Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-04-22
HISTORIC MARTINIQUE
French Island in the West indies
Where Empress Josephine Was Born


(From The Boston Post)
More beautiful even than Guadeloupe
is Martinique. the only other important
island of the West Indies retained by
France in the desperate fighting for these
island possessions. Historically 1t Is the
most famous Of all the smaller Islands.
Here Josephine was born. And here.
eighteen years ago, occurred one of the
worst volcanic disasters that human his
tory has ever known.
Martinique Is a comparatively large
island, with an area of about 400 square
miles and a population Of about 2O0.-
O00 The capital, Fort de France, has
perhaps 100000 inhabitants. an amazing
ly picturesque town at the head Of
beautiful, almost landlocked. bay.
Except for portion of the upimpor-
tant island Of St. Martin. France has
retained in the West Indies only Mar
Unique and Guadeloupe. with a few islets
near Guadalupe. Yet these are not
insignificant possessions. Most of the is
lands in the long chain extending from
Porto Rico to Trinidad are British, but
Martinique and Guadelouoe are the larg-
est and in many respects the most
beautiful. And. despite the usual belief
that the French are not such good colon
izers as the English. their West Indian
porous. and the former slaves, who are
in the majority on all the islands, are
much more contented under French rule
than under British.
! II Great Britain ana France have TO
pay off part of their war Indebtedness
by ceding to us their West Indian pos
sessions there will be more opposition
from the residents Of the French Islands
than from those under the British flag.
There are features about many Of the
smaller West Indian islands that have
promped tourists to term this one and
that an ideal Paradise. as far as nat
ural scenery and climate can make such
a place on this earth. Martinique comes
as near to being an Eden as any of
them. 1t is lotus land of perpetual
summer. beautiful beyond words to praise
1t, blessed with an endless variety of
highlands and lowlands. Unlike all of
the other islands. with the soil
tary exception Of st. Lucia. Martinique
also has the serpent of Eden. This is
the dreaded fer de lance, the only poison
Gus snake found on any of the islands
north of Trinidad. This vicious viper
deserves the evil reputation that It bears.
Unlike the majority of poisonous snakes.
1t is not timid. 1t does not strike only
when pursued or carelessly stepped up
on. If 1t is summing itself in a forest
, path it expects a man to get out of the
way, and II he does not the fer de lance
usually tries to make him. 1t often
times grows to a length Of six feet. ia
quick and powerful. and its poison works
almost instantaneously.
Many tales Of this dreaded snakes
vlciousness are told in Martinique and
, St. Lucia. where the natives dread II
, with a superstitious awe One Of these
stories is told by Froude. the English
historian. in his THE English in the
West Indies" On the southern coast Of
st. Lucia rise two gigantic cones. 300
feet high and 80 steep that only expert
1 enced mountain climbers can reach the
r submits. Many years ago, says Froude
four English sailors started out to seal,
the taller one and were watched from
j their ships through a telescope.
: when half way up one Of them wa.
seen to drop. while three went on;
few hundred feet higher second drop
t ped, and afterward a third: one had al
, most reached the summit when ne Eel
also. No account Of what had befallel
them ever reached their ship. They wer
L supposed to have been bitten by the fer
il de lance. the deadlest snake in st. Luci
: and. perhaps. in the world. who ha,
resented and punished their intrusion in
: to the regions where they had no bust
4 ness. Such is the local legend, born prob
ably out of the terror of reptile whc
is no legend at all, but a living and YER
= active reality"