The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-05-29

and Courier).
 | Kingston, St. Vincent B. w. l.. Though yachting in this corner of the
 globe is ideal in point of picturesque ness, it is not all tale of tranquil seas and moonlit nights and lovely islands l in constant succession, like the beads on
 a rosary. There are difficulties and dangers to be encountered in the way
 of shoals and hurricanes, complicated currents and adverse passage winds which call for all the navigator's skill
 and judgment. Especially is this true when Voyaging from west to east around the smaller, close-lying islands, | where gulf stream and equatorial cur l rents are always at CrOss-purposes, ana | where sleepy trade-Winds are met and vanquished by Atlantic gales, This par | ticuar locality seems to be the focus
 for the most devastating hurricanes on
 record. It rains, too-long and often; not gentle summer showers that cool l the atmosphere and wash. the face ot nature clean, but as if the windows or | heaven were suddenly opened and second deluge dropped through, Sall- ors speak of these down. pours as solid sheets of water" They threaten to beat | your frail boat to the bottom of the sea, while a murkey darkness closes around l fitfully illumined by binding flashes Of electricity followed by deafening re- Verberations-a phyrotechnic display or which one in the temperature zone can l form no conception. Of course, here as | elsewhere, rains and gales are especial 1 ly frequent and severe in the early springtime. After days of storm and discomfort, spent in tacking about in places of comparative safety, wind and
 rain ceased as suddenly as they came; and we awoke one lovely morning to 1 find ourselves in front of St. Vincent
 a very dream of an island, bathed in
 sunshine and enveloped in purple cloud ] It is the usual West India scene-a
 crescent-shaped shore with a town along it's edge, red roofs and tall spires 1 gleaming amid palm-trees, the whole | backed by green hills leading up, like a l colossal staircase, to somber central mountains. About the only exception
 that St. Vincent offers to the general 1 rule of island scenery is the absence Of outlying rocks and ragged cliffs and | jutting promontories; but it springs at once from the bluest seas, clear cut and l alone-a fiawless solitaire in turquoise setting Kingston Bay is deep and spa cious, it's sandy beach curving sharply | from headland to headland, it's fine modern jetty affording an excellent land-place. At either end of the bor- dering amphitheater of hills is a tall |. 1, ,1El ,ffrl, loa.
 other about six hundred-both crowned with massive Qualifications, which have long served principally the peaceful purposes of lighthouse and signal station. The city lies in a long marrow line, close to the water having only three parallel streets, which follow the
 semi circular sweep of shore and are named with true English directness and lack of sentiment-Bay street, Middle
 street and Back street. These are in- tersected at right angle by numerous short crossroads, which end at the base of the nearby hills, except where valleys trending down to the sea lead to estates in the mountains.
 We anchored directly opposite the
 postoffice-so near that it looked as if
 one might easily step in and get his
 mail, without the aid of boat. Land ing in the market-square, we found ourselves surrounded by light hearted
 blacks, Cwith hardly a white face to be seem, all singing and shouting as if merely to be alive were happiness enough. The true pulse of a commun- ity may be accurately told in it's market place. This of St. Vincent has no buildings, but a splendid avenue of
 palms at one side of it's square, and large trees scattered all over it, under whose shade haIf-naked, pipe-snoking negresses sit at ease and end their wares. In lieu of the customary butchers stalls, a few obliging fellows
 on the outskirts tend tethered pigs and lambs, out of which they will make meat, the instant you select your "cut' for dinner.
 | All the commerce of Kingston is car ried on in Bay street and it's narrow | strip of beach is always so encumbered with cargoes of lumber, pitch, oak slaves, molasses- barrels, rum punch cons, sugar-kegs, fish barrels and simi lar articles of export and import, lately unloaded from some passing ship, or waiting to De put dpUdIu Ol Oul-SOlllS vessels--that pedestrians can hardly pick their way along it and carts and carriages could not pass atall The principal stores are also in Bay street; and in most cases the families of the merchants reside in the second stories above their places of business. A path way-paved with f1ag-stones, blistering hot in the sun-isI covered from end to end of the street with a gallery; but though it's wooden roof affords some slight protection from the frequent rains, it does not prevent the sun shin ing under all day long, it's binding glare intensified by reflection from the mirror-lilxe sea. So stupid are the English in simplest matters, disrite their acknowledged prowess on land and sea. The slow-going Cubans-even the Mohammedans of Fez-are wiser in supplying shade to. all their markets and business streets, either with canvas curtains or trellesed vines. Having walked about Kingston half an hour on summers day you no longer wonder | that the sailors who frequent this port are seldom heard to swear by hades, but have a habit of remarktng Hot as Bay street
 Next to the market place is the police station and jail-a fine stone building which is said to be the best of it's kind