Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-23
First Of the English Colonies in the
West Indies.
An INCIDENT OF NELSON'S VOYAGE
How the Great Admiral Met His
Future Wife.
MONKEYS AND MANGO TREES

which together cover little more than one
hundred square miles, names that have be-
come familiar to all readers of American
and English history. AS st. Kits was the
mother of the English colonies in this part
of the West Indies. and her immensely fer
tile soil was easy of cultivation, many
sons of distinguished families came out
here to seek their fortunes.
The founder of the colony was a sir
knight, as is shown by his quaint epitaph,
which is still to be seen in an ancient ceme-
terry in the center of the island:
IAN Epitaph upon the most honorable
Noble and much Lamented Gent Sir Thos.
Warner. KIT, Lieutenant General of Ye
Caribbee Islands and Gov'r of ye Island of
st. Christ. Who departed this Life the 10th
of March, 164S.''
The colony was always loyal to the Eng
lish crown, in consequence of many
gentlemen having been employed in its
fo undation but one Of the judges who
signed the death warrant of Charles I
somehow found refuge there. In the pos
session of family of planters is a silver
tankard inscribed with the initials of this
rceicide, j. n. H.'-his name was Hutch
ingson-and the date 1852.
Another family holds as choice relic
letter from Robert Burns, written about
hundred years ago, in which the Scottish
bard gravely considers the possibilities of
lettering his condition by removing TO st.
kits. 1t is a credit to his sense and his
loyalty that he should have remained In
comparatively sterile Scotland. for there is
no denying the fact that Bobby was in
cined to a land that was generous and
where good liquors were to be had for the
asking.
Literary Deposits Few.
The literary remains Of these islands are
=, h
with reflected radiance than with an
original luster of their own. This may par
ticularly be said of the Island of Nevis,
separated from its mate by a sea channel
less than three miles wide. The Islands
We're at one time contiguous it Is thought.
and submarine passage exists from one
to the other. This is founded upon the
statement of the monkey hunters, who de-
clared that they have chased troups of
monkeys to q cavernous region on either
side, where they disappeared as If swallow
ed up by the 1t is a Well-knoWn fact
that monkeys are never numerous on bo,h
islands at the same time, for, while they
are raVaCing the cacao groves and cane
fields of one island those Of the other
usually exempt. On the Nevis side of the
channel. under the grassy slopes Of Hurri-
cane Hill. the water covers the site of
jamestown. the sunken city. 1t was sub
merged during a hurricane, like Port Royal
in Jamaica, and for more than a century
the waves have covered the roofs of its
houses. In mdchannel rises a huge rock
inhabited only by sea birds and known as
BOBBY Island.
An arrogant young barrister being asked
by a certain judge where he practiced, air-
ly replied: "Oh, between St. kits and
Nevis" All" said the judge. Ion BOBBY
Island, 1 presumed
Two events have happened in Nevis which
will cause the island to be kept in remem-
brance for many years to come. Here was
born the great American financier, Alex
ander Hamilton, and here Britain's peer
less seadog, Lord Nelson, fell victim to a
widows wiles and was married
In the year 1852 Horatio Nelson, then but
twentyfour years old, was appointed to
the command of one of his majestys ships
in-chief, Admiral Digby, congratulated him
on this appointment to a station where
large sums of prize money were to be OBJ
tanned, when the young captain replied:
Yes, sir; but 1 prefer the West Indies as
the station of honor He was, though I'M
Willingly, taken at his word, and sent to
the West Indies, where he became ac-
quainted with the best people of those hos
pitable islands.
Two years later, having made several
voyages. and acquiring the confidence of
his sovereign, Nelson was again appointed
to the West Indies as a commander of the
twenty-eight-gun frigate the Boreas, sail
ing from Srthead the 18th of May 1881.
He carried with him the rear admiral Of
the fleet, Sir Richard Hughes and his fam
lily, and. after their transfer, assumed
charge of the squadron assembled at
NEVIS nlS lSldnu was lnen a prosperous
sugar-producing colony of Great Britain
and lies near the more famous Island II
St kits. Between the two islands the Bo-
reas cruised continually, with occasional
trips among the others of the group, the
Lesser Antilles, constantly on the watch
against the aggressions of Britain's arch
enemies, the French.
Succumbed to the Widows Charms,
1t was during this West Indian voyage
that he met and won the fair Widow MIS-
bet, relict of a resident physician who had
practiced in Nevis. They were married, as
the register of Figtree Church affirms, on
the 18th of March, 1887. The marriage
register is still in evidence, though the
leaves of the old book are tattered and
Island of Nevis. The entry Is as follows:
'11S1, March IL, Horatio Nelson, Esq,
captain of his majesty,s ship the Boreas,
to Frances Herbert Nisbet widow.
That Is all. The unknown recorder of
this affair could not peer into the future
and perceive that he was then in the pres
ence of one of England's greatest captains,
Tor the young man had not then won his
successive titles of Baron Nelson of the
Nile. Duke of Bronte, etc. He was plain
sidered a good catch by West indian dian,
widow of little means and with a family
Prince William Henry then captain of the
Pegasus, later the sailor king of England
William IV-graced the occasion of the
marriage with his presence and gave away
the bride.
That Nelson was for a time attached to
his vile and was kind to her son is shown
by his future acts; for, ten years later, at
ter he had been created rear admiral and
when he thought his end was nigh, he
wrote in letter to Lord Vincent his SUI
perior commander: II have only to recon-
mend Josiah Nisbet to you and my coun-
try"
Stepson's Tender Care,
1t was when Nelson had been shot in the
elbow, receiving wound which lost him
his arm and nearly his life, that Lieut..
Nisbet. his stepson, who was by his fathers
side when he fell, placed him tenderly in
the bottom of the boat and, noticing that
the sight of blood made him faint as it
spouted forth from the shattered arm, COW
cred it with his hat. He then at the peril
Of his life, had Nelson taken on board one
of the ships in face of desoating fire
from the enemy, and took some silk hand
kerchiefs from his neck and bound them
tightly around the lacerated arm thus
saving his fathers life.
This was at Teneriffe Nelson was taken
home to England, still in charge of his
stepson, where he was placed in the ten
der care of his devoted wife, who nursed
him back to health. And yet little more
than a year later the hero of many a fight
was the devoted admirer Of Lady Hamil-
ton, with whose name his own had been