Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-06-07

I the few whom circumstances had
| thrust upon them as friends ana child
| rem. SO when the mother country de-
creed emancipation. no great change
ensued in the seml-fuedal relations be.
tween blacks and whites. These good
| Hollanders, living peacefully alOft In
| their volcano grow garden crops, In
Guiding several products Of the tenn
perate zone for the air Is pleasantly
cool away up here, though In the neigh
borhoOd Of the equator. Or rather the
women grow the crops and sell them In
the neighboring islands; the men are
all sailors, or chip builders having
never lost the sea-faring Instincts OF
their fathers They build boats on the
wooded decliyitles and slide them down
the cliffs 20 the sea; the very best
boats I'm the West Indies. which al
ways find ready sale, as the men are
eagerly sought as sailors, being con-
sidered, like their boats, thoroughly
trustworthy and reliable. These shrewd,
honest yirtuous and healthy folk speak
English. and In spite OF tropical sun
and rough sea breeze, they retain the
same pink and white complexion that
their ancestors brought over from Hol-
land, 200 years ago. Nearly all the
freckled faces, wide mouths, large.
strong teeth and delf-blue eyes. Though
the population Is professedly Lutheran
in religious belief everybody rejolces
when the good bishop Of Antigua eng
lish EpiscopaD, pays a periodical visit
to Saba, dispensing spiritual refresh
ment.
The city OF saba--locally known as
Bottom" because II occupies the floor
OF the crater must be about the oldest
town the sun shines on In all It's course.
IL might as appropriately have been
named the Top" being 80 hard ~
reach at Its height Of 800 feet above the
sea. Though surrounded on a.. sides
by steep hills, which break In The wa
ter's rim only on the east and west.
through which the landing places are
reached-yet the bottom OF the crater
IL broad and level That the volcano
once vOmited forth millions OF tons OF |
rock and scattered them broadcast Is |
evident for stones are everywhere |
piled In heaps higher than a mans |
head Before the people could ind any |
soil In which TO plant their gardens, |
they had 10 pick up the stones and |
bOuders, 20 the depth OF several feet. |
Although the natives dwell here In per- |
feet security the stranger cannot quite |
rid himself Of an uneasy feeling re-
Numbering VeHuVius, which suddenly |
leaped from crater whose fires had |
been 80 long dead that forests clothed |
It's sides, 60 the destruction Of Il nation.
Each tiny garden In Saba's crater IL en-
closed IN walls OF stones, piled up 30
high that the one street and It's by
paths seem 20 be between artificial
cliffs. over which hang vines and cacti,
the haunt Of hummlng birds and trou-
pals. The street and lane wind in and
out, hap-hazard but never by any haz-
gard, sticking 10 a straight line-so thai
the stranger Is perpetually losing him
self, as In labrinth Even IN the out
lying country up on the sides OF the
volcano, the fertile washlngs from tn
peak are enclosed within small pockets
and planted as carefully as the soil In
a conservatory, The upper val
leys are apportloned among
the Inhabitants, every available
inch of earth being utilized and econ
omlzed 20 the utmost, Neatnes and
thrift go hand In hand with the stur-
1y Hollanders, their pretty houses are
all painted white, with red-tlled roofs.
and the interiors are as clean as con-
slant scrubblng can make them. The
highest point In the island occupied by
. dwelling is a little more than fifteen
hundred feet bur as no horses or 9th
pr beasts OF burden can climb the
steep paths that lead thereto. every
thing Is carried up from the landing
place on the heads Of men and women.
The cargo Of every coasting-vesse that
arrives With freight from the hamlet Is
irst unladen under the cliffs and then
carried up on the backs OF the people
-one hundred pounds to q man. Thus
! barrel o. -four Is divided, half being
put into a sack and two men tote" II
~. each with his load balanced airlly
IN his head az II il were but feather
weight. So trunks and heavy articles
" furniture 20 up "the ladder" over
lteeps 50 nearly perpendicular that, as
lber says, even a goat would think
vice before taking his life IN his
lands, az Il were. and attempting that
errible trail"
Sabas greatest wealth Is In sulphur.
IN exhaustles deposit OF II. which Is
aid 20 be the only mine Of pure, crude
ulphur IN the world. outside OF Sic
w. Descending the great Gins about
thousand feet below the upper height
nd perhaps two hundred feet above
he sea, YOU find the sulphur veins be-
ng blasted and the material shot down
wire tram to the holds OF vessels an
hored near by only IN good weather
2 this possible. and even IN the smoth-
st seat there Is danger, for the trades
ave an evil habit OF blowing straight
gainst the cliffs
SO far as mere meauty Is concerned.
. tta. N.s, t.A.l |