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

minutive donkeys to each earl, is not visible, You soon learn that the city is divided by the clover-leaf- shaped bay into three district parts-Punda, where the government buildings and principal commercial houses are located; Banda, (Other side) a populous residence quar- ter; and Scharlo, the Fifth avenue of the island. Each of these divisions has just one broad, smooth main driveway, encompassed ty a network of alleys. Naturally everything on wheels seeks the three wide thoroughfares erowding them from curb to curb and making them more dangerous than the compar atively deserted alleys. The carriages of Curacoa aristocrats are drawn by the lively, half-wild horses of Colombia. which disdain control and dash ahead at break-neck speed, whatever may stand in the way People pass from one division of the city to another by tram-car, which makes the circuit of the bay or in fat-bottomed boats or punts--the latter method of transpor- tation being a regular and Well-conduc- ted busnSs. The Punta section in- cludes the old Spanish city of Santa
 
 called Pietermaai,
 Close to the governors residence stands the Dutch Reformed church, where Peter Stuyvesant worshiped when he was governor of the island, before being transferred to New Am sterdam, which is now a part of Great CT New York A little way back of this quaintest of sanctuaries is the nearly obliterated ruin of the Stuyvesant mansion; and in an adjacent cemetery lies one of Stuyvesant's legs. Of course you go to service in the Dutch Re- formed church on your first Sunday morning in Curacoa, and perhaps sit in the governors new, which is as high as the pulpit and quite as conspicuous. As you pass out of the door cloth bag is presented to your attention, in which you are expected to deposit an offering for the church; and after seven o'clock dinner you should follow the To- cal world to the governors house and promenade therein to the music of the band, for an hour or two. Following the band you go up the wide staircase of the mansion, into a series of lofty saloons all looking out over the bay. Presently dancing begins (al- though it is Sunday evening" and per haps the stately governor, Baron von Heerdtot Eversberg, leads the measure. More likely, however, he is busy with his made friends in a big apartment to the right, where sideboards and decan- ters are the conspicuous articles of fur niture; or else he is in the card-room, I where a vevy of gentlemenly, prosper ous-looking men are at whist, or some other game that is played with cards. | What is your surprise to observe in the l midst the preacher of the morning-the I reverend divine whose powerful dis | course reminded you so much of the l ate Henry Ward Beecher-his hands | 'ull of kings and oces, his little guider | stake in the table a fragrant Havana between his lips and a glass of brandy 1 md soda at his elbow We are assured | 1y those who live here and therefore | ought to know, that there are no better | people on earth than these, both in in- ention and execution, but their ways Ire not exactly those to which Ameri- ans have been accustomed. Out in the streets everything looks equally queer md improba ble-from the street ur ,hins that stand ready to dive for the pennies you throw into twenty feet of water and the half-nude boatmen who ow you from place to place in the i own, to variously colored women sell ng fruit, sweetmeats and tobacco, and 1 adies trailing stiffly starched skirts at heir slipper heels.
 The official language of Curacoa is Dutch, but English, Spanish and French are also commonly spoken. The emacated negroes who comprise he bulk of the population, speak trange patois called Papiamento-a word which literally translated means O speak lies It is soft and liquid as hat of the South Sea Islands, and evi- ently grew from Spanish base in the Id slave times. Dutch, Danish and English words were also incorporated, mt none of African origin All harsh onsonants have been eliminated, all 1ng words abbreviated, and after three undred years of growth it has become
 language by itself. Children have earned it, generation after generation nd the Roman clergy have given 1t xed garmatical form,
 FANNIE E. WARD.