Newark post. (Newark, Del.) 1910-1969, 1911-01-18
WRITTEN FOR THE POST

seemed to make it point to get ac-
quainted and be sociable. Our first
class passengers numbered about one
hundred. and we all seemed ike one
big family We had Dr. Levds, Sec
retar yof the Transvaal with us, and
also the Postmaster of Cape Colony.
Two OF the American ladies OF our
party were going to Cape Colony as
teachers, and another one as Mis-
sionar'-
Shortly after the start on our voy-
age, we made arrangements for SER
les OF entertainments, dances and three
days sports after leaving Las Palmas.
We had very rough passage across
the Bay OF BlScay, ana MANY OF our
passengers were confined to their
staterooms. We saw many steamers
and sailing veSse.s as we were in the
vicinity OF the Straits of Gibraltar. Al
ter this, however, they were few and
tar between. Those of us who were
fortunate enough to remain on deck
enjoyed the ocean scenery. The water
seemed as black as ink. and here and
there were thousands of whte-caps
topping the waves. Our vessel OF
course rolled and pitched and when
we were at Our meas, the dishes had
to be held in place A glass half full
OF water would sometimes spill over
the edge. The powerful engines which
pushed us forward, made the whole
steamer fairly vibrate, and this toge-
Their with the tossing of the steamer
would make the woodwork creak We
saw a school of about FIVE hundred
pOrpoiseS, and it was interesting to
see them going in and out of the
water as they sped on their journey.
About five days out, we saw land in
the distance. which at first looked like
a small cloud in the horizon. We
were now nearing Las Palmas, town
on the Grand Canary Island. Hun
dreds OF boatmen raced out to meet
us, all DESTROYS to secure those pas
sengers who wanted to go ashore.
They certainly were an excited lot OF
Spaniards, shouting and gesticulating
like SO many monkeys. Several o, us
went ashore. A friend and myself en-
gagged cart drawn by two donkeys
to take us from the landing place
along the shore to Las Palmas proper.
We passed a large sand bank, which
ssaid to have been blown from Nor
Deco, having been carried by the winds
several hundred mics. We were con-
tinualy followed by children asking
for cigarettes" and pennies" These
seemed to be the only two English
words they knew. After reaching our
destination our driver demanded
twice as much as we had baroained for,
and a policeman threatened to arrest
us if we did not pay it. A case Of
graft, | suppose. We paid it as we
could not make them understand Eng
lish, and we could not understand
spanish. Some of our passengers who
had another cart, had it break down
with them; and they had to pay ex-
cessive damages. This was better
than missing the steamer by going to
Court the next day about it.
The houses here are butt OF stone
and sun-dried bricks, and are mostly
OF two stories. On the first floor is a
large double door, but no windows S.
Above are two windows, with water
spout projecting from the wall between
them, and it much resembled a can
non. This drained the rain from the
roof into the middle OF the street. In
these hot countries, people spend the
evenings on the roofs to get the air.
We wen to the Cathedral and found
the Priests holding a service. Their
chanting and prayers sounded very
odd in the Spanish LANGUAGE. A re-
volving table was in front of one priest
with several open books upon it. In
stead OF his turning the pages OF one
book the table was revolved by boy
kneeling under it.
we then went through some narrow
streets and up the side OF hill, which
would take us to the fort above. but
we were not allowed to go near the
fort, especially with our cameras
Nearly every house going up the hill
seemed to have its pig-pen built in
the side of the hill. We had a fine
view OF the town and ocean. At the
bottom of the hill and back OF the
town is quite a banana plantation. All
kinds o. tropical fruits are grown
here; and we saw many palm trees and
cacti plants. Figs, loquarts, etc,
gro win abundance.
The whistle of the steamer signalleC
us to return, and we soon were on oui
journey. Our next stopping place was
to be the Island of St. Helena. We
now started our deck games and sports
We had jumping contests, potato ra-
ces, egg an-spoon races, and numer-
Gus other sports and races participated
in by all the Observation-Disclosures includ
ed. We found the weather extremely
warm, but there was always breeze
due to the steamer moving. All pas
sengers seemed to be on deck wher
we crossed the equator, some prob
ably expected to see something else
than an imaginary line.
We had good many Americans or
board, and we managed to all get al
the same table. In the evenings sew
eral of us would get at the stern o.
the boat and sing American songs as
we watched each evening the North
star and then the Dipper gradually
sink beneath the horizon. These were
soon replaced by the Southern Cross
in the Southern Skies. An interesting
sight in the evening was to watch
the phosphorescent water stirred up
by our propeller. Myraids OF these
insects would glow, and we would
leave behind us what appeared as
lakes of fire.
The night before reaching St. Hell