, 1922-04-03

who was very kind in showing US
tho interesting points OF tho village
and explaining them 20 US histori-
caliy. One old Tort overlooking the
bay was particularly interesting in
its construction. It was built Rom
an style and OF brick which traders
had brought from the old world
long ago and which they had used
as ballast until their return cargo
was loaded. They were then sold at
a trfnng price in order to get rid OF
them. The old style canon. watch
towers and tho torture dungeons
were places which carried us back to
tho times when pirates and bold
buccaneers were rampant in this
part OF the world
We saw where Alexander Hamil
ton, tho first treasurer of the United
States, spent his early boyhood and
the store where he received his first
business training. It was hard for
US to realize that this pretty. drowsy
old. place could ever have been the
scene of activity both socially and
OAdliy III ~ PiiiiC- 10
now very dull in both capacities-co-
cially because OF the lack Of white
people and commercially because of
the absence of rain which has caused
the crops to be very r,oor. Tho is
land depends entirely on Its rainfall
for its water supply and 80 any
shortage means a great loss 20 the
sugar plantations Then. too. their
only crop Is sugar cane and It has
been for many years and as a con-
sequence the soil is nearly worked
out and does not produce very satis-
factory results. Very few of the
sugar factories arc running on ac-
count OF poor crops
st. Kits.
From st. Croix the steamer Wo-
ceeded TO the island of St Kits,
passing en- route the islands Of Saba
and St. Eustatius, eight miles from
the north end Of st. Kits. Both of
these islands belong to Holland.
We were lying in tho harbor the
next morning when we were awak-
ened by the jabbering of coin divers
who were shouting. Here boss. I'm
your blackberry" and much other
talk along the same line. These div
ers perform some really marvellous
feats in the water. You can throw
a coin Is or 30 feet from their boats
and they will dive into tho water
and swim beneath the surface, and
catch the coin before 1t has sunk to
a depth of more than is feet II
you throw in a penny one or two
little pickaninnies will dive for it.
II you throw in a shilling five or
six will do the submarine act and
should you feel exceedingly philan-
thropical and toss a four shilling
piece into the water the president
and part of his cabinet win dive
eagerly after 1t. Tho only cause
for losing any coins thrown in the
water is the inability of the diver
to see 1t and this is very rare
After breakfast we took a row boat
for shore The e was quite rough
in the harbor and it reminded one
Of the old song. Rocked in the
Cradle Of the Deep"
Tho pier at the town Of Basse
Terre. tho principal town on st.
kits island, is built like a depot
with a cement platform all around
it The building contains the Gus
tom house and offices. This being
the first British island We had Wis
itcd we were surprised at the differ
ence in the style of architecture of
the buildings and the mannertsms of
the people and while the vegetation
was much more prolific than on st.
Thomas. tho people seemed to be
very poor. not only financially but
their bodies looked undernourished
and there were a great many beg
CARS and cripples.
II VIC stopped on the street to
take a snapshot, almost immediately
a dozen or more black pickaninnies
would swarm round like bees to get
into the picture and then each one
would want a coin for his work.
We changed our money into small
pieces at the bank and tried to treat
them all alike but a person would
have to be a millionaire II he took
many pictures.
Tho natives all speak and under.
stand English but they have a way
of joining their words together and
OF speaking 8 fast that It is quite
difficult to get their meaning the
first time. We visited their homes
and shops. some of the latter being
good sized stores that were very in.
~teresting. but most OF them were