The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-02-20
ISLAND OF JAMAICA.
TIE CCLoRCDPECPLC GREATLY OUT
NuMCER TIT WHITES.

TAG latter Are Being Rapidly Crowded
o. --cn.rel r-,:ts a.sl Vegetables.
Character IN . Tarher Shn3-S!Gns Of
Progress From tEe United States.
found myself in q great, %shadavv,
rcomy hatei, Win hard wood floors Maa
f~urI2ngs cf veranda, giving Oh a garden
winch haa rua somewhat to seed, bu-
contained several palm trees and All as
sortnlent Of lizards, green and brown,
III agreeable confirmation of the propin-
Q1ltJ Of the equator. Roundabout this
hotel aud Its environment we wandered
till lunch was ready. There were
GTarGcs, bananas and several other fruits
VIA | do Eot specify only because !
III Ft!il unable To 1occllect their names.
AS 10 their favor, l can only say that |
do lot care mach fer it as yet. There
was Gne that tasted like butter and an.
other that had the consistency Of cream
cheese and the taste of strawberry Jam.
On tho whole, the favor of these
southern products strikes the northern
visitor as insipid and too sweet ard
makes u understand why Englishmen
always banker after Gurries and the like
sharp condiments in the tropics, but no
doubt we are sophisticated and wrong
and ought to like what seems to us in
sipidity. Meanwhile the oranges, ba-
nanas and ~pineapples are all much bet
ter here than they ever are after endur-
ing export.
As for the breadfruit ard yams, of
which we also had specimens, they are
a mixture Of the potato and the sweet
potato and are less captivating than
either. They have almost no taste at
all, and | should suppose that ore finally
would come TO regard them in much the
same light as bread, something usefully
filling, but without character enough to
inspire either loathiDg or devotion.
With the aid of sauce and grayies, how
ever, they go down very well.
The bill Of fare included, likewise,
fish which was good and meat which
was not wy gccA. It has to be eaten
toe soon aftc- Killing to have lost It's
t%oughness. Bot one does not expect to
eat nlrch meat down here. Vegetarians
are i'll their element i'll tie tropics, es-
p%ecially that superior order Of them who
favcr that Iart Of the vegetable kingdom
which grows above ground. The couu-
try women, who walk 10 to % miles q
day ii the SUI with burdens on their
heads which mast sometimes weigh not
less than 90 pounds, aad who are never
in the least tirod-tllese ladies, it ap-
pears, live ca fruit and vans only and
find them MI sufficient diet.
After dinner / went into a barber
shop and submitted myself to the min
instrations Of All artist there. The shop
was 1T the rear cf the little structure
which here the sign. The front part OF
1t, If | remember right, was devoted in
part 70 the sale Of tobacco. On three
sides OF the room were windows protect
ed By wooden gratings painted red and
blue. Through them | saw bits of in-
tense blue sky and green fronds of palm.
On a wall just outside the sash d lizard
ran and hoped, and the eternal buzzard
allghted on g corner of q roof within MY
range Of vision. Close beside me d young
darky, with d countenance of illimitable
amiability, labored assiduously Oh an
instrument in the nature of q hand or
but the works were in full view,
and, i'll the OPTION of several bystand-
ers, seemed to vie in interest with the
tunes. This music took the place of
the traditional barber's conversation,
though that also was abundantly avail
able on demand and was indeed carried
with much vivacity between the vari-
employees and some visitors who
appeared to have come in for that pur-
pose. 1t sounded like a mixture of Ital-
and French, and may have been
popular English, for aught | |
know. I could not understand it.
| accepted all these details Us being
typically tropical, but, on the other
hand, the chair III which / sat was made
III Rochester. On the wall were a large
h~5hoeraph Of Brooklyn bridge and a
portrait Of President Cleveland. Flee
trlclty, too, has got to Kingston, and
the wires run through the branches of
tic nlansoes and palms. The house in
which have taken up my abode i fit
ted throughout with electric bells, but
l am happy to add that none of them
works. In n Of the larger shops, I
think, there is al elevator, the only one
on the island.
l said just now that the white people
look out Of place. That fact, SO far as /
can Judge, is the moral of the story here.
The island belongs to the colored folk.
and the Others are gradually being
crowded out. The proportion is already
about 30 to l against the latter. and,
while the colored race goes on multiply
ing, the whites are packing their trunks
and moving out. Is this movement to be
arrested or not? l doubt whether it will
10 n.znnAal l-AI- T. IL i