Evening star., 1898-05-21

~
ers over on the fertile hills of Haiti. op-
posite their Island CT Tortuga and some
went farther south and settled other is
lands. The history of Martinique. for in
stance will suffice for nearly all Colo
nized by the French in 1895. having been
discovered by Columbus in 1902, it was
Tour times seized by the British. i'm l162
81. "a and 1909 finally restored to and
ever since held by the French, in 1914.
French Holdings
OF the score and more of islands which
France Won by her sword and settled with
her coonists, but three and a half remain
TO her now, within the confines of the
Caribbean sea. The three are Guade-
ioupe, Martinique and st. Bartholomew
the half portion of the insignificant Island
OF Saint Martin. Thousands of lives mil
Mons OF treasure. have been wasted in ac-
curing and defending these islands of
the West Indies, yet today not one is a
profitable possession to the nation owning
it.
or the two large islands owned by
france IN the West Indies, Guadeoupe is
OF greater area, consisting properly of two
Islands, one immense mountain mass
with beautiful valleys and forest-covered
nils, an extinct volcano. hot and mineral
springs, and coffee plantations. Separated
from the mountainous island by slug
glsh creek, the Riviere Salee, running
through mangrove swamps, is the lowland
pol ton of GuadeloCpe. with level surface
rich soil and vast plantations of sugar
cane All over and throughout this double
island are the best of roads, even lead
ing up to the woods that border on The
gloomy crater of the quiescent volcano.
Here, as well as in the sister colony of
Martinique, will be noted the thrift and
good manag cement of the French as con-
trasted with the shiftless methods of the
Spanish in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Wher-
ever the French go, there they carry with
them good roads and good government
We may truly term them the Roman road
builders of the present day, for through
out all their domains, colonial as well as
continental, they construct broad, straight
highways, smooth as marble and as hard
as iron The writer has seen them in
these islands as well as in Algiers on the
borders of the Sahara, their smooth sur
travel over
Island of Martinique.
Guadeloupe lies between the parallels of
latitude 16 and IL N. and Martinique two
degrees farther south. with the magnin-
cent English island of Dominica midway
between. Martinique is about forty miles
in length and from fifteen to twenty in
breadth. like the others a congeries of
mountains thrust sheer up from the
oceans depths. The island is one of the
most fertile in the West Indies, its pro-
inhabitants mostly black and colored Fine
roads traverse the island from the Carib-
bean to the Atlantic coast, sometimes AT
elevations of 1900 feet; numerous small
settlements dot the hills and valleys while
there are two large cities St Pierre and
Fort de France. the former the CONNER
cial metropolis, the latter the capitaI and
seat OF government. ST Pierre lies curved
around an open roadstead with deem water
close up to the shore, which is SO "stear
to that vessels of great draft can moor
to the quay, where long rows of sugar and
molasses hoSsheads attest to the islands
products
The streets of St Pierre rim naraIla;
with and at right angles to the bay and
DOWN the steep ones run swift streams
coming from the mountain rivers diverted
from their courses. These streams are the
chief reason why the town Is SO compara
lively healthy, for they scour the cutters.
cleanse the cross walks, and carry all re-
iuse INTO the sea. They furnish Jets for
lnnumerable fountains in enhancing gar
dens, where flowers flourish by millions
ana birds fill the air with song They are
turned on every morning at daybreak
ana Just as the day dawns there issue
forth from thousands of houses professions
OF slop carriers, who dump the contents of
their jars into the swiftly flowing brooks
ana later on wash the breakfast dishes
also the babies, in the same rurhid our
rents. Sometimes dish is carried away
again a baby slips from its nurses grin
and is swept swiftly downward, amid great
confusion and outcries from the passersby.
If either is recovered, it is generally in a
damaged condition, and not Immediately
preSentable.
Picturesque Costumes. |
Perhaps there is no spot in the West In
dies where the costumes of the people are |
so picturesque-that is, of the common
classes"-particularly the quadroons and
octoroons OF the gentler sex. They delight
in color-"slathers of ito use a paint
ers slang-and are of the old negress'
opinion that plain red an yaller'' are
good enough for them. so they riot in it |
and wear gorgeous bandanna turbans dec
GRATED with valuable brooches, pins, etc,
OF solid gold. In their ears they sport i'm
mense hoops and fasces of golden cylin- |