The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-02-10
BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE.

fllSn up on mOuntalnSltc which
overlooks 4 bay in the island of St.
Thomas, W. ! ), says a naval officer,
''are the ruins of a stone fortress. The
oldest negro in the island remembers
it only as it stands to-day, but through
out all that island world it is known
as 'Bluebeard's Castle, and, when
night has settled down, many Il story
is told around the fires i'm front of the
little cabins, about the old pirate and
the bloody deeds he perpetuated years
ago, and which have como down to
them among the folklore of the island
| have often wondered if he was the
Bluebeard we read of in our childhood
days, and if that legend was really
founded upon facts.
Il was stationed upon the cruiser
New York a few years ago, when one
morning, just as the sun was rising,
we dropped anchor in the harbor. 1t
is land-locked bay, excepting for
narrow entrance, such as one finds in
many of the West Indian islands. At
one side Il mountain rises abruptly
from the water to height of l,5O0
feet, and half way up the side, on a
shelf perhaps two acres in area, stand
the crumbling walls of the old fortress.
"Two hundred years ago those wa
ters teemed with pirates, who pillaged
and killed at every turn. But among
them all, throughout the gulf, Central
America, and the West Indies, there
were two men whose names stood out
above the rest and whose deeds are re-
called to this day. These two men
were Laftte, who had his stronghold
in the delta of the Mississippi, and
Bluebcard, who built his fortress upon
the island of ST. Thomas. The last
named chose his site well, and for for
ty years defied the sailors of Spain and
France in the new world.
IL visited the ruins the day after
our arrival, in company with one OF
the wardroom officers and an old dar-
key whom we hired to guide us. A
narrow. step path from the shore
wound in and out among the rocks
tropical vegetation, until it finally
brought us to the little shelf on the
mountain side.
''Betore us stood the ruins. The
walls had been shaken by the earth
quakes of the tropics, until scarcely
one stone rested upon another. What
ever iron work there had been in its
construction was years carried away,
and little remained to give more than
suggestion of its previous form or
style.
''The building had been fort one
half the size of Castle William, built
of great blocks Of stone, and practical
ly impregnable. \ company of men
with ammunition could have held the
place against an army of those days.
In front and beneath it lay the bay,
looking as though stone dropped
from the hand would strike the water
and send the waves chasing each other
to the shore. Behind it lowered the
mountain.
''In the interior we found the kew to
the place In the centre of the ground
floor Il large opening, or fissure, leads
directly downward through the noun
tain into great cave which We had
previously noticed at the waters edge
To convince us that it did lead down
to the water, our guide picked up Il
large stone, and, holding it over the
opening, let it drop; rs we listened,
i, struck the water with loud splash.
".\ccorling to the story told by
every one ON the island, Bluebcard, in
the course of his sa:lings, discovered
this cave with the tissure in the noun
tainsidc. Clearing away the top OF
this opening. he built fort and store
| house combined. Whenever he cap
tured ship, he brought it to St.
Thomas, ran it into the cave to con-
ceal it, and from the fort above hoist,
ed up the goods and valuables. Then
the ship would be taken outside the
harbor and scuttlCli. After his death
the place was abandoned, the hurri
canes and earthquakes of the tropics
got in their work, and little now re.
mains except the great cave, the fis
sure, and few crumbling blocks o
stone. ."-GEoRGE 4. WESTBRooK IN til,
Home Jon<no|.
Princess Margaret of Connaught i:
admittedly the clevcrest and most en-
thusiastic Royal cyclist in this coun
try, and can play bicycle polo, rid
slde-saddlc, ride with both hands OF
the bar, ride rythmicalIy to music
and drive to the rear. She is also al
expert donkey woman
The Empress of Japan has erea
admiration for all things European.