Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1899-11-16
LESSER ANTILLES.
BRO. HARRIS WRITES OF HIS TRIP
FROM ISLE TO ISLE.
First Stop at St. Thomas. --Seenes
at This Little Danish Colony IAN
Ice Plant Suggestion.--St croix
and St. Kitts.--Antigua the Next
Stop. --French West Indies Follow.

/ 81 ' NUN ~ w A1Hs WI -tf
BROTHERS AND SISTERS - venture
TO say that not 50 sahoolma'ams in Yer
mont know in which hemisphere the
island OF ST. Vincent is, and probably
not ten Ofthem could possibly give I
/, correct historical, geographical ant
political statement of fact regarding
! the island They-as "A rule-eouldn1
say whether it was south of Singa-
pore or west of Enosburg. In fact, il
is in approximately - degrees OF north
latitude and 90 degrees OF west longi
tude. Now pull out your school geog-
lraphies and put your finger on it.
| Well, ! sent you my first letter from
st. Thomas, and finished II before We
reached that port, our first from New
York. Sailing Wednesday, the 18th,
we first sighted land on the morning OF
the next Tuesday, as fine a morning as
the sun ever illuminated. About ten
miles out on the right was Porto Rico,
rising gradually from the sea into the
clouds We passed along the coast for
perhaps 30 miles, the island proper,
and then a chain OF several small
islands belonging to Porto Rico and
ItAltHuil4 East dlilNNl W thN AHidlid u
st. Thomas. Although | have seen
several such since, never saw a fin
er sight than the approach 10 our first
port two hours after sunrise. We fol-
/ lowed the coast line for mile or two
of for a long distance before rounding
/ into the harbor on the southwest side
of the island, A few words as to the
/ general appearance of the land from
/ the ship may be Of interest and will
well answer Tor that ofall the rest ofthe
chain Of Lesser Antilles. The island is
a chain of PERCEPTIONS mountains, sheer
precipices rising at many points into
the clouds Magnificent mountains
they are. seemingly too steep to cult
vate or even to climb, but little patches
of cultivated land are seen on the APP
parently dizzy slopes, growing cane
and cocoa luxuriantly. Many OF the
islands are As level as rolling Yer
mont farm for three or four miles in
land before the cloud-piercing rocks
begin TO rear themselves, while in
others the mighty hills drop sheer of
into deep water, with here and there a
secluded little bay or beach with
hamlet and small sugar mill. In such
places and along the coast wherever
possible the coast is fringed with CO.
coanut trees on which the green fruit
now hangs in clusters. The two points
comprising the mighty majesty and
grandeur of the islands as seen from
a distance are. tirSt,t the sharp and tow
ering mountains and second, that they
are. every square foot over, vivid
green from very apex TO sea. Negeta-
ton, shrubbery or trees. all comprise
the most intense and perfect coloring
of emerald that | ever saw or believed
possible, With the tropical sunshine
and fleecy clouds you may possibly be
able to imagine in a small degree the
wondrous beauty ofthe scene. Owing
to the comparatively immense eleva-
ton of the mountains on each island
YOU can usually see from one to the
other and when we leave one port-if
not in the might've have only to sail
through the still blue sea for short
distance before seeing "A sharp point
rising above the horizon, possibly 80
miles away.
Well, about st. Thomas. your geog-
raphy will tell you'll you don't happen
to know, that it is colony of Den
mark of only a few miles in circumfer-
ence but of great geographical and his
| torical Importance. Not long ago it
was the rendezvous of an American
war fleet and. with Bermuda, was the
| headquarters of blockade running in the
war of the rebellion Ii has a natural
| harboT fairly well fortified and Den
marks soldicry are frequent sight on
the streets. The city--a small one with
only few thousand populations sit
uated at the head of the bay and is
built on three hills and in the valleys
on each side, which run from the
mountains to the shore. The Danish
style of architecture of course prevails
and the houses are built of light grey
stone, two story and four rooted. There
is not a patch of color, and seldom
paint, on or about any house in the
West Indies. The buildings are neat
and clean but evidently built for use
rather than ornament In fact. what
ever is ornamental down here i so
purely from accident. Ii Is entirely
unintentional and unprecedented
Another fact to be remembered i that
there is only one dock among the
islands where a boat OF this size can
land-at st. Lucia. The usual thing is
to anchor aS near the wharves a. is
safe. Freight is transferred BY light
er, as it is called, and passengers by a
crazy monkey of black Doatman with
a rickety old punt An English shit
ing IS the usual fare ashore and back.
A shilling each way il YOU don't make
an alright bargain to begin with. Pas
sengers 90 ashore and see the town
while the ship is discharging whatever
cargo she may have for the port. The
streets in st. Thomas are very narrow.
of hard packed yellow dirt or com
position stone and the sidewalk is US
ually comprised oflarge flat square-cut
stones OF perhaps four feet in width.
This street description will also an
proximately apply to any other island
town. A few horses are used about
the streets. Some of them are en-
tangled with an apparatus which the
black freebooter in charge seriously
alluded to as cab" As a rule the
horses weigh about $50 lbs. and look
like an old buffalo robe thrown c,-n, \