubt sailors cast away on a desolate |
island have been thankful that their |
lives We're preserved by it and | have |
known men to welcome death under |
some circumstances. khave no hank |
ering" in that direction
Crabs are fine eating. When COM
pared with Holsters. the latter are not |
in it. The main thing is to catch your |
crab. Armed with a basket and club |
we move as silently as possible across |
the flats, eyes and ears open to dis |
cover the least motion or detect the |
least rustic that warns you of the |
presence of the game that is ready to |
skurry to his hole at the first sign of |
danger. Burr, whish. There are hun |
dreds of them scooting in all directions. |
If you get one out of the lot you do |
well for they have disappeared as if by |
magic not one is to be seen, not |
sound except that made by the unfor- |
tunate prize in the basket. All there is |
to do is stand still. hold your breath |
and wait One by one they come out |
into the moonlight, uncertain if there |
is cause of alarm, great fat fellows, |
six inches across the back. move eau
tiousiy away from their hiding place |
grow holder and holder. then we rush |
again. capture one or two or three as |
the case may be. repeating the opera |
ton until the moon goes down or we
have crabs enough for all hands and |
the cook
/ found a man here. Henry Winter |
by name, a colored man, once a slave |
in Virginia, who ran away when a boy |
went to Baltimore, slowed away on |
board ship bound for the Isle of |
France. from there he came to Rod |
rique, married a Madagascar woman
went into the fishing business and now
a gray haired man of eighty is enjoy |
ing the wealth so richly deserved.
This island is but bubble and in my |
next | will tell you of a great cave that |
we visited and what we saw there.
JAY EFF BEE.