Evening star., 1899-07-29


ruin that Lord Rodney began. In the good
old times before emancipation an acre OF
soil was reckoned to produce from four TO
six hogsheads OF sugar OF 800 pounds 10
the hogshead: but today there IS barely
that much raised on its seven square miles,
total of territory. Most OF the sugar land
fes over on the wirdward or eastern side
of the island, for the leeMard or western is
almost too hilly for that sort OF cultivation.
There are several elevations OF respectable
height, as the White Wall, 800 feet: Nor II
Hill, $50: Signal HIM, 1J0: Round Hill. son:
Old Fort 300, and the town OF Orange Itself
is well set up above the beach the tower
OF its Dutch Church being I75 feet above
sea level. The old church, like the man
sions OF those who built il. has fallen into
ruin, but wnen | was there the quaint
sounding board still hung above the pulpit,
ard the pew was shown in which the repre-
sentative OF their high mightinesses, Gov,
Johannes De Graaff used 10 sit.
stIi is Dutch
The island is Dutch sim. like Curacao.
but the Language OF commerce and common
Use is English. That the official language
is Dutch, tho pass port or permit to shoot,
without which 1 was not allowed TO wander
around with gun. and which cost me two
guiiders, amply testifies. IL recitas the DE
Gezaghebber van ST. Eustatius'' hereby per-
nits the bearer TO carry abroad ''een dub
his stay, and the police force of the island
lcne man 7trong) is cautioned not TO inter-
tere with my explorations. which are in
the interests Of science" &c.
In order not to have any trouble. how
ever, l took the police force with me on
my ramhles, and II was his small son
Alexander, who piloted me to the haunts
OF the tropic bird. This rare bird is COM
mon enough at sea, but its terrene haunts
are hard to find il was with great ioy
that learned that the tropic bird CPhae-
hon ln..Es. Il IL.
not far from Orange town. 1t afforded
me hne sport, being swift of wing and
shy, and secured several specimens
We went to the cliffs for tropic birds.
but for humming birds and troDicals we
sought the hooks and hollows i'm the hills
where the wild mango casts its dense
shade, the silk cotton spread gigantic limbs
and the aCacias shed their perfume There
We found the yellow blossom" or jessa-
mine, wild frangipanni. with its whirs Of
pioom, the 'church-yard blossoms" some
thing like four-o' clocks and butterfly or
chlds. Near one such nook was the caved-
IN magazine of the old fort three hun
dred feet above the sleepy town. where A
Few rusty cannon of the last century pok-
ed their muzZles out Of a tangle Of cactus
and acacia. They We're obsolete and dis
mounted, not worth taking away as old
iron, even, or they would not have re-
manned in the fort so long; but what an
interest attaches to those antiquated guns,
What an interest to an American, 1 mean.
for the salute fired from them on a certain
day in lII6 was the ostensble grievance
urged by England when she broke the
treaty with Holland that preciptated Rod
ney, like thunderbult, upon this island.
First salute to Our Flag.
I forgot 20 mention that what John Bull
made the greatest fuss over was the firing
Of salute in honor of the American flag
by order of the Dutch governor of 'Statia.
And, moreover, it was probably the first
recognition of the sort ever obtained in a
foreign port by our flag.
According to the annals of the time a
certain privdteer from Baltimore, named
the Andrew Doria, came here for supplies
in November 11i6, flying a flag that had
never been seen in these seas before. 1t
was not the lag officially adopted by Con-
gress, OF course, for that was made a year
later; but il probably resembled the naval
flag OF the Netherlands, with alternate red,
white and blue stripes Anyway, when the
saucy priVateer came sailing into Orange
harbor, with its red, white and blue flag
huttering, and gave the fort a salute from
its guns, sturdy Governor De Graafr or
dered the salute returned, and the old cam
non on the hill. now so rusty and useless,
spoke out loudly, thirteen times, in honor
OF the thirteen stripes and colonies.
UnIucky for 'statia-
But thirteen was an unlucky number for
the governor and the island, whatever IL
may have been for our colonies, for before
Iheir hlSn mighuneSSeS could comply with
the British demand for a disaYowal along
came Rodney and his fleet and put poor
Statia out of the reckoning altogether she
was throttled, then and there, and cur col
Onies obtained no further aid from her
Thus she suffered, in a sense, on our ac-
count, and that our freedom might be
achieved.
And, as / sat amid the ruins Of the old
fcrt, and looked down upon the sad little
town at my feet, L could not but feel that
- ~ ISL NJ IN la
nature OF amends for the loss Of that If
teen millions and departed prosperity. 1t
would form very pretty pendant to the
necklace Of insular emeralds that Uncle
Sam will some day throw about the neck
of Miss Columbia! r. A. OBER