The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-02-13

The Island Belongs TO tho Coiored
People.


but contained several palm trees, and
brown, in agreeable confirmation of the
propinquity of the equator. Round
about this hotel and it's environmentw we
wandered till lunch was ready; there
were oranges, bananas and several other
fruits which do not specify only be-
cause / am still unable to recollect
their names. As 10 their flavor, can
only say that i do not care much for it
as yet; there was one that tasted like
butter, and another that had the con-
sistency of cream cheese and the taste
of strawberry jam.
On the whole, the flavor of these
southern products strikes the northern
visitor as insipid and too sweet, and
makes one understand why Englishmen
always banker after curries and the
like sharp condiments In the tropics;
but no doubt we are sophisticated and
wrong and ought TO like what seems TO
us insipidity Meanwhile, the oranges,
bananas and pineapples are all much
better here than they ever are after en-
during export
AS for the breadfruit and 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 one
finally would come TO regard them
in much the game light as bread, some
thing usefully filling, but without char
acter enough 10 inspire either loath-
ing or devotion. With the aid of sauces
and gravies, however, they go down very
well.
The bill of fare included likewise fish
whith was good, and meat which was
not very good; il has to be eaten too
soon after killing TO have lost its tough
ness. But one does not expect to eat
much meat down here; vegetarians are
in their element in the tropics, espe-
oially that superior order OF them who
favor that part of the vegetable king
dom which grows above ground. The
country women, who walk : TO % miles
n day i'm the sun with burdens on their
heads which must sometimes weigh not
less than so pounds, and who are never
in the least tired-these ladies, IL APP
pears, live on fruit and yams only, and
find them all-suilicient diet.
After dinner | went into a barber
shop and submitted myself TO the m;n-
istrations OF an artist there. The shop
was at the rear of the little structure
which bore the sign; the front part Of
it, il ] remember right, was devoted in
part TO the sale of tobacco. On three
sides OF the room were windows pro-
tected by wooden gratings painted red
and blue; through them | saw bits of
intense blue sky and green fronds of
palm. On wall just outside the sash
lizard ran and hoped, and the eternal
buzzard alighted on a corner of a roof
within my range of vision. Close be-
side me young darkey with counte-
nance of illimitable amiability labored
assiduously on an instrument I'm the
nature Of hand-organ; but the works
were in full view, and in the opinion of
several bystanders seemed to vie in i'm
terest with the tunes. This music took
the place of the traditional BARRIERS
conversation, though that also was
abundantly available on demand. and
was indeed, carried on with much Vi
yacity between the various employees
and some visitors who appeared TO have
come in for that purpose It sounded
like q mixture OF Italian and French,
and may have been jamaican popular
English, for aught know. / could NOT
understand it.
/ accepted all these details as being
typically tropical; but, on the other
hand, the chair on which ] sat was made
in Rochester. n. Y; on the wall were
a large Autograph OF Brooklyn bridge
and n portrait of President Cleveland
Electricity, too, has got to Kingston,
and the wires run through the
branches OF the mangos and palms.
The house in which 7 have taken
up my abode is fitted throughout
with electric bells, but am happy to
add that none OF them work. In one
of the larger shops, think, there is an
elevator, the only one on the island.
/ said just now that the white.people
look out OF place. That fact, so far as
l can judge, Ia the moral Of the story
here. The island belongs 60 the col
orcd folk, and the others are gradually
being crowded out. The proportion is
already about thirty TO one against the
latter; and while the colored race goes
on multiplying, the whites are packing
their trunks and moving cut. Is this
movement 10 be arrested or not? |
doubt whether il will be arrested by the
English. Workmen imported from the
states do not succeed here; that Is, they
oil die in two years from rum. The
coolies do admirably, but they cannot
be the final solution OF The problem.
Perhaps the best thing we can do is
TO become colored people ourselves
Julian Hawthorne. in Century.