The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1897-05-22
MOSQUITO,
AND SOME THINGS ABOUT
COST AND ISLANDS.
The Ancient Indian Kingdom Which
Occupies Nearly Forty Miles of the
Coast of INSTRUMENTATION Buc-
caneers-An Easy Living-In the
Depths of theSea.
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CONTINUED FROM sEC oND Co1UMN,)
| anu easily 1ortlned, and the soEi vel. auap,.u
| TO the cultivation Of coffee, cotton, and other
tropical products. Cccoanuts, with wild figs
| and excellent grapes, are among it's spon-
| taneous productions, and in few cultivated
patches vans, bananas, pineapples coffee
and garden vegetables are grown by the few
| email planters. There are between three and
four thousand people on the island. mostly
colored, with here and there a sturdy Scotch
| farmer or an English younger son. trying
his needy hand at coffee raising or cotton
planting. large portion Of the population
| are liberated slaves, from the Grand Cayman
| near Jamaica, and among them are many
| slave owners, also negroes and natives OF
| that island, who were ruined at home by
emancipation.
An Easy Living.
Here they get an easy living, fishing, hunt
ing, turtling, boat building, and selling the
products OF their small plantations to traders
from Balize and Spanish Honduras, and even
New Orleans and Galveston. Their cottages
are set in the midst OF palm and plantain
groves, their vessels and fishing boats moored
IN sheltered nooks; and altogether it looks
like an ideal Acadia which some Of our har-
assed fellow countrymen in overcrowded
cities where life Is hard would do we'll to in
vestlgate. They tell us that the country is
AutA VI 6oi1C, SuCA dS ueST, WlAu hogs, spanish
rabbits, and birds of many species, and that
curing most OF the year the climate s abso-
lutte perfection. Between September and Feb
ruary great deal Of rain falls, sometimes
cooling the atmosphere below the point Of
comfort and unless one is careful to keep
warm anu dry, rheumatism or ague is likely
to ensue.
Guayana is about fifteen miles northeast Of
Ruatan but connected Herewith by an in
tflcate series OF reefs and Gays. through
which are deep though marrow channels,
known only to the sophisticated. Nothing
more charming can be imagined than an aft
ernoon sail from island to island, with a
fresh wind and fair sky and bright waters
sparkling in the sunlight. The pine-clad hills
OF Guayana rise slowly and smiingly above
the horizon, and as you approach the palm
trees on low, adjacent Gays appear to spring
directly from the sea, and to rise and fall
with the motion of the boat. The Gays them
selves are masses Of emerald verdure within
airing OF silvery sand. Between them and the
island with it's wealth Of forest is a stretch
of loveliest blue, placid as a. "painted ocean,"
the water so transparent that marine life be-
low is distinctly visible.
In the Depths Of the Sea.
The sea floor is studded with wonderful
products OF the coral polypus, here spread
ing out like FANS there taking the forms OF
f1attened globes, radiating with spines, and
yonder shooting up in branching, antler-like
stems. Dark patches OF jelly-iike sponge are
seen among the white shells Of innumerable
conches, and occasionally a large fish, whose
pulsating gills alone show signs Of life, seems,
almost. within reach Of your hand, though
fathoms be.ow. It is the proud boast Of
Guayana that Columbus set foot upon it in the
course of his fourth voyage. rt-t|;''s.-@: "''
The most interesting part of the beautiful
island is near Savanna Blight Cay, where IS
natural meadow covered with rank grass,
among which ancient fruit trees are grow,
Ing, planted many years ago by some forgot
ten hand. Other evidences of human habita-
tion at some remote period are found in ruined
stone walls, still several feet high, with here
and there assure, or rude niche, in each Of
which is rudely cut, three-legged stone
chair, evidently intended for the seat Of an
idol. In other parts Of the island rocks have
been discovered hewn into the shape of huge
chairs and numerous small idols and arti-
c.es OF rudely burned clay speak of the abor-
ig:nal inhabitants. In April and May thou
sands Of birds known hereabouts as "boo-
bies" and "noddies." lay their eggs on an
adjacent reef, called Half Moon CAY, to the
delight Of the natives, who live upon nothing.
else for weeks. From March to June myri-
ads of sand flies make life burden and the
Gays are overrun with pest Of soldier snails
which leave their Shiny trails upon every
thing. i9'tt1 ar
An American gentleman who was ship
wrecked In these waters, and spent some
months on Guayana, says that the snails came
with an incredible noise. The dead branches
on the ground cracked and broke under the
craving legions, as they advanced, consum-
Ing all before them, and people were COM
PEELED to hang their hammocks high to avoid
being eaten. u bHh
The whole island is thickly covered with
cocoa palms, and a very little is done toward
making oil from their nuts. Here is hint
for the impecunious American. BY the crude
method now in vogue it takes about fourteen
nuts to make quart Of oil, but by the intro
duction Of hydraulic presses, the yield might
be doubled with half the labor. The smaller
island Of Barbarette is mostly coffee grove,
owned by an Industrious Scotchman. He
went over to it in his skiff, from Ruatan, some
years ago, to hunt wild hogs, and in course Of
his tramping about noticed great many red
berries growing on low trees. Finally, he
picked one Of the berries, and discovered to
his establishment that 1t was cofree-prob-
ably planted century before, during either
the English or Spanish occupancy Of the ISL
ands. He said nothing about his find" until
he had large space cleared and planted with
new and old coffee trees; and then he brought
his wife and children over, built house, and
lives in comfort. almost monarch Of all ne
surveys" FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD.