Evening Star Newspaper, May 21, 1898, Page 17

In the latter part of the year 1SW) it came to the knowle of Karl Hamrach & Co. that the one firm which they r ded asa formidale rival, that of Moss & Crawley of Liverpool and New York, was at frequent intervals receiving choice consignments of wild beasts from the east coast of Africa. | ‘This bald fact, and the intelligence that on! of the vessels which brought a shipment of animals had touched at the port of Mom- basa, w The matter was allowed to rest until Mat- thew Quin returned from the Rocky mountains. Then his employers cons him, and the upshot of it was that a Hamrac! . sent the shrewd litlie agent d in the off to sa, where he arr! And this led to his whom he wos destined casions—a ter with a m to be pitte? against on future « ma crupulous in the bargain At the time of which I write the Imperial British East Africa Company had been chartered for several years, and had done much to d=velop the resources of their ter- ritory. A large export trade was carried on ut Mombasa, which was the apital of orate, and hai the tinest haibor tire east coast. ‘Quin found the town—this was his first visit 1 spent a week in looking about and picking up scraps of information. That interval 1 to satisfy him that Mom- basa the port from which wild asts nipped-to Moss & Crawle t his J by a< different nature, an ne that fim to alter his plans for the present learn a caravan was 10W on ils way down to the coast laden with such export goods as ivory, hides and rubber, and that the native chief in command had two splen- ged lions which he hoped to ¢ispose of at Mombasa. The souze? of this news was an Aral trader just arrived from the interfor. He had passed the siow-traveling caravan 1 miles up country, and he de- clared that it would reach Mombasa in about four more days. 7 Here was an opportunity that promised better results than the search for the mar- Ket where Moss & Crawley were procuring ir animals. Quin acted with his usual promptness and forethought. A homewari- bound vessel lay in the harbor, and the skipper agreed to take the sons to England if they should be delivered on board within @ week's time. From another acquaintance, a Scotebman named Menzies, Quin learned that the caravan route puss2d close to a certain point twenty miles up the Guba river, which stream had its mouth ten miles north of Mombasa and penetrated the country in a northwesterly direction. — Menzies owned a good-sized stern-wheel steamer, and he was about to start for a native village forty miles up the Guba, for the purpose of buying a cargo of gums ani spices. Quin decided to accompany him half way up the river, stop off there and in- tercept the caravan, and board the steamer in on {ts return. He chose this cour: because he feared that an agent of Moss & rawley’s might be in the neighborhood, are of the caravan’s approach, and 1 tending to meet it—indeed, he half su: pected that he was already on the track of the mysterious shipments made to the rivai rm at Liverpool. If all went well, and he ‘ceeded in purchasing the Hons, Quin 3 resolved to take them at once and transport them down the river on the steamer. Thus he would be the more cer- tain of getting them aboard the hom ward-bound vessel in time, and he had other and weightier reasons in mind as “Within a few hours after hearing the Arab trader's story Quin had perfected his arrangements and hired four lean, brown Early the néxt morning, a heavy xX of silver de board Denaid Menzies’ quick run up the ¢ s still young whe Guba was reached. ave-dealin, dhows. listant i man- ufternoon Quin and at a small clearing in ived into his men we the fore deep water. days at th Menzies pi he and h ers waved farewell steamer carried them out of sight a bend. Then Quin and the Swahi QUIN AND THE SWAHILI WERE > of huts of poles and to spend th provided other necessury lug- he was on the sj ing. He had calculated more closely tha he thought, for within three hours the motley caravan came trailing along on its way to Mombasa. The lions were there two half-grown animals, that gave promise of enorn ous size and superb beauty. They were in separ cages, placed side by side on a low truck with clumsy wooden wheels, A targain was soon made, and the modest number of silver dollurs agreed on was counted out to the native chief. Then the caravan continued its slow progress, and Quin and his Swahilis spent the greater part of the in cutting a track through the tall grass and dragging the truck and the cages to the river-side camp. Quin had brought an extra supply of dol- lars with him, hoping that the natives Gwelling in the vicinity might have some- thing In his line to dispose of, or could do @ iittle wild-beast trapping for him at short notice. But his men, whom he sent off at daybreak on the following morning, returned about noonday with adverse re- ports, declaring that they could find no ative villeges in the nelghborhood. ‘They brought back a small deer they had shot and fed it to the lions. As the steamer would be along in another N°TE? Book 5Y vy-MuRRAY GRAYDON THE ADVENTURE STOLEN LIONS. (Copyright, 1898, by William Murray Graydon.) was clearly hilis to extend their search Quin made the best of which he could afford |to do, since he had attained the primary object of his journey. tramping about, so he squatted against the shady side of his hut and smoked steady pipes of his strong tobacco. The surround- reeked with miasmatic | and out of the Guba the heat waves shi mered above the sluggish water. The lion 3 sleeping in thelr under a clump of trees. Toward the close of the afternoon, when Quin had fallen into a doze, he was the eager voices of the Swahilis. were pointing | grass north of the camp, and as he glanced in that direction he heard a rustling, thresh- next instant a man broke from cover and strode across the camp. He carried a riflle on his shoulde e high boots, a sun helmet and a suit of gray ars old, with rd, and his in a wider radiv | his disappoinimen It was too hot to go ing jungle 's the exteat of their information. | er as himself, and thoroughly | ina potAted be features and yellowish skin proclaimed at a strain of Port iguese blood in Quin rose to his feet, rathe- surprised by the sight of a European; the stranger paus- i before him und bowed politely. will pardon my intrusion, with a friendly smile. : and caught a glimpse of your locked careless lion cages, and added of animals hereabouts “No; 1 bought them from a native cara- Quin answered. His manner was cool wed a little under the genial who seemed and-ea:y sort of chap. passing by ‘That is a fine pair Did you trap them Fresently tha I am Inspector Gon: the British East Africa Company camp is in the neighborhood, and J am on for some rascals who hi Leen smuggling firearms and spirits up the But 1 can’t find < inst me so far.” Quin sympathized with | the lookout his visitor, further particulars politencss requir. you take supper with “I can’t offer you much—" “Then let me be the h Inspector Gonzales. .” interrupted “My camp is but half away, and I have there a bottle of wine and some other supplies one does not great pleasure to me, I a been up country for a fortnight and have seen no Englishmen in that time.” Quin accepted He rather liked the man, | ed that he and never doubt- 's what he claimed to be; and | he was not averse to while away in pi ny some of the long hours that elapse before He gave the Swahilis some in- about the care of the ‘camp and awake until departed with box of silver dol- them stay new acquaintance. lars he had concealed that morning while his men were was nearer a Inspector Gonzales through the tall grass and reeds, and the camp burst suddenly upon of two tents pitched in a small clearing that bordered a pool of brackish water, and outside the larger of the tents squatted four armed of feature, peared to be a blend of Arab and Comoro They were not the sort of chaps Quin would have expected to find in the service of the compan: and observant as he usually was, this cir- cumstance did not strike him at the time. He was hot and hungry, and moreover the aylight was beginning to fade. mile than a half mile. Quin’s_ view. keen-witted Inspector Gonzales. comfortable as you can—supper will be served directly.” ‘The negroes looked far from clean, and 1 to sce that they had no intention of preparing the meal. the host, and, all things consid- yy good supper. A log served for a table, and the roots and ‘The menu com- fruit and an fake yourself as Quin was relie 2 tirned m freshment a bottle of fair cl heartily, but drank sparing! When a strange drowsin over him he attributed It grew steadily worse. Inspector Gonzales smiling at him, and he was vaguely aware of some story of adyen- ture his host was relating. speak, but could not. before his eyes, and he remembered noth- y of the wine. Ss began to steal t to the heat ‘Then a mist swam It was night when Quin woke up. cool air was blowing, and @ moon shone ij slantingly over the jungle top into the SOON GLIDING DOWN THE GUBA. He was lying at the foot of the and heavy. occurred he rose Recollecting what | unsteadfly and ned what he had |} fly told. The car- | it two miles away, and | t early the next morn- ! and the i:spector had vanished! had been robbed of his brace of “I see it all!” he muttered angrily. “What en! That wine was drugged, nately did not drink enough | of it to keep me asleep long. But why was a dastardly trick? What object could the man Gonzales have had—" He stopped abru: a fool I've b hough IT fort the vittim tly as he caught sight jot @ tiny white object in the trampled He picked it up, scan- of the moon, and stood in @ trance. ragment of an envelo; phant stamped on t! uch of the = vox brown oss raw And without a doubt jee ‘a, allas Inspector Gonzales, was bly @ new man, irm's employes, grass at his feet. ned it by the light for @ moment as jj had found was the' having a brown ele: corner, and containing this “To Antonio Silva.” elephant was the mark of of Liverpool. He was probai for in the list of the rival which Karl Hamrach & Co. pol: of keeping, no such Individual as this Por- tuguese figured, Of course the whole affair was as clear as daylight now, and Quin bitterly cursed his own stupidity—bilamed himself for fall- = so easily into the trap. He was more rathful about the cunning trickery ftself than its possible consequences, THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MAY -21, 1898-24 PAGES. 17 thirsted for an opportunity of getting even with Antonio Silva. He wasted no further time, for he knew by the moon that the night was yet young, and this gave him a slight glimmer of hope. He had his bearings all right, and, plunging into the tall grass, he bore on at a@ trot until he emerged, breathless and perspiring, within his own camp. The first glance showed ‘him the empty truck, strip- ped of its cages; the second revealed te four Swahilis bound each to a tree, and with gags thrust into their mouths. Quin cut the men loose and quickly learned what had happened. It was a brief story. About two hours before a dozen Arabs had stolen suddenly upot the camp and overpowered the Swa- hilis. Then they signaled for a dhow, which ran alongside the bank. The lion cages were carried on board, as well <s all the weapons in the camp, and the vessel and its crew made sail down the hes 5 The Swahilis had seen nothing of the Portu- guese, but two of them declared that the leader of the Arabs was Samaru, a well- known ruffian engaged in the slave trade. But whether Silva was with the party or not, there could be no doubt that he had in- stigated the affair and made use of the Arabs. < For a time Quin stamped savagely about the camp. Then the. Swahitis mentioned something that cheered him up a little; they stated that while absent that morning they had stumbled on a canoe less than a mile down the river. Quin shut off his flow ef sulphurous words and reflected for a moment. “One of you fellows must guide me to the spot,” he exclaimed. ‘Ten to one the dhow is making for the coast, but there is not enough wind to take it along very rapidly. If I can slip by it and get to the river mouth, the man-of-war down yonder will give me a boat and a crew to do the SILVA WAS TOO something awful. The officer dropped the covering and backed away. “Hupra!” he cried, “Slaves! We've got a prize!” A great shout went up from the men. Quin pret into the empty after cabin, aiound the deck, and looked sadly at the shore where the Arabs had vanished. “No lions,” be muttered. “Hanged if I understand it—? 3 Just then a rattle of oars was heard, and the second launch glided around a bend a short distance down stream. Voices hall- ed the newcomers, and they were soon alongside the dhow. Birney leaned over the bulwark and mae brief explanation to his brother officer, Lieut-"Mell. The litter was properly envious, and couid not help showing it, : : “Yes, you struck it rich,” he grumbled. “As for me, I've had the “levil’s own luck. I stopped and boardéd a dhow a mile or 20 down, and hanged if it had any zargo but @ pair of young lions in cages—" “Lions?” shouted Quin. “That's right. The Arabs said they were taking the brutes to a Portuguese vessel up the coast, so I had to let them go— “Was there a Portuguese on board “If there was I didn’t see him. Quin turaed. to Lieut. Birney. “There's time to overhaul the rascals!” he cried. “Don’t let them get away! You shan’t ios by it if you help me to recover the lio What do you say, man?” Further pleading was required on Quin’s part, but the upshot of it all was that he and ‘Ali found themselves five minutes later gliding swiftly down the Guba in the sec- ond la.nch. Lieutenant Mell, having learned the facts, had consented to do all in his power to thwart Antonio Silva's evil designs. Birney and his crew stayed be- hind with their prize. How tke chase turned out may be told FOR HIM. res yer: A few moments later Quin was off, companied by one of his men named Ali; he had instructed cae rest to remain at ‘the camp and await his return, Ali way along the river shore, and trouble in finding the place where the was concealed in a narrow backwater was in good condition, and two paddles lay in the bow. Quin and the Swa th ves, and they were soon gliding down the Guba, keeping along shore in the shadow of the overhanging trees. An hour passed, and then another. The night was silent, and the moon shone on a waste of rippling water, black dots of is- nds and fetid mangrove swamps. Quin gan to feel anxious, for he and Ali had paddled fast and covered at least ten miles, and by this time they should have sighted the dhow; they might have passed it in spite of their keen lookout, but that was unlike! “Tullo! what's that?” Quin muttered a littie later; he held his paddle in air. comes?” rang a low challenge from hadows under the near bank. x s!” Quin answered uncertainly. “Who ask = “An officer from H. M. 8. Darius,” was the instant reply. Here was an unexpected bit of luck, and Quin was delighted. He drove the canoe shoreward, and against the gunwales of a launch filled with armed sailors. The crew numbered ten in all, including the coxswain and the commanding officer. To the latter, who introduced himself as Lieutenant Bir- ney, Quin hurriedly and briefly told his By heavens, I'll outwit that scoundrel “I'm sorry for you, my man," sald the officer. “I've not seen a dhow of any sort, though that’s what we're here for. We had word that the Arabs were going to run a cargo of slaves out to sea tonight, but it looks like a false scent now. There’s an- other of our boats farther down the river, and perhaps—” Tho speaker was interrupted by a sharp exclamation from Ali, The Swahili was pointing across the river, and all saw, close to the opposite shore, a Purlting sight—a big lateen sail gliding out from the bushy point of an island. “My lions!” Quin gasped. “I hope not—I'm after slaves!” Lieuten- ant Birney replied eagerly. ‘But come aboard with your nigger, and lend a hand.” ‘The canoe was grounded on the bank, and its occupants tumbled into the launch; a sailor handed Quin a cutlass. ‘Give way, men!’ whispered the officer, and as quietly as possible the boat shot out across the stream. The Guba was not wide at this point, and the Arabs discovered their danger almost immediately; thjs was proved by a blurred movement on deck, and by a shift of the sail that increased the dhow’s speed. No outery was heard from either boat, but the crew of the launch bent hard and fast to the oars. They seemed to gain a little, and then a puff of wind bellied the slaver'’s can- vas and turned the odds around. “They'll give us the slip!” exclaimed Quin. “Why don’t you fire?—we're within easy gunshot. I don’t want to lose thore licrs.”” “Hang the Hons!" growled Birney. He put his hands to his mouth and shouted loudly: “Tua tanga! Tua tang which was native speech for “heave to. But the Arabs did not heave to; the dhow sped serenely on. “Give them a shot, Fowler,” said the Neu- tenant, “and if that don’t do the busiiess, we'll rake them with a volley. They shan’t get away!” The coxswain lifted his rifle and fired. Crack! The lateen sail swayed and dropped. There waz a flurry and rush on the dhow's deck, and some frightened voices rang over the water. “By Jove, you must have cut the hal- yards of the sail!” shouted Birney. “Give way, men!” rie veut wan easy. "The dutnoh. skinned the tide like a bird, and, as it drew near its helpless and drifting prey, a steady sound of splashing was heard. Then the bow scranet the dhow’s hull, and in a trice half of the crew was on deck, inciuding Quin and the officer. But the Arabs had follow- ed. their usual course and jumped over- board, and already the bobbing black heads were close to the bank. If Antonio Silva them he could not be picked t's good-bye to the Portuguese,” said Quin, as he lifted the hatch covering, ‘but T’ve got the lions.” “Have you?” laughed Lieut. Birney. He had struck a match, end as he held it over Quin’s shoulder the light shone down cn a ot ne thrust densely into the and the small that arose was The sudden dropping of the wind premised success, but six miles were left behind, and the river bar was very near, n a big sail loomed in sight around curve. And as the sailors pulled closer, in the moon- tovered that fate had played rir hands. Arabs have the med Lieute channel he hen we've got them?” cried Quin, his hand tightening on his cutlas “It looks that way. Let go hard, men!” ‘The oars bent under the strain and the launch covered half the distance in a rap- id spurt. Then an outery was heard from the dhow, which was ind fast on the bottom and badly keeled over. “They're jumping aned Quin; and as he spoke half a dozen black figures seram- bled over the bulwarks and splashed into the water. In all probability the Portu- guese had recognized Quin by the moonlight and realized that the game was up. sive way, men; give way!’ shouted the lieutenant. A brief but exciting chase followed. The Arabs had a goodish stretch to swim to shore, and the last man was still splash- ing through the shallows when the boat's prow cut into the beach close alongside of him. He was seized by a couple of sailors, and the rest of the crew dashed after the fugitives. Quin was the first man out of the launch, and he kept the lead. He saw Antonio Silva twenty feet ahead of him and just on the verge of the timber. After overhauling and p: ig several of the Arabs, he came up with his enemy. ‘The Portuguese wheeled around with a arling cry and a curse, pistol in hand. Quin Ifted his cutlass, but Silva was too quick for him. There was a flash and a report, and the plucky little man went sdown in a heap. Dawn was breaking when Quin came to his senses on board the stranded dhow to learn that his Hons were safe; that the bul- let had done no more than plow an ugly furrow alongside his head, and that Anto- nio Silva had escaped. So the end of the night's adventure was that Quin recovered his stolen property and that Birney’s crew had a cargo of slaves and a dhow to send in to the prize court. It was useless to search for Silva, but from one of the Arab prisoners taken a true version of the trick was gleaned by bits. The Portuguese, knowing himself that the lions were coming from the interior, had met the caravan several hours after Quin. Learning what had happened and where the Englishman was encamped, he went in haste to the Arab chief Samaru, with whom he had formerly had some shady dealings in slaves, and whose hiding place was in a nearby creek. The arrangement made, between the two was to have been of mutual benefit. The Arab knew that the tMan-of-war sus- pected him and had a boat watching the mouth of the river. ‘So he’intended to Bive the boat a short éhase“after the dhow containing the stolen Mors, and thus get it out of the way and give the other dhow a chance to slip up the coast with her car- go of slaves. The lions were to have been but on a Portuguese ship that lay a few miles north of the Gaba. «That the cunning plan fatled was due.in Part to Quin’s ca- noe trip, but mainly becguse the man-of- war had sent two boats out, and these had pushed up the riverfinstéad of lurking at the mouth. $ { Quin’s wound was not serious enough to cause him any inconyenience. Ali paddled him up to camp in the cahoe, and an hour after they reached there Menzie’s steamer came along and toak the whole party on board. The lions were lifted from the dhow on the way down, and were transferred to en ship in Mombasa harbor that A fortnight later Quin was on his way up country with the returning caravan, the chief of which had agreed to procure him a lot of wild beasts in the interior. But he did not forget Antonio Silva, and he was to learn in the future that Silva had by no ‘means forgotten him. (The End.) ——_+——. Like Effects. stuck fast!” It’s a treach- From Puck. Cassidy (reading)—“It siz here thot bol- ccicle scorching makes @ mon gray-haired, reund-shouldered, narrow+chested, bow-leg- ged, saller-faced and-hump-backed, Regan (who is deaf)—“Behivins! thot’s only too true, Cassidy;—and still min will ape on gittin’ married!” WASHERWOX&, IN MARTINIQUE. | €@ primitive conditions, finally (as in Halt to lapse into a state of semi-barbarism, unless held in check by @ superior body of whites. Now, this is not a theory, but a very serious condition, and it confronts the West Indians, menaces them, continually, despite the fact that they have labored hard to bring their respective colonial de- pendencies to the high level of the home countries, It is only by the most earnest and aggressive sort of work that they have been able to keep their noses above, water, even; and as it in, they have been forced to witness a constant degeneration of moral tone in communities, and a per- sistent deterioration in realities. The Only Safeguard. Their only salvation, they now realize, les in maintaining the integrity of appoint- ments by the home government as checks upon the extravagance and prospective law= leesness of the local assemblies. Thus, the head of the insular government, the gov- ernor, is appointed from France, invariably a white man of high standing, as are also several of the higher officials. Again, to further offset the possible centralization of power in the hands of the island police, who are mainly black and colored, in each tm= portant center, town or village, is quargred @ squad of picked gendarmes, recruited in the home country. These gendarmes are maintained essentially separate from the Creoles. and are discouraged from mingling with them, socially and politically. They are fine and soldierly fellows, perfectly drill- ed, loyal and sturdy. They have shown their mettie in many an encounter with FRENCH WEST INDIES > Martinique and Guadeloupe Are the Only Holdings Left. THRIFT AND GOOD MANAGEMENT —_~-—_— The Birthplace and Early Home of } the Empress Josephine. SOME INTERESTING HISTORY Written for The Evening Star. URING MORE than two hundred inglish batted for possession of the scuthern islar nearly a century ¢ tropical America to the p ions of the Caribbean sea was a “mare clausum” to in held that it was hers by right of nd she purpesed to hola it by wight of ships and men; but, some ‘thirty years after San Salvador was first sighted, she found the French corsairs becomi very annoying. They steaithily entered the Caribbean snd preyed upon the fat old leons coming up Irem the isthmus with their rich cargoes of suver and goid. In the year luz, or thirty-seven years after the uiscovery, a French squadron, even, hud penetrated the sacred conunes, and the Spamsh wer arown into consternation by an denglish vessel arriving at Santo Do- mingo. In the year 1538 a bloody and des- perale sea fignt took place between a #rench corsair and Spansh warsnip, while combined inflicted heavy losses upon the galieons, though the West Ina ven that early, had begun to decline and the Mexi- can and Peruvian mines were falling off. he efforts of otner nations to de Spain of her hard-earned conques ever, Were only desultory, unul along to- ward the end of the sixteenth century, and it was not until 2 that Sir # Drake, that pirate of high degree, here bent on business, The ola of Santo Domingo City yet show cannon ball embedaed im its roof, which was thrown from the flagship of Drak command, when he sacked the city and Car- ried off rich store of booty. For the next twenty years und more, until he died and Was buried at sea oil ine yenezuelan coast, Drake harried the Dons anu euriched his nation with untoid wealth, ubtained from their coast Lowns, cities and treasure ships, Grenville and Raleigh. More reputable and peaceful mariners ext heave into view in the Caribbean, notable among them one Sir Richard Gren- ville, who, with seven sail of ship, cruis from Dominica to Puerto Rico, and theuce went straight tor the Island of Roanoke, wt he the nucleus of a colony, the remains Of which the gailan e took home the fouowing year, as he returned from a victorious \oyage along the Spanish main. One 4tir of Jul 5 , Capt. White, with three vessels anu’150 men, touched at the ceast of Haiti; on ine 16th he reached Vir- Binia, and on ihe dl landed at jaterack” Uiatteras), where the first American child was born, Virginia Dare. By the close ot tne century following the discovery of America, Spain's hid here was Weakening, and she could no longer keep tne hated English from the Caribbean In 1596, Sir Waiter Kaleigh, who had been so vitally interested in those American colonies, arrived at the Island of Trinidad, gave’ the Spaniards a thrashing, and then ascended the Orinoco in quest of Eldvrado—tne golden country, which he never found. It was either at that time, or on a subsequent voyage, that ne gave ullerance to that terse explana- tion of his reason for not making a more extended exploration, “inasmuch as to do | so would have savoured of the Asse.”’- However, he dia one thing, at the end of his next voyzge hither, ten years tater, that somewhat savored of the animal he mentions—he returned and gave himself up tu imprisonment in the tower, and eventually lost his head thereby. As most of the sailing at that time was performed by “dead reckoning,” the En- glish mariners rarely departed from the then established routes of voyaging. Thus it follows that all the early colonists of America came here by tie West indian route—us we have seen. In 1607 three great men came over in co:apany: Capt. John Smith, Sir Christopher Newport und Bartholomew Gosrold—and no native of Virgima need be told wnat they did when they eventually reached our coast, where they founded the first permanent colony on the James. Shey first sighted Maru- nique, then Dominica, and landed at Guadeloupe, where their log states they found a spring. the water of which was so hot that “our admiral, Capt. Newport, caused a piece of pork to be put in it, which boiled it so in the Space of half an our as no fire could mend it.” Freebooters in Self-Defense. The English and French colonists who had attempted to settle in the West In- dies were so harried by the Spaniards that they eventually turned freebooters in self- defense. A flourishing colony was start- ed on the Island of St. Kitts, but a Span- ish admiral, Don Frederic Toledo, descend- ed upon them with a fleet and drove them away, and the most desperate of them joined some Dutch adventurers and be- came buccaneers in real earnest. They seized and held for a long time the Island of Tortuga, off the coast of Haiti, whence they made many a foray resulting in death and pecuniary loss to their bated Spanish enemies. Their first great leader, styled Peter the Great, boarded the ship of a Spanish vice admiral, killing-him in his own cabin and taking the big ship through the pluck and bravado of his few associ- ates. Then there was Van Horn, a grad- uate of Tortuga, who plundered Vera Cruz of more than $6,000,000, with which he made off right in sight of a Spanish squadron. The Spaniards were well worth plucking, those days, as one Morgan could tell, if he were now alive—that same old irate who captured Panama, sacked Car- ena, murdered hundreds of people, and was at last knighted by Britain and died the honored oyernen et eee But pb me lous, r the simple-minded buccaneers had extended their operations to robbing English and French vessels, and they were compelied to disband and seek more reputable means @f livelihnpod. Many of them became piant- ers over on the fertile hills of Haiti, op- posite their Island cf Tortuga, and some and settled other is- The history of Martinique, for in- arly all. Colo- y the French in 1635 covered by Columbus in four times seized by the British, in finally restored to, the French, in 1814. French Holdings. and more of islands which her sword and settled with but three and a half remain within the confines of the went farther south ever since held b Of the score France won by Martinique and St. f portion of the ins! of Saint Martin. lions of treasu and defending West Indies, yet today profitable poss: Bartholomew, nificant Island e been wasted in ac- these islands of jon to the nation owning islands owned by France in the West Indies, of greater area, consisting prop immense mountain mass, and forest-covered hot and mineral j hills, an extinct v years the French and | mountainous islar i Salee, running through mangrove swamps, is the lo portion of Guadeloupe, with level surface, plantations of sugar ne. All over and throughout this double of roads, even lead- woods that border on (he of the quiescent volcano. us well as in the sister colony of be noted the thrift and good management of the French, as con- trasted with the shiftless methods of the Spanish in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Wher- ever the French go, there they carry with them good roads and good government. We may truly term them the Roman road- builders of the present day, for through- out all their domains, coloni , they construct br , smooth as marble and as hard writer has seen them in these islands as well as in Algiers, on the borders of the Szhara, their smooth sur- faces a delight to the eye and a joy to travel over. Inland of Martinique. Guadeloupe lies between the parallels of latitude 16 and 17 N., and Martinique two Cegrees farther south, with the magnifi- cent English island of Dominica midway between. Martinique is about forty miles in length and from fifteen to twenty in breadta, like the others a congeries of up from the rhe island is one of the in the West Indies, its pro- and vegetation purely tropical, its Inhabitants mostly black and colored. Fine roads traverse the island from the Carib- bean to the Atlantic coast, sometimes at numerous small settlements dot the hills’ and valleys, while there are two large cities, St. Pierre and Fort de France, the former the commer- cial metropolis, the latter the capital and St. Pierre lies curved tead with deep water which is s0 “steep- ter Columous added | island are the gloomy crater Spanish crown the ; all other powers. | ocean's depths. most fertile elevations of seat of government around an open road close up to the shore, to” that vessels of great draft can moor to the quay, where long rows of sugar and hogsheads attest to the island's The streets of St. Pierre run_parallei with and a # right angles to the ba: the steep ones run swift streams, coming from the mountain rivers diverted ® streams are the the town Is 80 compara- thy, for they scour the gutters, and carry all re- They furnish jets for in entran from their cour: chief reason why cleanse the cross walk: fuse into the erable fountains and birds fill the air with song. They are every morning at daybreak, forth from thousands of houses processions who dump the contents of the swifly flowing brooks sh the breakfast dishe 0 the babies, in the same turbid cur- rents. Sometimes a dish is carried away, again a baby slips from and is swept swiftly downw confusion and outcries from the passersby. If either is recovered, it is generally in a damaged condition, and not presentable. of slop carrier their jars into and later on wa ard, amid great Picturesque Costumes. Perhaps there js no spot in the West In- dies where the costumes of the people are so picturesque—that is, of the “common classes”—particularly the quadroons and octoroons of the gentler sex. in color—“slathers of it’—to use a paint- er’s slang—and are of the old negress’ “plain red an’ good enough for them, so they riot in it and wear gorgeous bandanna turbans, dec- orated with valuable brooches, pins, ete. of solid gold. In their ears they sport im- mense hoops and fasces of golden cylin- opinion that ders, sometimes worth two hundred dol- lars a pair, and the headgear of a belle of this sort is frequently worth five hundred Although Martinique is French all the way through, French the language spoken, and a French patois the speech of the low- liest, yet there are comparatively few na- tives here now of La Belle France. In the matter of government the island is more at the mercy of the national system than at fault through local blunders. That is, Frenchmen persist in calling home and colonial, it has-finally come to pass that the local legisiatures and assem- blies sre controlled by the blacks, who are in a vast majority. Their preponder- ance has become a grave problem, in fact, not alone in the French isiands, bit in the English, Dutch, Danish Whatever men may say to the contrary, it is tho tendency of the black to reyert their compatriot: “men and brothers, and Spenish, tubulent islanders during frequent upris- ings of the blacks, and have invariably sup- ported and maintained order, when but for their presence affairs would ceriainly have taken a serious turn. They are generally recruited (rom the peasant class of France, having T2, it are Guade- of lives, mil- not one fs a suade oupe is of two <> Bexeraied A Woman of Martinique. by @ slug- | yet are more than ordinarily intelligent, and said to be superior to the average run of soldiers in the ranks. There is but little chance for promotion, however a rece ord one may make, and a matrimonial al ance with any one of them is proiptly r sented by the best of the Creole familie and the offending parties strictly ostracized, Still they are at present the sole bulwark of France against the rapidiy rising tide of black supremacy, and the only protection afforded the white inhabitants. In the Country Districts. If one wish to see the black at his best he should go into the country districts, and from St. Pierre he will not have to go far; no farther than the river that skirts the town, the Riviere Roxelane, where the washerwomen assemble, and beat the linen intrusted to their care out of all semblance to anything on earth. These washerwomen are of a free-and-casy sort, and, while kuee-deep in the ru: hing water, maul the clothes and indulge in a playful persifiage at a stranger's expense, which is very edi- fying to the stranger. A mile or so from the eity ts the Jardin des Plantes, the once beautiful and valu- able garden of acclimatization, with its rows of palms, its islets ftoating in the lake, its cascade, ) feet high, tumbling into & natural rock basin overtopped by tree ferns and plantains. The alleys here have witnessed many a (French) duel, as the perforated tree trunks attest, some’ of the bullets having gone wild. Outside the garden used to stand a strange tree, called “L'arbe du Voyageur,” the famous “traveler's tree” of Madagas- car, its palmated leaves sheltering a shrine to the virgin. Many a prayer is said hers by the islander homeward bound for the mountainous interior, in order that he or she may have protection from the terrible serpent known as the “fer de lance,” which lurks in the grass and underbrush, in the cane fields and even by the roadside, and the fangs of which carry death to whomso- ever they strike. Birthplace of an Empress. The capital of Martinique, Mort de France, is reached from St. Pierre by a short coast voyage in a small steamer, and alj the way one has glimpses of the gloomy Morne Pelee, 4,000 feet high, its summit wu ly wreathed ‘n clouds. Unlike its city, Fort de France (formerly, in im- perial times, known as Fort Royal) Hes sheltered in a deep bay, near the entranc to which stands the vast fortress of § Louis, bullt in the last century. The I are farther away here than at St. Pi and the city is on level land, with a “savanne” In ite center, surrounded with tamarind trees. In the savanne stands a statue of the Empress Josephine, of pure white mar an inscription telling you that her birth- place lies across the bay, at Trois Let, oni four miles distant. A circlet of palms sur- rounds the statue, their tops beaten to r! bons by hurricanes, from which Fort de Franco has often suffered. Fire and hurri- cane have reduced this once beautiful city to @ poverty-stricken town, filled with ruin- ed houses, the blackened wails of which peer through their shrouds of tropical vines and shrubs. Earthquakes, also, are not in. frequent, the writer having experienced two during one of his visits here twenty years ago. Fifteen years intervened between his two visits to Fort de France, and he could not but be pained at the terrible destruc- tion wrought by fire and hurricane, and the sere of =. ~— people of wealth and culture, whose places were now by ignorant blacks. aie — Jonephine’s Early Home. When the English attacked Martinique in 1762 there existed here a society which could boast connection with the best and the highest of France. Among other noble- men of France who left the land of their birth for ventures in the colonies was ono Tascher, who came out here in the year 1726. Prospering from the first, when his oldest son was born he had large estates of sugar cane, and when the son married he gave him more than he needed for culti- vation. Settling upon the estate La Pag- erie, across the great bay from Fort Royal and the fortress, Joseph Tascher de la Pagerle devoted Rimself to the raising of jeoffee and sugar cane. It was in the year 1763, in the month of June, that Josephine was born, and her first years were passed on the estate, with occasional visits to her aunt, who lived at Fort de France. When she was ten years of age a terrible hurricane destroyed her father’s house, and the family took refuge in the sugar mill, the ruins of which yet tand. Here the future empress of France lived for several years, the roof that coy- ered her being that of the mill in which her father’s sugar cane was crushed. A few miles from the estate la Pagerie is the little bourg of Trois Ilet, where still stands the church in which Josephine was baptized, and where her father and mother lie buried. Her first husband, Alexander de Beauharnais, was born a few years previ- ously in Fort Royal, and thus the town is dnseparably linked with the names of two who became famous in the mother land, ‘When Josephine was sixteen she was sent to France, and there she married; after he> husband's death returning to her island home, with Hortense, who married one of the Bonapartes and became the mother of Louis Napoleon. Here the two lived for some years happy and contented, but final- ly Josephine was drawn again to France, and neither she nor her daughter ever re- turned. Brought into prominence now, through the West Indies being the storm center of the present war, Fort de France may yet become the rendezvous of French fleets in the Caribbean, as it was when French sol- diers and sailors were to our cause, the can alliance, as against one, we may yet witness Eng- Cier, and the walla of od Lots may mgt shes j 1 as well as d, straight and ng gar- by millions there tssu nurse's grip, immediately They delight yaller” are —-—_—~ : If the burden be invisible to others we cag always bear it.—Life, ?