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 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE OF THE 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT OF ST. THOMAS, 
 DANISH WEST INDIES. 
 
 A FEW SHORT STORIES ABOUT BLUEBEARUS AND 
 BLACKBEARUS CASTLES. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHAS. EDWIN TAYLOR, M.D., F.R.G.S., 
 
 Member of the Colonial Council of St. Thomas and St. John, of the Board 
 
 of Health and Hos^pital Commission ; Fellow and Honorary Member 
 
 of various Scientijk and Literary Societies in Europe, Asia, 
 
 and America. Author of ' ' Leaflets from the Banish 
 
 West Indies," " Jumhy Hall," ^-c, ^x. 
 
 yr^ nesiinaies, " oumoy nau 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RES 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, AT TAYLOR-.S BOOK-STOEE, 
 ST. THOMAS, D. W. I.
 
 L O X P O N : 
 
 ETRE AND SPOTTISWOODE, 
 
 Her Maje.itii's Printers, 
 
 DOWXS PARK ROAD, HACKXET, N.E.
 
 j Q S LIBRARY 
 
 " ■ UNIVERSITY OF C.ATTFORNIA 
 7^2 SANTA BARBARA 
 
 \7K 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Of late years tourists are beginning to find tlieir way 
 to the West Indies. Their mild and equable climate, 
 beautiful scenery, the hospitable character of their in- 
 habitants, are thus becoming known ; and as time rolls 
 on, these islands will become as frequented as other 
 routes of travel, recommended as interesting and de- 
 lightful to invalids and pleasure seekers. Most of the 
 steamship lines bringing them call at St. Thomas. It 
 is generally the first glimpse they get of West Indian 
 life, its picturesque town and romantic old towers 
 always exciting their curiosity. Por such as these this 
 book has been written, for in it will be found almost 
 everything that is known about them. Should any- 
 thing be omitted, it is to be hoped that some excuse 
 will be found ; one cannot always particularize, especi- 
 ally where the exact items are wanting. The illustra- 
 tions will, no doubt, recommend themselves. They 
 are reproduced from photographs by our local artists, 
 to whom the thanks of the writer are due for their 
 kind permission to use them. 
 
 To those who have encouraged him to bring out 
 " An Island of the Sea," he begs to express his grati- 
 tude and sincere appreciation. 
 
 And now, having got through the most difficult part 
 of his book, he begs to subscribe himself most faithfully, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 August Slst, 1895. 
 
 S 3112. -*- '^
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 rjlHE favourable reception wliicli the first edition of 
 ^~- this work has met with at the hands of an appre- 
 ciative public has induced me to issue a second, with 
 the addition of a few words about St. Croix, " The 
 Garden of the West Indies." This, I trust, will be 
 acceptable to those who desire to know more about 
 these beautiful " Isles of the Sea." There is so much 
 to be said of their attractions, bright spots, and romantic 
 history, that whole volumes might be written about 
 them. If I have not been able to say more of them 
 in this, it must be attributed to the expense which 
 such a work would entail, rather than to any design 
 of mine to leave anything unsaid to their advantage. 
 Some day, perhaps, I may bring out a third and 
 improved edition. This, however, depends upon the 
 approval of my readers. Till then, mth thanks for 
 l)ast favours, I have the honour to sul)scribe myself, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 St. Thomas, June 1896. 
 
 a 2
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 PAnE 
 The Past --.._---- 7 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The Present - - - - - - - - -28 
 
 PART III. 
 
 STOKIES OF BLUEBEARD'S AND BLACKBEARD'S CASTLES. 
 
 " Bluebeard's Casket " - - - - - - - -4-5 
 
 " A Remarkable Coincidence " - - - - - - - 59 
 
 " Black Ivory " - - - - - - - - -74 
 
 " James Teach's Doubloons "' - - - - - - -91 
 
 " An Old Colonial Governor " - - - - - - 102
 
 CHARLES EDWIN TAYLOR, M.D.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 PAET I. 
 
 THE PAST. 
 
 I AM going to tell you about " An Island of the Sea," one of 
 those islands that Columbus discovered on his second voyage to 
 the West Indies, in the year 1493. There are many others 
 more populous, more extensive, more richly endowed by Nature, 
 perhaps, but few of them can boast of such a career of pros- 
 perity, the latter part of which is yet within the memory of 
 some of us. 
 
 And what memories does a voyage on the waters of the Blue 
 Caribbean recall to you. Not an island that you touch at, but 
 reminds you of some deed of valour done by brave seamen, some 
 wild story of the days when " El Draque," * as the Spaniards 
 called him, was the terror of this azure-tinted sea. 
 
 You read of Jamaica, now prosperous and successful as a 
 great fruit-growing country, sending its luscious products 
 weekly to America; of Trinidad's activity, its wondrous pitch 
 lake, botanical gardens, its yearly exports of millions of pounds 
 of " cocoa " ; of Grenada's fertile valleys, its productions of 
 cotton, spices, and coffee; of St. Vincent, with its Sou f Here, 
 and as the " island of arrowroot " ; of St. Lucia's future pros- 
 pects ; of Dominica's luxuriant vegetation, virgin forests, deep 
 ravines and lofty wooded mountains, its timber and countless 
 natural products ; of Montserrat, with its lime trees and export 
 trade of lime juice ; of Antigua, the puzzle of geologists and the 
 home of important public institutions ; of St. Kitt's and Nevis, 
 with their sugar cultivation, and of the Virgin Islands. And if 
 you are not tired you may read of that ancient colon}^, Barbados, 
 with its enormous population, busy as bees from morn till 
 night, among its lovely plantations or in its bustling city ; of 
 
 * Sir Francis Drake.
 
 8 AX ISLAXD OF THE SEA. 
 
 St. Domingo ami Hayti, still struggling in the throes of a 
 despotism perhaps necessary to their progress, or of Cuba, where 
 its natives emulous of their neighbours' independence are arrayed 
 in arms against the SpaniaiNls, l)attling for tlu'ir liberty. 
 
 Yes ! you may read of all these lovely fertile, smiling islands, 
 where God's precious sunlight kisses their mountain tops nearly 
 every morning of their existence, but in few volumes will you 
 find anything about the " Island of the Sea," of which I have 
 promised to tell you, and which, if smaller than most of them, 
 has none the less left its mark upon the pages of West Indian 
 history. And it is to a little Danish colony I am going to 
 devote a few chapters of this book, colonized by Danes from 
 the beirinninir, the white-crossed, blood-red bainierof the Danne- 
 brog yet floats over it, and seems likely to, if America or 
 German}'', which, more than once have cast longing eyes towards 
 it, do not some day exchange it for their own. 
 
 And now you may have guessed that my " Island of the Sea," 
 is St. Thomas, once named " The Emporium of the Antilles." 
 
 In a former work * I have endeavoured to sketch its history. 
 Here it is only possible, briefly to recapitulate and in bringing 
 it up to date, to notice its past and present position, and some 
 of the causes which may have led to its decadence as a com- 
 mercial centre. 
 
 That this island must have existed far back in the mists of 
 ages, its formation plainly shows. Of the cataclysm, which 
 caused it to spring into existence, we have no information. 
 Amidst volcanic flres, geology tells us, it must have been evolved, 
 and it is quite possible that, some day, it may disappear beneath 
 the ocean under the same conditions. 
 
 We are pretty sure that the Caribs inhabited it at one time. 
 Numerous stone chisels have been found in different parts of 
 the island, and there are yet some curious carvings on some 
 rocks in the neighbouring island of St. John, which strongly 
 confirm the assertion. 
 
 What we do know is, that Erik Smidt, the Dane, a7-7-i\-ed at 
 St. Thomas on the morning of the 30th of ]\Iarch 106G, in a 
 ship called " De Endracht," took possession of it for Denmark, 
 landed a small colony, which sufl'ered great privations, and died 
 shortly after his arrival. 
 
 * " Leaflets from tho Danish "West Indies."
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 9 
 
 Then a Dutch Governor, named Huntum, when the settlement 
 was in sore straits for provisions, landed in force and broke 
 it up. 
 
 So that the actual history of St. Thomas cannot be said to 
 have commenced before the time that Jorgen Iwersen became 
 its Governor on the 23rd of May 1672, when he came there as 
 chief of an expedition sent out from Copenhagen by the Danish 
 West India and Guinea Company. An idea of his iron-handed 
 rule may be formed from the story of "An Old Colonial 
 Governor," which is to be found within these pages. With 
 "Christian's Fort," completed some time after his arrival, and 
 some 50 estates under cultivation, it may be said that its 
 population of 331 souls, black and white, was fairly prospering, 
 and it was unfortunate, perhaps, that Jorgen Iwersen 's rule 
 came shortly to an end, he being superseded at his own 
 request by one " Nic Esmit," only to be thrown overboard 
 by a mutinous crew on his re-appointment as Governor and 
 return to the island of St. Thomas. 
 
 Slavery appears already to have existed in the colony, both 
 white and black ; but, encouraged by King Christian V., a great 
 number of negroes were brought from Africa, and the cultiva- 
 tion of sugar was introduced. 
 
 Four Governors had already ruled St. Thomas, when a violent 
 earthquake took place on a Sunday, the 9th of April, in the 
 year 1690. It cracked the walls of many buildings, and the 
 sea receded so that the fish could be picked up from the bottom, 
 nine or ten fathoms out. 
 
 It is about this time that we first hear of Bluebeard's Castle, 
 which was then known as Frederik's Fort, built upon Smith's 
 Hill in 1689, by Government. 
 
 It seems sad to sweep away the halo of romance with which 
 imagination has invested it, but the fact is there, though the 
 pen of fiction has told a score of stories about it and its sister 
 tower, named after Blackboard. 
 
 Very shortly afterwards the King of Denmark farmed out 
 the island to one George Thormohlen, a little before the 
 Brandenburgh Company had established itself with certain 
 rights and privileges. 
 
 On the 31st of IMarch 1692 the first regular troops were 
 garrisoned in the island. In those days the colonists objected 
 to taxation, and when asked for the support of the soldiers,
 
 10 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 they steadily refusL'd. Nor Jo we find tliat it was ever 
 enforced. 
 
 In 1094 Thormohlen was replaced by De La Vii^ne, who, in 
 his turn, was superseded by Governor Lorentz, under whose rule 
 w^e find the first severe hurricane recorded. This was in 1697. 
 
 In 1701 Pere Labat visited the island. In his interestinfj^ 
 book on the West Indies * he i^ives a fair picture of St. Thomas. 
 Of its commerce he makes these remarks : — 
 
 " Denmark beinj]^ almost neutral in the wars of Europe, the 
 port of St. Thomas is open to all nations. During peace it 
 serv^es as an entrepot for the commerce which the French, 
 English, Spaniards and Dutch do not dare to pursue openly on 
 their own islands ; and in time of w^ar, it is the refuge of 
 merchant ships when pursued by privateers. On the other 
 hand, the privateers send their prizes here to be sold when they 
 are not disposed to send them to a greater distance. Many small 
 vessels proceed from St. Thomas to the coast of South America, 
 whence they bring back much riches in the form of specie or in 
 bars and valuable merchandize. In a word, St. Thomas is a 
 market of consequence." 
 
 Thus w^e see, even at this early period, that prosperity was 
 dawning for this " Island of the Sea." Its geographical position, 
 and its magnificent harbour, though as yet destitute of wharves 
 and those great facilities which, in later years, have made it 
 almost unique in the West Indies, were already giving it a com- 
 mercial importance which belonged to no other island. 
 
 It is pleasant to look through the pages of the good father, 
 and read his lifelike description of the little town now known 
 as Charlotte Amalia. 
 
 Consisting of one street only, it followed the contour of the 
 bay, which terminated in the factory or offices of the Company. 
 This was a large and handsome edifice, witli many a])aitim'nts 
 and magazines for the storage of merchandize. Here they 
 secured the slaves, in which a large trade was done with the 
 Spaniards. The houses, which were formerl}'^ nothing but huts, 
 were buih of bricks. He speaks of two small streets to the 
 right of the factory, which were filled with French refugees. 
 He does not tell us where they came from, nor have I been 
 able to find out. Most all the houses were of one storey and 
 
 * " Voyage aux lies de I'Amerique," Vol. 11., page 285.
 
 AS ISLAND OF THE SEA. 11 
 
 very well arranged, their pavement being of tiles and the 
 interiors whitewashed. 
 
 He also speaks favorably of its agriculture. The estates 
 though small were well kept. The soil, if light, was good, pro- 
 ducing an abundance of manioc, millet, sweet potatoes, and all 
 kinds of fruits and herbs. The sugar cane grew well. They 
 had few cows and horses, for lack of pasturage ; but the inhabi- 
 tants did not want for meat, the Spaniards furnishing them 
 with it in abundance. Young kids and fowls were raised in 
 quantities. Provisions were always dear, but money was 
 plentiful, strangers arriving in affluence. 
 
 A brilliant picture for so short an existence the colony had 
 passed through ; and as our " Island of the Sea " went on 
 progressing through the years that followed, under several 
 Governors, during which the cultivation of indigo was com- 
 menced, another frightful hurricane devastated it. This was 
 in 1713. 
 
 In 1716, the import duties were changed from six to eight 
 per cent., congregations were permitted to elect their own 
 pastors, and the Secret Council was now separated from the 
 courts in which they formerly sat as judges. About this time 
 a deputation was sent home to Copenhagen, the first Govern- 
 ment House was purchased, and the privileges of the Branden- 
 burgh Company ceased. Then a land tax was imposed and a 
 tax of two and a half rix dollars for each man, woman, and 
 slave. 
 
 Then a Royal Council administered the affairs of the colony. 
 It consisted of five persons besides the Governor, as President, 
 two merchants, the bookkeeper, treasurer, and secretary. 
 Planters had no more the power of life and death over their 
 slaves, and were bound to treat them well. Clerks servins" six 
 years were then permitted to return home ; but young un- 
 married women were not to enjoy the privilege at all, without 
 special permission, a state of things our young ladies of to-day 
 will surely smile at. 
 
 A Reconciling Court, with the Governor as judge, was now 
 established, and the duties on imports and exports were lowered 
 to five or six per cent. St. Thomas was in a flourishing con- 
 dition. Untold wealth flowed to its shores, and it was not until 
 tlic year 1756 that its very existence was threatened by the 
 very means that had contributed to its greatness.
 
 1- AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 Up to this time tlie Dutch liad carried on a ^i^reat trade in 
 St. Thomas. The Company, jealous of their success, united with 
 the merchants, and Avith their lielp proceeded to exchide the 
 ])utch from all commerce Avith the colonies. 
 
 It had now become a gigantic monopol}'', which from the 
 oppressive restrictions it put upon the island for its own special 
 benefit, soon promised its extinction. 
 
 It was then that His Majesty, King Frederik V., stepped in 
 and acquired all its privileges by purchase. It was an enormous 
 price they obtained for them, but no price was too great to pay 
 to get rid of what, at the time, was a curse instead of a benefit. 
 Unfortunately for the colony, such a sweeping change brought 
 misery, and it is recorded that emigration was of daily occur- 
 rence, money became scarce, a paper currency was issued, and 
 of the few inhabitants left to sustain its fallen fortunes the 
 majority were slaves. 
 
 Only on the 9th of April 1764, when it was declared a free 
 port for vessels of all nations, did its star become once more in 
 the ascendant. Ships came in, and with them the money so 
 much needed. 
 
 The history of St. Thomas, from thatdate, is a long record of 
 triumphant progress in commerce and industry. Its harbour 
 was full of ships, its town grew rapidly, great houses were 
 established, wealthy merchants came there to remain, and from 
 morn till eve its stores were alive with busy purchasers. 
 
 The first rude shock came with the English, who blockaded it 
 in the year 1800. Denmark was at war with Great Britain. So, 
 on the 1st of April 1801, our " Island of the Sea" surrendered to 
 a military and naval force imder Colonel Cowell. For ten 
 months they held it, when it was restored to Demnark, on the 
 22nd of Feb. 1802. During this time its commerce was at a 
 standstill. 
 
 Destructive fires took place in 180-i and l>SO(i, which de- 
 stroyed over 10,000,000 dollars worth of property, and in 
 ]807, the island was again surrendered to the English, who 
 cjccupied it till the 9th of April 1815, wlnii tlicy restored it to 
 Denmark, and its trade again revived. 
 
 On the 4th <A' July 1848 the freedom of tlic slaves was 
 proclaimed at the druin-liead. Fi-oni that day agriculture 
 became a dead letter in St. Thomas, and of the 90 estates, 
 which 100 years ago were under cultivation, none remain except
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 13 
 
 ill name. From this time, however, our " Island of the Sea " 
 prospered greatly, gold flowed into the coffers of its merchants, 
 and plenty reigned in every household. 
 
 On Nov. 15th, 1863, King Frederik VII., so beloved by all 
 his subjects, passed to a higher life. His Majesty, the present 
 King, succeeded him. Shortly after his accession to the throne, 
 the Colonial Law came into force, April 1864, the harbour was 
 dredged out, a fine marine repairing slip was in operation, 
 1600 shares in an iron Floating Dock were subscribed for. 
 Gas Works w^ere planned, and a new Government House, a 
 Custom House, Public Wharf, new Lighthouse, and a Fish 
 Market were to be erected. 
 
 The war between the Northern and Southern States of 
 America brought blockade runners to the port, and, as a 
 consequence, more wealth. Another war, in which the hearts 
 of the people were deeply concerned, was being fought at home 
 between Denmark and Germany. 
 
 The " Clara Rothe," a steamer of 366 tons, now ran between 
 St. Thomas and St. Croix.* On the 8th of April 1865, the 
 comer-stone of the new Government House was laid. On 
 the 9th of Jan. 1866, the Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State 
 for the United States of America, visited the island. Rumours 
 were then circulated that America was desirous of acquiring 
 St. Thomas as a coaling station. 
 
 At this time, the town was in a very unhealthy condition. 
 Small-pox and yellow fever had existed for some months, 
 and on the 18th of Nov. the cholera broke out. It caused 
 860 deaths. 
 
 On the 20th of July 1867 the Floating Dock was inaugurated 
 by being lowered, and the steamship "Wye" was taken in, 
 but the Dock would not come up, and it was not successfully 
 raised and completed till some years afterwards. 
 
 To complete the troubles which were now falling thickly 
 round our "Island of the Sea," a terrific hurricane passed 
 over it on the 29th of Oct. More than 300 lives were 
 lost, and 77 vessels were stranded or wrecked. Following 
 this, came the earthquake and tidal wave on the 18th of 
 Nov. These awful calamities w^ere but the beginning of 
 
 * This service is now done by the "Vigilant," a fast sailing schooner, whose 
 history dates back a hundred years. The " Clara Kothe " ceased plying between the 
 islands, as it did nut pay.
 
 14 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 tlie end which a-Nvaited St. Thomas, and followin^f each other 
 so rapidly, spread dismay into the stoutest heart. Shortly 
 after these events, and when the outlook seemed most gloomy, 
 the hopes of the people were raised by the prospect of annexa- 
 tion to the United States of America. 
 
 The situation is best expressed in the words of Mr. F. A. 
 Ober, an American author, whose books on the West Indies 
 and the Spanish Main * are the delight of everyone who 
 reads them : — 
 
 " Unfortunately, our Government once treated with Denmark 
 for this very possession (St. Thomas), the treaty was not only 
 ready for ratification, but the King of Denmark had taken 
 farewell of his loyal subjects and virtually given up the 
 island, when occurred one of those humiliating episodes that 
 more than once have made America a byword in diplomatic 
 circles." 
 
 " The treaty intention was ignored ; the King of Denmark 
 had the humiliation of recalling his loyal but disappointed 
 subjects, and the attitude of the Home Government towards 
 us cannot be but that of deep resentment. As it stands now, 
 Denmark, though anxious to dispose of her West India posses- 
 sions, cannot take the initiative, having once been insulted, 
 and has every reason to view with distrust any proposition 
 emanating from the Government of the United States, even 
 should our legislators have the wisdom to move for their 
 acquisition." 
 
 More can scarcely be said on a subject reflecting so little 
 credit upon American diplomacy. That the people who had 
 voted for and expected so much from the change, were down- 
 cast and dispirited at such a disappointment, cannot be doubted. 
 But the necessity of taking up their burden, and facing the 
 troubles which now awaited them, was manifest, and so we 
 see them once more breasting the waves of ad\ersity which 
 were now setting so strongly against them. 
 
 On the 11th of Feb. 1871 the seat of GoNernincnt was 
 removed from St. Croix to St. Thomas. On the 2()tli of (liat 
 month. His Excellency Governor W. L. Birch, Commander of 
 Dannebrog and Dannebrogsmand, died suddenly. On the 30th, 
 His Excellency Chamberlain Franz Ernest Bille, K.D., arrived 
 
 * "Camps in tlic Caribbecs." "In the Wake of Colunil'iis."
 
 r 
 
 SOLI; 
 
 "^7^ t mm 
 
 LIGHTHOUSE 
 
 MuhUns/ddt Point.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 15 
 
 in St. Tliomas, as Commissioner Extraordinary and Governor 
 of the Danish West Indies. He was to reside at St. Thomas. 
 On the 3rd of August a change in the Police system was 
 inaugurated by the acting Policemaster, Mr. Fischer. On the 
 23rd of Oct. a frightful hurricane took place. Many lives 
 were lost, and many persons were wounded. Much property 
 was destroyed. On the 16th of Feb. 1872 telegraphic communi- 
 cation was established throughout the line to Havana, and 
 thence to the United States, and thence to Europe. 
 
 A new Lighthouse was erected on Muhlensfeldt Point on the 
 10th of June, and on the 1st of July a dinner was given to His 
 Excellency Governor Bille, by the Colonial Council, on the 
 eve of his departure. His Excellency Governor Stakemann 
 succeeded him ad interim. 
 
 His Excellency Governor Garde arrived on the 24th of Sept. 
 1872. Many events of minor importance took place in the 
 years which followed. H.B.M.S. " Challenger " paid a visit 
 to the island, the official paper St. Thomaz Tidende changed 
 hands, a rival paper, the St. Thomas Thnes, appeared, the 
 " Apollo Theatre " was opened, and for the tirst time in its 
 existence the Colonial Council was dissolved. This took place 
 on Jan. 9th, 1875. Many improvements were made under the 
 administration of Governor Garde. On the morning of the 
 2nd of Dec. 1875 the Floating Dock was tested, and was pro- 
 nounced a success. A Central Factory was projected for 
 St. Croix, and His Excellency left on the 5th of Jan. 1876 
 for Denmark, in order to carry it to a successful comple- 
 tion. 
 
 Only a few days before his return another frightful hurri- 
 cane took place, this time including St. Croix, where the 
 damage was very great. Nothing daunted, in face of so many 
 misfortunes, the people took heart of grace, improved their 
 town, establislied compulsory education, free schools, a fine 
 College, an efficient Quarantine, a thorough system of sani- 
 tation, and entering the Postal Union, placed St. Thomas as 
 much ahead of its neighbours as the cleanest and best regulated 
 town in the West Indies, as it had formerly been the most 
 commercial. Then came the visit of H.R.H. Prince Valdemar, 
 the youngest cliild of King Christian IX., who arrived here 
 as lieutenant on board H.M. corvette " Dagmar," Commander 
 Braem, on the 27th of Sept.
 
 10 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 He was the first Danish Prince who had trod West Indian 
 soil, and as such, was received with such demonstrations of 
 loyalty and atfection as had never been tendered to anyone 
 before. 
 
 In the year 1880 a census was taken of the Danish West 
 Indies, showing the population of St. Thomas to be 14,387. 
 On the 18tli of March 1881 His Excellency Governor Garde 
 announced to the Colonial Council of St. Thomas and St. John 
 his resignation of the Governorship, and the appointment of 
 his successor, Colonel C. H. Arendrup, K.D., R.E. 
 
 His Excellency Governor Garde left St. Thomas with his 
 family on the 9th of April 1881. Our " Island of the Sea " has 
 had few Governors like him. Alive always to its best interests, 
 earnestly desirous of its prosperity, his memory too is ever green 
 in the hearts of its inhabitants. 
 
 Now came His Excellency Colonel C. H. Arendrup, K.D., R.E., 
 on the 15th of April. One of his first acts, shortly after his arrival, 
 was to lay the corner-stone of the Moravian Memorial Church. 
 On Dec. Gth tlie Transit of Venus was successfully observed 
 by the Brazilian Expedition sent to the island for the purpose. 
 The 31st of March 1883 saw the closing of the College. As 
 nothing to equal it has been put in its place, parents who cannot 
 afibrd to send their children to Europe for a higher education 
 are obliged to be content with that which the private schools 
 can afibrd to give them. 
 
 In this year an attempt was made to revive the sugar 
 industry, but ended in failure, after several thousands of dollars 
 had been expended. Barbados now threatened to become a 
 formidable rival to St. Thomas. With an empty port, and 
 stores fast closing up, the prospects did not look cheering for 
 our " Island of the Sea." IMexican silver, worth at most 75 to 
 80 cents, was passing cui-ivnt at tlu- fictitious vahie of one 
 hundred. 
 
 A change was now made in tlie administration. His Excel- 
 lency the Governor was to reside six montlis in St. Tlidin.is and 
 six months in St. Croix. On the 21st of Feb. 1885 a i:)c'tition was 
 addressed to His Majesty, representing the fallen fortunes of 
 the island, asking the mother country to assume tlie military 
 expenses and the pensions. On the 1st (»i" -July the Royal .Mail 
 Steam Packet Company removed its headcpiartc'i-s to Barbados. 
 On the 1st of Dec. the new Harbour and Customs Law came into
 
 MORAVIAN MEMORIAL CHURCH,
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 17 
 
 force. It offered exceptional advantages to vessels seeking the 
 port. For this concession the merchants, through their repre- 
 sentatives in Council, allowed the duties to be raised to two per 
 cent, ad two per cent, ad valore'm. 
 
 On the 31st of March 1886 a public dinner was given to His 
 Honour Policemaster Fischer on the occasion of his Jubilee. No 
 such compliment had been paid before to any official. Dec. 20t]i 
 of the same year brought a visit from the son of the Crown 
 Prince, who arrived here on board H.M.S. " Jylland." This gave 
 occasion for another display of the people's affection and loyalty 
 towards the Royal House of Denmark. His departure, which 
 took place on tlie 21st of Feb. 1887. found business pretty brisk. 
 This, however, did not last very long. The hurricane montlis, 
 with their accustomed dulness, set in, and the end of the year 
 saw our " Island of the Sea " with a depreciated currency and 
 its harbour almost empty. 
 
 This brings us to the year 1888, when trade suddenly revived. 
 The harbour was crowded with shipping, and something like 
 activity in business circles prevailed. St. Thomas could now for 
 the first time boast of a Humane Society, founded by a few men 
 who saw the necessity of such an Institution for the prevention 
 of cruelty to animals. This was followed by the inauguration 
 of a Home for Destitute Children. On the 14th of April, His 
 Excellency Governor Arendrup and Mrs. Arendrup celebrated 
 their Silver Wedding ; the occasion was commemorated by a 
 superb gift of pure silver from their numerous friends, with 
 a suitable inscription. On the 15th of Nov., the 25th anni- 
 versary of the accession to the throne of Their Majesties the 
 King and Queen of Denmark, was celebrated in St. Thomas. 
 Two days were set apart to do honour to the occasion, and it 
 must be said that never in the island's history had anything 
 been seen like the preparations which were made for it. There 
 was booming of cannon in the early morn ; services were lield in 
 churches. There were chiming of bells and a procession such as 
 the island had never seen before. Everyone had been asked to 
 participate, and every body, corporate and otherwise, were asked 
 to attend. His Excellency the Vice- Governor and Mrs. Andersen 
 assisted. His Excellency Governor Arendrup and Mrs. Arendrup 
 then being abroad in Europe. Orations were made, odes were 
 sung, children were feasted, the poor were dined, boat-races 
 were run. A leve'e was held, free dances were given, the town 
 
 S3112. B
 
 IS AN ISLAND (H^ THE SEA. 
 
 was illuiuinatcil, ami tluTc was such a torelili^-ht procession to 
 conchule with, as will live in the memory of everyone who took 
 part in it. and not a solitary case of disorder was reported ; not 
 oven a brawl, such was the desire to celebrate, in a becoming 
 manner, the Jubilee of Their Majesties. 
 
 On the iTtli of Nov. another Jubilee was kept, this time by 
 the Colonial Council, in commemoration of the 25th anniversary 
 of the promulgation of the Colonial Law given by His Majesty 
 King Christian IX. 
 
 Shortly after these events, came the news that His Excellencj'' 
 had been decorated in Copenhagen with the Order of Com- 
 mander of Dannebrog of the first class, and that His Excellency 
 Actino- Vice-Governor Andersen had been decorated with the 
 silver cross of Dannebrog. This year closed with the royal 
 thanks to the Jubilee Committee and the royal aj)preciation of 
 the people's loyalty. 
 
 On the 2Gth of Jan. 1889 His Excellency Governor C. H. 
 Arendrup returned from Europe. About this time the diffi- 
 culties arising out of the circulation of Mexican silver, and its 
 constant depreciation in value, called for the serious attention of 
 the merchants, and several petitions were got up and presented 
 to the Colonial Council on the subject. On the 4th of Sept. the 
 island was visited by a hurricane, which, though not so disas- 
 trous as those of former years, caused a great deal of appre- 
 hension and serious damage. As customary, this was taken 
 advantao-e of by some of its neighbours to injure the place, 
 forgetting that St. Thomas, as a rule, is comparatively free 
 from such visitors, as a glance at the record of any other island 
 in the West Indies will show. 
 
 On the 18th of Oct. an alteration in the Colonial Law for 
 th<' Danish West India Islands, dated 27th of Nov. 1863, was 
 introduced by Government. From what was stated at the 
 time, it appeared that as the island could no longer defray 
 its expenses, and the Budgets showed large deficits, and 
 St. Thomas had become a heavy debtor to the State, the 
 Draft was brought forward with the object of ameliorating the 
 condition of affairs. As a majority of the Members did not view 
 it in the same liglit as the Gfnci'iiiiifnt it was sti'ongly opposed 
 in the discussions which followc*], and tinally I'ejcctcvl. 
 
 On the 2nd of July 18f)0 His Honour .Judge V. j\r. Andersen, 
 K.D. and D.M., ox-Chief Justice of the Royal West India Court,
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 19 
 
 accompanied by liis wife, arrived from St. Croix, on his way 
 home for good. His Honour had on more than one occasion 
 filled the post of Vice-Governor during the Governor's absence, 
 and by his tact and courtesy, had earned the good will and 
 esteem of a large circle of friends and the public. On the 
 18th of Oct., 20 privates and non-commissioned officers, under 
 Acting Captain Paludan, proceeded to Road Town, Tortola, its 
 President having requested the assistance of our local Govern- 
 ment to keep the peace among its inhabitants, who had made 
 a hostile demonstration, owing to the prohibitory dues levied 
 on that island. A British sIooj)-of-war arriving a few days 
 after relieved the Danish soldiers, who returned to St. Thomas 
 in H.B.M.S. " Tourmaline." 
 
 On the 19th of Nov. a Draft of Ordinance was introduced 
 into the Colonial Council by one of its members for the 
 alteration of Ordinance, 23rd of Oct. 1885, concerning Custom 
 House duties and Ships' dues. It asked that the Lighthouse 
 dues be abolished altogether, rendering the harbour virtually 
 free to all vessels, seeking, neither discharging cargo nor 
 loading, or only to buy coal or provisions. This move in the 
 right direction, which was loudly called for, in face of the 
 inducements now being held out by other islands, was referred 
 to a committee. On the 26th of Dec. an Agricultural Show was 
 held at Nisky, the country Moravian Station, under the auspices 
 of the Humane Society. 
 
 It was the first ever held in the island, and proved a 
 great success. Prizes were awarded to the exhibitors by His 
 Excellency Governor Arendrup, who appeared to take a great 
 interest in the proceedings. 
 
 On the 10th of Feb. 1891 His Excellency Governor Arendrup 
 left for Europe for an absence of six months, and His 
 Excellency Acting Vice-Governor Jiirs, with famil}", arri\ed 
 from St. Croix, and took up his abode in St. Thomas on 
 16th Feb. On the same evening there was a meeting of th»> 
 Aerricultural and Industrial Societies of St. Thomas, for the 
 purpose of advancing the proposed Agricultural Show, which 
 was to come off during the year. 
 
 On the ISth of August this Exhibition took place. It was 
 held in town, and lasted two days, the first day being observe<l 
 as a holiday. The Industrial exhibits were displayed in the; 
 Theatre, and the Agricultural in the Park adjoining. The 
 
 B 2
 
 20 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 ceremony ol" opening- the Exhibition was e:itriiste(I to His 
 Honour tlie Policeniaster, H. M. W. Fischer, whose arrival was 
 announced by the band playing the National Anthem. 
 
 He was received by the members of tlio committee, and 
 introduced by the Rev. E. Foster, of Nisky, in a few appro- 
 priate words. His Honour then made a speech i'ull of the 
 interest lie liad for the island, and the liopes he liad, that 
 he might live to see the day when St. Thomas would be in 
 cultivation from East to West, from North to South. He then 
 declared the Exhibition opened. 
 
 An enormous crowd assisted and appreciated to their utmost 
 both exhibits, which called for the highest praise from everyone 
 on account of their \ariety. Almost every tropical production 
 was represented, as well as specimens of Creole handicraft and 
 Ladies' needlework. The display in the Theatre on the evening 
 of the second day was extremely beautiful, and His Excellency 
 Governor Arendrup and Mrs. Arendrup, arriving from Europe 
 by the steamer at 9 p.m., and almost immediately after landing 
 proceeding to the Exliibition, was such a graceful act, that they 
 received an enthusiastic reception. The proceedings terminated 
 with a street procession, marching to the music of a brass 
 band, which ended what may be justly termed a red-letter 
 day in the annals of St. Thomas, a day that showed in a 
 striking manner what its inhabitants were capable of pro- 
 ducing, and if the right stimulus were given, this " Island of 
 the Sea " could be rendered as productive as when, 100 years 
 ago, it was covered witli ilonrishing estates. 
 
 It is unfortunate to chronicle, that with this energetic effort 
 on the part of the Society its endeavours in this direction 
 ceased. Acquiring the Estate " Crown," and parcelling out its 
 land on favourable terms to the poorer class of agriculturists, 
 it got involved in a law suit with its neigld)ours, which yet 
 continues. Let us hope, with the settlement of tliis and the 
 vexed question at issue, it may once more resume its labours 
 and receive that encouragement which it truly deserves. 
 
 Reports were now being pretty extensively circulated of the 
 probable transfer of St. Thomas to America. Nearly ovcry 
 mail IVoiii the United States brought newspapers containing 
 articles, more or less, in favour of the project, n(jtal)ly the 
 Neiu York Herald and the Sun, which caused people to liclieve 
 that sooner or later something would be done in i]\o matter.
 
 ife n„ ^.- 
 
 WASHING CLOTHES. 
 
 
 
 l'l..-.ll!Mu r!_H i'Ui
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 21 
 
 But, like many a former rumour, it ended in nothing, though 
 it was pretty generally felt, in the now rapidly increasing- 
 fortunes of the island, that a change of some sort would be 
 beneficial. Prominent Americans believed that the acquisition 
 of St. Thomas was desirable. Its harbour had been over and 
 over again quoted by the best naval authorities as the finest 
 in the West Indies. The American Government had coquetted 
 with Haiti for the possession of Mole St. Nicolas, and with 
 San Domingo, for the Bay of Samana, and had not succeeded 
 in obtaining either of them. Here was a port ready made, 
 as it were, with a harbour almost landlocked, caj)able of holding 
 nearly 200 vessels, with a fine floating dock, wharves, large 
 warehouses, a clean and well-kept town, substantial buildings, 
 an intelligent and industrious people, in fact, everything most 
 desirable for a Naval and Coaling Station. It was most 
 natural that St. Thomas should receive attention in this 
 respect. It is true, that America was just then on the verge 
 of war with Chili, and felt the necessity of such a place, 
 but with a peaceful settlement of the difficulty, the desire 
 faded away, and Uncle Sam yet remains without a Naval 
 Station in West Indian waters. Some tine day he will be 
 caught napping, and then there will be some unpleasant hours 
 at Washington. 
 
 On the 3rd of Nov. a telegram from St. Croix brought the 
 news of the demise of Johan August Stakemann, K.D. and 
 D.M., who retired from office in 1881. He was born in St. 
 Thomas on the 14th of Dec. 1805. He was an accomplished 
 scholar and jurist, a rare musician, and was one of the few 
 natives who, by his abilities, had held on more than one occasion 
 the reins of Government in both the islands. 
 
 In the month of December the Hon. Frederick A. Ober, 
 Special Commissioner to the West Indies from the World's 
 Columbian Exposition, arrived in St Thomas, to use his own 
 words, " to obtain the co-operation of the Government in the 
 Exposition." To this end he called upon His Excellency the 
 Governor, Colonel Arendrup, who, unfortunately, was not at 
 that time able to further his views. Appealing to tlie residents 
 of the town, and being aware of the people's desire to make 
 known their island as a winter resort, and irs desirability as a 
 Coaling Station, he recommended that, " a model or relief-map 
 be prepared, showing the glorious harbour, the surrounding
 
 22 AN ISLANU OF TllK SEA. 
 
 hills, the town, the tropieul ve<;-etation — iu utliLT words, a small 
 exposition of the island, visible at a glance, that Avould convey 
 to the world at large an adequate picture of its beauty and 
 advantages."' The idea w^as applauded by the Conniiittec ap- 
 pointed to carry it into efiect, and on IMr. Ober's secc^nd visit to 
 St. Thomas, six weeks after, one of tlu-ir number volunteered 
 to reproduce the harbour, drawn to scale, and in sueli a shape as 
 to be attractive to the general observer as well as \ aluable to 
 tlie scientist. 
 
 On the 12th of Feb. 1892 a committee of gentlemen, presided 
 over by His Excellenc}- the Governor, w^as organized for the 
 purpose of raising subscriptions towards Their Majesties', King 
 Christian IX. and Queen Louise's, Golden Wedding Fund. On 
 the 30th of March the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the 
 military was observed by a display of flags from public as well 
 as private places. On the 30th of April the Memorial to Their 
 Majesties, the King and Queen of Denmark, on the occasion of 
 their approaching Golden Wedding, from the Colonial Council, 
 which had been entrusted to one of the members for execution, 
 was forwarded, via St. Croix, to its destination. The papers of 
 the day speak of it as an artistic production, creditable to all who 
 took part iu it. On the 28th of May the Golden Wedding of 
 Their Majesties was observed by a large display of flags in town 
 and iiarbour. At daylight a royal salute was fired, the various 
 church bells ringing simultaneously. On the 20th of August a 
 Draft of Ordinance prohibiting the circulation of money tokens 
 was introduced into the Colonial Council. This was the first 
 direct blow aimed at Mexican silver, wdiich had now been in 
 circulation for some years, causing serious loss and inconvenience 
 to the people of St. Thomas. After the usual discussion the 
 Draft was adopted, to be put in force about the mid<lle of 
 September. 
 
 On the 14th of Sept. the reign of Mexican siher came to an 
 end. As the circulation of " tokens " was suppressed, the coal 
 carriers struck work, and a mob of ilicm invaded the town, carry- 
 ing sticks an«l shouting to be paid in Danish mone}'. After they 
 had made loud demonstrations at llie tbive steamship agencies, 
 the crowd increasing at ever}^ moment and becoming more dis- 
 orderly, a detachment of soldiers was ordered out to keep them 
 in check. In the meanwhile. His Honour Policemaster Fischer 
 an<l Police-Assistant Kjar stn/\e to restore order. Dui-ing the
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 23 
 
 tumult most of the stores were closed; but wlien it became 
 known that the Companies had agreed to jDay their hands in 
 Danish silver, it ceased almost as quickly as it had begun. It 
 is the first time in the history of St. Thomas that the working 
 
 class had been so near coming into conflict with the authority 
 
 for, as a rule, no more peaceable population exists in any com- 
 munity. It is more than probably due to the influence which 
 Policemaster Fischer had over the more unruly of its members 
 that nothing serious occurred. 
 
 The year 1893 opened with the demise of Secretary Hother 
 Hanschell, who for 18 years had faithfully served the Govern- 
 ment, during which period he had earned the esteem of the 
 public and all with whom he had been brought in contact 
 ofiicially or socially. 
 
 United States cruisers now began to drop into the harbour, 
 and, with the French and German men-of-war, it presented an 
 animated appearance. Splendid entertainments were given at 
 Government House to the commanders and ofiicers, who were 
 likewise the recipients of much of that hospitality for Avhich 
 St. Thomas is famous. 
 
 On the 19th of Feb. the Pope's Golden Jubilee was celebrated 
 by the members of the Catholic Congregation, who illuminated 
 their houses and made a liberal display of bunting in honour of 
 the occasion. 
 
 About this time a proposition was brought forward in the 
 Colonial Council to establish a Mont de Piete', or a Government 
 pawnbroker's shop, where small loans on jewellery could be 
 obtained at a moderate rate of interest. Unfortunately it was 
 not in order, though, from what transpired, it appeared that an 
 Ordinance to that eflect had once been brought in and dropped, 
 so that our " Island of the Sea " is yet a paradise for money- 
 lenders, as much as five per cent, to ten per cent, per month 
 being asked and given. 
 
 Since the opening of the year no less than 17 warships had 
 anchored in the harbour, a strong proof of the appreciation by 
 their Government of its advantages. England, Italy, Germany, 
 and Russia were represented, and now several others were 
 expected on their way to the Naval Review in New York, to 
 celebrate the 300th anniversary of the discovery of America by 
 Columbus. On the 11th of March six powerful men-of-war lay 
 in the harbour, each representing a diflerent nation. On the 1 2th
 
 24 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 the U.S. cruiser "Newark" arrive<l in port from Las Palnuis, 
 Canary Islands, with the caravel "Niiia" in tow, and witli her 
 the U.S. cruiser " Bennington," towing the caravel " Pinta, " en 
 route for the World's Columbian Exposition. Boats filled with 
 sightseers pulled off to see these facsimiles of the caravels in 
 Avliich Columbus sailed on his immortal voyage of discovery. 
 Had it been possible to strip the scene of its modern accessories, 
 one might have imagined the great navigator and his caravels 
 once more in the harbour of St. Thomas, as he very likely was 
 400 years ago. Who knows if the Caribs who lived there then, 
 did not look at these strange vessels with the same curiosity 
 animating them, perhaps, that filled nearly every one in St. 
 Thomas on the 12th of March 1893 at the sight of their coun- 
 terparts ? 
 
 It was an interesting event — and a day e\er memorable in 
 the annals of our " Island of the Sea." On the 1st of April the 
 Port of St. Thomas was declared free, and the import dues raised 
 three per cent. By this time the model of the island of 
 St. Thomas was completed, and submitted to the Committee 
 and the public of St. Thomas, who were so satisfied w^ith its 
 execution, that they determined to raise a subscription and 
 send it to the World's Columbian Exposition, with Dr. C. E. 
 Taylor, its constructor, and his son Clarence, who had assisted 
 liim. This was carried into effect. Dr. Taylor proceeding on 
 the 23rd of April to America, and to the World's Fair, where 
 he w^as oflficially recognized as Commissioner rej^resenting the 
 island, and successfully installed it. Of its merits as a model, 
 it was pronounced to be " worthy to stand alongside the best." 
 It attracted general attention among the naval men connected 
 with the Exposition, who remembered St. Tliomas for the 
 hospitality of its people, and as the finest harbour in the 
 West Indies in which they had ever cast anchor. There was 
 but one voice among all of them as to the desirability of 
 our "Island of tlic Sea," as a Coaling Station for the United 
 States of America. The model itself received many favourable 
 notices from the Chicago Press, notably the Tribune. It was 
 a miniature St. Thomas, the town, with over IGOO houses, and 
 harbour with its sliips, being faitld'ully pourtrayed. It even 
 contained the American warships and the cai'avels. Tlie country 
 M'as also depicted with its ponds, W'atercourses, houses, roads, 
 and estates.
 
 MESSRS. BRONDSTED & CO.'S COAL WHARVES. 
 
 FloaHni: Dock in the distance. 
 
 lAcoIMlLE (JI- CARAVEL. 
 /-/ tlie Harbour of St. Thomas.
 
 AN ISLAND OB' THE SEA. 25 
 
 It is gratifying to note that it gave great satisfaction to 
 the Royal Danish Commission, and that Dr. Taylor was awarded 
 the Medal and Diploma, his son Clarence receiving a handsome 
 Certificate from the World's Fair Authorities, for having 
 assisted him. 
 
 The commencement of this year was a busy one, no less 
 than 48 steam vessels having called at St. Thomas durins: the 
 month of March. 
 
 On the 2nd of May came the news of the death of Chamber- 
 lain Garde, formerly Governor of the Danish West Indies. The 
 news was received with profound regret by many of his friends 
 and the public. 
 
 "Under date of 15th May, the Governor of the Danish 
 West Indies, Colonel C. H. Arendrup, CD. and D.M., was, 
 in virtue of his petition, granted his resignation from said 
 office from SOtli of June, account to reckon, with the notifica- 
 tion of His Majesty the King's most high satisfaction with his 
 work in that capacity." 
 
 On the 21st of June, at an Extraordinary Meeting of the 
 Colonial Council, His Excellency rose to bid farewell to the 
 Council on his retirement from the post of Governor. He 
 referred gratefully to the services given by the officials ; to 
 the co-operation of the Honourable Council ; to his relations 
 with the Consular Body, as well as the clergymen of the 
 different congregations. He spoke regretfully of the decline 
 of trade, but hoped that the future of St. Thomas would be 
 brighter, and wished every prosperity to the island and its 
 inhabitants. 
 
 The Chairman called upon the Council to wish His Excellency 
 a safe passage and success in his new sphere of labour, which 
 was unanimously done, the members rising. His Excellency 
 then shook hands with the Chairman, bowed to the members, 
 and retired. 
 
 Thus passed from the public life of St. Thomas His Excel- 
 lency Colonel Arendrup, who, during a trying time in its 
 fortunes, had sustained the responsible post of Governor of 
 these islands. It is too early yet to judge of his administra- 
 tion, which in times of adversity is always trying to men in 
 high positions. But we are sure, that on all occasions His 
 Excellency sought the welfare of these islands. Even in 
 matters which related to individuals he acted conscientiously.
 
 26 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 always with kindness, but with unnnstakojible tirnnicss. He 
 was a staunch friend — a lover of industrial and agricultural 
 progress, and with an evei'-decreasing jiudget before him, 
 alwcxys ready to effect wliat improvements it woidd allow. 
 In private or official life he was always accessible, the poorest 
 could o-ain admittance to him at any time and be patiently 
 listened to ; as host, everyone in St. Thomas, and those who 
 have visited our " Island of the Sea," will remember the 
 splendid entertainments given at Go\ernment House, wdiere, 
 with Madame Arendrup, he dispensed a hospitality which will 
 be ever remembered. 
 
 His Excellency left the island on the 27th of June 1893, 
 amidst cheering and a salute of 17 guns from the battery, 
 
 A heavy gale swept over the island on the IDth of August, 
 doing considerable damage to the whar\-es ; some rooting and 
 spouting torn away, fences blown down, and trees torn up, were 
 among the minor incidents. 
 
 On the 8th of Nov. His Excellency the Acting Vice-Governor 
 Jiirs took up his residence in St. Thomas. 
 
 His Excellency Colonel Carl Emil Hedemann, K.D., R.E., 
 arrived on the 22nd of Dec, and, as Governor-General of the 
 Danish West Indies, held an official reception at Government 
 House, which w^as attended by the officials, members of Colonial 
 Council, and many merchants and leading inhabitants of the 
 island, who, after a sumptuous luncheon, departed most favour- 
 ably impressed with the new Governor's courtesy and afiability. 
 With the advent of the new Governor there is but little 
 to chronicle of the year 1894. 
 
 On the 19ih and 20th of July 1895 a picked eleven of 
 cricketers from the island of St. Kitt's played against a picked 
 eleven of St. Thomas. The former were victors. It was the 
 first time that such a visit from a neighbouring island had 
 taken place, and gave full scope for that hospitality and good 
 feeling for which St. Thomas is famous. 
 
 The Silver Wedding of Their Royal Highnesses the Crown 
 Prince Frederick and the Princess Louise was cel(>b)-ated on 
 the 28th of July with becoming loyalty. A subscription of 
 1087 dollars was collected, aii<l an Address of Congratulation, 
 elegantly illuminated, was forwarded. 
 
 The year 189o saw the retirement of Policemaster H. M. W. 
 Fischer, after 47 years' service in the Danish West Indies.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 27 
 
 Born in the city of Flensburg in the year 1831, he vohmteered 
 for the war in 1848, and volunteered for the West Indies in the 
 latter part of that year, when a force of 400 men was dis- 
 patched from the army in order to quell the insurrection of 
 the slaves in St. Croix in that year. Arriving in that island, 
 and finding it quelled, they requested to be sent home again to 
 take part in the war, sending a petition to the Home Govern- 
 ment to that effect. Being detained, Mr. Fischer served in his 
 regiment until employed in Government office as writer, with 
 the rank of sergeant. In 1857 he was constituted as royal 
 clerk, and as such removed to St. Thomas, in the then office of 
 the Presidency, in the month of February 1859. On the 1st 
 of April 1861 he was nominated Assistant-Policemaster in 
 St. Thomas, and on the 12th of June 1871 Acting Policemaster 
 until the 20th of April 1873, when he received royal appoint- 
 ment as such. On the 7th of Oct. 1881 he w^as made a Knio-ht 
 of Dannebroo'. 
 
 O 
 
 We have seen, in the course of this history, how on all occa- 
 sions the services of Policemaster Fischer were apj)reciated by 
 the people of these islands. It may be said of him that, with 
 the exception of His Excellency the Governor, few officials, and 
 these islands can boast of manj^ good ones, ever had the 
 interests and welfare of the people more at heart than him- 
 self. A long acquaintance with tlieir manners and customs 
 fully qualified him for the jjost which he so faithfully filled 
 for so many years in St. Thomas. To say that he were fault- 
 less, would be to make him more than human. This, I am sure, 
 he never pretended to be ; but that he did his duty conscien- 
 tiously and fearlessly is Avritten on the pages of his life from 
 the beginning of his career in the West Indies to the end of it. 
 For this, on his retirement, the inhabitants of St. Thomas, 
 through a Committee of prominent citizens, j^resented liim with 
 a gold medal, an illuminated address, in a box of native manu- 
 facture, and a piece of silver, which was handed to him some 
 time after his arrival in Copenhagen, for which city he left 
 St. Thomas, with his estimable wife, via the United States of 
 America, on the 13th of August. Such a tribute from the Danish 
 West Indian people had never before been given to a Danish official. 
 
 With this episode I conclude my historical sketch, referring 
 my readers to the following pages for a review of tlie present 
 condition of our " Island of the Sea."'
 
 28 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 TAUT II. 
 
 THE PRESENT. 
 
 And now that we have gone through tlie pages ol' its histoiy, 
 let us take a look as it is to-day. 
 
 We luive traced it t'roiu the time when the lirst naked Caribs 
 trod its shores, living in rude huts and earning a precarious 
 livelihood by hunting and tishing. We have seen it, from a 
 mere handful of adventurers, become the centre of a commerce 
 almost unparalleled in the West Indies. We have seen it the 
 resort of pirates and buccaneers, and a rendezvous for convoys 
 of merchant vessels, and for individuals of every nationality 
 under the sun. We have seen it passing from the iron-handed 
 rule of a Jorgen Iwersen to that of successive Governors, all 
 vested with more or less extraordinary powers ; with its har- 
 bour crowded with sailing vessels, and its streets crowded with 
 purchasers ; its hills cultivated almost to their summits, and its 
 fertile valleys full of tropical products ; with disease and pesti- 
 lence at its doors, or rendered a desolate waste from the hurri- 
 cane and earthquake. We have seen it in sucli good fortune 
 as has fallen to the lot of few islands in these seas. We arc 
 now to behold it with its magnificent harbour and improvements, 
 its great coaling facilities, its wharves and Floating Dock, capable 
 of receiving steamers and large vessels of over 3000 tons, its 
 Marine slip and railway for the repairing of smaller craft, its 
 immense cisterns for the storage of water for the supply of 
 vessels, its Factory, where nearly every conceival)lc l<iii(l of iron- 
 work for the repair of steamships can be turned out, where a 
 shaft or boiler can be made, or a propeller repaired or iron 
 launches built, its stevedores' service for the loading and dis- 
 charging of vessels, its telegraph station, its hospitals, its 
 merlical .staff, its Ice-house, its contractors for ships' supplies, 
 its .ship carpenters an<l caulkers, its well-built city, its polite 
 officials, its mild aii'I good Government, its civili/cd and 
 industrious inhabitants ; and though slioni of its ancient pros- 
 perity, yet worthy indeed of the nana; i iiave given it, " An 
 Island of the Sea."
 
 ST. THOMAS. 
 Blnckbcarifs Castle on the HHL 
 
 Main street.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 29 
 
 And I am not tlio only one who grows enthusiastic over it. 
 Scarcely anybody who visits its shores, but what goes away 
 pleased with the place and the people. Hear wliat Mv. F. Ober 
 says of it * : — 
 
 " As daylight comes, it is seen what a beautiful harbour is 
 this of St. Thomas, worthy of all the adjectives one can heap 
 upon it, magnificent, gem-like, glorious. Hills on all sides 
 surround it, save towards the southern sea, where the entrance 
 lies between two high promontories, guarded by ancient forts. 
 Hills behind it, sunburnt and bare, look down upon a charming 
 town, itself built upon three elevations, and one of the most 
 picturesque places in the Caribbean Sea. One rarely hears the 
 name of this town, the port of St. Thomas, but it is called 
 Charlotte Amalia, and is a good old-fashioned settlement, clean 
 and pretty, with straight streets, good wharves, street and 
 harbour lights, a fine police force, a stable Government and 
 most delightful situation. There is not another like it any- 
 where for comfort and convenience, and it fitly supplements the 
 advantages of its royal harbour as a place of call, and even 
 detention, for the naval vessels cruising in those seas." 
 
 I quote thus extensively from one of America's best-informed 
 writers on West Indian topics, to show what an impression this 
 " Island of the Sea " made upon him, and were I not afraid of 
 wearying my readers, I could fill these pages with quotations 
 from the JShw York Herald, the Sun, and Detroit Free Press, 
 all containing articles in a similar strain ; so different to those 
 of prejudiced writers, who may have never seen the place, or 
 who had their own petty interest to serve. There is no need to 
 add to the description of Mr. Ober, which, for picturesqueness 
 and accuracy, stands unrivalled ; but there are so many points of 
 vantage from which to view our " Island of the Sea," that 
 I may well be pardoned if I sketch a few of them. Are you 
 a stranger and desirous of seeing it under different aspects ? 
 Take a walk up any one of the hills which lead to Bluebeard's 
 or Blackbeard's Castle ; if their owners kindly permit you to 
 inspect them, mount to the top of either of these ancient 
 buildings. 
 
 What a sight lies below you ! The bay is crowded with 
 vessels. The red-roofed houses lie snugly at the foot of the 
 
 * " In the "Wake of Columbus.'
 
 30 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 liill, little clumps of bananas and cocoa palms standini;- out 
 in relief. Far away to the south is St. Croix, to the west 
 Porto Rico, their dim and hazy outlines scarcely visible on the 
 dark blue sea. Buck Island is not far off, and Frenchman's Cap, 
 a rugged rock, whose base, white with the foam of the tnrljulcnt 
 element surrounding it, stands solitary amidst the waste of 
 Wiiters. Estate Thomas, Havensigt, and the Lazaretto are to 
 the left. All dainty spots to look at, full of flowers and 
 tropical foliage. To right and left are islets with sandy bays, 
 fringed with the seaside grape or wild mangrove. Within 
 are the coal wharv^es of the different companies. Between what 
 is called the Haul-over, you may get a glimpse of Water Island, 
 and to the right of the passage which has been cut through 
 it, and which has done so much for the sanitation of the 
 harbour, you will see " Villa Olga," a tastefully appointed 
 residence, whose interior is a perfect cabinet of bric-a-brac 
 and art treasures, situated on one of the most lovely spots 
 on the island ; and what a garden adjoins it, what a wealth 
 of rose trees and flowers ! Bananas and pine apples, mangoes, 
 and fruit trees of every description. Cosy nooks with seats 
 in them, pleasant walks and shady places, and a serpentine 
 road leading you to the top of a mountain, which when reached 
 will give you, from its pa\'ilion, a view of such surpassing 
 grandeur and beaut3^ that you will wonder that you had never 
 heard of it before. 
 
 It is a sight one does not easily forget, in years afterwards, 
 is this town of 8t. Thomas, as seen through the windows of 
 the charming dwelling I have mentioned, extending to the 
 left of you, with cocoa-nut palms waving in the foreground, 
 the busy harbour with its shipping, and Bluebeard's Castle 
 melting away, as it were, in the haze of the distance. 
 
 Tlicn, if you care to climb the hills again, till 3'(^u reach 
 Louisenlioi, and, standing on the summit, 3'ou lool< down on 
 the town, as we have described it, below, and on the other 
 side of the island, Magen's Bay, where its translucent waters, 
 of an emerald green, plash eternally upon a sandy shore of snowy 
 whiteness. A scene such as few pens can describe — certainly not 
 mine. Now descend we from the picturesque to the prosaic, if 
 it were possible to be so, in describing Charlotte Amalia. 
 
 The town itself is essentially a Inisiness place, as its merchants 
 are thoroughgoing business men. Its great c(jmmcrcial bouses
 
 AX ISLAXD OF THE SEA. 31 
 
 of yore may have departed, but those that remain are fully 
 alive to the exigencies of the situation. They know that 
 St. Thomas is no longer the Emporium of the Antilles, but 
 they have very sensibly gone to work and improved their 
 town and harbour — their harbour especially. 
 
 In the first place, they have made it free — free to come in 
 and free to go out — for vessels seeking, and this, at a cost 
 to themselves of one per cent, extra, paid on their duties, 
 making three per cent, instead of two per cent., as formerly. 
 Then, again, they have managed to cheapen everything, as it 
 never was before. 
 
 You can coal cheaper, telegraph cheaper, repair vessels 
 cheaper, and water vessels cheaper, and with better water 
 than elsewhere in the West Indies. These are facts which 
 can be proved by reference to important papers on the subject. 
 Then, again, they have provided a Lazaretto, where those who 
 are quarantined in it, pass a happy and pleasant time with 
 an educated and intelligent Inspector and his family, amidst 
 such agreeable surroundings, that we have it actually on record 
 tliat some persons have regretted to leave it. Then, again, the 
 sanitary condition of the town has been so vastly improved, 
 that, according to the testimony of our able and esteemed 
 King's Physican, Dr. Mortensen, our death rate will compare 
 favourably with most places in the civilized world. A more 
 cleanly town to-day than Charlotte Amalia scarcely exists. 
 From the trimly-kept Fort, used as a Prison and Police Station, 
 and the handsomely-built Barracks, down to the smallest 
 building, you will be struck with the air of cleanliness which 
 prevails. All the streets are macadamized, with gutters at 
 each side of them paved with stone. The three principal 
 water courses, or " Guts," as they are called, are paved in the 
 same manner, and carry down the water from the mountains 
 to the sea. 
 
 The stores are massive, brick built, extend to the water's 
 edge some 400 feet, have iron tracks runnino^ alonjjside of 
 them for the carriage of goods, and are solidity itself. There 
 are probably 100 such, built, many of them, at a cost of 
 50,000 dollars to G0,000 dollars apiece. Each has its wharf for 
 the landing of goods, and some of them powerful cranes to hoist 
 them up. It is sad to compare their present inactivity with 
 the life of former days, wlion work in them commenced at
 
 32 A\ ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 5 a.m., lieads of the linn .iihI tlirii- clerks Ikmiio- at tlioir posts 
 together, especially in the busy season. If it he diflerent 
 to-day, it is because the maddening rush tor wealth is over, 
 and men no longer expect to make a fortune in a few years 
 to go to Europe and spend it. Thus you will see that mer- 
 chants take things easier and come down, between 7 and 9 a.m., 
 some of them in cabs, so perfect a picture of contentment, that 
 a Wall Street millionaiiv might justlj'' envy them. Do not 
 suppose by this, that any of them sit with their hands folded 
 when they get to work. There is yet business enough left 
 in our " Island of the Sea " to keep nearly everyone occupied 
 until 5 or 6 p.m., when the stores close, and they all go home 
 for dinner. And this, as those who liave partaken of West 
 Indian hospitality, is almost always an enjoyable affair. People 
 live well in St. Thomas as a rule, and to these fresh from the 
 rough fare of ship board, or a tour in the interior of San 
 Domingo, Hayti, or Porto Rico, the clean, snowy tablecloth, 
 the polished silver, and the neat appointments of a St. Thomas 
 breakfast or dinner table, are something to be remembered. 
 
 This brings me to our accommodations for passengers. True, 
 there are no hotels on the European nor American plan. There 
 is, indeed, nothing imposing in that direction ; but there is the 
 Hotel du Commerce, a place that has existed for many years. 
 It fronts the harbour, close to the landing-place and the Eman- 
 cipation Garden, and, if not too fastidious, one can be very 
 happy and comfortable for the days he may have to spend 
 there. Then there are private boarding-liouses of different 
 grades. One or two of them elegantly furnished, where tlie 
 scent of countless roses greets you in the early morn tlirough 
 your window, and where you may enjoy everything of the best 
 that can be found in a West Indian home. And society will 
 not be found wanting, for in the months of December, January, 
 February, and March, when the liarbour is crowded with vessels, 
 and ships of war come in, to wake you in the morn with the 
 boom of cannon saluting the old Ijrick Fort, you may participate 
 in a round of gaiety almost bewildering to the lover of repose. 
 His Excellency the Governor then resides in St. Thomas, and 
 the doors of Government Hou.se, a splendid building, handsomely 
 decorated and well appointed, are thrown open, dancing and dinner 
 parties succeeding each other, until one wonders how human 
 nature can stand somurli. with the tliermomofor somotimes at 80.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 33 
 
 That the ladies — and there are many of them young and 
 beautiful — do so, seemingly as fresh as ever at each entertain- 
 ment, is positive ; and so the ball rolls merrily on until the 
 busy season becomes dull again, and the hurricane months set 
 in, a period that extends from 25th July to 2oth Oct. ; the he'e 
 noir of every one, and a time when the harbour is empty, 
 streets are empty, and, as a consequence, pockets are empty. 
 Yet the people bear it manfully, thankful if they pull through 
 without one of those storms for which the West Indies are 
 famous, and which, once experienced, leave a nameless dread 
 behind them. 
 
 But soon the Christmas season comes along ; the stores are 
 gay with merchandize, toys and presents are liberally displayed, 
 Christmas cards and gifts are bought in wild profusion, for with 
 ^business once again revived and money floating freely, past cares 
 are all forgotten. 
 
 And in the harbour a like activity prevails ; the boatman 
 finds a harvest among the tourists, who, to escape the chill}^ 
 blasts of northern winters, come to these climes for health and 
 recreation. The naked urchins who go alongside the steamers 
 which bring these friendly visitors pick up many a sixpence by 
 diving after them in the water. Vendors of curios, sea-shells, 
 branches of coral white as snow, and tropical fruits, are also 
 there for the purpose of selling them to the passengers. Boats 
 pass to and from the men-of-war and King's wharf, sometimes 
 conveying officers dressed in uniform to pay visits to their 
 entertainers of the night before, or perhaps a party of ladies 
 and gentlemen to breakfast or dine with some foreign admiral, 
 if in port. Truly, the interchange of civilities is never-ending, 
 and long remembered afterwards by the recipients. I have 
 talked with naval officers at the World's Fair, Chicago, who 
 have remembered with delight the hospitality of St. Thomas. 
 And when a large party of tourists are leaving the island, the 
 landing-place is a sight to look at, so encumbered is it with their 
 purchases. Piles of boxes of bay rum, for the production of 
 which the island is famous, Florida water,* which is made here 
 of surpassing excellence, and wines, liqueurs, preserves, and 
 pickles, all of which are to be obtained cheap and of very good 
 
 * Mr. H. ilicliclseu makes a superior quality of liay rum aud Florida ■water, so 
 does our esteemed apothecary, Mr. A. H. lliisc. Both these gentlemen Avere a"n"arded 
 the Medal and Diploma at the "World's Columbian Exposition. 
 
 S3112. C
 
 34? AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 quality, lay strewn upon tlu- wliarl", witli here and there a 
 packao-e or two of <j^enuine lia\ana cii^ars. This bustle and life 
 extends to all parts of the water's edo;e in this season of the 
 island's activity: fi-om the tisliwoincn avIio sell thr lish tliat 
 the men have caught in their tish-pots overnight, to tlie women 
 who coal the steamers at ^Messrs. Brondsted and Company's 
 great coal Avharves, all are constantly employed. Busy as bees 
 are the coal- women when at this exhausting labour ; Innidreds 
 of them, each with a basket of coal on her head, run along the 
 gangway leading to the steamer, empty it, and run back to have 
 it once ao-ain r("till(Ml. ^lost striking is this scene at midnight, 
 when they sing songs in a quaint minor ke}^ never ceasing their 
 labour until the huge steamer is properly coaled ; tlien the 
 flamheaux which have lighted up coals, women, overseere, and 
 officers of the ship go out, and all is quiet once more. 
 
 All this movement may seem incredible to those who have 
 been accustomed to associate life in the tropics with laziness and 
 a disinclination to exertion, especially where the negroes are 
 concerned ; give them work, and pa^' them properly for it, and 
 they will do it quite as promptly, and far more good-naturedly, 
 than their white brother in a like station of life, who, the slave 
 perhaps of some trade union, is far worse off to-day than the 
 negro ever was at the time of slavery. 
 
 A number of large steamers coal at Messre. Br6ndsted and 
 Company's wdiarf every month ; from eight to ten thousand 
 tons of coal may be found piled up in a stack at a time. I 
 have heard it said by steamship captains that this firm can coal 
 a steamer faster and cheaper than any other in the West Indies. 
 
 There is a natural dry dock, just between the German Com- 
 pany's wharf and that of Messrs. Brondsted and Company ; as 
 if Nature had predestined St. Thomas to be the future Naval 
 Station (jf such a pcnver as America, there is a cove, oblong in 
 shape, only recpiiring a pair of gates to make it the most per- 
 fect and commodious dry dock in the West Indies. If we add 
 to this, that an arsenal and store-houses could be built alongside 
 its shores, properly sheltered from an enemy's shot or shell in 
 case of an attack — I think, I have shown pretty conclusively 
 the immense natural advantages which the harbour of St. 
 Thomas possesses ahovo all others in the West Indies — it 
 could be made impregniable. In this I am supported by more 
 than on(; autlicjritv in sucli matters.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 35' 
 
 Now let me get back to town again. I have had, in the 
 course of the island's history, to tell of disease and pestilence, 
 hurricane and earthquake. The former, owing to greatlj" im- 
 proved sanitation, no longer exists, and the latter so rarely visits 
 our " Island of the Sea," that people hardly take them into 
 account unless very severe, whicli is but rarely. 
 
 Hurricanes are certainly unpleasant visitors, as, indeed, are .ill 
 such natural phenomena ; but with a fall in the barometer, 
 indicating its approach, people make ready for it, and as the 
 houses are built pretty strongly, few of them are blown away 
 bodily, as in the great tornadoes which are common in America, 
 unless the " blow " be an unusually severe one. 
 
 To feel the ground trembling under you is also an unpleasant 
 visitation; but as such earthquakes as that of 1867 only occur 
 once in 300 years, it will be seen that St. Thomas is singularly' 
 free from them — at least those of a really destructive character. 
 With regard to the frequency of huriicanes, St. Thomas has 
 only been visited by them ten times in a period covering 397 
 years, out of nearly 140 hurricanes and severe gales which have 
 committed more or less injury in the West Indies. They 
 undoubtedly do a great deal of damage to fences, crops, and 
 the smaller wooden tenements, unrootino- houses, and wreckino- 
 vessels in the harbour, should its violence be sufficient to cause 
 them to break away from their anchorage ; but, as if in com- 
 pensation, the seasons become more regular, rains fall with 
 greater frequency, and the climate becomes more equable. And 
 it is wonderful how soon the people begin to clear away tlie 
 wreckage and recover from the disaster ; so quickly, that it 
 would seem as if no such thing had happened. Who would 
 believe, looking at St. Thomas to-day, that a hurricane or tidal 
 wave had ever devastated it ? To my mind, and I have in the 
 course of my early travels witnessed both, a blizzard or a 
 tornado such as can sweep away half a city in a few minutes in 
 America, are far more formidable visitants. Change their 
 names to hurricane or cyclone, and I think Uncle Sam can 
 beat the West Indies hollow in such matters. 
 
 English is the language generally spoken ; it might be said 
 to be the language of the country if Danish were not the 
 official. Spanish, French, and German are also spoken by many 
 of the inhabitants ; but as the connnerce with the Spanish 
 Colonies has decreased, the 3'oung men no longer sock to acquire 
 
 C 2
 
 36 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 the Spanish langnag-e. Witli a liberality not nsnal aiuoncr Con- 
 tinental nations, Denmark never extended conipuls(jry military 
 service to the Colonies. There were volnnteer eor]is once on a 
 time, Avhieli tunu-d out now and then with .ill tlir " ]ioiiip and 
 circnmstance ot" war," but iione of them remain except the 
 Brand Corps, which is actually the Fire J^)ri^-ade, under a 
 brand-major and officei's ; this is very effective and does its 
 duty well, and when assisted by the coal and other women, 
 who, when the cry of fire is raised, rush to the scene with their 
 buckets full of water, will stay a conllagration (|uicker than 
 those with better appliances. 
 
 Nor did Deinnark ever offer to enforce the compulsory 
 acquirement of Danish. It may be said our " Island of the 
 Sea " has actually as liberal a Government as any under the 
 sun. There is one newspaper, the St. Thoince Tidende ; the 
 Bulletin and Mail Notes are dailies ; they have a fair circu- 
 lation, and are filled with many items of local interest to their 
 subscribers. 
 
 There is a Colonial Council, elected by the people ; a Recon- 
 ciling Court, which, bringing plaintiff and defendant together 
 before two citizen judges, and reconciling them, when possible, 
 saves endless suits at law ; a Town Court tries criminal cases. 
 There is no trial by jury, but the judges are men of probity, 
 and it is (juite sure that a man stands just as good a chance of 
 a fair trial before the one man as he would before " twelve men, 
 good and true." There is a Special Court, which may be held 
 any day, and a Dealing Court ; this investigates the circum- 
 stances of all deceased persons, sees that wills are properly 
 execwted, administers to the affairs of all who die intestate, and 
 takes charge of all assets in cases of bankruptcy on behalf of 
 creditors. Imprisonment for debt is yet in vogue ; but as the 
 unfortunate creditor has to feed his debtor, it seems railu r hard, 
 especially as, should the ci-editor fail to send the money for his 
 debtor's maintenance, he walks out a free man, and lie cannot 
 imprison him again foi- the debt. "J'here arc many otht'i' iiistitu- 
 tion.s, charitable and otherwise — a Humane Society, a Home for 
 Destitute Children — all testifying to the advanced condition of 
 the people. 
 
 Compulsory vaccination exists, but many parents pay the fine 
 in prefcnnce to )-uiniing the ghastly risk of arm-to-ai'm vacci- 
 nation, whereby leprosy has, on more than one occasion, been
 
 DWELLING HOUSE, LAZARETTO.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 37 
 
 transmitted. It must be said, however, that the law is very 
 severe on any careless physician, and that the utmost care is 
 observed. There is also compulsory education ; the private 
 schools are good, but a College is sadly needed for the higher 
 education of both sexes, who are eager to learn and are not 
 deficient in natural ability. 
 
 There are several churches ; the Lutheran, which is the State 
 Church, the Roman Catholic, Moravian, Episcopalian, Dutch 
 Reformed, and Methodists. The Israelites have a pretty syna- 
 gogue, which in past days was always filled with a large and 
 influential congregation. One can pass a pleasant Sunday in 
 St. Thomas ; the Danes are far from straight-laced, and can 
 tolerate a little music and honest pleasure after church hours. 
 A man may open his store before 9 a.m. and open it again 
 at 4 p.m. ; few do this, though the thirsty traveller has no 
 need to slink through the back dcor to get a drink, as is 
 the case in some other cities, and a good cigar is as obtainable 
 on the Lord's day as any other. The population of St. Thomas 
 is not so large as in former days— about 12,000 in town or 
 country ; it is mixed, all shades of complexion being the rule. 
 A better dressed or more orderly cannot be found anywhere ; 
 a glance at its streets on Sundays especially will prove this. 
 The Madras head kerchief is fast disappearing ; gaudy jewellery 
 and loud colours are the exceptions. Hats of all shapes and 
 fashion are worn by the women and neat prints and delainettes. 
 Nearly everyone can read and write, and with but few excep- 
 tions sobriety is prevalent. Music and dancing are much in 
 vogue, and pleasant parties are given by all classes. 
 
 Much has been written of the immorality prevalent in the 
 West Indies ; but with an experience of 30 years in them, I can 
 safely say that they are virtue personified by the sides of 
 London, Chicago, Paris, and New York. 
 
 The West Indian of any colour is the best-hearted and most 
 hospitable soul alive ; he is eminently charitable, even when he 
 has to share his meal with a starving fellow-creature ; he is 
 cleanly too ; he takes his " tub " in the morning regularly, and 
 his wife, if he be a poor man, takes good care to keep him in a 
 clean shirt and clothes ; the women make the best of wives. 
 Unfortunately, the young men are obliged to leave the island in 
 search of remunerative employment ; this leaves the colony with 
 many 3'oung ladies yet waiting for husbands ; they excel
 
 38 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 as housekeepers ; and some of tlieni have stores on the main 
 street, which they manage successfully — at any rate, never 
 become bankrupt. A good deal of private selling is done by 
 respectable people ; who pay a license for a " seller," one dollar 
 per month, and importing small indents of goods, do a business 
 this wa}^ which is often remunerative, as they have no taxes to 
 pay. There are few places of amusement ; a travelling com- 
 pany may visit the island now and again, when the Apollo 
 Theatre is a scene of gaiety and anniscnicnt. Amateur thea- 
 tricals and cantatas are got up for benevolent purposes. 
 
 Life is only dull in the hurricane season, and then it is some- 
 times too warm to do anything with actual pleasure: though, 
 from the situation of the island, cool and invigorating breezes 
 sweep over it at night. 
 
 There are two Banks, the St. Thomas and the Colonial. There 
 is also a Savings Bank, a Public Library (the Athenaeum), cafe's, 
 and refreshment saloons. Living is not too expensive ; but one 
 can live well or economically as his means will allow him. 
 St. Thomas imports many nice things to tempt the epicure, and 
 dinner parties are given at times of which Lucullus himself 
 might be envious. 
 
 There are several lines of steamers which call at St. Thomas 
 regularly, in fact, more steamers call at this island than there 
 ever did before in its palmiest days, and it is to this facility of 
 intercourse by direct conuuunication that St. Thomas owes the 
 loss of much of its commercial importance. Every island in the 
 West Indies, every spot on the Spanish Main, which used to 
 send its purchasers and its produce to our " Island of the Sea " 
 now does so direct, steamers calling almost at their doors for 
 them. On the other hand, this influx of vessels of large ton- 
 nage brings money to the port in various wa3's, besides giving 
 employment to a number of people. The Hamburg Steaiusliip 
 Company alone has 15 steamers calling monthly, the Com- 
 pagnie Generale Transatlanti(iue four, the Royal ]\Iail Steamship 
 Company two, besides cargo boats ; then there are the Quebec 
 Line and others of considerable importance. 
 
 It is reasonable to believe that were there not such a depres- 
 sion existing all over the West Indies on Jiccount of the low 
 I)rices of sugar, a striking improvement would take ])lace in 
 the shipping business of St. Thomas. It is well known that 
 old abuses have been swept away, that its pent is free.
 
 A ROYAL VISIT. 
 
 On the 22nd Deeemljer 1895, His Eoyal Highness Prince Carl of Denmark 
 arrived in St. Thomas, on board H.M.S. Fyen, Captain Caroc. Shortly after anchor- 
 ing, His Excellency Governor Hederaann went oiF to the ship and was received 
 under a salute of fifteen guns. There was a reception at Government House that 
 evening at which His Eoyal Highness was present. 
 
 The Official landing did not take place till next day, when, precisely at three 
 o'clock p.m., His Royal Highness came on shore accompanied by Commander 
 Caroc. He was received by His Excellency Governor Hedemann and a guard of 
 honour, consisting of the 2nd Company of the AVest Indian Eegiment under the 
 command of Captain Paludan. A number of Officials, Consuls, and Members of 
 the Colonial Council were presented by the Governor to His Eoyal Highness, who 
 cordially shook hands with each one of them. 
 
 Prince Carl then entered the Governor's carriage and drove off to Government 
 House amidst the hearty applause of the people, hundreds of whom lined the 
 King's Wharf and its approaches. The Prince was attired in the uniform of a 
 Naval Lieutenant, wearing in addition the broad blue sash of the Order of the 
 Elephant. 
 
 A little later he drove through the town, much to the gratification of the 
 populace. In the evening, there was a Eeception and a Dance at Government 
 House. 
 
 On the loth January 1896, H.M.S. Fyen proceeded to St. Croix, where H.E.H. 
 Prince Carl was enthusiastically welcomed. After spending a few days in that 
 beautiful island, in which a round of Festivities succeeded his arrival, His Eoyal 
 Highness returned to St. Thomas, on board H.M.S. Fyen, on the 28th January, 
 and left for Europe on the 2nd of February, followed by the good wishes of 
 everyone who had been brought in contact with him publicly or privately. 
 
 He was the second Danish Prince who had ever trod West Indian soil, and 
 like his uncle, H.E.H. Prince Valdemar, whose memory is yet green among some 
 of the older inhabitants, was received with such demonstrations of loyalty and 
 affection as to impress him with the love and devotion that the people of the^e 
 islands have always maintained towards the Eoyal House of Denmark.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 39 
 
 and that no more desirable harbour can be found anywhere 
 in these waters. One can but hope that a change may 
 come shortly, a better state of affairs for the whole of the West 
 Indies, for with it must come an improved condition of things 
 for St. Thomas. 
 
 And now I would like to say a few words about the country, 
 and what its soil is capable of producing. The island itself 
 is situated in lat. 18° 20' 42" N. and long. 64° 48' 9" W. ; 
 its length is about 13 miles east and west, with an average 
 breadth of three miles ; its appearance is that of a range of 
 high dome-shaped hills, running from west to east. These 
 reach an elevation of 1515 English feet towards the western 
 part, and make a striking picture when looked at by a 
 stranger arriving for the first time from Europe or America. 
 
 The country roads are few, and as might be expected from 
 the nature of the island, which is mountainous ; but pleasant 
 drives in any of the numerous cabs may be had to Smith's 
 Bay or John Bruce's Bay. As I have already written, no more 
 fertile or romantic spots can be found in the West Indies than 
 among its hills and valleys. If the estates are not cultivated, 
 it must not be forgotten that slavery, with its usual train 
 of evils, is the cause ; for no sooner was freedom proclaimed 
 in the year 1848, than the slaves flocked into town, sought 
 more lucrative employment among the shipping, and places 
 which had heretofore yielded handsome revenues to their 
 owners fell to rack and ruin in consequence. The very name 
 of agriculture was hateful to the slave, and the spade and 
 the hoe but badges of a detestable servitude, which always 
 recalled it to his memory when he looked at them. 
 
 It has required years to eradicate this feeling, but now that 
 compulsory education is beginning to exert its sway — and you 
 cannot find more apt scholars than many of the coloured children 
 at the public schools — their eyes are being opened ; they are 
 beginning to understand that in that same soil there is a 
 mine of wealth, or at least enough to secure tliera an honest 
 independence ; and our black brothers in St. Thomas to-day 
 are once more turning to the cultivation of small hold- 
 ings which, by easy payments, become in a short time their 
 own. 
 
 An Agricultural Society formed of influential gentlemen, 
 merchants, and planters, looks after the important scheme.
 
 40 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 and from the success ^vlnt•ll has attended its efforts hitherto, 
 by-and-by we shall lind St. Thomas once again in cultivation. 
 
 Fruits and vegetables of all kinds are grown here. Coffee 
 of an excellent ([uality : also tobacco can bo raised. They were 
 so, in large quantities, by the early settlers, why can it not 
 be done again ? One has only to look at the island as it 
 was 100 years ago to answer that question. As far back 
 as 1775 there were G9 plantations, 27 of which were of sugar 
 cane, the rest being devoted to the raising of stock cotton, 
 tobacco, and other produce. In 1792 there were 74 plan- 
 tations, 40 in cane, and 84 in cotton ; hence, we may infer 
 that St. Thomas was not onl}^ connnercially prosperous in 
 former days, but remarkably so as an agricultural connnunity. 
 And now come uji with me in the mountains, and I will 
 show you bits of colour and places clothed with such beautiful 
 verdure, and such a variety of ferns, creepers, and shrubs, 
 that you have rarely seen before outside of these islands. 
 On all sides will you see wonders of Nature's own providing. 
 Here a broad gut or gullj^, down which a tiny stream of 
 water is trickling musically among the rocks ; it is overhung 
 with trees of several kinds. There, the morning glory and- 
 acacia bend low with last night's showers ; birds, few in 
 species, but many in number, burst out into song ; tamarinds, 
 palms^ and soursops {Anona 7)iuricata), grow here with others, 
 as the sugar apple {Anona squamosa) ; and in wild profusion 
 trees and vines are hidden beneath thousands of air plants 
 and parasites, which are the most conspicuous vegetation. 
 A lizard runs cmt and looks curioush' at you, as you step 
 upon a twig which crackles under your feet. You look below 
 upon the little town whose busy hum no longer greets your 
 ears; the sea looks like glass, and is d(jtted here and there 
 with many a sail whicii seem as specks upon the water; hill 
 and valley, luxuriant in ti'o})ical foliage, roll beneath you ; the 
 shore lines are broken, huge rocks stand out grey and bare, 
 alternated by lovely bays; fleecy clouds iloat. airily along, 
 casting iheir shadows upon the land, changing its asj)ect at 
 every moment ; but the noontide sun now warns you to 
 descend. You do so lingeringly, and resolving that luturc walks 
 like these, to other spots as beautiful, shall not be left untried 
 while you are a sojourner at St. Thomas. This is the pic- 
 turesf^ue side, now let us contemplate it from on( more practical. 
 
 __ J
 
 r' 
 
 COMMUNAL HOSMIAL 
 
 hitc-ior ,y Courfvar^i. 
 
 n„ -~ 
 
 
 
 MILITARY HOSPITAL. 
 B!nckbca}-d's Casth- on ihc Hill.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 41 
 
 Baron Eggers, autlior of a valuable work on the flora of 
 these island)?, published under the auspices of the Smithsonian 
 Institute, Washington, says, in 1883, "that a new era of 
 industry would open up in St. Thomas, if it were made to 
 bear products which would have not only a local value but 
 also could be exported and disposed of in the world's markets. 
 The palatable guinea corn (Sorghum), which grows here with 
 astonishing luxuriance, could to a great extent replace the now 
 generally used corn meal." 
 
 " Coffee can also be produced, as well as an endless variety 
 of vegetables and tropical fruits. The large areas, which at 
 present give no return could, however, so far as they can- 
 not be used for the cultivation of vegetables or as pastures, 
 be made at least as profitable as the more fertile areas which 
 are now used for other purposes, and that without requiring 
 so much capital to do so." 
 
 " On these worthless stretches of land the valuable product 
 known as divi-divi (Lehidihia coriaria), which is found growing 
 wild in all the islands, mostly in St. Thomas, can be grown in 
 large quantities, and as this article is worth from 60 dollars to 
 70 dollars per ton, and the cost of cultivation is small, it would 
 pay owners of such tracts of land to raise it, and if the tannin 
 could be extracted from it on the spot, the cost of freight being 
 saved, there would, in a short time, be a valuable article of 
 export available." 
 
 "Of the fibre-producing jolants there is the agave, which 
 grows wild in great numbers everywhere in the island, often 
 upon the naked rocks. The plant attains an immense size— the 
 individual leaves often being over eight feet long by one foot 
 broad, and weighing over 50 pounds; these leaves contain a 
 countless number of fine, strong fibres, which make up eight 
 to ten per cent, of the total weight, and in strength and appear- 
 ance are equal to the best Manilla hemp, which they surpass 
 in durability under water; the value of its fibre in England 
 is £S0 to £40 per ton." 
 
 It is not within tlie limits of this work to speak of all the 
 valuable plants which tliis eminent botanist enumerates as 
 growing upon the island of St. Thomas, and which by proper 
 cultivation and the employment of capital, could be made the 
 source of large and profitable incomes. It is sufiicient to men- 
 tion the bark of the seaside grape (Coccoloha), the bark of the
 
 42 AX ISLAXD OF THE SEA. 
 
 mangrove {Rhizopliora), as other taimin-producing trees grow- 
 ing here ; and of the fibre-producing varieties, a phmt of the 
 pine apple {Pitcairnia), the wild growing pingiiin (Bromelia 
 Fivr/iiin), several species of Corchorus, from which jute is 
 niannt'actured, tlie u,-naiiatail {Sansevlera gaiuecnsis), tht^ com- 
 mercial value of which is about 250 dollars per ton ; tlie cocoa 
 palm, the wild horseradish {Moringa), the seeds of which con- 
 tain a fine oil which never become rancid, the castor oil plant, 
 the well-known aloe, which grows wild and could easily be 
 planted on a large scale, not to speak of a variety of plants 
 and spices of great commercial value, and into the detail of 
 which space precludes our going. 
 
 Thus far we have sketched the present of St. Thomas, of its 
 future it were as hazardous to speak as it would be of the 
 most pn-osperous of the West Indies as they are to-day. It 
 seems difficult to believe that their race is run, any more than 
 it is to conceive of such a port as St. Thomas being deserted. 
 There is no knowing what the whirligig of time may produce. 
 More than 200 years ago Charlotte Amalia was ruined and 
 almost abandoned, and 3'et it became prosperous to an extent 
 never known before. 
 
 Let us hope, then, with greater advantages, an intelligent 
 population, and every facility for the vessels which call there, 
 no port in these waters will be more popular than that of 
 St. Thomas, no people more prosperous than those who live in 
 " An Island of the Sea."
 
 PART III. 
 SHORT STORIES 
 
 ABOUT 
 
 BLUEBEAED'S 
 
 AND 
 
 BLACKBEAED'S CASTLES.
 
 "BLUEBEARDS CASKET." 
 
 A LEGEND OF ST. THOMAS, DANISH WEST INDIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 There are few of us who have not heard the story of Blue- 
 beard, that grim old Oriental tyrant who, after consigning so 
 many wives to a violent death for their fatal curiosity, was at 
 last slain himself by the brothers of Fatima. 
 
 But there are very few, indeed, who have read the story of 
 his West Indian prototype, who, some years ago paid periodical 
 visits to St. Thomas, in the Danish West Indies, leaving behind 
 him at the end of his career a record beside which the original 
 Bluebeard might pose as a saint and a martyr. 
 
 Commanding a schooner, whose beautiful lines and rakish look 
 betokened her unlawful calling, and whose small draft of water 
 enabled her to sail in such shallow depths that no sloop-of-war 
 of those days could follow her, Bluebeard had made himself 
 famous. Ostensibly a trader between the islands, he in reality 
 trafficked in slaves, and not a few deeds of piracy might have 
 been laid at his door. 
 
 But it is in the island of St. Thomas where he was best 
 known, and this, too, among that portion of the population — the 
 feminine — which then, as it is now, was in the majority. Whether 
 it was on account of his handsome face, agreeable conversation, 
 or lavish expenditure I am not able to tell you ; certain it is that 
 after a few moments spent in his company you were left with 
 the impression that a more charming personage had never 
 addressed you, and that all the stories you had ever heard to 
 his disparagement, and these were legion among a certain portion 
 of the community, could only be the offspring of envy. Thus it 
 was, that whenever this redoubtable pirate came in contact with 
 those who were not of the clique which claimed to know him so 
 thoroughly, they never believed the horrible stories afloat con- 
 cerning tlie atrocities he had committed, and he was a welcome 
 guest at most of their houses.
 
 4G AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 It must, however, be remembered that in those days society in 
 the West Indies was not quite so respectable as it is at present 
 aiitl in a place like St. Thoni:»s, whose liarbonr contained, 
 year in and year t)ut, from one to 200 vessels of all nation- 
 alities, it could hardly be expected to be otlierwise, more espe- 
 cially as from the hospitable nature of its people as well as from 
 motives of business, they invited the captains freely to their 
 homes, and hob-nobbed and dined with" the veriest strangers, 
 often, I am sorry to state, to their own disadvantage — as the 
 history of many a broken heart of many a fair lady might 
 tell you — for the gentle sex then was just as susceptible to a 
 pair of epaulettes, a cocked hat and sword, as they are to-day ; 
 and as Bluebeard wore all of them, besides a pair of pistols stuck 
 in his waistband, he was the recipient of many favours from the 
 public, not to speak of the ladies of St. Thomas. 
 
 But the principal element in the liking which most of them 
 had for Bluebeard was, undoubtedly, curiosity. Just as Fatima 
 risked her life to gain a knowledge of the secret chamber, so 
 these ladies would willingly have risked theire to have gained a 
 knowledge of the inner life of the handsome pirate who had 
 enslaved them with his killing glances and his costly presents of 
 silken gear and jewellery ; for his was a generous hand, and he 
 was lavish in his gifts to anyone who caught his fancy. 
 
 "As well he might be," often remarked his detractors, " seeing 
 how easily he has come by them," though of this they had not 
 an atom of proof beyond hearsay, for no witness had as 3'et 
 turned up to tell the story of Bluebeard's piracy, " because," as 
 these envious people would again remark, " neither vessel nor 
 passengers have been spared to do so " ; Bluebeard, according to 
 their account, sinking the former, and making the latter walk 
 the plank to get rid of them, such sailors who refused to join his 
 bloodthirsty crew, sharing the same miserable fate. 
 
 And yet this self-same crew compared favourably with that 
 of any other vessel in the harbour. If some of tlieia did have a 
 villainous look, ami others were not (piite so i-dincd as they 
 might have been when they got on a long shore cruise, they 
 always dressed neatly and spoke civilly to everyone with whom 
 they came in contact ; besides, they had plenty of money, which 
 they spent freely, and this goes a long way with some people, 
 especially in a seaport like St. Thomas, where it is natural that 
 everyone living more or less by the flotsam and jetsam of the
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. . 47 
 
 sea that comes to it, must naturally respect the hand which 
 doles out cheerfully the wherewithal to pay its footing. 
 
 "Wliat if dark stories were told about Bluebeard and his crew 
 and his rakish-looking schooner, was not St. Thomas a free 
 port to all nations ? If the Captain of H.M.S. of war " Bulldog," 
 who on more than one occasion had been detailed to watch Blue- 
 beard, had not been able to catch him in any flagrant act of 
 piracy on the high seas, why should those who were the re- 
 cipients of his bounty be overscrupulous ? 
 
 Thus it was that Bluebeard, at the time our story opens, 
 was a welcome guest at St. Thomas, a favourite with both 
 sexes, especially the ladies — I might add as great an enigma to 
 their husbands as he was an object of curiosity to themselves. 
 I have never been able to learn very positively how it was 
 that Bluebeard became the possessor of the tower to the east 
 of Charlotte Amalia, the one pretty little town of which St. 
 Thomas can boast. From some letters which came into my 
 possession a few years ago I have every reason to believe that 
 he purchased it, with the town adjoining, for a very large sum 
 of money. These letters also speak of a most lovely young 
 woman, a Creole of the island, so superior in all that constituted 
 beauty and excellence, that Bluebeard fell madly in love with 
 her at first sight, and swore within himself that she should 
 shortly belong to him. Perhaps this was the reason why he 
 became the purchaser of the old tower, which is now named 
 after him, and was so willing to pay so much more than its 
 value. Don Geronimo Cordoban, the j^roprietor of it, and the 
 father of the beautiful girl we have mentioned, being in great 
 pecuniary difficulties at the time, Bluebeard, no doubt, may 
 have thought it a stroke of policy to place him under some 
 obligation by paying so liberally for it in order to secure the 
 entrance to Don Geronimo's mansion, which was situated or; the 
 road below the tower, or Castle, as it was more generally termed, 
 and was not many minutes walk from it. 
 
 Whether or no, Bluebeard became a frequent visitor at Don 
 Geronimo's, and it was not very long before Mercedita began 
 to love the oily-tongued pirate, who knew so M^ell how to 
 mask his wickedness under a smooth exterior, aided by his 
 handsome presence and affable manners. This, as a matter of 
 course, was eminently satisfactory to Bluebeard, who shortly 
 afterwards married her, and installed her as mistress of a house
 
 48 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 he had built near to the Castle. There he left hor, after a short 
 honeymoon, and snppl^'ing her plentifully with money he pro- 
 mised shortly to return. 
 
 Before leaving, he placed a locked Casket in her possession, 
 along with the key, with the injunction to open it sliould he not 
 come back again to her in the space of six months, but to 
 beware how she did so till then. 
 
 All this, as in duty bound, Mercedita faithfully promised 
 to observe, and for many days afterwards she shut herself up in 
 her room from sheer grief at the loss of her pirate, just as 
 the sweet Creole women of that island do to-ilay when their 
 husliands leave them, for they are (juite as soft-hearted and 
 loving now as they were in the days of Bluel)eard, a3-e, even 
 as those were who lived in the days of Columbus. Not that 
 Mercedita neglected at any time her household duties because of 
 her love. There were the slaves to look after — and there were 
 four of them — Simon Peter, Maria, Anita, and Jack, all of them 
 of the true Mandingo type — black as sloes, and lazy as they 
 always were, and are likely to be, while the tropical sun shines 
 so brightly on those beautiful islands, and life is so easy to 
 most of them. Then there was the stock to attend to, for 
 Mercedita's kindness of heart extended to the wdiole of the 
 animal kingdom ; a dog, and a cat, and a goat from St. John, 
 with a poor little motherless chicken she had picked up some- 
 where or the other, were her constant companions in-doors ; 
 while out-doors, a milch cow, a fine horse, and a litter of pigs 
 completed the rest. And now that Bluebeard had gone she 
 began to feel life lonely ; her father rarely came to see her, 
 and her female accjuaintances were always too busy — maybe 
 it was from a jealous feeling — for many of them had angled 
 for the place tliat Mercedita now held in the pirate's atlec- 
 tions. 
 
 So, amidst all the loneliness, what should Mercedita do but 
 go up to the top of the Castle every day, and casting her eyes 
 on the sea, look earnestly and searchingly all over the broad 
 expanse of water for her husband's piratical schooner: this 
 she did faithfully for over two months, when one evening, after 
 remaining on the top of the Castle much later than usual, she 
 went into her drawing-room where, on a table, she had placed 
 the Casket that Bluebeard had left her ; then the demon of 
 curiosity possessed her and she took up the Casket.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 49 
 
 " What is in it," she asked herself, as she turned it over and 
 looked at it ; " perhaps the secret of his life, the one thing that 
 he keeps hidden away from me." Here she inserted the key. 
 Then she began to tremble all over, partly from the strong 
 desires which came over her, and the longing she felt to know 
 the great secret she supposed it contained ; then she gave the 
 key a half-turn around, and from fear turned it back again, 
 until, curiosity overmastering prudence, she gave it a complete 
 turn and the Casket flew open, revealing nothing more than a 
 bundle of letters tied up with a ribbon. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 When the Casket flew oj)en, Mercedita uttered a faint little 
 cry; but when she saw the small package, with just a faint 
 odour of perfume escaping from them, a feeling of jealousy 
 came over her, which changed into that of rage and despair 
 when she untied it, and saw that it contained seven different 
 letters, each addressed to her husband in the hand of seven 
 different ladies of her own social standing, and whom she had 
 always looked upon rather as bosom friends than acquaintances. 
 How she found courage to read them I know not ; but after 
 conquering her scruples at thus playing the spy upon her hus- 
 band's actions, she managed, amidst many sobs and feminine 
 screeches, to get through them, gaining thereby an amount of 
 information .she did not formerly possess, and laying the 
 foundation of a tragedy to which there had been nothing to 
 compare in the annals of the island — not that she would 
 have cared much if these letters had been merely the out- 
 pouring of affection from lovelorn women, admirers of Blue- 
 beard. She, who loved him so much, always wondered why 
 those who also loved him had not been as successful as herself 
 in obtaining him ; but these letters revealed such a depth of 
 deceit on the part of her husband, and such a determination on 
 the part of each of these women to take him from her, that, 
 blind with rage and fury, she determined to be revenged on the 
 whole lot of them — in other words, to make an example of them 
 for the benefit of society, 
 
 S 3112. D
 
 50 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 At first slie thought of making the letters public, but, on 
 second thoughts, she came to the conclusion that everyone 
 woultl nieivly laugh at her for doing so. Dismissing the idea, 
 she went into a room where her husband had hung up against 
 the wall a few old rapiers from Toledo, a sword and a dagger 
 from Damascus. 
 
 This last she took down from the wall, and passed her finger 
 along the keen edge of the blade Math a feeling of grim satisfac- 
 tion. Whether this was because she thought of killing her 
 seven rivals, or her husband, or herself, I am not so certain, for, 
 after a few moments' reflection, she put it back in its place on 
 the wall again. Then she thought of all that Bluebeard would 
 say when he came back to her — his rage at her fatal curiosity, 
 her disobedience to his express commands so soon after he had 
 left her ; then she got frightened, and then, woman-like, she 
 sat down on an ottoman and had a good cry. 
 
 A few moments spent thus and she got up again, returning 
 to the drawing-room with the intention of replacing the letters 
 in the Casket. This was not an easy task, for though she 
 managed to tie up the letters in nearly the same form as they 
 were before, she found she could not replace them in the Casket, 
 which, by some peculiar arrangement of its mechanism, had 
 become so distorted in shape, that it could neither be shut nor 
 returned to its former appearance. Now whether it was that 
 the contact of the letters, or this untoward behaviour on the 
 part of the Casket, once again excited her anger, is difficult to 
 say, but half an hour afterwards she found herself closeted with 
 Mimmy Lafourche, the notorious Obeah woman from Martinique, 
 who was driving quite a roaring trade with the credulous, of 
 which there were many at that time, in St. Thomas. From this 
 ugly old hag's hut she shortly after emerged with a small bottle 
 of an infernal concoction which, the Obeah woman assured her, 
 given to her friends, would entirely cure them of their passion 
 for Bluebeard, and if given to him would make him her slave 
 till death came to part them. As this was all the poor soul 
 cared for to satisfy her peace of mind, is it to be wondered at 
 that she invited her seven lady friends to take tea with her the 
 following afternoon, wliicli was Sunduy? 
 
 A more lovely Cf^terie of women never met in the island 
 of St. Thomas, and Merccdita, who presided dressed in the 
 purest white, looked more like an angel of innocence than the
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 51 
 
 revengeful woman about to administer, to her unsuspecting 
 guests, a native plant the real properties of which were un- 
 known to her. 
 
 It is not told how she gave it to them, but it is quite sure 
 that, shortly after partaking of a cup of tea, they all declared 
 themselves dreadfully sleepy, and expressed an earnest desire 
 to depart. As there were no cabs in those days these ladies 
 were obliged to walk, and scarcely had they got to their homes, 
 when they, each of them, went to bed and expired forthwith. 
 
 As it is natural to imagine, a great outcry went up against 
 Mercedita at this untoward accident ; seven husbands deprived 
 of their wives, a host of children deprived of their mothers, and 
 ever so many more deprived of seven staunch and dearly 
 beloved friends. 
 
 Next morning the news reached Mercedita, who, half stupe- 
 fied with grief at such a frightful calamity, was for giving 
 herself up immediately to the strict arm of the law, to escape, 
 if possible, the rage of the mob which would be surely excited 
 against her upon hearing the whole truth of the story. So she 
 sent for the Policemaster, and after frankly acknowledging to 
 this ofiicial the sum total of her offence, she found herself about 
 a half an hour afterwards an inmate of the place which, in 
 those days, did duty as a prison for the more depraved of the 
 townsfolk. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Consternation reigned in the little town of Charlotte Amalia. 
 Many an old burgher shook his head when he heard the story, 
 magnified, of course, by being passed on from one to the 
 other, 
 
 " All this comes from taking up with a pirate," said one. 
 
 " I always said she would never come to any good," said 
 another. 
 
 And so on to the end of the chapter, each masculine or 
 feminine fling being cast at Bluebeard or Mercedita — as tlie 
 speaker was masculine or feminine — a noticeable fact being, 
 that the men sympathized with Mercedita, and the women put 
 in a saving clause for Bluebeard. 
 
 D 2
 
 52 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 But the call-absorbing topic was, what would be done with 
 her ? The police investigation, then, was quite as strict as it 
 is now, with this diti'erence, that the thumbscrew and divers 
 other little instruments of torture were emploj-ed when an 
 offender refused to acknowledge his misdeeds. Of course, these 
 were unnecessary with Mcrcedita, who, having made a clean 
 breast of the matter, was duly held for trial, at the Town 
 Court, on no less a charge than the doing to death of seven 
 of her townswomen by sundry arts and practices called Obeah. 
 The old sorceress had tied, whether put on her guard by one 
 of her familiars or scenting danger as soon as Mercedita was 
 arrested, is a question ; but as I have before observed, the one 
 thing which now occupied everyone's mind, was what would be 
 done with her. And as the true story of what she had done 
 had, somehow or the other, leaked out from the sacred 
 precincts of the Court House, there seemed to be scarcely 
 a doubt in the minds of the most charitably disposed, that 
 she would be burnt as a witch, in spite of her youth and 
 beauty, and the fact that she was the wife of so impor- 
 tant a man as Bluebeard — for even such characters were 
 considered so in those days, through their relations with the 
 merchants, whom, it is said, often shared with them the pro- 
 ceeds of their plunder. 
 
 " What a lesson ! " exclaimed an ancient spinster to a couple 
 of friends — she had sinned in every way herself, until no 
 longer capable of sinning, and now felt herself fit, as many 
 another after a like experience, to pass judgment on such a 
 poor unfortunate creature ; " of course she will be burnt as a 
 witch, eh ! who would have thought it, so mild looking ; but 
 it is always the way with your mild looking liussies; they 
 are generally the worst you know. What a disgrace to her 
 family ! " Now the truth is, Mercedita had no family — her 
 mother died when she was a baby — only her father remained ; 
 and he, poor man, had been so thundei*struck at the news of 
 his daughter's arrest, that he was almost bereft of his senses, 
 and when after a long interview with her, whicli was kindly 
 permitted him, and he heard the story of the Casket, lie bitterly 
 cursed the fatal curiosity which had induced Mercedita to open 
 it, and Bluebeard himself, whom he half suspected as having 
 devised this as a way for getting rid of his daughter, knowing 
 full well that no woman could possibly resist the temptation
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 53 
 
 of opening a Casket left with her under such conditions — as 
 having the key to open it in her possession. 
 
 But the poor old man could do nothing but weep and bewail 
 the hard lot which would condemn his child to a felon's fate, 
 and bring down his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave. It 
 was very affecting to see such grief on both sides, and even 
 the hard-hearted jaolor who had, perforce, to be a witness of 
 the sad interview, turned away his head and wiped away a tear, 
 the only one he had shed for many a long day. 
 
 But there was no help for it, and it was not very long before 
 Mercedita was brought up for trial and condemned to be burnt 
 as a witch for having practiced sorcery. Of course, she was 
 defended by the ablest lawyer who lived there ; but vain was 
 his plea. Had she only by some mischance, in some other 
 fashion, without intention, done to death half the population, 
 there might have been some excuse for her ; but to have con- 
 sulted an old Obeah woman — a thing which nearly everyone in 
 the island had done — was not to be tolerated, especially, as she 
 had confessed such iniquity. So nothing remained but for the 
 judge to pass sentence of death, which was as follows : — That 
 she be conducted to the sands of the sea, near to a place which 
 is known as the King's wharf, and there, with a pile of faggots 
 around her, she was to be burnt to death as an example to 
 those, who, like her, dared to dabble in witchcraft. The 
 sentence being approved of she was led away half fainting 
 to prison, and not long after preparations were made for her 
 execution. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Now, what was Bluebeard doing all this time that his wife 
 was in such imminent peril ? History nor the oldest inhabitant 
 sayeth not ; rumour credited him with having sunk and de- 
 stroyed half-a-dozen merchant ships, laden with cargo and 
 treasure ; it also said that he would not come back again. 
 Nevertheless, he was on his return to St. Thomas, where, by 
 a singular coincidence, he turned up on the morning whicli 
 was to see poor Mercedita burnt to death at the stake as a 
 witch.
 
 54 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 Little dreamt he that such a fate was in store for her as his 
 gaUant craft sailed into the fine harbour of St. Thomas. If he 
 had been a general lover before he saw Merced ita, it must be 
 said, to do him justice, that he loved her far more tluin anyone 
 else, and as he cast his eyes upon the heights where he fondly 
 supposed his beloved was looking out for him, his heart thrilled 
 with delight at the thought of once more embracing her. But 
 she, poor little woman, had made her peace with this world, 
 had said adieu to her father and tlie few friends who had 
 remained faithful to her to the last — she had even shaken 
 hands with Simon Peter, Maria, Anita, and Jack — and could slic 
 have had one kiss, only one, from her own darling Bluebeard, 
 she would willingly have gone to her death, so miserable had 
 she been, so tried by the events of the past few days. 
 
 Was it by intuition or that subtle magnetism which betrays 
 the proximity of a loved one, that she felt that Bluebeard was 
 not far away from her ? We confess our ignorance ; but when 
 the last of her visitors had gone, slie moved a high stool close 
 to the grating of the window which looked on to the harbour, 
 and mounting it, it was not so long before she saw swiftly com- 
 ing in what appeared to her to be her husband's vessel. Oh ! 
 how her heart beat when she caught sight of it, those beautiful 
 lines, that sharp prow and, lastly, if her eyes did not deceive 
 her, that gallant form standing on the poop giving ordei-s. 
 
 " Thank God, I have seen him !" she exclaimed, as the vessel 
 disappeared from the point of view from which she was gazing. 
 " I have seen the man I love best on earth, I am now ready to 
 die." 
 
 She never remembered, so great was her joy, that it was her 
 hu.sband's perfidy, and his leaving her with the Casket, that 
 had caused lier present misfortunes — such is the love of woman, 
 her forgi\iiig nature, lier matchless constancy ! 
 
 She had seen him ; it was enougli. More she did not dare 
 to hope for. She was to die that afternoon ; and tliough she 
 could not doubt but what her husband would use every endea- 
 vour to see her, or to gain a last interview with her, she did 
 not feel so sure that he would be successful — the authorities 
 were strict to severity, and witclicraft was more s(n'erely 
 punished tliaii any other crime ; so slie sat down on (he edge 
 of the little pallet, which for so maiiy days had l^een her couch, 
 and let the tears course down her cheeks as they listed, only
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 55 
 
 wishing that the whole thing was over and she at rest, where 
 neither jealousy nor curiosity would any more torment her. 
 
 And here we will leave her for a little while, and take a look 
 at Bluebeard who, impatient to reach his home again, had 
 jumped into a cutter which lay alongside his schooner, and 
 was being pulled, as fast as four oars could carry him along, 
 towards the Castle. 
 
 A few minutes sufficed to bring him to the little landing- 
 place fronting the pathway which led up to it, and a few minutes 
 to the threshold of his home, where with almost a lover's im- 
 patience, he thought his wife would surely meet him. 
 
 But only the grief-stricken face of Anita encountered his as 
 he stepped into the house — Jake, Simon Peter, and Maria had 
 all gone in town to see the last of their dear mistress. 
 
 " Where's my wife ?" inquired Bluebeard, a cold chill running 
 through him at the thought that she was dead. 
 
 " Ay me massa, oh Gawd ! ' and here the girl burst into a 
 flood of tears, sinking down on the ground as she did so, rock- 
 ing herself backwards and forward in a wild lament. 
 
 " Speak woman, speak, where's my wife ? " roared Bluebeard 
 — now thoroughly anxious. 
 " Dey rest um." 
 
 " Rest um ; what the devil do you mean ? " 
 " She in prison sah, and dey go fo' burn her, dis afternoon, 
 for one Obeah woman sah." 
 
 " Obeah woman, my wife an Obeah woman ! " and Bluebeard 
 almost laughed at the idea of his gentle Mercedita practising 
 such arts as these. Then his eyes fell upon the Casket, which 
 on taking up he found empty, and a dull suspicion crossed his 
 mind that here was the cause of whatsoever trouble had befallen 
 her; so, questioning the servant further, he gradually elicited 
 from her as much as she knew of the story. 
 
 When she had done this, amidst many sobs and lamentations, 
 he saw that not a moment was to be lost if he was to save 
 Mercedita ; so, hastily retracing his steps, he got into his boat 
 again, and was pulled back to the schooner. Ten minutes after 
 his arrival 50 of his men were armed to the teeth, and every 
 boat the little vessel possessed — and she had a few more than the 
 regulation number — was got ready for them. 
 
 Then Bluebeard went ashore, first arranging with his lieu- 
 tenant to send after him 25 sailors as quickly as possible
 
 56 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 and to be ready to reinforce him with the rest if necessary. 
 AYhen Bhiebcard reached the town, he went at once to His 
 Excellency the Governor ; but that high functionary would not 
 see him. He then went to the judge ; but he, acting in concert, 
 perhaps, would not see him either. Nothing daunted, Bluebeard 
 went to the Policemastcr, but that high official was busy 
 with the prisoner. This exasperated Blueboard, so he got some- 
 one to show him tlio place of execution. This being near the 
 sea-shore, he dispatched a messenger to his lieutenant bidding 
 him to send the men, and to be ready to sail out of the harbour 
 at a moment's notice. 
 
 Shortly after they began to arrive, a few at a time, and ming- 
 ling with the crowd, gradually got close to the pile of faggots 
 near which stood the executioner. 
 
 Bluebeard had also placed himself not far away. Many 
 of the crowd who knew him wondered how he could have 
 had the bad taste to be present at his own wife's execu- 
 tion ; but he heeded them not, only tightening the belt to 
 which his hanger was attached, and feeling that his pistols 
 were securely fastened beneath the jacket he had put on for the 
 occasion. 
 
 Then the Fort bell began to toll in slow and solemn tones ; a 
 dozen soldiers with muskets marched upon the ground ; by-and- 
 by a procession, consisting of the judge, policcmaster, and the 
 officers of the law, made its appearance, bringing in their midst 
 the prisoner, who, clad in a gown of white, a lighted taper in 
 her hand, and her hair falling dishevelled all around her, pre- 
 sented a sorry spectacle to every one who looked at her. 
 Bluebeard bit his nether li|) till the blood came again when 
 he saw the woman whom he best loved on earth in such a 
 plight, and looked around, instinctively, at his crew, who, having 
 got nearer to the pile of faggots, only awaited the word of com- 
 mand to come to her rescue. 
 
 Still the bell tolled on, its lugubrious sound helping to make 
 the scene more doleful. Mcrccdita now, for the first time, saw 
 her husband, ami a thrill of joy ran through her frame at the 
 sight of him ; she had no fear of death then, its bitterness was 
 past ; he should see that she could die as bravely as the best of 
 them. And now tlic oM .i'ldge, putting on his spectacles, began 
 to read out aloud how Mercedita, having murdered seven of her 
 fellow'-townswomen by sundry and divers arts magical, had
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 57 
 
 been condemed to die by fire, as would be anyone who con- 
 sulted wizards, witches, or such like enchanters. 
 
 This being" done, Mercedita was brought before the execu- 
 tioner, who, without further ado, was about to tie her lily-white 
 hands, when a blow from a handspike from one of Bluebeard's 
 men knocked him senseless on the pile of faggots. 
 
 At the same time, Bluebeard's arm closed around the waist of 
 Mercedita, and his men, gathering around him and his wife, 
 began steadily to fight their way towards the sea, attacked at 
 first by the soldiers, who, seeing the determined attitude of 
 these daring sea-devils, soon desisted, finding themselves too 
 few in numbers to cope with them ; only the howling multi- 
 tude pursued them to the water's edge, where, as soon as 
 Bluebeard and Mercedita were safely embarked, and on their 
 way to the schooner, many of them bit the dust at the hands of 
 the infuriated pirates, who also had been sorely hit with the 
 stones that they had flung at them. Not till they, too, were in 
 their boats did the luckless crowd cease to get fired at, for, once 
 roused, the pirates had no mercy. It was not long, however, 
 before Mercedita and her husband, and the rest of his lawless 
 associates, were on board, the lieutenant hoisting sail as soon as 
 they were safe ; but they were not to get out without an 
 attempt on the part of the authorities to stop them, for just as 
 the schooner was nearing the battery which, in those days, de- 
 fended the entrance to the harbour, there was a perfect storm of 
 round shot directed at the vessel. 
 
 At this Bluebeard's brow grew black as night, and, as one of 
 them passed quite near to him, he shouted : — 
 
 " Show your teeth, my hearties " ; and he ran up the black 
 flag with his own hands, let fly a broadside at both batteries, 
 and, with his long gun, dismantled a couple of cannon and killed 
 half-a-dozen men who stood near to them. 
 
 " Give them another," he exclaimed as, under cover of the 
 smoke, he forged ahead, with only a couple of rents in his can- 
 vas ; this done, and the wind being favourable, they passed the 
 point rapidly, and it was not very long before Bluebeard's 
 schooner was hull-down on the horizon. 
 
 Here the legend ends so far. What became of Bluebeard and 
 his wife, after he had rescued her, is not told. Report said that 
 he took her to the Havana, where she afterwards died of a 
 broken heart, the attractions of the Cuban ladies proving too
 
 58 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 much for him, in spite of the love he professed for her, and her 
 jealousy preventin;Ljr her from toleratiupj his flirtations with that 
 Spartau-like equanimity which distinguishes some women. 
 Another report said that she died peacefully in his arms at 
 Tortuga, and he, broken-hearted at her death, went on pursuing 
 his piratical courses until cut short by a British cruiser, which, 
 after a desperate engagement, took him and the remnant of his 
 crew to Jamaica, where they were hanged as pirates, as a warning 
 to others. 
 
 Which of these reports is the true one I am not certain — the 
 reader is welcome to believe either of them, just as he is the 
 facts of the story I have written — whichever way it may be, 
 I shall be pleased ; but still more so, if I have enabled him to 
 wile away a pleasant half-hour in its perusal.
 
 "A EEMAltKABLE COINCIDENCE/ 
 
 A STORY OF 
 
 BLUEBEAED'S CASTLE, ST. THOMAS, 
 DANISH WEST INDIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Mr. Theophilus Wigges was a shining; light in Chicago. 
 
 This was in the year of the World's Columbian Exposition, 
 that vast collection of buildings, that harmony in white, that 
 reunion of all nationalities, which has done more to make the 
 Windy City famous, than all the pork, beef, or mutton, that has 
 ever been shipped out of it. 
 
 How Mr. Wigges came to occupy the important position that 
 he held at the time that our story commences, might be told 
 in a few words. It is the history of the greater part of 
 America's millionaires. From the humblest beginnings to afflu- 
 ence. Battling at all times with overwhelming difficulties, 
 triumphing always by sheer energy, pluck, and perseverance. 
 Let no one suppose that those who now count their millions, 
 where they once counted pence, have acquired them by sitting 
 down with their hands folded. Read their histories, and see 
 upon what small beginnings the Vanderbilts, Astors, and 
 Rockefellers, founded their fortunes. Thus it was with Mr. 
 Wigges. In the early days of Chicago, when its sidewalks 
 were of wood, and the highest building was a three-storey 
 dwelling, he sold " pop corn " on one of the streets leading 
 into what is now known as Wabash Avenue ; it is yet in the 
 memory of many, what a trade he did in that delicious com- 
 estible, especially on the cold winter nights, when a handful of 
 it, " smoking hot," was a good thing to keep the cold out. 
 
 Mr. Wigges was a young man then, full of wliat the 
 Americans call " go," and there was no limit to his ambition —
 
 60 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 as there were no limits to the " possibilities " of the Great 
 West in those days. 
 
 Of course, such a character could not remain always a vendor 
 of " pop corn," so, very soon. Mi". Wigf^cs became the purchaser 
 of an interest in a " Candy Factory," and not long after the 
 sole proprietor thereof — for he was of a saving disposition and 
 inventive withal ; so much so, that with improved machinery 
 and an ingenious method of advertising, he drove every com- 
 petitor from the field. 
 
 For many years he worked at the business, early and late, 
 perfecting it, and enlarging its sphere of operations to such an 
 extent, that " Wigges' Candy " became a household word all over 
 America. 
 
 At the same time he invested his profits in real estate, and its 
 value increasing with the growth of the city, he rose higher and 
 higher in the estimation of his fellow-citiz:ens, and it was not 
 very long before he became a partaker with them of the many 
 good things which always ofier themselves in such prosperous 
 communities. And now finding life somewhat lonesome, he 
 married, adding the " e " to his name, whicli makes it Wigges, 
 becoming thereby the social equal of Mr. Figges, his father-in- 
 law, the great pork butcher of Chicago. 
 
 Of course, his wife brought him money, all of which he 
 cheerfully accepted, just as he had done everything else that 
 Dame Fortune had hitherto showered upon him. 
 
 In the meanwhile Chicago had also prospered, and real estate 
 advancing in value, some people turned a loving eye towards 
 Mr. Wigges' investments, with the result that by-and-by he got 
 an enormous sum for the lot where the Court House stands 
 to-day. All this was very much approved of by his friends, 
 who, as is usual in such cases, as soon as the tide of prosperity 
 set in so strongly that no one could help seeing it, did their Ijest 
 to help him up a little further on the ladder of fortune — but 
 not even these successful investments could turn him from Ins 
 legitimate business ; he already supplied nearly every western 
 city with gum drops, and every lozenge conceivable that was 
 ever made out of glucose or sugar — and not a young woman 
 in Chicago commenced the day without masticating a few of 
 them. 
 
 But it was not until he conceived the idea of condnning 
 pepsin with chewing gum — and decorated the whole city with
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 61 
 
 gigantic posters setting forth its claims — that he achieved the 
 crowning glory of his life, and became the shining light that we 
 have stated at the beginning of this chapter. 
 
 As was natural in a place like Chicago, where minutes are 
 golden, few business men at meal times ever stopped to chew 
 their food rationally, and a chop or steak sometimes disappeared 
 from their plates before they realized that it had been set 
 before them ; the consequence was, that dyspeptics were plen- 
 tiful. To such as these, " Wigges' Chewing Gum " appealed 
 strongly — it was so handy. Enough for a day's consumption 
 could be carried in one's vest pocket, and as every second 
 individual chewed it from morning until night, it was not long 
 before Mr. Wigges was counted among the many millionaires 
 of America, It was a bright idea, with the merit of giving 
 satisfaction to those who used it, for once let the habit of 
 chewing get the best of you, whether of tobacco, the end of 
 your pencil, gum, or brown paper, it is very hard to leave off, 
 and if ever a man deserved well of his fellow-creatures it was 
 Wigges, who combined with innocent gum the virtues of pepsin 
 for the benefit of dyspeptics. " There is nothing like it in the 
 world," he would say enthusiastically to his friends. " It has 
 made me rich, my home a happy one, and my workpeople 
 contented. I have some specially prepared for Mrs. Wigges, 
 whose curtain lectures I cut short by asking her to try it. 
 As she cannot chew and scold at the same time, the result is 
 peace, heavenly peace, which every one of you can attain by 
 following my example." Not that Mrs. Wigges was a scold — 
 far from it ; she was really a good-tempered little woman, 
 and perfectly worshipped her husband, with whom she had led 
 a very happy life for nearly 20 years, devoting herself to his 
 comfort and to the education of their only daughter Angelina, 
 a charming young girl, who combined with beauty, vivacity, 
 and intelligence, every feminine virtue. 
 
 Mr. Wigges doted on both of them ; all that love and wealth 
 could do, he bestowed upon them ; their home was a sump- 
 tuous one — one of those palaces of Michigan Avenue which are 
 the cynosure of all eyes and the wonder of the traveller. Mr. 
 Wigges had but one trouble, and that was to keep away intrud- 
 ing fortune-hunters. There was a time when he had wished for 
 a son, but now that woman was taking her proper place in the 
 sphere of this world's usefulness, especially in Chicago, he did
 
 G2 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 not mind it so much. With the hope of a good son-in-hxw, he 
 lived perfectly content ; and, having- lately become a collector 
 of coins — he had one of the finest collections in the world, got 
 together at a vast expense — it might be said, that with this hobby 
 indulged in to its fullest extent, with such an amiable wife, 
 and such a charming daughter, Mr. Theophilus Wigges was not 
 only a shining light, but the happiest man in the great city of 
 Chicago. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 But as perfect happiness can scarcely be said to exist in this 
 world, so was that of Mr. Wigges marred by the fact that if 
 his collection of coins was the most perfect in Chicago, it yet 
 laeked one coin to make it the most perfect in existence. There 
 had never been more than two made, and that was somewhere 
 in the first century ; he had one of them, the other was — Heaven 
 knows where. All that the most experienced numismatists 
 could say about it was, that it was known to be in existence 
 about two hundred years back, and that the man who could 
 place that coin beside the one in Mr. Wigges' collection would 
 be a made man for life, if he desired to part with it for a con- 
 sideration, for it was an open secret that Mr, Wigges had offered 
 a fabulous sum to anyone who would make him the fortunate 
 possessor of it. Many an imitation had been ofiered him by 
 unprincipled sharpers, who thought of trading upon liis ignor- 
 ance ; but just as shrewd as Mr. Wigges was in the matter of 
 trade in chewing gum or candy, he was equally so in numis- 
 matics, and many a kindred branch of science, which does not 
 usually belong to the laity. 
 
 For let no one imagine that the prosperous American does not 
 seek to improve his mind with his financial position. The term 
 " shoddy " is wrongly applied to the American who has been the 
 architect of his own fortune. 
 
 This brings us to the opening of the World's Colum])ian 
 Exposition. As a matter of course, a man of i\Ir. Wigges' posi- 
 tion and influence could not l)e left out in the bestowal of the 
 " sugar plums " of office, which, somehow or the other, always 
 accompanies such enterprises.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 63 
 
 Mr. Wigges had modestly declined the post of Director-General 
 of the Exposition in favour of the man " whose abilities to fill 
 it," he said at a banquet not very long afterwards, " were so 
 transcendently superior to his own, that he felt that he was 
 doing Chicago a greater service by refusing, than if he 
 accepted it." 
 
 So he was constituted an Honorary Director, which, as it did 
 not involve much more than being present at tlie different 
 " functions " in connection with the World's Fair, suited him 
 admirably. It was in this character I first had the pleasure of 
 meeting him, when, as Commissioner for the island of St. Thomas, 
 Danish West Indies, to the World's Columbian Exposition, we 
 placed on exhibition a model of that island in the Transportation 
 Building, and so interested him in its attractive scenery and 
 people, and the legends of its famous Towers, named after Blue- 
 beard and Blackbeard, that he made up his mind to visit it as 
 soon as the Exposition was over. 
 
 To be invited to Mr. Wigges' receptions was to be in the 
 " swim " of Chicago society ; here, the " magnates of pork " 
 and the " hustlers of wheat " and the " cornerers " of every 
 known eatable out of which a dollar might be made by specu- 
 lators met together; here, their lovely wives and daughters 
 were the admired of all observers, and these were many, of the 
 best talent and birth, gathered from the four corners of the 
 earth— the Englishman, the Frenchman, the Russian, and the 
 Turk — there was scarcely a nationality unrepresented ; and 
 the sweet women waltzed, chatted and laughed, flashino- their 
 bright eyes on everyone of them, and charming all of them with 
 those sallies of brilliant wit and repartee which have made the 
 ■American women famous throughout the civilized world. A dis- 
 tinguished gathering, presided over by a distinguished man, one 
 who did honour to everything he put his hand to ; one who, by 
 doing his best on all occasions, had drawn the best around him, 
 and got the best out of a life whieh some are inclined to say is 
 scarcely worth living; but these are the lazy, discontented 
 ones, and of such was not my honoured friend Theophilus 
 Wigges. 
 
 It was at one of these receptions that I met my fellow-towns- 
 man, Mr. Algernon Divi-Divi, who had just come into his 
 father's estates in St. Croix, the sister island of St. Thomas, in 
 the Danish West Indies. I was very glad to meet him ; and, as
 
 64 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 he was one of the few from these islands at tliat time in Chicago, 
 it did me good to see the face of an old acquaintance. 
 
 He had been but a few weeks in America, he said, and had 
 come recommended to Mr. Wigges, who had received him with 
 unbounded hospitality. Of Miss Wigges he spoke somewhat 
 reservedly ; but, from the looks of admiration that he cast upon 
 her as she passed us leaning on the arm of the Turkish Commis- 
 sioner, I could see that he was deeply smitten, and that more 
 might come out of this visit of my young West Indian friend 
 than Mr. Wigges expected. And here the reader might ask, 
 " What right have you to tell tales out of school, and for which, 
 having occurred so recently, you might possibly be called to 
 account ? " All I can plead is, that I have the permission of 
 those most intimately concerned. If I have not, let them 
 come forward and say so. This history of Mr. Theophilus 
 Wigges, in connection with Bluebeard's Castle, is quite as true 
 as any other legend which has been told of that edifice or 
 island. 
 
 To make a long story short, Mr. Algernon Divi-Divi became 
 a constant visitor at Mr. Wigges', was the devoted attendant of 
 his daughter, won the favour of both parents, and before long 
 the society papers had published the news of their engagement. 
 Had these confined themselves to this it would not have mattered 
 so much ; but where they got their stories from, about Algernon 
 Divi-Divi, I know not. One of the leading journals spoke of 
 him as descended from an old West Indian family, the Cassadas, 
 that his great grandfather had taken his name from a tree 
 called " divi-divi," which grew in great profusion on his estate, 
 and which had laid the foundation of his fortune. With a lack 
 of geographical knowledge, peculiarly western, the editor had 
 confounded St. Croix with St. Thomas, and planted Bluebeard's 
 and Blackbeard's Castles on Mr. Divi-Divi's estate, thas constitu- 
 ting him their owner. The article in question darklj?- hinted at 
 one of his ancestors having been Bluebeard himself, which so 
 exasperated Mr. Algernon Divi-Divi, that he vowed he would 
 take vengeance on the author wherever he might find him ; but 
 when he was informed that such stories were concocted to make 
 the paper sell, and that his future father-in-law's career, quite 
 as distorted, had been served up in one of the great dailies 
 under the head of " Chicago's greatest benefactor, Wigges, the 
 Chewing Gum Man," and was thought a huge joke, and was
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 65 
 
 lauo-hed at as a good advertisement, he became somewhat recon- 
 ciled ; more especially as it was decided that next winter Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wigges and their daughter would pay a visit to the 
 island of St. Thomas, Danish West Indies. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 And so it came about, that when the World's Columbian 
 Exposition was a thing of the past, and Chicago was nearly 
 snowed up, Mr. and Mrs. Wigges and daughter determined, 
 now that the thermometer was at zero, to leave for the West 
 Indies. 
 
 Messrs. Thomas Cook and Sons had by this time found out 
 that these " Islands of the Sea " were beginning to have 
 a special attraction for wealthy Americans ; so, with their 
 usual enterprise, promptly organised a party of tourists, and 
 obligingly furnishing them with through tickets, pledged them- 
 selves, for a consideration, to see the visitors safely there and 
 back again, barring accidents. To this very pleasant party 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wigges and daughter belonged. 
 
 And now let us take a look at them approaching the harbour 
 of St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, after five days' steaming 
 from the city of New York. 
 
 Mr. Wigges had never been much of a traveller in foreign 
 countries. He had taken a trip once to the Bahamas, and 
 on another occasion had paid a visit to Florida ; but as he 
 stood on the deck of the " Orinoco," which then, about a mile 
 from the port, was slowly nearing it, and gazed upon the scene 
 before him, he felt that he had never looked upon anything so 
 beautiful before in his life. Rising almost straight out of the 
 water were heights, varying from 800 to 1500 feet, which, owino- 
 to rains having fallen plentifully a few days before, were covered 
 with luxuriant vegetation in all shades of green — from the 
 lightest to the darkest. In striking contrast to this mass of 
 verdure, the town, with hundreds of red-roofed houses, rose to 
 the summits of three hills, as a justly celebrated author once 
 said of them, "looking for all the woi-ld like a box of toys 
 shaken down its slopes." And it was not long before he made 
 
 S3112. E
 
 GG AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 out BliiebeaixVs and Blackboard's Towers — the first to the east 
 of the town, and the hitter to the north of it, facins^ the 
 entrance, and overlooking the little red Fort beloAv. Just 
 then there was quite a number of ships in the liarlH)ur, at 
 least half a dozen men-of-war of different nationalities ; among 
 them tlie stars and stripes floated from one of Uncle Sam's 
 smart looking cruisers. Mr. Wigges made a note of this par- 
 ticularly ; indeed, the sight of that dear old flag made his eyes 
 grow dim for the moment, and I am not quite sure whether a 
 tear did not fall on his note-book as he did so. Practical even 
 when overcome by emotion, Mr. Wigges did not fail also to 
 place on record his opinion as to the value of St. Thomas as a 
 Naval and Coaling Station to that country of which he was so 
 distinguished an ornament. 
 
 His wife and daughter were equall}?' interested ; they com- 
 pared the balmy weather of the West Indies with the fearful 
 cold they had left behind them ; the happy looks of the dusky 
 boatmen, which were now crowding about the vessel, with the 
 half-frozen appearance of the longshoremen upon whom they 
 had last looked when leaving New York ; and novel and 
 strange as it all appeared to them, yet they could not help 
 agreeing that their voyage, thus far, had not been in vain. 
 
 I am certain Miss Wigges felt so : antl when Mr. Algernon 
 Divi-Divi stepped on board, after the " Orinoco " had been 
 given pratique, she was the happiest young girl on the steamer 
 that morning; and her dear old pater, Mr. Wigges, thought 
 so too, as he witnessed their meeting, and, no doubt, felt corre- 
 spondingly happy, for she was his only child, his darling, the 
 apple of his eye. 
 
 And now let us follow them to one of the best boarding- 
 houses in Charlotte Amalia, where they were to stop for a few 
 weeks, prior to leaving for the island of St. Croix, the home of 
 her intended. They preferred this quiet retreat to the bustle 
 of the hotel, and, as the place was delightfully situated, and had 
 a lovely garden adjoining, our young lovers pictured to tlu'iii- 
 selves several days of happiness before them. I havo said that 
 Mr. Algernon Divi-Divi owned sugar estates in the island of 
 St. Croix. In reality, he was one of the largest proprietors, 
 was looked upon as a wealthy man — at least, for that island, 
 where millionaires are only known by repute, or when, like Mr. 
 Wigges, it is their good pleasure to visit it.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 67 
 
 Now if there is a thing in this world that affords greater 
 pleasure than being the owner of a sugar estate, it is that of 
 not being one, especially when the weather is dry, prices are 
 low, and the expenses running on — and run on they must, for 
 a sugar estate cannot be brought so easily to a full stop, or 
 turned into a coffee or a tobacco plantation all at once. 
 
 Unfortunately for Mr. Algernon Divi-Divi, he had inherited 
 more than one sugar estate, which, while producing good crops 
 and realizing fair values during his father's lifetime, were far 
 from being profitable invcvstments to him. 
 
 For many years America had been the best market for West 
 Indian sugars, just as the West Indies are for American pro- 
 visions, which have enjoyed all the privileges accorded to the 
 most favoured nation, in the same way that West Indian sugars 
 did certain privileges from America ; but of late, what with 
 the accession of a party of slippery politicians into power at 
 Washington, and, in consequence, a Government from whom 
 no nation could expect reciprocity, or any treaty to be binding, 
 the outlook had become so gloomy for these islands, that nothing 
 but bankruptcy stared them in the face. Of all this Mr. Wigges 
 was perfectly ignorant. Like most of his well-to-do country- 
 men, he thought America the best countr}^, its people the greatest 
 on earth ; he, too, had been a politician, but, whether from use 
 or second nature, he looked upon their wiles as part of the great 
 game of life in which all men ought to play. He did not, of 
 course, endorse right down chicanery ; but all was fair to him 
 in matters political. It always seemed to him the correct thing 
 to undo all the Democrats did when they were in power, just as, 
 no doubt, the Democrats have felt it their bounden duty to do 
 by the Republicans when they came out of office. That all this 
 should have any far-reaching consequences outside America, or 
 that American politics should be looked upon with mistrust and 
 suspicion by every other nation never once occurred to him, as, 
 very likely, it is the case with thousands of America's best men 
 and citizens who have allowed their truly great country to 
 become the prey of an unscrupulous oligarchy. 
 
 The fact was there nevertheless, and Mr. Wigges was soon 
 brought to understand it when Algernon Divi-Divi, in a frank 
 and open manner, laid his position before him. As may be 
 imagined, this was a great shock to him. Mr. Wigges was not 
 really an avaricious man. He would have cheerfully sur- 
 
 £ 2
 
 68 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 rendered liis daiiii,litor to tlie man she IovimI if lie were not 
 worth a dollar ; but it jarred ii}ion his sense oi" the fitness 
 of things that his daughter should marry a ruined sugar 
 planter. 
 
 It is true, his own wealth was amply sufficient to sustain 
 his son-in-law through any possible commercial crisis ; but he 
 had been so happy when he saw his name coupled in the great 
 dailies of Chicago with that of Algernon Divi-Divi, the Sprec- 
 kels of St, Croix, the sugar of whose estates would go to swell 
 his own importations, that he felt almost as miserable as 
 Algernon himself when he told him of his reverses. He had 
 planned more than one scheme in connection with his future 
 son-in-law ; had even contemplated bringing out a special West 
 Indian Chewing Gum, in which the delicious aroma of the Bay- 
 berry and St. Croix muscovado would be so skilfully blended 
 as to delight the American public, if not the civilized world, 
 and now all these bright dreams would be dashed to the 
 ground. 
 
 " All through those accursed Democrats," he muttered, as he 
 walked up and down the piazza, after a somewhat unsatisfactory 
 interview with Algernon Divi-Divi. 
 
 Then he thought of his daughter. What would she think of 
 it ? He had anticipated so much pleasure from this trip, and 
 now how was it to end ? He almost wished Algernon had kept 
 him in the dark, at least, for the present. In this frame of 
 mind he kept on \valking about, his only solace being a piece of 
 chewing gum, and if it had not been for a young man presenting 
 himself at that moment, with a rare old Danish live-stiver piece 
 foi- his inspection, which at once absorbed his attention, there is 
 no knowing how I should have got to the end of this chapter. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I'HF-: only one who ijid nc^t seem very much put out- by the 
 tui-n tliiiig« hid taken was Miss Wiggcs. Accustomed all her 
 life to live in luxur\% to have all she wanted, and to consider 
 herself the heiress to her father's many millions, she looked 
 upon what had ha]»])ciic(| to her loxci', when lie told her of his 
 reverses, as a mere bagatelle, which hci- father would remedy in 
 " no time," as she tersely expressed it.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 69 
 
 Imagine her surprise, when her father, in a somewhat matter- 
 of-fact way, informed her of his intention of shortly leaving St. 
 Thomas for a tour of inspection of the rest of the West Indies, 
 and that, for the present at least, she must look upon her 
 engagement with Mr. Divi-Divi — he no longer called him Alger- 
 non — at an end. 
 
 But she did not cry, not a bit of it, nor did she speak dis- 
 respectfully ; she simply asked to be fully informed of her 
 father's reasons, to which, when given her, she replied, with 
 fine scorn and a flush of indignation spreading over her fair 
 features : 
 
 " So, it is a question of money, after all ! Now, my dear 
 father, I thought you admired principle beyond anything ; but 
 — and forgive me for saying so — you are acting as badly now 
 as those Democrats have been doing to these islands. You will 
 remember there was no talk of his wealth in Chicao-o ; it was 
 merely a question whether he loved me, and I loved him. I 
 ' banked ' on Algernon's love, he ' banked ' on mine, just as the 
 West Indies ' banked ' on America keeping its pledges. Now, 
 you find it suits you to back out, and you become just as — well, 
 I do not wish to speak disrespectfully to you, I love you too 
 much, but I must say it in one way — just like those Democrats ; 
 but there is one thing you have not counted on, I do not 
 intend to back out, come what will. And, now, allow me to 
 wish you a very good morning " ; and before Mr. Wigges could 
 recover from his astonishment — she had never spoken to him 
 like that before — she had kissed him, and run out of the room, 
 going straight to her mother. 
 
 But there her spirit failed her, and five minutes afterwards 
 she was sobbing out her disappointment and sorrow in the 
 arms of that good lady, who, much as she loved her husband, 
 was deeply pained at his sudden determination, not under- 
 standing herself how Algernon Divi-Divi's misfortunes, in no 
 way the result of his own imprudence, could have so influenced 
 him with regard to their daughter, whom she knew he loved 
 beyond anything — even his money — aye, even herself whom he 
 had loved for so many years so faithfully and so well. 
 
 And now night stole over all these troubled minds — a lovely 
 tropical night — in which everything under the light of the 
 moon shows so brightly, in which the palm trees softly rustle 
 their leaves, the flowering cacti and jessamine give out their
 
 70 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 pcii'ninc, and cverytliiu<^ is so peaceful and still. "Sir. Wio^ges 
 liad long ago sunk to rest ; Mrs. "NVigges slumbered on at his 
 side. ]\[iss Wigges had cried herself to sleep in the adjoining 
 apartment; only Algernon Divi-Divi remained awake, tossing 
 restlessly on his bed, wishing for dajdight as he thought over 
 the cruel fate which so soon was to separate him from his 
 sweetheart. By-and-bye he, too, fell asleep ; not even such 
 sorrow as his was proof against Nature's balmy restorer, man's 
 best friend in all his troubles. 
 
 How long he slept he could not tell, but somewhere about 
 midnight he awoke and, to his astonislnnent, sitting by his 
 bedside was the quaintest figure he ever saw in his life. 
 Dressed in a l:)lue coat with gilt buttons, knee-breeches, and 
 buckles to his shoes, with a cocked hat on his head, lace ruffles 
 to his sleeves, with a pair of pistols stuck in his belt, and a 
 hanger by his side, he sat calndy surveying our hero as if it 
 were the most natural thing in the w'orld for him to do. 
 
 " Don't be alarmed," he said, taking a pinch of snuff' from a 
 box all covered w^ith diamonds, and which glittered brightly in 
 the moonbeams which played through the jalousies of the room. 
 " I'm Bluebeard, or his ghost if you like, for I daresay that it 
 seems impossible to you for such a resuscitation to take place 
 after so many years have passed ; at any rate I'm your friend, 
 as, in the old days, I was always of every one in these islands 
 when in trouble or difficulties. I daresay you have heard of me 
 before, and of my good friend Blackbeard wdio used to own the 
 other place on the hill yonder." 
 
 Here our hero thought he w^as telling fibs, but did not dare to 
 say so. 
 
 " Don't doubt me ! " exclaimed Bluebeard ferociously. " For 
 all they have said and done, they have never been al)le to take 
 away our names from the two old Towers, and as long as they 
 last they will bo called after us. But I have said I am your 
 friend, and so I am sure you will evcntu.illy find out if you 
 follow my advice, which is this. Y(ju have lieard, of course, 
 that we once buried a lot of treasure uj) there. Well, so we 
 did, and in a gi'eat many other places, all of ^vhi(•h have been 
 pretty nearly ransacked by now. Anyhow, what 1 want you to 
 do, is to go up to my Tower and look carefully round the old 
 building, where, in a crevice to the east, whicli no (nic has ever 
 remarked before, and no one will ever again after you, you will
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA, 71 
 
 find something which, if rightly used, will bring Mr. Wigges to 
 his senses and secure you the hand of his daughter." 
 
 " But the Tower is not my property, and if I should find 
 anything there it will not belong to me," replied Algernon. 
 
 " Never you mind, do as I tell you ; the Tower belongs to me, 
 and so does everything you may find in it ; besides, what you 
 will find is given to you by me. No one else, not even the 
 present owner, can give it to you. Anyway, do as you are told, 
 if you wish to be happy. Farewell " ; and in a flash he was 
 gone, leaving our hero fast asleep again. 
 
 Of course, when Algernon awoke he felt inclined to laugh at 
 his dream, but it was one which continued to haunt him from 
 the time that he got out of bed ; so much so, that impelled by a 
 power that he could not withstand, he took the road to the 
 Tower. 
 
 He found no diflSculty in getting there, and no one to inter- 
 fere with his inspection of it. The owner had gone with his 
 family on a trip to St. Lucia, and the only watchman had gone 
 into town on his own business. 
 
 Twice he walked round the Tower, and more than once looked 
 up at its frowning walls as he did so, but on his third round 
 sure enough there was a chink in the wall lying invitingly open. 
 He had not noticed it before, in fact, he could have sworn that 
 no such chink existed, but there it was, and lying snugly 
 ensconced at the bottom of it was a package ; this he carefully 
 pulled out and opened, discovering an old coin of beautiful 
 design. 
 
 He was no numismatist or he might have been able to appre- 
 ciate its freshness and beauty ; as it was, he only sighed from 
 disappointment ; for when he first took out the package he 
 thought that, after all, his dream might come true, and perhaps 
 a diamond of great value might be concealed in it, the remnant 
 may-be of Bluebeard's treasures. Indeed, so great was his 
 chagrin, that he felt almost inclined to throw it away, but 
 remembering, after all, that it was a remarkable coincidence — 
 no pun is intended — he descended the hill, and wended his way 
 slowly homewards. 
 
 It was a lovely morning, and he might have felt the happiest 
 man alive if it had not been for the ill-fortune which had 
 overtaken him. Sitting down for a moment upon a little bench 
 near at hand, he drew out the coin and looked at it.
 
 72 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 " Siiif^iiliir, isn't it ! " he said softly to hiiiiseH". " It looks verv 
 old and ([uaint, looks as if it had seen some o-ood times in its 
 day. Money of the olden time, did you ever cause such mis- 
 foi-tune to mankind as your prototype of to-day ? Were you as 
 much the golden calf then as you are now ? What a lot you 
 
 could say if you could speak ! What " 
 
 " Yes, Algernon dear," said a sweet voice behind him. " What 
 a lot that old coin is going to do ; you'll find out presently when 
 we take it to my father. We may safely trust its past history 
 with him, in face of the good it will bring to us." And here, 
 Miss Wigges, who was also out for a morning walk, sat down 
 beside her lover and looked at the coin. 
 
 " Whj^, it's the very one my father has been looking for for 
 the last ten yeai's. He has ottered an enormous sum for it; has 
 notified collectors all over the world his desire to obtain it at 
 any price. Wliy, he won't hesitate to part with me for it." 
 
 " But my dear — you in exchange for such an old coin as this ? 
 A billion such would not suffice to buy you from me." 
 
 " Certainly not. If there were a billion of them — but this is 
 the only one besides the one now in the possession of my father. 
 And then you know, Algernon, you are not a numismatist, and 
 therefore not supposed to know its value, but really, how did 
 you come to find it ? " 
 
 Then he told her of his dream about the pirate Bluebeard, and 
 his scruples about appropriating it. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " my dear Algernon, " didn't Bluebeard come 
 himself to give it to you ? Come, let's get home at once, and 
 let papa see if it is really the right one or not." 
 
 And as her word was law" just then with Algernon they did 
 so, placing the coin in the hands of her father, to his unbounded 
 astonishment and delight. In all his life he had not experienced 
 such a surprise. He, certainly, never expected to complete his 
 magnificent collection of coins in St. Thomas. It was marvel- 
 lous ! — and in the manner in which it had occurred. Wliy, it 
 would fill six columns of the Chicago Tribune, and create .such a 
 sensation among the numismatists as would crown him with 
 glory for the rest of his days. C<-)ns('nt to tln'ir uiai-riage ? 
 Why, of course he would ! 
 
 Tlie ti'uth of it is, that lu- had nia<l<' np his mind to do so 
 before they c;ime in : liis was a kindly nature, and tiie gentle 
 reproaches of his wife had softened liim considerably.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 73 
 
 At that moment Mrs. Wigges entered the room, and when she 
 heard the whole story, the tender-hearted creature broke down 
 completely for joy. 
 
 " Bless the old Pirate," she said, as she affectionately kissed 
 her husband, and threw her arms round his neck ; whether she 
 meant Mr, Wigges or Bluebeard has never been told, but I do 
 know that they solemnly blessed the young couple, who were 
 married and lived happily ever afterwards.
 
 BLACK IVORY." 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 It is a moot question whether Mr. James Teach really did care 
 to reside on the hill where Blackbeard's Tower had stood for 
 over a century. 
 
 The Tower itself was out of repair ; and when Mr. James 
 Teach leased it, with the adjoining buildino;s, the upper floor was 
 only accessible by means of a ladder from below, the first and 
 second floors having crumbled away before the inroads of time 
 and the wood-worm, which spares scarcely anything in the shape 
 of woodwork in the West Indies. 
 
 The two small houses which, at that time, stood near to it, 
 were in a little better condition ; and when Mr. Teach had ex- 
 pended a few dollars in necessary repairs, they were quite 
 habitable. 
 
 Yet it was a wonder to the busy town's folk, who passed their 
 lives money grubbing at the foot of the hill and along the shore 
 of the beautiful bay which makes St. Thomas the possessor of 
 the finest harbour in the West Indies, why Mr. Teach had chosen 
 to leave the spacious house he occupied on the Main Street for 
 such uncomfortable quarters. 
 
 Various were the comments, and more than one hinted that it 
 was only another of the mysterious ways of Mr. Teach that had 
 made his life so unaccountable to the rest of the connnunity. 
 Others said, that perhaps he was going to dig for treasure ; but 
 as several persons had dug up hall" the })lace already, with the 
 same object, the idea was scouted. 
 
 They were a busy people in those days. Anyone — a white 
 man with the least ability — could iii;ikc nioney : and iliey were, 
 as a rule, so occupied, that they soon forgot the circumstance of 
 Mr. Teach occupying the Tower ; though some busylxxlies, who 
 had nothing else to do, did not fail to notice that he mounted to 
 the top of it evei-y nioining early, remaining there more than an 
 hour scanning tlic horizon w itli his telescope.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 75 
 
 Not that there was anything extraordinary in that, for he 
 owned several vessels ; among them, two or three rakish-looking 
 schooners which traded between St. Thomas and the island of 
 Porto Rico. And here again was another mystery ; each of 
 these schooners carried a long swivel-gun at the stern, for their 
 protection against pirates, so Mr. Teach said ; though his friends 
 and the public asserted, between themselves as a matter of 
 course, that these guns were for piratical purposes. 
 
 Now all this may have been very true ; but so cautious were 
 the dealings of Mr. Teach, that he never gave any one just cause 
 to be certain that he had any connection with that kind of 
 gentry ; though it is a notorious fact, that more than one rich 
 and prosperous trader in St. Thomas gave assistance to the 
 pirates which infested West Indian waters ; but Mr. Teach had 
 never but once, during his residence of ten years on the island, 
 given cause for the slightest suspicion, and then he had so 
 promptly placed his books at the Government's disposal, and 
 offered his house and office so readily for its inspection, that the 
 officials apologized for even suspecting him. 
 
 But this did not satisfy those malicious persons wlio are never 
 satisfied that a man can get along in the world without being a 
 rogue or a rascal, so they even went so far as to insinuate that 
 Mr. Teach had bribed them to overlook the most glaring facts 
 against him ; which horrible calumny, when it came to their ears, 
 made them more blind than ever to anything that Mr. Teach did 
 in the prosecution of his honourable calling. 
 
 Now what was the honourable calling that Mr. James Teach 
 followed in the town of Charlotte Amalia ? 
 
 Let us go back a little into Mr. James Teach's histor}'-. 
 
 Some years before this story opens he began life in Anegada. 
 Who were his parents, where he was born, and in what condition 
 of life, does not concern us at this moment ; we only know him 
 at that period of his existence as a stalwart young man, named 
 John Block, living in a small cabin by the sea-shore, eking out a 
 precarious livelihood by fishing. The island at that time was 
 peopled by more whites than at present ; in fact, only a few 
 escaped slaves from the neighbouring islands helping the whites, 
 who were to all intents as poor as themselves. 
 
 We might have said equally as ignorant, for amongst all of 
 them John Block was the only one who could read, write, and 
 cipher. How he came by these accomplishments was best known
 
 76 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 to himself ; tlioiigli rumour poiuted to liis haviug- been taught 
 by his mother, who claimed to be of respectable parentage, but 
 why she ever came to such a barren place as Anegada was a 
 matter of surprise to the islanders. 
 
 Jolin Block was of a moody disposition, and cared but little 
 for the companionship of his fellows. When not fishing he 
 plaited tishpots, in the same manner as the " Cha Cha " does to- 
 day ; or he built boats, at which he was very skilful. For these 
 he got a good price ; and as his expenses were next to nothing, 
 by-and-bye he became talked about as well-to-do in the world — 
 the little world of Anegada — and more than one girl, of the few 
 in the island, cast "sheep's eyes" at him; all of wliirh was 
 entirely lost upon John Block, who had not a particle of love in 
 his composition for any other human being in this world than 
 himself — a more selfish vagabond, probably, never existed. 
 
 How long John Block might have vegetated in this manner it 
 is difficult to say ; but one day the sky gi-ew dark, great clouds 
 gathered overhead, the sea rose in its might, the wind blew a 
 hurricane, and every living soul on that island crept into his hut 
 with fear and trembling in his heart that he might never live to 
 see another morning. It was one of those fearful gales, for 
 which the West Indies is famous, sweeping all before it, and 
 carrying destruction to the homes of thousands. 
 
 For John Block such convulsions of Nature had no special 
 terrors. He had no beliefs to worry him ; no feare of hell ; no 
 hopes of a heaven ; he believed in himself. His cabin was a 
 strong one, made to withstand the gi-eatest storm ; and all that 
 fearful night, after he had crept into it and fastened himself 
 securely in, he slept as soundly as if the gentlest wind were 
 lulling him to sleep. 
 
 And when morning brought Nature smilingly contemplating 
 all the havoc and desolation she had made, in just such a mood 
 came forth John Block to look how things had gone with his 
 fellow islanders. Not that he loved them eiumgli to help them ; 
 but, if his assistance were paid for, he would have Ijcon ready 
 enough to give it. 
 
 But most of them lived at a distance, and in order to reach 
 them he would liave to pass along a considerable stretch of sea- 
 shore. Selecting a stout stick from among several that stood in 
 the corner of his cabin, he started, making his way with con- 
 siderable difficulty, as a great deal of sea-wreck and debris hail
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 77 
 
 been washed up by the waves, which yet were angi^ily lashing 
 the beach. 
 
 He had not gone far before he came across the body of a man. 
 
 It was not the first time, by any means, that he liad seen a 
 body cast up by the sea; but this was not an ordinary 
 person. Ignorant as he was of what life really was outside of 
 Anegada, he had read enough, in the few books he had managed 
 to procure, of how people looked and lived in other countries. 
 One thing was sure, this man was a very much superior person 
 to any one he had ever seen before, dead or alive. He had a 
 dim remembrance, when he was a child, of a visit to that island 
 by the Governor of Tortola, and how he had shrunk close to his 
 mother when that high and mighty personage looked at him ; 
 but here was some one whose appearance betokened a higher 
 station than the Governor. 
 
 His first thought was to see if he was alive, and if so, to help 
 him or to seek assistance to carry out this charitable impulse ; 
 his second, and that came more naturally to him, was to make 
 sure he was dead, by hitting him over the head with his stick, 
 and then to rob him. 
 
 A fine diamond ring, an elegant watch and seals, and, enclosed 
 in a waterproof cover, a pocket-book heavily lined with English 
 bank notes for £100 each, rewarded him for his pains. 
 
 Having secured these, and made sure that there was nothing 
 more to appropriate, he returned back to his hut, and seating 
 himself on a log, which served him for a stool, he beo-an to 
 think. ^ 
 
 And the upshot of his thoughts was to leave Anegada as soon 
 as possible, get to Tortola, and thence to St. Thomas ; then the 
 Emporium of the Antilles, where fortunes were made, where the 
 scum of the West Indies met and hobnobbed, and where no one 
 would ask him whence he got those £100 bank notes. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 We shall pass over the years that James Teach, formerly 
 known as John Block, took to become, first, a burgher, and then 
 a man of consequence, in the island of St. Thomas. 
 
 He may be said to have started fairly in the world with the 
 capital which he had acquired so infamously from the body that
 
 78 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 the sea had washed on shore at Anegada, and as there was 
 plenty to do in the town of Charlotte Anialia for a man with 
 money at his command, it was not lon<j^ before he found out the 
 rio-ht way to employ it. At that time St. Thomas was a ren- 
 dezvous for almost every craft that sailed in West Indian 
 waters — as many as 100 to 175 vessels might have been counted 
 at once in its harbour. All the produce of the Spanish Main 
 passed through it on its way to Europe. Vast cargoes of mer- 
 cliandise came out in return, which were sold to the countless 
 purchasers that constantly visited it. It was also the head- 
 quarters for an enormous traffic in slaves, and tliougli tlie 
 Danish Government had declared it unlawful, it was not 
 entirely suppressed when James Teach landed, and many men 
 were said to have made large fortunes by shipping them to 
 Porto Rico and the other islands. 
 
 It was a quick and easy way to wealth when properly 
 managed, and James Teach was not slow to perceive that this 
 was as good a way as any to invest his money, if he desired to 
 reap a quick return for it. 
 
 Not but what there were many risks to encounter ; first and 
 foremost, the Government officials, who were very strict and 
 attentive to their duties when a cargo of " black ivory," as a 
 shipload of Africans was called in those days, was expected to 
 be smuggled into port; but James Teach went systematically 
 to work. Finding his capital too small to carry out his plans 
 of importing them direct, he bought one of the fastest schooners 
 afloat, and, engaging a picked crew from among the desperadoes 
 who were such frequent visitors to St. Thomas he made himself 
 her captain, and, after a year's cruising, he had realized enough 
 to dispense with commanding her liimself, and to purchase 
 several other vessels, all engaged ostensibly in commerce with 
 the islands. 
 
 His method possessed, at least, the merit of originality — 
 a good slave was worth any day from '500 to 500 dollars 
 in Porto Rico. To send to Africa for a cargo demanded special 
 vessels, considerable outlay, and involved not only the risk of 
 meeting British cruisers on the way, but the liability of 
 loss by the death of lialf tlie cargo before reaching its desti- 
 nation. 
 
 All this James Teach av<)i<lcd l)y the simple plan of waylay- 
 inf nearly every slave vessel bound to the West Indies, murder-
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 79 
 
 ing captain, officers, and crew, and appropriating every other 
 living soul on board that could be called an African. 
 
 As he took care to scuttle the ship afterwards, on the specious 
 plea that dead men tell no tales, there was nothing left to bear 
 witness against him but his own crew, who, being accomplices 
 and sharers in the spoil, were not likely to turn king's evidence 
 against him. 
 
 His gi'eatest difficulty, at first, was to stow them away before 
 a favourable opportunity offered for shipping them to Porto 
 Rico, without exciting the suspicion of the Danish authorities ; 
 but, after he had more than doubled his capital by a successful 
 venture or two, he purchased one of the largest houses on the 
 Main Street, and, with the aid of his ship carpenters, con- 
 structed, unknown to anyone else, a hiding-place, capable of 
 concealing 100 slaves, between two of the loftiest rooms in 
 the dwelling. So skilfully did they manage it, and its secret 
 entrance, that for years, long after James Teach's death, no one 
 suspected its existence ; here, at midnight, when everything was 
 quiet in the town and harbour, he would bring the unfortunate 
 slaves, each one bound and gagged, and lay them, like trussed 
 fowls, close to each other, until he was ready to ship them 
 away. 
 
 As we have before remarked, in the introductory chapter, 
 though strongly suspected, he was never found out ; only those 
 connected with his nefarious schemes knew of them, and they 
 were too well paid and deeply mixed up in them to betray him ; 
 besides, men's consciences were very elastic then on the subject 
 of "black ivory" — a coloured man was hardly credited with 
 being a human, and as for his having any rights in particular, 
 they were only laughed at ; only the Government, so often 
 accused of being the oppressor, seemed to have discovered that 
 this traffic in flesh and blood was unlawful ; and it must be 
 said that its suspicions were strongly excited against Mr. James 
 Teach. 
 
 In the meantime many merchants of St. Thomas, who were 
 interested in the direct importation of " black ivory " from 
 Africa, lost several valuable cargoes with their vessels ; but as 
 nothing ever was heard of either, they were, rightly or not, put 
 down as lost at sea. 
 
 And now, having thrown a little light on the honourable 
 calling which Mr. Teach pursued so much to his satisfaction, and
 
 80 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 that of his associates, Ave will pass to the only redeeming episode 
 in his remarkable career, and which, being based on pure selfish- 
 ness from the beginning, wouhl be hardly worth mentioning, if 
 it were not necessary to our story, as illustrating the manner in 
 which the most secret crimes become known, and are punished 
 in the end. 
 
 From the earliest days of the colony the women of the island 
 had been noted for their beauty, especially the Creoles of two 
 or three generations ; but though ]\Ir. James Teach, in virtue of 
 his great wealth, and his having become a very important man 
 in the community, had been thrown in contact with some of the 
 handsomest, his heart, if he had any, remained untouched. 
 
 As we have once before observed, all the love he had was 
 for himself ; nothing else up to then had shared it ; not even 
 his doc: could get a caress from him. 
 
 There was one girl, however, who had cauglit his fancy, 
 but she was a mere child, not yet 13 years of age when he 
 first saw her. 
 
 She lived with her aunt in a tumble-down cottage on the 
 confines of the town, where they earned their living by iron- 
 ing and starching fine things, and sewing for their neighbours. 
 Now James Teach had noticed Eva Wilson more than once 
 during his walks in the country ; and strange enough to re- 
 late, conceived a violent passion for her, and had she been 
 older would have sought her in marriage at once ; but in 
 view of the fact that she was so 3^oung, he interviewed her 
 aunt, and proposed to her to send them away to Copenhagen, 
 there to have her educated, and if she were willing, at the 
 end of five years he would make her his wife. 
 
 Only one thing he insisted on, and that was strict secrecy. 
 This the elder woman promised, and as slio saw no reason to 
 doubt the word of so reputable a man as James Teach, she, 
 without even consulting her niece, accepted his offer, leaving 
 for Denmark a few weeks after. This occurred about four 
 years before our story opens, and may be said to be the only 
 good action ever done by Mr. James Teach in the whole of 
 liis blood-stained career. How he was impelled to do it is an 
 insolvablc riddh.', uidcss that Nemesis, which ahiiost always 
 follows crime, had selected this fair young girl as the means 
 to effect his destruction.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 81 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Now let us follow Eva Wilson and her aunt to Copenhagen, 
 then, as now, one of the cleanest and best regulated cities in 
 Europe. 
 
 Voyages to and from the Danish West Indies and tlie 
 Mother Country, for so the colonists have ever loved to call 
 Denmark, were much more serious alFairs than they are at 
 this time, very seldom being accomplished by the old mer- 
 chant vessels of the Eighteenth Century under three months. 
 They were stoutly built, and in many instances had elegant 
 passenger accommodations. It was in one of these that they 
 reached Denmark, after a pleasant voyage of one hundred days. 
 They bore excellent letters to Mr. James Teach 's agent, then 
 the head of one of the most substantial firms in Copenhagen, 
 and who, knowing him to be a man of great wealth in St. 
 Thomas, extended a cordial welcome to them, and, for the time 
 being, the hospitality of his home. This sudden transition 
 from the drudgery they had formerly passed through was not 
 without its effect on Eva's aunt, who, from a careworn, anxious- 
 looking woman became almost young again in the atmosphere 
 of kindness which surrounded her. As for Eva, the best 
 masters were secured for her, and everything done to carry 
 out the wishes of Mr. Teach, with regard to her education. 
 And she responded nobly to their efforts to improve her. With 
 a natural aptitude for the acquirement of knowledge she 
 progressed rapidly, and as the years rolled over her head she 
 developed not only in the matter of every accomplishment 
 taught at that period, but actually excelled in others not 
 generally considered as belonging to her sex. 
 
 She corresponded regularly with Mr. Teach, giving him, 
 according to his wish, a minute account of her daily life, her 
 progress in her studies, and her impressions of everything 
 around her. She had learned by this time to consider him her 
 best friend and benefactor, and even to look upon him with con- 
 siderable affection for all that he had done for her. 
 
 Her aunt, who saw the end of the period of probation expir- 
 ing, took pains to place Mr. Teach in the most favourable light 
 before her, always taking care not to let her know the secret of 
 her ultimate destiny, fearing to alarm her, and perhaps to engen- 
 der hatred, where it was desirable she should feel nothing but love. 
 S3112. F
 
 82 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 In tlie nieamvliilf, l^^va's beauty had become the theme of 
 admiratiun of everyone. Movin<;- amoiifj^ the -wealthiest and 
 most fashionable people in Copenha<;en, known as the adopted 
 daughter of the richest man in the Danish West Indies, slie liad 
 scores of admirers at her feet, ami mi<.;ht, liad she chosen, have 
 married with the best of them. But charming as she was in her 
 demeanour, gentle as she was in all her ways, and friendly as 
 she was in disposition, not one of them could boast of ever 
 havino- received a fax-our at her hands, nor one word of encou- 
 ragement from her lips. All this.was duly repeated by the aunt 
 to Mr. James Teaeli, wlu), in a sort of madness which seemed to 
 have possessed him as far as this young girl was concerned, 
 thought that it was because of her love for him that she cared 
 for no one else. And so- this went on, steadily gaining posses- 
 sion of hiiu every day, the passion of love consuming him finally 
 to such an extent, that at times he would neglect his business 
 merely for the sole pleasure of thinking of lier. 
 
 And when at last the five years expired that he had set aside 
 for the completion of her education, he could no longer contain 
 himself, and at once wrote letters for their return by one of the 
 first vessels leaving for the Danish West Indies, fully expecting 
 to marry her upon her arrival. 
 
 And now a strange thing happened as this letter was 
 crossing the ocean to its destination ; a certain Danish noble- 
 man addressed her, and, what is stranger still, succeeded in 
 breaking down that barrier of icy reserve with which she had 
 treated everyone else. Of winning presence, and endowed 
 with rare mental gifts, His Excellency, Count Lauritz, would 
 have been called a very handsome man if it had not been for a 
 frightful scar just over the forehead, which lie said he had 
 received when shipwrecked and cast asliore at a place called 
 Anegada, in the great liunieanc ^vhil•l^ took place ten years 
 before in the West Indies. 
 
 Whether it was the fact of liis having escaped such pei-il so 
 near to her own dear native land, or whether his stories of 
 adventure, for he had travelled nuich, impressed her so that like 
 another Desdemona, in listening to them, her love went out 
 towards him, we know not : but it is very certain that by tlie 
 time Mr. Tt-ach's letter reachcil th.ni, she li.id jjlcdgcd her ti-otli 
 to him. M'his at first sight may a])p«'ar cxtivmely ljhuueal)le on 
 her part ; but as Mr. James Teach had never breathed a word of
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 83 
 
 lo e n any of Ins lettei-s, and as the aunt had never mentioned 
 h.s ultimate designs, in return for having launched them into 
 good society and educated E™. it seems most natural that things 
 should turn out m this manner; indeed it could not be other- 
 wise, for surely no one would have cared to see her married to 
 ™eh a wretch as Mr. Teach had proved himself to be on all 
 occasions, excepting this. 
 
 at h'jl- ^"°' ^'f 7' '"'°™ ""'' " "^^ °»'>' 'hing to wonder 
 a , but hvmg ma fool's paradise all the time, she neter thought 
 of It ; perhaps she did not care to spoil her niece's pre.sent htp- 
 pmess. She really loved her, and had no particular desire to see 
 her wedded to Mr James Teach. So when a scion of one of tl e 
 noblest houses in Denmark presented himself, she never said a 
 word, but actually joined their hands and congratulated them 
 
 Mr. leach s letter stared them in the face 
 
 This, howev-er, was quietly got over by Eva; who, with true 
 feminine mtuiion, having some misgivings as to his approval of 
 her choice without consulting him, said that they would ^et 
 married hrst and afterwards ask his blessing on the union To 
 this Count Lauritz cordially consented ; and as he, just about 
 «iat_ time received a royal appointment as Commissioner to the 
 Danish Wes Indies, for the purpose of investigating certain acts 
 ot piracy and slave-dealing which had occurred in Danish waters 
 It was decided that they should get married at once, and then 
 leave Copenhagen in the first vessel bound for the West Indies 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Thus it is, that some three months afterwards we find them 
 
 lut%r"'l"'i':/"" *'"^' J'^"""^'^ '^^> -^^ becalmed 
 about fifty miles off the coast of Anegada. 
 
 A very slight breeze had sprung ^rp during the last twenty- 
 four hours, but scarcely sufficient to move the hug >, lumberim. 
 vessel which had taken them thus far towards their destination" 
 
 Ihe captain, an old and experienced mariner, lookerl anxiouslv 
 alott at h,s sails flapping idly against the masts, and more than 
 once swept the horizon with his glass for the sign of any strange 
 
 P 2
 
 84 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 With a precaution l)()ru of experience, he had seen that the 
 few muskets and cutlasses the ship possessed were in proper 
 order, and the two carronades well cleaned and loaded with a 
 full charo-e of g^rape. Ho kept a strict look out also, for he 
 knew that many a tint' slu[) had met her doom in thi'se waters, 
 at the hands of the blood-thirsty pirates that infested tlu'm. 
 How he whistled for a f^ood wind, a spanking breeze to send him 
 bowling along at ten knots an hour into harbour, where, at any 
 rate for awhile, his anxiety would be over. But that breeze 
 would not come for the vessel he commanded ; there was only 
 just enough to till the sails of one of Mr. James Teach's schooners, 
 which had been on the look out for plunder for a fortnight. 
 First, her topmasts showed above the horizon, then her 
 mizen masts, and then her long black hull came creeping up 
 to them, slowly but surely, just as the tiger crawls upon its 
 prey. 
 
 Not even the dead calm which set in checked her progress, for 
 the pirate captain got out his sweeps, and when within a mile of 
 of them ran up the black flag, and fired his swivel gun at the 
 ri"<'in<i' of the unlucky " Dagmar." 
 
 ]3own came some of the top gear with a crash, but doing 
 no further damage than smashing a hen-coop. 
 
 " Oh, for a gun like that ! " exclaimed the Danish captain, 
 as another shot came crashing into his ship ; " run up the 
 Dannebrog, my lads, and let them see when they do come on 
 board what a welcome we can give them. There will be no 
 quarter for any of us if tlicy take us, so we may as well fight 
 it out with them." 
 
 By this time the deck was clear for action. The men were 
 armed and the guns moved aft, so that they would be able to 
 sweep the deck with grape-shot. The ladies had been put in 
 comparative safety below the water-line, and the captain would 
 have insisted that Count Lauritz remained along with them 
 had he not reminded him that he bore the King's connnission, 
 and it was his duty to fight along with him and his men. 
 So, kissing Eva fondly ainl begging the aunt, wlio was ucai-ly 
 dead from fright, to be of good cheer as they lioped to come 
 out victors, he went on deck and then occupied himself with 
 the sailors in strengthening their defences, for it M^as part of 
 the captain's policy to let th<' pirates come on board and 
 deciinate them if possible at close quarters.
 
 AX ISL-IXD OF THE SEA. 85 
 
 There were some thirty men or more besides the captain 
 and Count Lauritz, good Danish sailors, each of them more 
 than a match for half-a-dozen of the mongi-el crew of despe- 
 radoes which formed the pirate's crew ; possibly the pirate 
 captain was aware of this, for he contented himself by firing 
 into the " Dagmar " at intervals, hoping, no doubt, to cripple 
 her in such a manner as to render her an easy prey when 
 defenceless. Already two of her men had been slightly 
 wounded by splinters, and much more damage might have 
 been done if the captain, who, from the manner in which he 
 handled his shij) under such difficulties, seemed to be ac(|uainted 
 with their ways, had not lined that portion of his bulwarks, 
 where his men lay snugly hidden, with some bales of clothing 
 belonging to his cargo, and which efiectually prevented 
 the shot from passing through that part of his vessel. By- 
 and-bye the j)irate schooner came within hailing distance of 
 him. 
 
 " What ship is that ? " yelled the pirate captain through a 
 speaking trumpet. 
 
 No answer from the "Dagmar." 
 
 " Lay her alongside ! " yelled the pirate again. 
 
 No sooner said than done ; grappling irons were thrown 
 from the schooner to the ship, and, in less time than we have 
 taken to write this, the pirate crew climbed up on the deck 
 of the " Dagmar." 
 
 " Let them have it ! " said the Danish, captain. Bang, went 
 one of the carronades, and a charge of grape tore a lane 
 through the shrieking pirates, of whom those who were not 
 dead or wounded rushed towards the quarter-deck. 
 
 " Again, ' Fire ! ' " shouted the Danish captain, and the second 
 carronade vomited forth its deadly contents with such efiect 
 that scarcely a dozen were left of that crowd of howling 
 vagabonds, so full of the lust of slaughter but a few moments 
 before. 
 
 " Back to the schooner ! " roared the pirate captain, seeing 
 that he had been led into a snare, and that to remain another 
 moment longer was to meet the same fate as his comrades, 
 who were lying dead or wounded around him. 
 
 " Let them have it again," said the Danish captain, as all 
 begrimed with powder he sighted the carronade himself, taking 
 aim at the swivel -ii'un.
 
 86 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 The pirates b}' this time ha<l <j^ot on board tlicir scliooner, 
 and, casting off the grapnels, began to crowd on sail to get 
 awa}' from the " Dagmar." 
 
 Bang, went the carronade again, and so true was the old 
 sea-captain's aim that the sliot knocked over tlie swivel that 
 had done his vessel so much mischief ere the pirates had 
 boarded them, and wliich might yet liave proved tlieir de- 
 strnction, even tliongh they had l)eaten them. 
 
 Probably the pirate captain nnderstood this, as he sliook liis 
 fist at him, and ordered the renniant of his crew to clap on 
 all sail and be off. 
 
 By this time a stiff breeze had sprung up, and after all 
 the dead pirates had been thrown overboard, the wounded 
 looked after, and the vessel put to rights, the captain laid 
 his course for Road Town, Tortola, where he hoped to find 
 an English man-of-war to take him and his ship in safety to 
 St. Thomas. 
 
 " His Majesty's High Commissioner is on board," said he, 
 jokingly, to Eva, at dinner a few hours afterwards ; " and it 
 may be as well to take extra precautions to get him to 
 St. Thomas to try the scoundrels wlio have so nearly taken 
 my vessel." 
 
 He looked meaningly at Count Lauritz as he said so. 
 
 But neither they nor the mate told Eva tlint l)nt a sliort 
 while before they had received the dying confession of one 
 of the pirates that Mr. James Teach was their head, and of 
 all the miscreants who lived in St. Thomas by plundering 
 vessels or exporting " Black Ivory," he was the vilest and 
 most cruel. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Ix the good old times of which we arc writing, Road Town, 
 Tortola, did a flourishing l)usincss. There were many fine 
 estates upon the island, and (piite a colony of well-to-do 
 
 ]il;illtri-S. 
 
 A great deal of sugar was made and exported, and its streets 
 wore an air of busiiicss-lik(! activity, that no one would Ijelieve 
 to-day when they look upon its departed prosperity. It rejoiced
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 87 
 
 in a Governor, and a numerous staff of officials, who lived 
 in houses substantially built, and who spent their money 
 in good living, like the gentlemen they were, until " Yellow 
 Jack " carried them off, or they had saved up sufficient from 
 their salaries to go home with a diseased liver, and end the 
 few days that were left them. 
 
 It was in this friendly port that the " Dagmar " soon found 
 herself, and when she had dropped anchor, her captain, accom- 
 panied by Count Lauritz, went on shore and paid his respects 
 to the Governor. 
 
 This functionary, who had been one of His Britannic 
 Majesty's naval captains before his appointment as Governor, 
 welcomed them cordially, and his eyes twinkled with satisfac- 
 tion when he heard from Count Lauritz how bravely the 
 captain and crew had beaten off the pirates ; but his counte- 
 nance looked grave when he heard how deeply James Teach 
 was implicated in the several acts of piracy which had been 
 committed for so manj' years in those waters. 
 
 " I am sorry," he said, " I cannot lend you a sloop of war 
 to accompany you over to St. Thomas, the two sloops of war 
 which are generally lying here are out with the hope of 
 catching a piratical schooner, which without doubt is the one 
 you have beaten off. Perhaps if you remain a day or two 
 and rest your men they may return. In the meanwhile, I am 
 at your service during your stay in this island." 
 
 Returning thanks for his kindness they withdrew and went 
 on board again, but they had hardly done so when two 
 vessels hove in sight, one proving to be H.B.M.S. " Bulldog," 
 and the other, one of Mr. James Teach's I'akish-looking 
 schooners, the one which had attacked them, with a prize 
 crew on board, and a couple of pirates as prisoners ; the rest 
 had been slain along with their captain, who was cut down 
 just as he was about to blow up his ship. 
 
 Perhaps by this time the reader may have divined why 
 Mr. James Teach had leased Blackbeard's Tower, and the 
 reason why he so punctually every morning spent an hour on 
 the top of it, sweeping the horizon witli his spy-glass. 
 
 He had grown frightfully anxious of late. All his schooners 
 were away from the island, and as it was now about time for 
 the " Dagmar " to be in St. Tliomas, fears began to assail him 
 that she might have been attacked by them, an eventuality
 
 88 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 almost too liorrible to contemplate, for as his piratical asso- 
 ciates invariably massacred all hands, irrespective of aij^e, 
 condition, or sex, it Avas quite as likely as not that the 
 woman he loved was by this time at the bottom of the ocean. 
 
 For five long- years her image had been before him. She 
 occupied his thoughts to the exclusion of almost everything 
 else. Curious anomaly; this man, who had m'\er shed a tear 
 within his remendn-ancc, whose conscience was so deadened 
 that he felt not the slightest remorse or compunction for all 
 the nuirders of whit-li he had been the instigator, was in this 
 respect as tender-hearted as a baby, and he fairly treuibled 
 and wept at the thought of what might have happened to 
 her. What is also very singular is the absolute surety that 
 he felt of becoming her husband, and living a life of happi- 
 ness hereafter. He actually believed it possible that such 
 crimes as he had committed might be atoned for by a correct 
 course of living in future. He never thought of being dis- 
 covered, so long had he pursued his iniquitous career with 
 impunit}^ He felt sure that his captains and crews were 
 true to him, although he very much regi'etted that he had 
 not disbanded them before sending for Eva. 
 
 It was when this agony of fear and apprehension was at 
 its height, that one fine morning he beheld the " Dagmar," 
 in company with a British cruiser, entering the port. Utter- 
 ing an exclamation of joy as he caught sight of a beautiful 
 young woman on deck, and whom he presumed to be Eva, 
 he hastily descended the ladder which led to the top of 
 the tower, donned his best attire, and proceeding to what 
 is now known as the King's Wharf, entered his boat, which, 
 pulled by four stout oarsmen, soon reached the ship. 
 ■ " Arrest that man ! " said the captain of the " Dagmar," as 
 his foot touched the deck. Instantly he was seized, and 
 before he could make the slightest resistance his arms were 
 pinioned behind his back. 
 
 " What means this outrage ? " he yelled, almost beside him- 
 self with rage and fuiy. " I came on board your vessel, sir, 
 a peaceful Danish buigher, and you bind me as you would 
 the meanest criminal." 
 
 "Just so," said the old Danish skipper, very quietly. 
 
 " Where's my ward •? " cried Mr. Teach, foaming with pas- 
 sion and struggling to get loose.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 89 
 
 But he was destined never to see her again. The one ghmpse 
 he had of her from the tower was all that he ever ob- 
 tained of her in this life. 
 
 Count Lauritz had just completed his sad tale of her 
 guardian's wicked career, as related by the dying pirate, when 
 Mr. Teach was made prisoner. 
 
 Poor Eva, who though she had married without consulting 
 him, and had calculated upon a pleasant meeting with him, 
 was stunned at the news ; and when the old aunt told her 
 that all he had done for her was with the selfish motive 
 of marrying her himself on her arrival, she wisely concluded, 
 with her husband, that it would be best for her not to see 
 him again. 
 
 All this time Mr. James Teach kept on insisting on an in- 
 terview ; from threats he used entreaties, until at last he 
 almost humbly implored them to let him see her once more. 
 
 But the old captain was inflexible ; it was only when he 
 became more and more persistent that he turned to one of 
 the sailors and told him to tell the lady's husband to step 
 forward. 
 
 "Lady's husband!" exclaimed Mr. TeacL "You are joking. 
 Eva married ! Impossible ! Let me go ! What on earth have 
 you bound me for ? What— — " 
 
 At this moment Count Lauritz advanced towards him. The 
 sailors made way, those guarding Mr. Teach, slightly re- 
 laxing their hold. Then it was that an awful change came 
 over his countenance. As he saw the Count he turned ghastly 
 pale, almost livid ; great beads of perspiration rolled down his 
 cheeks. 
 
 " His ghost ! " he said in terrified accents, recoiling as the 
 Count came forward. " God in Heaven ! Does the sea give up 
 its dead ? Away, I say ! " and with a fearful cry, and a strength 
 born of despair, he broke loose from his captors, rushed to the 
 side of the vessel, and, bound as he was, threw himself over- 
 board. His boat's crew tried to save him, but as a few moments 
 afterwards the sea became reddened with blood, they concluded 
 that a shark had saved the law the trouble of hanging James 
 Teach. 
 
 Here endeth our story. We might have told a great deal 
 more, if it were not for fear of tiring the patience of our 
 readers. But with Eva married happily, and her aunt com-
 
 90 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA, 
 
 fortably provided for, we think everj'one ought to be satisfied. 
 Nevertheless, some may like to know that tliey all lived to 
 a good old age, highl}'- respected in the Danish West Indies. 
 The only tiling wortliy of note beside tliis is, that no clue 
 could be obtained to the wliereabouts of James Teach's im- 
 mense fortune. It was always said that he had saved piles 
 upon piles of Spanish doubloons. Tlieir not being encountered 
 after his deatli, led many to believe that he concealed them 
 somewhere near Blackbeard's tower. Up to now, some people 
 will not believe they were ever found. Some day, perhaps 
 in a future story, we may tell how they were discovered.
 
 "JAMES TEACH'S DOUBLOONS." 
 
 In looking over some old papers lately forwarded to me from 
 St. Croix by my esteemed friend Algernon Divi-Divi, just 
 before his departure for Europe with his aimable wife, nde 
 Miss Wigges, of Chicago, I came across the following history. 
 
 Written in a clerkly hand it bears the impress of that care 
 which distinguishes most of the MSS. of the beginning of last 
 century, and which, in this age of shorthand and typewriters, 
 is becoming almost as rare as correct spelling was in those 
 days. 
 
 Mr. Elias Divi-Divi, the grandfather of Algernon, appears to 
 have been the writer, and he opens his story as follows : — - 
 
 How I came to lay my hands upon James Teach's Spanish 
 doubloons, is what I have never told anyone. Not even 
 Rachel, the wife of my bosom, the companion of my life, the 
 one human being who has always understood me and loved 
 me, has ever known how I laid the foundation of my immense 
 fortune, for at this moment of writing I am the owner of more 
 than two thousand slaves and a third of the sugar estates of 
 St. Croix. 
 
 I hardly know what prompts me to tell the secret — a secret 
 which I have kept for so many years, even upon this paper — 
 but a force impels me which I cannot resist. Perhaps it is 
 the spirit of James Teach, who will not let me depart this 
 life without letting the world know what became of his 
 doubloons, the gold that he heaped up by his crimes. 
 
 As may be supposed by the reader of these lines, I was not 
 always the wealthy man I am now. Most of those wlio came 
 out to the West Indies when I did, were poor. As a rule 
 tliey were white men. No coloured men came to us except 
 those brought from Africa in slave ships, which traffic, though 
 not permitted actually by the Danish Government, was more 
 or less carried on as a profitable business by the merchants of 
 St. Thomas, at which island I arrived when quite a young 
 man. This was not very long after the death of James
 
 92 ^VX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 Teach. Tlie inhabitants had not yet foro-otten the circum- 
 stances whicli attended it, and, often I liave listened open- 
 mouthed, and Avith a sense of terror steal ini; over me, to the 
 awful stories they used to tell about him, and liow disappointed 
 the autliorities were when tlay came to look for the hu<;e 
 fortune which his books showed that he must have accumulated 
 during his residence in the Danish West Indies. 
 
 As a matter of course, the two old towers, Bluebeard's and 
 Blackbeard's, came in for their share in these histories. They 
 were in a sad state of dilapidation at that time, and such tales 
 were told of lights having been seen flitting from one em- 
 brasure to another on stormy nights when no living being 
 could hav^e possibly clind)ed up to them, and of phantom 
 processions, walking up the sides of the hill with huge sacks 
 of money on the shoulder of each gibbering ghost, that young 
 as I was, and fresh from the old country, and with the slightest 
 experience of the world in which I lived, I would shiver again, 
 and my teeth would chatter witli afiriglit as I tliought of 
 what might possibly happen to me at some time or other if 
 I ever indulged in the morbid curiosity, which I had already 
 begun to feel, to take a turn up to these relics of a century 
 ago and look at them ; perphaps obtain a clue to the treasure, 
 which nearly everyone so confidently asserted was somewhere 
 hidden near to them. 
 
 Not but what there were sceptics who laughed at those who 
 believed in such idle stories, and who considered it a mere 
 waste of time to indulge in such vagaries. Industrious and 
 hard working men, most of tliem, they preferred busily to tt)il 
 from morning till night in the great commercial houses which 
 then controlled all the trade of the West Indies and Spanish 
 Main, to digging for a treasure which might never be found, 
 and of which, if even they discovered it, they would have to 
 surrender the greater part to the authorities. I do not thiidv 
 it necessary that I should set down in these pages all that 
 I passed through before I ol)taiticd .sutliciciit nifaiis to establish 
 myself as a money lender, not far from where the liouse of 
 James Teach stands at this day ; nor how I ac(|uired my 
 present knowledge of commercial affairs and the management 
 of sugar estates. It is sufficient, I think, to state that I have 
 been diligent, always so ; no sooner have I got tlu-ough one 
 piece of work, than I innnediately set myself about doing
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 93 
 
 another, and if another were not at hand, to do somethino- — 
 read, write, or learn. 
 
 After I got over the fit of idleness which took possession 
 of me when I first came to these countries, my common sense 
 taught me that among a people whose sole aim was wealth, 
 knowledge was power. I had no money, they had ; my aim 
 in life, therefore, was to learn how to get theirs in the easiest 
 way possible. 
 
 And it was not so very difficult, then, for St. Tliomas, besides 
 being a busy hive of industrious merchants, was also the resort 
 of countless visitors, natives of all countries. 
 
 Wealthy merchants from South America, returning to Europe 
 to rest after long years of labour ; officials from other islands, 
 to retire upon their pensions, or to seek a change of climate 
 for the benefit of their health ; or, perhaps, a few young Cubans, 
 with their pockets full of money, come up to St. Thomas to 
 throw it away in the gambling hells, which held high carnival 
 at that time, in one or two of its streets ; or, perchance, a 
 few pirates, slavers, or such like desperadoes, to spend their 
 ill-gotten gains among the scores of lovely women that from 
 more than one island came to join the birds of prey who lived 
 upon such flotsam and jetsam as they were. 
 
 I cannot say that I made much head way with my fellow- 
 townsmen ; indeed, barring the one incident which I shall 
 shortly relate, I do not really think I can remember anything 
 of a very pleasant nature that occurred to me among them. 
 Whether it was the profession I had chosen to adopt, I am 
 not prepared to say. I always welcomed the needy, and I 
 always lent money to them on good securit}^, when I could 
 get it; sometimes on bad, for a reasonable interest usually, 
 more often an unreasonable one, according to circumstances. 
 
 I remember often taking myself to task frequently in those 
 days for having chosen this way of making a livelihood, but 
 I never could see myself in any other light than a public 
 benefactor ; putting it in this way : a man — whether through 
 imprudence, misfortune, or otherwise ; loses his substance — his 
 first impulse like that of a man drowning, is to save himself. 
 To do this he has recourse to his friends, ill-luck pursuing 
 him, he tries them again, until they, dreading to be drawn 
 into the same vortex of misfortune, refuse him. He then 
 flies to the only door left open to him, that of the professional
 
 94 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 money-lender, who, it' lie exact ^'0011 security and what the 
 world terms an exorbitant rate of interest from the ill-starred 
 individual, is scarcely to be blamed, when even those the most 
 near to him have denied him. 
 
 I know there were some instances in which I did not figure 
 so brightly before my sometimes awakened conscience, but 
 there was no help for it, and I went on every day, not with- 
 out a hope tliat the future would l)ring a cliange ; for during 
 the hours which this business spared to me, and I liad little 
 else to do but sit in my office and wait on customers, I kept 
 on acquiring a knowledge of tlie many things which have 
 proved so useful to me in latter days. It was about this time 
 that dear Harry Thompson died. He was, as may be remem- 
 bered, one of the most inveterate gamblers who ever played 
 roiilettc or faro on the ]\lain Street. A jollier nor more 
 rollicking devil-may-care fellow never lived. To day rolling 
 in wealth, to morrow cleaned out, after a night of it that would 
 have killed a weaker constitution. On these occasions he would 
 step into my office, and ask me for the loan of a hundred 
 doubloons, which I am glad to say I was always ready to lend 
 him. 
 
 Well, he was about the only mortal I cared for at that time, 
 and one of the most honourable. I thought more of his word, 
 than I did of all the papers and securities I had lying at 
 the bottom of the old iron chest, I had so well filled in the 
 corner of my office. In the same manner as the great houses 
 of commerce lent thousands to each other wdienever asked 
 for, without a strip of paper or obligation, so did I lend Harry 
 Thompson. 
 
 Only on one occasion did I loan him money on security, and 
 that at his own particular re(pu\st. It was for a very large 
 amount, and whether it was that he liad a presentiment of his 
 approaching end or not, I cannot say, but he insisted on my 
 taking the only house which was left to him as an indemnity 
 should anything happen to him. 
 
 Of course I never expected .inydiing would; he looked so 
 hearty and cheerful when he tijok away the little keg of dou- 
 bloons from my ottice ; we did not use local banknotes in the 
 West Indies; this piece of ci\ili/.itinii li.nl not yet reaclird us, 
 but never in my life was I so horrifieil \\ Inn I learnt the next 
 morning that he had been stabbed to the heart by a vile
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 95 
 
 Portuguese, who, after cheating him out of every piece that he 
 possessed, had adopted this dreadful means of ridding himself 
 of his accuser when discovered. 
 
 As may be supposed there was a frightful uproar, out of 
 which, the Portuguese escaped, only to be cut to pieces by the 
 knives of Harry's friends, but as that did not bring him back 
 to them, it seemed a poor consolation to have saved the hano-- 
 man his labour. 
 
 At this piece of news I was inconsolable for some days. 
 I liked Harry Thompson as I have liked but few men. So 
 deep was my grief that I never thought of the large sum that 
 I had lent him ; and when the memory of our little transaction 
 first flashed across me I had just finished my dinner, having 
 done business for the day. 
 
 It was then I remembered the paper he had handed to me, 
 and which, candidly, I had scarcely taken the trouble to look at. 
 
 I had put it away in my escritoire, not even in my strong 
 box, of so little consequence had it appeared to me. But with 
 my curiosity awakened to see its contents, I got up from my 
 chair and walking into the next room where the escritoire 
 leaned snugly against the wall, I pulled out one of the drawers, 
 and possessing myself of the document, opened it. 
 
 As I did so a piece of paper fluttered out and fell on the 
 floor. 
 
 Picking it up I read the following, written in the hand of my 
 ill-fated friend : — 
 
 " Dear Old Divi-Divi, 
 
 " I feel as if something is about to occur to me that will 
 put an end to our friendship for many a long day. 
 
 " Now you have always behaved very well to me. Yes, me, 
 probably the most graceless dog ever born in these islands — 
 and yet my dear D.D., I had a good mother who loved me, 
 perhaps as yours did, and who when I was a little chap, with- 
 out the knowledge of what a wicked world I had come into, 
 taught me my prayers. Yes, as I have said before, for your 
 kindness, in case anything should happen to me, I have trans- 
 ferred to you the title deeds of my house, the house wliich 
 used to belong to James Teach, don't start — it really was his 
 house, and if you have a mind to look for what there is to 
 be found in it, you may possibly be able to solve the riddle of
 
 96 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 what he did with the doubloons. Of coursw, if in tilling happens 
 to me, the bargain is off- — but none the less shall 1 be, 
 
 " Your faithful and obliged friend, 
 
 " Harry Thompson." 
 
 " P.S. — As an aid to your search I recommend you to look at 
 the piece of stuff which I have pinned to the letter. — H. T." 
 
 Attached to it by a pin was a small strip of parchment, on 
 which were some singular characters. 
 
 It was not, however, till several weeks had elapsed that I 
 installed m3\self in my new property. 
 
 It had not been inhabited for many years, and was sadly 
 dilapidated. But after I had put in the plasterers, carpenters, 
 and painters, and expended a few hundred pieces of eight*, 
 upon it, I found myself the possessor of one of the largest and 
 best built houses in the town of St. Thomas. This was before 
 the frightful fire which took place a few years afterwards, 
 when nearly the whole of the houses and stores in the Main 
 Street, were burnt down. Of course, such a place was much 
 too large for me, but tlie idea of inhal)iting so big a dwelling 
 all alone was, on the whole, pleasing to me. 
 
 Perhaps I was influenced somewhat by the thought of the 
 treasure which Harry Thompson had vaguely hinted was hidden 
 within its walls. And I did notice that every now and again 
 thoughts of it would intrude themselv^es upon me. This was at 
 night, when I looked over the transactions I had made during 
 the day. For with the acquisition of the house I liad removed 
 my office into the lower storey, where I found my business 
 much improved, owing, no doubt, to its greater air of respect- 
 ability. It was one evening in October, when I first made a 
 careful examination of the strip of parchment to which I have 
 already alluded. There was nothing very m3\stifying about 
 it; a few zig-zags around the edge, a figure like a coffin in 
 the right-hand corner, and some Arabic characters in tlie centre 
 of an outline drawing of a house, very like the one in which 
 I lived. 
 
 I had studied Arabic, and witli ]ittl(^ difficulty made out their 
 meaning. This, however, was uiiini])i)i-lant, and mcivly pointed 
 
 * A piece of eight was worth about 64 ceuts.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 97 
 
 out that there existed a secret place in which James Teach's 
 doubloons were securely stowed away. As I was already aware 
 of this, I did not pay much attention to it, conceiving that, for 
 some wise purpose best known to James Teach himself, he, for 
 aufrht I know, miHit have mt someone who knew Arabic to 
 put those characters there merely as a blind to prevent anyone 
 finding the money. 
 
 For a long time I pored over the strip of parchment, now and 
 again approaching it to the lamp, which burnt brightly near 
 to me, to see if its heat would not bring out other characters. 
 But all in vain ; not even the application of an acid affected it. 
 So I gave it up in despair, throwing myself, somewhat fatigued, 
 into my armchair, and trying to bring all my most serious 
 attention to bear upon the paper before me. 
 
 It is possible that I may have remained reclining for some 
 minutes, revolving every story I had read over and over again 
 concerning the discovery of lost treasure. 
 
 At that moment there came a knock at the outer door. 
 I looked at the clock. It was nearly midnight. Who could 
 want me at that hour, I thought, as I took up the lamp from 
 the table and prepared to answer the summons in person, my 
 old housekeeper having gone to bed some time before. 
 
 But scarcely had I made a movement to do so, when the door 
 leading to my office opened, and an African, nearly six feet high, 
 and black as ebony, entered, closing it softly behind him. For 
 a moment, I stood aghast. Whence had come this man, and at 
 such an hour ? And for what purpose ? I am not naturally 
 devoid of courage, but certainly the aspect of the fellow, who 
 was armed with a heavy club, was so forbidding, that I felt 
 my heart fail me — and, mind you, for the first and last time in 
 my life before a negro. 
 
 There could be but one motive, I thought— Robbery ! But how 
 in Heaven's name had he got in ? I had fastened up the house 
 securely myself. Anyway, the cruel fact w^as there before me, 
 in its most menacing aspect. It was well known that I had 
 large sums in my possession, and no doubt the negro had been 
 deputed by someone to rob and murder me. 
 
 Such were my impressions, as my visitor advanced a step or 
 two nearer to me, all the time so gently and stealthily, you 
 could not hear his footsteps. I fell back in my chair, overcome 
 with such a fear as I had never felt before in my life. 
 
 Sol 12. G
 
 98 AX ISLAND or THE SEA. 
 
 Then it was ho said, in the African tono-uo I know so well, 
 and upon the accjuisition of which I somewhat prided myself — 
 
 " Be seated ; I am not liere to do you harm, but rather to 
 explain to you the riddle which lies unsolved before you. Now, 
 sir, if you can so far condescend as to listen to the words of 
 your very humble servant — slave I have never been," here he 
 drew liiiiist'll' up pi'oudly, " no, not even when your cruol 
 countrymen dra^tj^ed me from ni}' home in Africa — I Mill point 
 out to you the use of that slip of parchment." 
 
 I rubbed my eyes; the tones of his voice sounded so far off and 
 ghostly. Just then, the bell at the old clock tower tolled twelve, 
 and had I been a shade more superstitious I might have thought 
 that the flame of my lamp burned blue, and that the African 
 was none other than Old Nick, in a duskier disguise than usual. 
 
 But he behaved very methodically for a gliost, and taking a 
 seat opposite to me, with the table between us, he took hold of 
 the slip of parchment. " There," said he, and he doubled the 
 paper in a peculiar manner, " if you look at this, you will 
 perceive the way in which James Teach built a j^ortion of his 
 house so that he might have a hiding place that no one might 
 suspect. You see, he could not very well have used a cellar for 
 the awful purpose for which he retjuired it. 
 
 " This house is too close to the sea, and only a few feet down 
 he would have found water. So he conceived the bright idea 
 of building a place between two chambers, its flooring forming 
 the roof of one, and its roof the flooring of the other. How to 
 hide it was his masterpiece. This he accomplished by cariying 
 along his staircase from one visible floor to anotlior without 
 taking into account the hidden portion of his dwelling. The 
 entrance to it is not far from where you are seated. ]\[aybe 
 you would like to see it, but I warn you it is full (jf horrora ; 
 for when James Teach came to his untimely end, lie left over 
 a dozen of us, bound hand and foot and gagged, lying on the 
 floor to die." 
 
 " To die 1 " I exclaimed. " But 3'ou are alive." 
 
 "Perhaps so," said n)y visitor, bittci'ly. "But it is only for 
 the moment. I have a missi(^n to fulfil. When that is done, 
 I shall go back to the place that I come from," 
 
 1 looked at him in mnazement. 
 
 "I do not think ^-ou can conceive a more awful fate than 
 ours," he continued. " We had already gone through weeks of
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 99 
 
 torture and indescribable suffering in the ships Mdiich bore us 
 to St. Thomas, but this was nothing to being left bound and 
 helpless, without food or drink, in utter darkness, and not a 
 soul to help us — -for it was night when we were brought to 
 this house. You can conceive our terror when we found no 
 one came to our assistance, and what we must have felt as 
 the hours dragged wearily along, we being bound hand and 
 foot and gagged, and left miserably to perish. Oh ! the selfish- 
 ness of the villain who brought us here, taking his own life, 
 without a thought of us poor wretches dying by inches up 
 above." 
 
 I shuddered as I mentally reviewed the picture he had 
 painted. 
 
 " Well, white man, some days must have passed, for by-and- 
 bye the moans of my unfortunate comrades grew less. My 
 wife and child were among them. The child had long since 
 died, she told me, ere she, too, left us. Then I grew frantic and 
 I struggled — aye, struggled until I broke the bonds which held 
 my hands. At last I was free ; but of what avail ? I was in 
 a room, ill-ventilated, surrounded by thick impervious walls, 
 muffled so as to hide the loudest cry. I was almost as 
 securely bound and gagged as before. 
 
 " Added to my misery, my companions who were yet alive 
 besought me to end their sufferings. Mad with rage and 
 despair, I seized the club which lay near by, and beat out 
 their brains, ending my own miserable existence with a knife 
 I found lying on the floor not far from where they died." 
 
 I was horror-struck. If this man or ghost's story were 
 true, James Teach was one of the wickedest men that had 
 ever existed. His gold could bring nought but misfortune. 
 Again the negro, or his ghost, seemed to read what was passing 
 in my mind. 
 
 " Nay, not so. The gold you seek has not sinned, though for 
 its sake much sin has been committed. If it could harm you in 
 itself, every piece that passes through your hands, and those of 
 every man and woman living, would cause you harm ; for every 
 one of them is stained with more or less crime or virtue. As it 
 is used, so will it cause good or evil. But I have said, I have a 
 mission, and that is to take you to where we met our fearful 
 end. There you will find our bones, as well as the iron cliests 
 in which James Teach placed his ill-earned doubloons. Gather up 
 
 G 2
 
 100 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 the relics of our poor mortality ; bury them ; and, if you can, say 
 a prayer for us, as well as for the wilfully miso-uidcd wretch who 
 made us sutler so. This done, you will l)e honestly entitled to all 
 that you ean find, and for this one good act to even the bones of 
 a poor African you will deserve it, and no harm will come to you 
 if you use this enormous sinn of money charitably and well." 
 Sajnng which, he rose, and walking to a round pillar which 
 formed a support to an archway let into the wall, he touched 
 a small projecting piece of iron, a portion of the pillar turned 
 round, a staircase revealed itself, and motioning me to follow, 
 I took up the lamp and did so. When I reached the top, my 
 guid(_' hail vanished, and I stood alone, passing into a long, dark 
 room. 
 
 There, just as the ghost of the African had told me, lay over a 
 dozen human skeletons on their sides, not far from one another, 
 crouching with their knees almost touching their chins. It was 
 a gruesome spectacle, and for an instant my heart quaked 
 within nic, especially as close to me what nmst have been 
 once the bony tenement of the African was lying stretched on 
 the floor, the club not far from its fleshless lingers. And as he 
 had said, there were the iron chests, four in number, chained 
 strongly to the floor. My brain was in a whirl. There beyond 
 a doubt were the doubloons of James Teach. I had but to open 
 these chests to tind them. But at that moment I was unequal 
 to the task. I was alone, and, surrounded as I was b}' moulder- 
 ing skeletons, and in a musty atmosphere, I felt sick and faint. 
 The very air seemed alive with the spirits of the dead, muttering 
 their sad plaints to me. How I got down from that chamber of 
 horrors I can scarcely remember. I know I felt inexpressibly 
 relieved to And myself next morning in bed, after a good sound 
 sleep, alive, and in my senses. 
 
 Then the whole of what I have related came back to nie, just 
 like a fearful dream, which then I thought it was; but when on 
 rising and examining the pillar and pressing on the small iron 
 projection I found it turn, revealing the door of entrance and 
 the flight of stairs leading to the room, I had to acknowledge to 
 myself, if it were so, it was mie of the most cxtraordinaiy that 
 had been vcnichsafed to mortal man. 
 
 It took me some days to rciiune the skeletons, which I did 
 f^ecretly, placing tlieni in boxes and bur\Miig them at night. 
 Needless to add, wlieii I had successfully acconq>lished this, and
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 101 
 
 prayed as I had never done before over tlieni, I turned my atten- 
 tion to the four iron chests, which I found no difficulty in 
 opening, as one of them contained a key which fitted each of 
 them. 
 
 I shall not tell the amount of gold they contained, besides 
 some lovely jewels, which I afterwards exchanged for the 
 diamonds which my grand-daughter wears to-day. The <rold 
 was chiefly in doubloons and Spanish Joes, carefully rolled up 
 in paper. 
 
 All these I carefully removed to my own strong-room below, 
 and I can assure you they made a goodly appearance stacked 
 upon its shelves, causing me many an anxious moment when I 
 thought what the Government would do if they knew that I 
 had got hold of James Teach's mone^^ 
 
 But my secret was safe, and as I did not care to live any 
 longer in St. Thomas, having met my darling Rachel when on a 
 trip to Santa Cruz, I concluded to remove thither with my 
 wealth, become a proprietor, and a useful member of the com- 
 munity. All this I did after my marriage, and with the help of 
 my wife, who has been my constant companion through the 
 cares attendant on such a stewardship, I think I may say with a 
 clear conscience that I have given a good account of James 
 Teach's doubloons. 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIV7?!R5?TTY OP CALTPaRNIA 
 SANTA BARBARA
 
 "AN OLD COLOXTAL GOVERNOR." 
 
 CFI AFTER I. 
 
 About 200 years ago, wlien Jorgen Iwerscn ruled the island (jf 
 St. Thomas, Danish West Indies, with an iron hand, as befitted 
 the first and one of the best Governors that it ever possessed, 
 there resided among its scanty i)Opulation of a few liundred 
 sonls, a man named Jan Weg. 
 
 He was one of the early colonists, and at the time our story 
 opens, was owner of a large tobacco plantation and several 
 houses on the one street, which at that tiuie ran along the 
 bay shore ; he was also reputed to have saved a good many 
 Spanish doubloons, acquired, so some of his envious neighbours 
 asserted, by other ways than planting tobacco. 
 
 Before His Excellency, Jorgen Iwersen, arrived to take over 
 his post as the superior authority in the island, J.-m Weg 
 occupied the fiist place in that little colony. This was partly 
 due to his wealth, as compared to that of his fellow colonists, 
 and his natural capacity to rule. 
 
 True, on more than one occasion, he had been referred to 
 by the Home Government, when the ishuiders could scarcely 
 be said to have had a head, so that may have had something 
 to do with his assumption of the position. It had even 
 been said tJiat he looked forward to his appcnntment as 
 Governor. 
 
 Be that as it may, it was a sore disappointment to him 
 when he heard of Jorgen Iwersen's promotion to the office, 
 and it was a bitter day in his household Avhon it first came 
 to his ears; for Jan Weg was one of those men who, for every 
 slight inflicted upon them out of doors, always wreak a liall" an 
 hour's misery u])on their defenceless wives and childnn when 
 they get home, even v/hen they love them most dearl}'.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 103 
 
 And Jan Weg was the lucky possessor of as good a wife 
 and daughter as any man in that community. It must also 
 be said in justice to him that they were first and foremost 
 in his affection, and if he aspired to power and place it was 
 that they should share it with him. ]\Ii-s. Weg had toiled 
 early and late in helping him build up his present position, 
 and their daughter, when she became old enough, had been 
 a worthy helper. And women had to work in those days ; 
 talk of your Jin de siecle women, as compared to our great 
 great grandmothers, it is enough to make one's sides split 
 with laughter to think of it. 
 
 They had to bake and brew, to wa'^h and spin, to cook 
 and sew, to keep accounts, to look after the slaves — botli 
 old and young, to make the pickles, darn and mend, to nurse 
 their husbands and brothers when sick with the deadly fever, 
 that only tno often seized them on their first arrival at the 
 colony, or when wounded by the Spanish buccaneers, to dress 
 their wounds, and care for them. There were no doctors 
 then, and thus it was that to them was given the task of 
 learning the properties of the simples which grew around 
 them, and of making and administering medicines to the 
 sick. 
 
 And who is to estimate all that they passed through and 
 silentl}'- suffered in the early days of these colonies, when so 
 much had to be done to make their homes comfortable and 
 life possible in the midst of that which was only too often 
 hardship and privation ? No one! Surely, not Jan Weg, who, 
 a hard worker himself, let no one idle under his roof. Not 
 even the dogs were suffered to pass their days in idleness. 
 He actually trained a team to draw in and out of town the 
 daily provisions for the plantation on which they lived; 
 small blame to liim for that, for are they not the greatest 
 idlers in creation ? 
 
 Thus it was that every soul under the roof which sheltered 
 him and his family, worked from morning till night ; each 
 one adding by his labour to the goodly store which increased 
 day by day around them. 
 
 It was a substantial dwelling that he lived in. Built on 
 a hill ; of solid masonry below and hard wood planks and 
 mahogany rafters above ; mahogany was plentiful in those 
 days, and as it resisted the attack of the wood worm, it was
 
 104 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 frequently used for the purpose Ly those who could afford 
 the time and labour to cut it. 
 
 A solid door studded with iron nails guarded the entrance. 
 The lower story was occupied by a sitting room, and what 
 would now be termed a pantry ; smaller rooms were used 
 as store and woriv rooms, and the upst.-iirs as bed rooms. 
 
 The furniture was ])lain, liome made but comfortable, moro 
 so, perhaps, than that of other colonists. An old fashioned 
 clock, such as one may meet now and again in a Danisli 
 farndiouse, stood in one corner, a huge bible lay upon a 
 shelf, a few old poitraits hung upon the wall — his ancestors, so 
 said Jan Wes; — a half a dozen muskets were in one corner, 
 and crossed in another were two broad-bladed swords, which 
 rumour credited him with having used with deadly eti'ect uiion 
 more than one buccaneer, when they made a foray upon the 
 island in the days before he had gone hand in glove with them. 
 
 Tobacco and indigo were the produce of his plantation — 
 tobacco principally, and of excellent quality. How it ha.s 
 died out in the island is a puzzle to those who read of the 
 quantities they grew in those days. 
 
 Jan Weg himself was a sturdy Dane of fifty years of age. 
 His wife had once been beautiful, but toil had somewhat 
 marred her features, which, though seldom lightened by a 
 smile, were comely still. 
 
 Their daughter Lisa was very fair to look upon. She was 
 their only child, their darling. Stern and unbending to most 
 men and women, Jan Weg was as plastic clay in the hands 
 of his chilli. Did he frown, her lively sallies chased the frown 
 away ; were he wrathful, her pleading look soon made him 
 peaceful ; no matter what his mood wei e, she could change 
 it as the harper does his melody, by a touch, the music of 
 her vT)ice, the magic of her smile. 
 
 And now Jorgen Iwersen had arrived from Copenhagen, and, 
 as befitted the occasion, had been received with what ceremony 
 the island could afibrd. Jan Weg had been tlic Jirst to greet 
 him ; and those who saw them side by side could not help 
 noticing how like in many ways they were to each other. 
 
 But while both men were grave and dignified as becjimc their 
 yeai's and experience, to Jorgen Iwersen belonged that air of 
 conscious superiority that comes only to those wlio are to tho 
 manner born.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 105 
 
 Jan Weir seemed ill at ease. He had never ba'^ked in the 
 sunshine of Court favour, and the many years he had led of toil 
 and adventure in the colony made him feel instinctively that 
 he was ill-fitted to cope with one, who with just as much 
 experience gained in other climes, was a master of the arts of 
 polity and government, such as they were then in Denmark. 
 And this the little band of colonists soon found out a few days 
 after his arrival. 
 
 Religious almost to fanaticism, arbitrary to a degree, edicts 
 were soon promulgated, which while they excited much com- 
 ment, were speedily obeyed. There was no shirking church 
 under his rule, for every person who spoke Danish, and every 
 one who did not, were bound to attend service every Sunday in 
 Christiansfort when the drum beat, under a penalty of twenty- 
 five pounds of tobacco. No longer was it permitted to a 
 planter or a householder to keep his servants at work on 
 Sunday. It bad to be done on Saturday, under a fine of fifty 
 pounds of tobacco. Every man had to hold himself in readiness 
 to defend his owner or the colony at the first alarm given by a 
 neighbour, or at the fort. Nor could any one leave the colony 
 without His Excellency's perQ)ission. Women were especially 
 prohibited under very heavy penalties. White servants were 
 not allowed to sell or barter, and innumerable lines were levied 
 upon those who purchased from them or harboured them if they 
 ran away from their employer. The few negroes that had been 
 already imported into the colony fared far worse, and were often 
 cruelly punished for the slightest offence. 
 
 Withal, Jorgen Iwersen was just, just to a degree, if he 
 ruled with an iron hand ; if he sometimes exercised his authority 
 almost to the verge of oppression, he took good care no one else 
 should do so. 
 
 Armed with full powers from His Majesty the King, he used 
 them well, and to those who conformed to the laws he issued 
 he showed favour, and at times could so unbend as to be a right 
 pleasant companion, full of information and knowledge of the 
 great world he had lived in, and of which so few of the colonists 
 had ever heard, much less seen. Christiansfort was now under 
 a fair way to be completed. Here Governor Iwersen resided, 
 here was kept the Lutheran Church, then as now the State 
 Church, and it was here mainly that the events I am about to 
 relate took place. .
 
 106 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 From the very first period of tlieir meeting there Avas no love 
 lost between His Excellency Jorgen Ivversen and Jan Weg. 
 J^oth felt iiistiiictively that one of two such men as themselves 
 was one too many in the island. 
 
 Jan Weg had been so accustomed to have his own way in 
 all that he ever undertook, that when he found himself thwarted 
 in more than one instance by the application with unbending 
 severity of one of Governor Iwersen's edicts, he fumed and 
 stormed at home in such a manner that not even the intluence 
 of his daughter could appease him. 
 
 i\Irs. Weg woidd sit spinning in tlie corni'V of the large 
 sitting-room listening to his angry tones. She never thought 
 of saying anything. She was a prudent v/oman, and knew 
 that such angry moments as these, like her kitchen fire, 
 would soon go out if fuel were wanting. Still it was with no 
 small concern that she watched tiie breach become M'idcr and 
 wider between Jan and the Governor. She loved her husband 
 dearly, and felt instinctively that not all his wealth nor in- 
 fluence would avail him should he ever come in open conflict 
 with the superior authority. No one in these days can conceive 
 the power that such a man as Jorgen Iwersen wielded. It was 
 a power of life and death. His Excellency Avas responsible to 
 no one but his King, and, let us add, his conscience, which un- 
 doubtedly was his chief ))oint of excellence. To do right was 
 his motto, and lie acted up to it with a force of character 
 which is so admirable in any man, but when coupled with 
 tlie stern integrity of the hardy Norseman almost verges on 
 the sublime. 
 
 But Mrs. Weg, for all this, never interfered. She never 
 broaclied the subject. She thoroughly resj)ected her husl)and, 
 and shared his feelings to the utmost. His ideas were her ideas 
 when it came to the test. And she would liave- w illiiigly died 
 with him for thein, wrong or not, so mucli was slie identified 
 with him as the companion of his life. She was none the less 
 happy, though, when she found out the power which Lisa had 
 over him, and still happier when she brought back the good 
 humour to that honest, rugged i'ace, peace to that really noblo 
 lieart that had loved her so faithfully and well.
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 107 
 
 Unfortunately Jan Weg's ideas on the subject of property, 
 whether in white or Hack men, land or animals, differed widely 
 from those of Governor Iwersen. 
 
 Jan Weg held that what was his, what he had worked for, 
 what he had seen grow up after he had planted it, was indis- 
 putably under his control, and that he had a perfect right to 
 do with it as he pleased. While he cheerfully observed the 
 Lord's Day before the advent of the Governor, he had never 
 been so straitlaced as to deprive himself of a good dinner 
 for want of a cook to prepare it. Thus it was when he found 
 himself without his hot steaming joint on a Sunday, because no 
 one dare light a fire to heat it, his rage was almost ungovern- 
 able, and he repeatedly defied the law which compelled him to 
 such obedience. 
 
 Governor Iwersen never failed to fine him when he could 
 prove that he had done so, and when on one occasion he went 
 so far as to assist a friend of his away from the island without 
 first obtaining permission, he summoned Jan Weg before him, 
 and after roundly rating him, put such a heavy fine in tobacco 
 upon him that he departed almost speechless with rage and 
 mortification, and had it not been for the two stoat halberdiers 
 present with their weapons, it is more than likely he would 
 have slain the Governor on the spot. 
 
 From that day a change came over him. From being open, 
 frank and above board in his dealings, he became crafty and 
 cunning, and used every means by which he could thwart the 
 aims of his Excellency Jorgen Iwersen. He knew from his 
 inmost heart that the Governor was working for the good of the 
 colony, that martinet as he was in some points, he was an 
 honourable man, quite as honourable as himself, but his im- 
 perious disposition could not brook a superior, and as the island 
 had not got along so badly under his own management, he 
 fancied that these innovations were superfluous. He forgot how 
 necessary it was for discipline and obedience among so few, 
 exposed as they were to the inroads of the buccaneers, towards 
 whom the sturdy Governor had shown an implacable front, 
 hanging, drawing and quartering everyone that fell into his 
 hands, whether bent on peace or war. And here was a great 
 difference between himself and Jan Weg. 
 
 The hitter when he ruled had temporized, and on more than 
 one occasion when he should have chastised them for making
 
 108 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 off with some of his neifrliboiirs' stock, had let them jjo when 
 eauo;]it with the payment of a small fine. 
 
 Rumour had it that he supplied them largely with cattle and 
 food, and that at certain periods of the year his plantation was 
 a rendezvous for them, and as from the hills close to liis 
 dwelling they could see passing ships with ease, they used it as 
 a vantage ground whence to swoop down upon them when night 
 set in. 
 
 Maybe this had reached the ears of J6rgen Iwersen, hence the 
 coolness with which he regarded Jan Weg shortly after his 
 arrival, and now that his Excellency had found occasion more 
 than once to punish him for violating some of his recently 
 issued edicts, the feud had grown so bitter that those who knew 
 them best dreaded some day an outbreak such as never had 
 been in the island of St. Thomas. 
 
 The Governor himself would have wished it otherwise, for he 
 saw in Jan Weg a strong soul, who iMight have been of greater 
 use to him in friendship than in hatred ; but having once set 
 his hand to the plough, his was not the one to draw it back 
 again. So he redoubled his vigilance, established i)atrols along 
 the country roads, watched carefully the incoming of strange 
 vessels, their passing and repassing, and that so strictly, that 
 it seemed next to impossible for any buccaneer to set foot upon 
 the island. 
 
 For all his watchfulness they did contrive to elude him. 
 Guided by Jan Weg through pathways only known to himself, 
 from little bays around the coast that scarce any of his fellow 
 colonists dreamt of, they held their meetings, bought his cattle 
 and dealt with him just as if no such man as Governor Jorgen 
 Iwersen had ever existed. 
 
 Now all this was innocent enough, until the captain of these 
 lawless freebooters conceived the design of sackincr the town 
 and murdering all its inhal)itants with the connivance of Jan 
 Weg. He had already sounded him on the subject, when in 
 one of his darkest moods against the Governor,, and receiving 
 no reply, had almost persuaded himself that he consented. 
 Finding liim as he thought a willing listener, one evening he 
 fully unfolded his plut, expecting liim then and there to enter 
 into it. 
 
 Then it was the scales were lifted from the eyes of Jan Weg. 
 He saw immediately the false position in which he stood
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 109 
 
 towards these unscrupulous men, and what a frightful mistake 
 he had committed by harbouring them. To hasten to Jorgen 
 Iwersen and put him on his guard were his first thoughts, to 
 alarm his fellow colonists the second. 
 
 Had the buccaneer only known the man he had to deal with, 
 it is quite possible that he would never have unfolded his 
 projects to him so openly, and had he dreamt for one moment 
 of the intentions then flashino; through his brains, with one 
 swift stroke of his hanger he might have put him out of 
 existence. 
 
 But Jan Weg was cautious. Recent events had made him so. 
 Besides, these men had entirely misunderstood his quarrel with 
 the Governor. If he passionately desired to revenge himself for 
 the many slights he had suffered, he ha,d not the least wish to 
 bring destruction upon the colony. He was loyal to the back- 
 bone, and much as he hated the superior authority, would have 
 been the first to lend a hand to repel a common invader. 
 
 So he courteously refused the robber captain, and bidding him 
 good night, turned upon his heel towards his house. But he 
 was not to escape so easily. The buccaneer had let him into 
 a secret, a secret which once in the possession of any other 
 would let loose the whole colony upon him before he could 
 escape to his boats. 
 
 Where they stood just then was a wild and thickly-wooded 
 portion of the country, not easy to traverse, and the way out of 
 which he only knew imperfectly. What if Jan Weg were to 
 betray them ? To let him go thus were madness ; so, making a 
 sign to some of his men, who stood not far away from them, 
 they precipitated themselves upon the colonists, and before he 
 had a chance to defend himself had securely bound and gagged 
 him. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 There was grief and dismay in Jan Weg's household at his 
 non-appearance that evening. Mrs. Weg alone was aware of 
 his having gone to meet the buccaneers, but never before had 
 he remained out so late from home. In all things he was the 
 most methodical of men, and insisting upon every one else under 
 his roof tree keeping early hours, he always set the example.
 
 110 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 The Fort gun* had long since fired, and it was already vero- 
 in*^ upon 10 o'clock before Mrs. Weg sent out messengers in 
 search of him. She "svas well acquainted with the place of 
 rendezvous, so there was no difficulty, if lie were still there, of 
 their encountering him. 
 
 Her anxiety, as well as that of Lisa, may easily be con- 
 ceived, when they retunu'd, declaring that he could not be 
 found. One of them, however, had picked up a button, to 
 wliich was attached a piece of cloth. This she recognised as 
 having belonged to her husband's jacket. And when they told 
 lier that they had followed the footsteps of the buccaneers 
 down to the sea-shore without finding any traces of him, her 
 distress was redoubled. It was then that Lisa proposed to go 
 to Jorgen Iwersen. In her heart of hearts she strongly sus- 
 pected foul play, and that His Excellency was at the bottom of it. 
 
 Her mother thought differently. Her feelings toward the 
 Governor were, that in such a crisis as this, he was the only 
 one to help them. At the same time, she could not divert her 
 mind of the idea that her husband had been spirited away by 
 the buccaneers, either to hold until i-ansom were offered for 
 him, as they had done before with other rich men of other 
 islands, or that he had in some way or other become possessed 
 of one of their secrets, and, fearing its betrayal, they had made 
 a.w'Sby with him. 
 
 In either case, she was of opinion that nothing could be done 
 before morning. Then they would institute another search, 
 and if they did not find him, they would seek the aid of the 
 Governor. 
 
 She scouted anything like the idea of J6rgen Iwersen's 
 behavino- treacherously towards her husband. On more than 
 one occasion she had met him, and with true feminine intuition 
 she saw that he was far more inclined to be friendly than un- 
 kindly towards them. She bitterly regretted tliat she had not 
 tried to bring about a reconciliation, for now she plainly saw 
 that if her husband had really fallen into the hands of the 
 buccaneers, he required such helj> as oidy that which a strong 
 hand like Jorgen Iwersen's could extend to liim. 
 
 So, dismissing her servants, she retired to rest with lier 
 daurditer, Init worried to a degi-ee. They both loved him so 
 
 * To this day a gun iit fired at 5 a.m. and 8 p.m., from the i'ort.
 
 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. HI 
 
 that they Imagined all things had befallen him. "With all his 
 faults, he had been a strong and helpful protector to both of 
 them. Hard and exacting in some respects, but full of love 
 and tenderness when the tit was over. Lisa wept freely as she 
 pictured him, perhaps bound and shackled, in the midst of the 
 savage buccaneers. She had heard awful stories about them. 
 How cruelly they treated their captives, sometimes hangin"- 
 them feet downwards over a slow fire, or applying thumbscrews 
 to make them disclose where they had hidden their money : for 
 in those days, as there were no banks, men and women buried 
 their savings for fear of thieves, who, like the buccaneers, 
 would not have scrupled to take them, could the}^ have laid 
 their hands upon them. And then when she had exhausted all 
 that her imagination could conjure up of such pictures, she 
 turned to console her mother. 
 
 She, poor thing, was sleeping a calm and sweet sleep, 
 such as those without the slightest trouble or care en- 
 joy. Lisa was astounded ; had it been her husband, she 
 never could have closed her e3^es. She forgot how on one 
 occasion in the early days of the colony her father's life had 
 been in greater peril, and yet he came out scathless. Who 
 knows if her mother did not anticipate the same good fortune 
 for him once again, and with this hope had trustfully fallen 
 asleep. 
 
 And so reassuring was the sight of her mother's calmness, 
 that she, too, by-and-bye lay down beside her, and, like her, soon 
 was in the land of dreams. 
 
 Mrs. Weg was up betimes, and, not caring to disturb her 
 daughter, who still slept, accompanied by two of the overseers 
 and a maid-servant, slie proceeded to the spot where she knew 
 her husband was accustomed to meet the buccaneers. It was 
 a lovely morning. The wind blew steadily from the east, 
 making the air delightfully fresh and cool. As yet the sun 
 was only just peeping over the tops of the mountains, but the 
 sky was sufficientl}^ clear for them easily to see their way. A 
 little rain had fallen during the night, just sufiiciently to 
 freshen up the landscape. But Mrs. Weg had no eye for the 
 beautiful scenery which greeted them at every turn they took. 
 Her thoughts were with her husband, and when, after a long 
 and persistent search for him, extending down to the shores of 
 the bay whence they were accustomed to embark, without
 
 112 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 findinf any traces of him, she retui'iicd home more sorrowful 
 than she had ever been since her marriage. 
 
 Her heart was heavy with its disai)j)ointinent, and when slic 
 £rot back acrain and told how fruitless had been her errand, she 
 burst into a Hood of tears. In this she was joined by Lisa, and 
 not a few of the household. When this outburst of grief was 
 over, they decided to proceed at once to the Governor. Such 
 an occurrence could not remain a secret very long, and it was 
 policy, if nothing else, to be the first to accjuaint His Excellency. 
 
 So, hastily swallowing their morning meal, they set out on 
 foot for town, the roads being good and the distance not so very 
 great. 
 
 Half an hour's walking brought them to it, or what the colo- 
 nists were pleased to style such at that time. 
 
 A row of houses to the right of them, with patches of bananas 
 and other fruits extending down to the sea shore, occupied the 
 place where large warehouses are built to-day. At the end of 
 the street was the Fort, then, as now, coloured red, and flying 
 the Dannebrog from the tower.* Commanding the harbour and 
 the town with heavy guns, visible from the i-amparts, it looked 
 formidable enough to Liza and her mother as they approached 
 it. Scarcely any houses had been built upon the hills, perhaps 
 from the fact that one Carl Baggert, who had begun to con- 
 struct one, being ordered to remove it as it commanded the Fort. 
 
 Giving their names to the stout halberdier who guarded the 
 entrance, and stating their desire to see the Governor, they 
 were speedily ushered into his presence. 
 
 At that tinu! the interior of one of the bastions had been 
 fitted up for his use. The tower was not yet quite finished, or 
 it was his intention to have occupied it in preference. He was 
 an early riser, and nothing pleased him better than to get on 
 top of it, unfinished as it was, to sweep the horizon with his 
 spj-glass, a new-fangled invention he had brought out with him 
 from Denmark, and which had aroused no end of comment 
 among his retainers, who were as much surprised as they were 
 alarmed at its peculiar properties of luiiiging distant people 
 close to them. 
 
 His Excellency had finished breakfast, and was in excellent 
 humour. His iie])ht;w, a gallant seaman and captain of the 
 
 ♦ This tower was pulled down bomc ycart ago.
 
 AX ISLAND OV THE SIJA. 113 
 
 one Danish armed vessel which then lay in the harbour, was 
 stand in Of near to him. 
 
 The Governor raised his eyebrows when the two ladies 
 entered. He remembered Mrs. Weg and her daughter, who 
 as a rare picture of loveliness no one really could forget, much 
 less a connoisseur of beauty as His Excellency was known 
 to be. Politely rising, he bowed. Curtseying to the ground, 
 Mrs. Weg asked if she could have the privilege of a few 
 moments' conversation with His Excellency. Motioning them 
 to be seated, and bidding his nephew to remain with him, 
 he graciously signified his assent. 
 
 Then Mrs. Weg told her story. How her husband had left 
 her for an evening stroll, and liuw for once in his life he had 
 not come home at his usual hour, and finally not at all. And 
 then with fear and trembling, knowing that to conceal anything, 
 even though it told ajjainst one so loved as her husband, would 
 imperil any chances she might have of obtaining assistance from 
 the Governor, she told him of her fears and suspicions, whilst 
 stoutly maintaining her faith in her husband's honour and inte- 
 grity. She felt sure, she said, that her husband had been carried 
 away because of his opposition to their vile plots and plans, he 
 had never gone with them willingly, she would swear to it. 
 
 Governor Iwersen's face during this recital was a study. At 
 times he frowned, at others he had difficulty to restrain him- 
 self from betraying emotion at the sight of Mrs. Weg's genuine 
 sorrow and her intense devotion to her husband. He scarcely 
 looked at Lisa, who up to now had never spoken a word. 
 The fact is, once or twice she found the gaze of the Governor's 
 nephew fixed so ardently upon her that, colouring deepl}^, she 
 held her eyes fixed to the ground for fear of meeting them. 
 None the less did her heart beat quickly as she looked at 
 him furtively from beneath her long eyelashes. She had 
 never seen so handsome a man before, and, tricked out as 
 he was in all the finery of a King's officer of that time, he 
 was such a picture of a man as she had only seen in dreams. 
 
 At that moment, as if in confirmation of all that Mrs. Weg 
 had said, the Governor's servant brought in a letter. Opening- 
 it, His Excellency read : — 
 
 " To JoRGEN IwERSEN. Greeting. 
 
 "Failing to get your head man, Jan Weg, to join us in 
 sacking your Colony and hanging you at your own Ibrt gate, 
 s 31:2. H
 
 114 A\ ISLAND (W T!1E SEA. 
 
 ^ve licivo (letormincd to liano- him, unless a ransom of 500,000 
 
 pieces of eight be not dispatched to us in exchange for him 
 
 by to-uiorrow's sunset. 
 
 "John Morgan, Buccaneer." 
 
 The Governor Iwid been so taken by surprise at this super- 
 scription that he had unconsciously read aloud the contents 
 of this precious epistle, and he had scarcely done so when, 
 with a heart-rending scream, Mrs. Weg had fainted. 
 
 Fortunately, Lisa bore it with more equanimity. It was 
 nothing more than what she had expected, so she flew quickly 
 to her mother's aid, and after a minutes application of restora- 
 tives had the happiness of seeing her come to herself again. 
 In this she was aided by the nephew, much to the Governor's 
 amusement, who, knowing him for one of the most difhdent 
 of men where women were concerned, had never seen him so 
 assiduous before. 
 
 And would the reader believe it ! This Old Colonial Go- 
 vernor was actually happy, rubbing his hands with joy, while 
 those two poor women were shedding tears at the prospect of 
 losing one so dear to them ; yes, rubbing liis hands for joy 
 at the thought of the trouble Jan Weg was in, and how he, 
 Jorgen Iwersen, the man he had so abused and hated, was 
 going to be revenged on him. 
 
 "Ha! ha! Ludvig," he exclaimed, "get the ship ready at 
 once, and be sure to take enough powder and shot to ransom 
 our good fiiend Jan Weg from the hands of those rascally 
 scoundrels who dare to liold such an honest man a prisoner. 
 Happy ! yes, I am happy as a king, to think I am going to 
 bring you back your husband, and maybe," here he chuckled 
 as he thought of his nephew, " a sweetheart for Miss Lisa. And 
 now farewell, my sweet dames, to your home, and ere to-mor- 
 row's sun sets Jan Weg will know how well a Colonial Governor 
 can love or hate. 
 
 CHArTEIl IV. 
 
 That same afternoon Ludvig Iwersen set sail for the island, 
 now known as Culebra. For some years it had l)ecn frequented 
 by a liainl of buccaneers, who finding it the haunt ol' a number 
 of wild-l'uwl and turtle had built huts ujion (^nu side oi' it and
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 115 
 
 resided there, comniitting at times unheard of depredations 
 upon passing ships and the neighbouring islands. 
 
 Hitherto no attempt had been made to dislodge them. Had 
 Jorgen Iwersen felt himself strong enough, he would have 
 attempted it long before. But, like a wise Governor, he had 
 been busy strengthening his own defences and building his 
 Fort, so as to be prepared at any moment against them. 
 
 But the arrival of his nephew in command of a fine ship 
 of war, and the abduction of Jan Weg taking place almost 
 simultaneously, offered hira not only the means but the oppor- 
 tunity of wiping out this nest of depredators. Though scarcely 
 warranted in doing so, owing to his position as Governor, he 
 accompanied the expedition, feeling it was of too much import- 
 ance to let his nephew, a new hand to the Colony, bear all the 
 brunt of it. Besides, he was thoroughly conversant with the 
 ways of the buccaneers, which were not always as fair and 
 above-board as those of Denmark's sailors. 
 
 There was something: so noble in the stand the Old Governor 
 had taken towards Jan Weg, that it was with a feeling akin 
 to admiration that Ludvig watched his uncle as he stood upon 
 the high poop of his vessel. He had heard of the opposition, 
 little short of rebellion, which his uncle had encountered at the 
 hands of the chief colonist, and it was a matter of no small 
 wonder to him that he had shown himself so willing to go 
 to his aid. Then a vision of Lisa's lovely face came across 
 him, and he asked himself if that had anything to do with it. 
 And as he did so a pang of jealousy shot through him. But 
 he had never heard of his uncle falling in love with anyone 
 in Denmark for all the years of his long life ; it would be 
 passing strange if he had been caught by a girl born in the 
 Colonies. Yet, stranger things had happened, and so his 
 thoughts were beginning to run riot when his uncle called him. 
 " Ludvig " said the Governor, you are the captain of this 
 vessel, and I am for the present your very humble servant," 
 Ludvig bowed ; " but it seems to me that with the gang of 
 rascals that we are shortly to encounter it would be far better 
 to try stratagem than force, so if you will allow me I will 
 give you the result of my thoughts upon the expedition we 
 have undertaken. There are two plans we might pursue ; 
 listen to them, and choose the one yoti like best. The fiirst is 
 to land a force from one side of the island, cross over, the
 
 116 AN ISLAXD OF THE SKA. 
 
 distance is not great, and attack thcni in tlieir huts. Tlie other 
 is to disguise our vessel as a merchant ship, pass boklly in 
 front of tliem in the early morning and let them attack us; for 
 as soon as they see us they will man their boats and do so, 
 never expecting what a reception they will receive when once 
 they board us. Now, I have carefully considered botli of tlu se 
 plans. The iirst is not a bad one, but has its defects; they might, 
 as soon as we attack them, kill their prisoner, whose life, after 
 all, is what we principally w^isli to save. Then again, they will 
 be fighting on their own ground, always a disadvantage to an 
 attacking force, especially to men like yours, not used to 
 tropical bush fighting. To my mind the second plan seems 
 the best, for they will fall into a trap they least expect, and 
 if we sink their boats by dropping a few heavy shot into 
 them, and finish them off with grape as they l)oard us, we 
 shall kill or secure every one of them. 
 
 They will never think of killing their prisoner before they 
 leave, not suspecting who we are. 
 
 To this Ludvig perfectly agreed, and as this method of fight- 
 ing the buccaneers seemed most likely to be successful, steps 
 were taken at once to make H.M.S. " King Christian," as much 
 like a merchantman as possible. And so disguised, they sailed 
 till evening closed around them, and the early dawn found 
 them passing within easy distance of the buccaneers' ren- 
 dezvous. 
 
 The buccaneers were on the look out, and no sooner did they 
 see a strange sail passing, than they immediately prepared their 
 boats for action. They took no account of the size of the 
 vessel they were about to board ; a braver and more desperate 
 set of men never existed. A perfect lust for slaughter for ever 
 possessed them, and it is recorded that when business was slack 
 and there was no opportunity for appeasing it, they would 
 fight duels, a VovArance, among themselves for the booty they 
 had won in their adventuvcs. 
 
 Strangely enough, tliey had treated Jan Weg kindly during 
 his forced stay with them ; their usual custom, whenever 
 ])risoners fell into their hands, was to put them to unutterable 
 tortures, in some cases for diversion, in others to jnakc them 
 tell where they had hidden their money. .To stretch their 
 lindjs with cords, and Ix-at them to death, to place lighted 
 matches between their fingers, or to twist cords around tlieir
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. Il7 
 
 heads in such a manner that their e3'es would burst out, were 
 common practices. But in Jan VVeg's case they had behaved 
 towards him as if he were one of them. He shared their rude 
 fare, their hard pallets, and living. In every respect he was well 
 used as far as circumstances would permit. 
 
 Even the buccaneer captain had ventured upon a rude sort 
 of apology for the rough treatment they had meeted cut to 
 him at first; even letting him into the secret of a treasure they 
 had concealed on his estate, and promising him a share in it, 
 if he would only join them. 
 
 To all this Jan Weg listened in silence, and knowing the 
 character of the men with whom he had to deal, behaved 
 towards them as if no breach in their former peaceful relations 
 had occurred. 
 
 This conduct, with the prospect of a ransom for him, and 
 possibly, the memory of many former acts of kindness may have 
 had its influence ; one thing is certain, when they departed in 
 their boats to attack the seeming merchant vessel, many of 
 them shook his hand in good fellowship, and the captain left 
 him in charge of the camp. 
 
 Jan Weg watched them with straining eyes as they neared 
 the object of their desires and boarded her like so many cats. 
 
 Then a singular thing happened. The strange vessel appeared 
 suddenly alive with men, the buccaneers' boats disappeared 
 beneath the waves, discharges of grapeshot, musketry, and 
 small arms were repeated one after the other, then came 
 terrific yells on the part of the buccaneers, who appeared to be 
 fighting for their lives, then body after body was tumbled 
 overboard ; and finally, after what seemed to him a deadly 
 combat, the smoke cleared away and all on board the good 
 ship was quiet again. 
 
 Then, shortly afterwards, a boat descended from her sides, 
 and was pulled towards the shore. In it were His Excellency 
 Jorgen Iwersen and his nephew Ludvig, yet with the traces 
 of hard fighting upon them. 
 
 When Jan Weg recognised the Governor, his heart fell within 
 him. Not aware of his plans, nor of the pirates having sent 
 him a letter, he could only suppose that he had determined to 
 destroy this nest of pirates, and having done so, was coming 
 to take possession of the plunder, and himself prisoner for 
 joining tlicm. His first impulse was to fly, but Jan Weg was
 
 118 AX ISLAND OF THE SEA. 
 
 a br<ave man. Tlion the inemory of hi.s dear wife and darling 
 daughter came over him. Those thoughts almost unmanned 
 him. At any rate, this tyrant of a Governor should see that 
 to the last he defied him. 
 
 By this time Jorgen Iwersen had landed. To his intense 
 satisfaction he had seen Jan Weg on tlie seashore, and had 
 noted his first involuntary movement to leave the place where 
 he stood. 
 
 " Who have we here !" he exclaimed, as he leaped out of his 
 boat and advanced towards Jan Weg, who stood grimly re- 
 Gardiner him, with arms folded across his chest, stern and 
 implacable as ever. 
 
 " Jan Weg, at your Excellency's service," he replied. 
 
 " So ! here Ludvig," said the Governor, an ominous frown 
 appearing on his countenance. " Take this man prisoner. We 
 have had enough of his contumacy, and by the saints he shall 
 live to repent it." 
 
 " Live to repent it," thought Jan Weg, as he was quickly hurried 
 on board the ship of war, "I expected death, but he said, ' I shall 
 live to repent it.' Well, if he only knew- the actual condition 
 of my mind just now, I think he would know that my repen- 
 tance was beginning already. I expected nothing less than a 
 short, swift and speedy death. If he would only let me see my 
 Katrine and kiss my Lisa once more, I think I could almost 
 meet death with equanimity and feel better towards him, tyrant 
 and despot as he has shown himself to be on more tban one 
 occasion." 
 
 But his reflections were soon cut short by the first officer 
 informing him that the Governor had requested him to give his 
 parole that he would not try to escape, in which case he would 
 be left comparatively free until their arrival in port. 
 
 " My parole," answered Jan Weg somewhat bitterly, " whither 
 could I go, should I try to escape ? certainly not ovorljoard to 
 feed the sharks, who are yet, mcseoms, enjoying high carnival 
 among the bodies of the buccaneers you have cast overboard." 
 
 The lieutenant smiled, and having obtained from Jan Weg 
 the desired promise they became quite friendly, the officer invit- 
 ing him on the quarter-deck or high poop, which did duty as 
 such in those days. 
 
 From him Jan Weg learnt some of the details of the conflict — 
 it had been sharp and decisive. The buccaneers had attacked
 
 AN ISLAND OF THE SEA. 119 
 
 them, quite unsuspecting the nature of the sliip they were 
 boarding; all hands had remained concealed until they showed 
 themselves on the top of the bulwarks, when, in the twinkling 
 of an eye, their boats were sunk by heavy shot dropped into 
 them and their ranks decimated by a heavy fire of grape, the 
 few escaping, being speedily despatched by small arms or tumbled 
 overboard by sheer weight of numbers, as food for the sharks. 
 The trap laid for them had been so successful that they had 
 scarcely time to realize it, ranch less defend themselves, which 
 they no doubt would have done had the surprise been less com- 
 plete. The loss on the side of the King's men was comparatively 
 small ; indeed, they seemed rather disappointed that the skirmish 
 had been so easily won, by which, it would appear that a Danish 
 seaman in those days was as used to take hard knocks with 
 equanimity as he is at present. 
 
 Not long afterwards the Governor and his nephew returned 
 on board, Jan Weg was sitting somewhat disconsolately aft ; he 
 rose and saluted His Excellency as he came towards him. 
 
 " I am glad to hear, Jan Weg, " said the Governor, " that you 
 have promised not to escape from us, and, perhaps, as you may 
 be hungry you will accompany us to breakfast, and, if so inclined, 
 you may tell us how you came to join those rascals whom we 
 have sent to their long account." 
 
 Jan "Weg could scarcely believe his ears. The Governor had 
 invited him to breakfast. Could this be the tyrant he had 
 pictured in his mind for the past six months ? And when, a 
 few moments after, Ludvig informed him in the privacy of his 
 own cabin that the Governor had actually planned this expedi- 
 tion at the request of his wife and daughter, on purpose to 
 rescue him, his shame was too great for words, and big tears 
 stood in his eyes as he faltered out his gratitude to His Excel- 
 lency when they met at table, and how deeply he repented ever 
 having given him cause for trouble or anxiety. 
 
 " Tut ! tut ! man," said this noble Old Colonial Governor, 
 extending his hand to the now thoroughly conscience-stricken 
 Jan Weg, " I only did my duty. You see there were 
 other lives at stake besides your own. Your good wife — a peer- 
 less woman, your daughter — a charming girl, and, w^ell I think I 
 am not wrong in saying so, that of my nephew, who somehow 
 or the other has not been heart whole since he has seen her, 
 and whom, if the young lady be willing, I shall be proud to see
 
 120 A\ 1ST. AND OF THE SEA. 
 
 her liusb-.uul, with your consent, as soon as they can lirake up 
 their minds to it." 
 
 Ludvig blushed a rosy I'cd at the soft impeacliinent, heini:^ a 
 seaman he was bashfuh 
 
 Jan Weg swore that nothing- in this w^orld would please him 
 better, and pledging His Excellency in a cup of the strong waters 
 they manufactured in those days, vowed he \vould dower the 
 young girl with the finest plantation in the colony, not to speak 
 of a ti-easure which lay hidden on the shores of one of the 
 Itays attached to his own estate, and to which, now that the 
 buccaneers were all dead, he considered justly his. 
 
 " You forget the State," said the Governor, " though as my 
 nephew is entitled to something for the gallant part he has 
 played to-day, I think the State may surely forego its claims ; 
 so we will endow them together. Your hand upon it, Jan Weg." 
 
 A few hours' sailing soon brought them to St. Thomas, where 
 the news of their complete victory over the buccaneers was re- 
 ceived with great joy, and Mrs. Weg and Lisa were aw^aiting 
 their loved ones impatiently. Needless to say that it was a joy- 
 ous meeting and that Ludvig and Lisa soon came to an under- 
 standing, for very shortly afterwards he asked her hand of her 
 parents, and, if I am not mistaken, was married to her by Parson 
 Slagelsc in the Lutheran Church, then kept inside the Fort. 
 
 It was a joyous day in the colony. Everyone was glad to see 
 Jan Weg and His Excellency on such good terms, especially 
 Mrs. Weg, from whom a deep load of anxiety "was removed. 
 
 That they were to live peacefully ever afterwards, would have 
 been too much to wish for, as things went in those days. Let us 
 hope they had a fair share of ha})piness. If they did not, it 
 surely was not the fault of that iron-handed, good-hearted, 
 Old Colonial Goveiiun-, His Excellency Jorgen Iwersen. 
 
 Tin: I'.Nii
 
 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. OROIX. 
 
 (THE GARDEN OF THE WEST INDIES.)
 
 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 (THE GARDEN OF THE WEST INDIES.) 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE PAST. 
 About forty miles distant from the island of St. Thomas lies 
 the island of St. Croix, another Danish possession, and one 
 which has been known for many years as " The Garden of the 
 West Indies." 
 
 It is easily reached from " Our Island of the Sea " either by 
 one of the steamers of the Quebec Line, which touch fortnightly 
 at St. Thomas, or by one of the schooners which ply twice a 
 week between the two islands. A favourite is the " Vigilant," 
 a trim craft with quite a history of its own, dating as far back 
 as 100 years ago. She has been by turns a pirate, slaver, 
 and a man-of-war ; not a plank exists probably of the old 
 " Vigilant " that was built in Baltimore about the year 1800, but 
 the same beautiful lines and the same speed which made her 
 famous as a slaver yet remain, and, to this day, she retains her 
 reputation for these excellent qualities, though now engaged as 
 a Government dispatch vessel and in carrying passengers. 
 
 Before leaving St. Thomas you are obliged to buy a passport. 
 This costs 82 cents and permits you to pass freely to the 
 island of St. Croix. 
 
 This beautiful island was discovered by Columbus on his 
 second western voyage on the 14th of Nov. 1493. The 
 Caribs, its inhabitants, called it Ay Ay ; Columbus anchored 
 there to obtain water, and while his boat was returning from 
 the shore a skirmish took place with some of the natives, in
 
 6 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 which several of them were captured. These captives were 
 carried to Spain. In 1625 the Eno^li.sh and Dutch conjointly 
 took possession of the island, which, at the time, was uninhabited. 
 In 1649 the Dutch were compelled to leave the island, being 
 driven from it by the superior force of the English. But the 
 triumph of the concpiorors was short. In 1650 twelve hundred 
 Spaniards from Porto Rico made a descent upon them in the 
 night, burned their habitations, inassacred nil whom they found 
 under arms, and transported the remainder with tlieir wives 
 and baggage to the island of Bermuda. In 1651 the French, 
 under De Vaugalan, obtained possession by the surrender of the 
 Spaniards to his force. The island was then rich in forests, but 
 these were set on tire by the new conquerors, and the conflagra- 
 tion, it is said, lasted several months. But the grounds thus 
 cleared were at once entirely cultiv^ated, and are said to have 
 been " incredibly fertile." 
 
 In 1653 Louis XIV. transferred St. Croix with St. Kitts, St. 
 Bartholomew, and St. Martins to the Knights of Malta. In 1605 
 a newly-formed West Indian Company purchased the island 
 from the (3rder of Malta; and in 1674, this company having 
 been dissolved by Royal Edict, the island was again annexed to 
 the French Crown. In 169G the population is said to have been 
 147 whites, exclusive of women and children, and 623 blacks, 
 but, notwithstanding the extraordinary fertility of the land 
 when the rains were sufficient, yet so frequent and destructive 
 were the droughts at the time, that the French settlers, having 
 demolished their forts, abandoned the island and removed to 
 St. Domingo. In 1720 the island was uninhabited. About this 
 time a project for its settlement was formed in England which 
 was not carried into effect. It was visited by vessels of all 
 nations till, in 1727, the French captured seven English merchant 
 ves.sels which were lying there and took possession of the island. 
 It continued to be the property of France till 1733, when it was 
 sold to a company of merchants in Copenhagen, called the Guinea 
 Company, for £30,750. Tlic liglits of this Company were after- 
 wards purchased by the King of Denmark. In 1754 the island 
 was carefully surveyed and divided into plantations. In 1801 
 it was taken by the British, but was restored to Dcinnark after
 
 GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX, D.W.I. 
 
 MARKET PLACE, FREDERIKSTED, ST. CROIX, D.W.I.
 
 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CTIOIX. 7 
 
 its possession for a few months only. Again in 1807 it was 
 taken by the English, and was held by them until 1815, wheii 
 it was again returned to Denmark. 
 
 During all these years slavery existed, though as early as 
 1792 the Danish Government declared the slave trade unlawful, 
 and abolished it in 1803. But actual slavery remained in force 
 until the year 1848, when the slaves, on July 2nd, rose in a 
 body and obtained their freedom, which was proclaimed to them 
 from the Fort at Frederiksted* by the Governor- General 
 Von Sholten. 
 
 On Feb. 5th, 1866, a disastrous lire took place in Chris- 
 tiansted.f A great many fine buildings were destroyed and 
 several families were rendered homeless. Then followed a 
 long series of droughts covering a period of live years. The 
 earthquake of Nov. 18th, 1867, was the next calamity which 
 visited the island. It occurred about 10 minutes after 3 in 
 the afternoon. There were two severe shocks, the sea receded, 
 leaving its bed quite bare, and gathering itself in one mighty 
 wave, came toppling over in immense rollers, carrying all before 
 it. Schooners, brigs, and boats were washed ashore at both 
 towns, and at Frederiksted a large American man-of-war, the 
 " Monongahela," wals landed high and dry on the Bay Street. 
 Many lives were lost and much damage was done to 
 property. 
 
 The next misfortune was a hurricane, which took place on the 
 13th of Sept. 1876; this destroyed a great many houses in 
 town and country, besides injuring the crop. The next event of 
 note was the so-called labour riot. For some years the negroes 
 had worked under a law known as the Labour Act, a kind of 
 contract between the negro and the estate owners, maintaining 
 labour at a fixed price. Becoming tired of this an uprising 
 took place on the 2nd of Oct. 1879, which resulted in a con- 
 siderable loss of life and property. Estates were totally wrecked 
 and nearly the whole of the town of Frederiksted was destroyed 
 by fire. 
 
 * Also called West End. It is the port of call for steamers, about 15 miles from 
 Christiansted, and is situated at the west of the island. 
 
 t The capital ; sometimes called Bassin. Its situation is easterly.
 
 8( A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 There is not nnich left to chronicle after this event, except to 
 note how rapidly the inhabitants of St. Croix set to woi'k to 
 repair their losses. 
 
 To look upon its smiling fields to-day, its prosperous towns 
 and people, no one would believe that earthquake, tire, «irought, 
 and hurricane had ever visited it. 
 
 P A R T 1 1. 
 
 THEPRESENT. 
 
 I DO not think that many people now-a-days know much 
 about the iinier life of the picturesque island of which ] am 
 writing. Tourists come and go, making a stay perhaps of 
 twenty-four hours. A stray reporter or author writes a chapter 
 or two about it, sometimes favourabl}', sometimes not, but rarely 
 is sufficiently said to place its actual merits before those who 
 seek health and pleasure in the West Indies. As the island of 
 St. Thomas is justly famous for its magnificent harbour and 
 unexceptionable coaling facilities, so is St. Croix for its climate, 
 scenery, excellent roads, and the boundless hospitality of its people. 
 It used to be visited annually by a number of Americans who 
 came there for a change of air, its climate being well adapted to 
 consumptives. How they came to exchange it for Bermuda can 
 only be attributed to the proximity of the latter to America, 
 which enabled them to reach it (luickly. But now this is all 
 changed, for one of the Quebec Line of steamers will bring you 
 to St. Croix in five days, or should you be inclined only to touch 
 at Frederikste<l, the port of call, will carry you to every om^ of 
 those " Islands of the Sea," that history has made memorable, or 
 the pen of the traveller interesting. But should you remain, 
 you will carry away with you recollections that will haunt your 
 memory for years. 
 
 And you will not find yourself in a strange country. Though 
 a Danish island, everyone speaks English ; and you will be 
 astonishcid, if you be an American, to find how the products o^ 
 your own native land have invaded its houses and plantations.
 
 A. J. BLACKWOOD'S STORES. 
 
 Agent /oj- Ba>t>am Bros. 
 
 A COUNTRY ROAD, ST. CROIX, D.W.I.
 
 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 9? 
 
 American furniture, toys, novels, magazines, dry goods, provi- 
 sions, and machinery are largely imported. All over the country 
 you will see the Cochrane windmill, or others similar, at wox'k, 
 and quite a number of America's best agricultural implements 
 in use upon the estates. It would be an interesting task indeed 
 to trace the cultivation of the sugar cane from the early days of 
 the old cattle mill, and the very imperfect methods of making 
 sugar among the ancient colonists, who, as Du Tertre, in his 
 Histoire des Antilles, tells us, lived with their lives in their 
 hands for fear of the buccaneers. I can, myself, remember many 
 estates in the island dependent on the old windmill, with its 
 cumbersome rollers standing on end and fed by hand by some 
 poor negro at the risk of losing a limb. It was a red-letter day 
 when the first steam mill was erected. It marked an area of 
 improvement which has been kept up by planters ever since. 
 Up to that time they had been content to follow the track laid 
 down by their predecessors. But they were a sturdy race of 
 men for all that. Irishmen most of them ; honest and hard 
 working to a degree ; frugal in their habits, they worked un- 
 remittingly to amass a fortune, sometimes returning to their 
 native land to enjoy it, but in most cases passing the rest of 
 their lives honoured and respected in the land of their 
 adoption. 
 
 It is said that money was easier to make in those days; 
 prices were high, and even a small crop left a fair margin of 
 profit, but from all I can gather, only those who were prudent 
 and exercised self-denial were numbered among the successful. 
 Dry weather would set in, or a hurricane, once in a while, would 
 devastate their crops, bringing ruin and dismay to those who 
 had not laid by for a rainy day. Few of these old pioneers are 
 left. One of them, P. McDermott, Esquire, wealthy and re- 
 spected, at the ripe age of eighty-eight, is yet living in the full 
 possession of his faculties, hale and hearty, a fit representative 
 of his hard-working countrymen, and a bright example of how 
 long a man may live in the healthful climate of St. Croix. 
 There are others that I wot of, as I pen these lines, Danish, 
 Irish, and Scotch, whose lives would serve as a lesson to the 
 rising generation. Those who know them, speak of them with
 
 10 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 respect and adniiration for all that tlu'v did in the days gone by 
 when steam and \acnuni pans were unknown factors in sugar- 
 niakino;. 
 
 Life is a struggle umler any circumstances, and even with the 
 most approved appliances it is not always that the planter can 
 make both ends meet. The beetroot sugar manufacture, bounty- 
 fed and supported by the Governments of Europe, is a formid- 
 able rival to the sugar cane. Prices have gone so low, that in 
 aome instances it did not pay to make sugar, and the question 
 has been so sei-ious of late years as to threaten the entire in- 
 dustry all over the West Indies. It is gratifying to note that 
 most of the planters have risen superior to the occasion, and, 
 adopting the latest methods of cultivation and first-class 
 machinery to take off their crops, are stennning the tide of 
 adversit}^ which of late years has set in against them. It 
 cannot be too earnestly insisted upon that when a man is suc- 
 cessfiilly opposed in business by another, he can only expect to 
 maintain himself by adopting the methods of his opponent. 
 Thus it is with, sugar-making in the West Indies to-day. 
 Those in Europe who have made tlie beetroot sugai* a paying 
 industry, have only done so by bringing eveiy resource of 
 science and ai-t in its production. It is but natural to sup})ose 
 if the West Indian ])Iant('r would compete, he nmst go and 
 do likewise. 
 
 This idea seems to Ije gradually taking root in 8t. Croix, 
 where several of tlie large estate owners, by close personal 
 supervision and attention to every detail, with improved 
 machinery and methods, are turning out sugar at a minimum 
 cost, and at a speed that would surprise the planter of a former 
 generation. 
 
 One of th<; most notable examj^les is A. .). IMackwood, 
 Esquire, wlio, as agent for Messrs. Bartram Bros., of New 
 York, came to this island some twelve years ago and took 
 over their business, which then consisted of two mercantile 
 houses and several estates scattered over the country. 
 
 Up to that time. Captain Blackwootl, as he is usually called 
 by tlie comnuniity wliere he is known and so deservedly 
 respected, liad followed the sea as a profession, and from,
 
 A. J. BLACKWOOD, Esq.
 
 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. .Jl 
 
 literally, before the mast, worked himself up to be a success- 
 ful captain of one of the smartest vessels that ever plied be- 
 tween New York and St. Croix, enjoying to the full the 
 confidence of his owners. He has said that it was with diffi- 
 dence he undertook such a charge as was entrusted to him, 
 but entering upon it with a strict determination to make it a 
 success, and bringing to bear a natural aptitude for adminis- 
 tration, which is all the more surprising from the fact that 
 he had no previous commercial training nor any knowledge 
 of sugar planting whatever, he has to-day the proud satisfaction 
 not only of being a successful merchant, but of having erected 
 one of the largest factories for the manufacture of sugar ever 
 put up by private enterprise in St. Croix. Tliis is at Lower 
 Love, and is surrounded by eleven of the finest estates in the 
 island. These supply it with cane, and, as seen from the line 
 residence of Captain Blackwood at Golden Grove, also planned 
 and erected under his supervision, form a beautiful prospect. 
 Far away is the ocean, of which you get a glimpse between 
 the hills, many of which are cultivated to their summits. The 
 fields are alive with busy workers cutting and carting cane to the 
 mill. Little negro cabins peep out here and there from among 
 the trees which grow near to them. Owner's or manager's 
 dwellings and windmills, here and there, dot the landscape. 
 Countless hues of green and brown greet the eye whichever way 
 you may turn, from the sombre bistre to the dazzling emerald. 
 Roads of a snowy whiteness intersect the island, completing a 
 picture in which art combined with Nature has almost made 
 perfect. 
 
 " So freshly fair are everywhere the features of the scene, 
 
 That earth appears a resting-place where angels might alight, 
 As if sorrow ne'er a visitant the human hreast liad Ijeen, 
 
 And the verdure of the summer months had suffered blight." 
 
 And now let us take a look at the works of Lower Love, 
 whose great white chimney, standing out in the clear atmos- 
 phere, is seen for miles around. 
 
 Here, all is activity and life. Cart after cart comes in 
 laden with the sweet-smelling canes. These are carefully 
 weighed upon a great Fairbank's scale. Thence they are
 
 12 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 taken and plaeeJ npon the cane carrier, by wliicli they are 
 conducted to a tirst series of rollers which ent and crush 
 them preparatory to tlieir bein<r crushed by the mill. Thou- 
 sands of gallons of juice spout into the troughs, whence it 
 tinds its way into claritiers, coolers, vacuum pans, and triple 
 effects, going through a variety of processes before it becomes 
 sugar, which, when made, is placed in canvas bags of 300 lbs. 
 each, and marked to be shipped for refining. 
 
 The molasses is run off into tanks and barrelled, but not 
 until a first, second, and third quality sugar is obtained from 
 the cane juice. The " bagasse," or refuse from the cane, is 
 burnt wet as it comes from the crushers and rollers. This is 
 effected by a new process, and if it be considered that ^10,000 
 every crop is saved by it in the manner of fuel, it speaks 
 volumes for the new^ methods of manufacture so ably advocated 
 by Captain Blackwood, and so thoroughly carried out at the 
 works of Lower Love, a few words about the construction of 
 which may be interesting. The plant of machinery was built 
 by the Pioneer Iron Works, of Brooklyn, New York, and was 
 erected on the Estate Low^er Love, in the year 1893 by Chief 
 Engineer L. H. Hansen, from plans drawn by Mr. Peter 
 Penthony, Avho was then draughtsman in the Pioneer Iron 
 Works. In order to erect this new plant it was necessar}?- to 
 re- construct the old building, which was done by Mason 
 Wm. Peebles, under the supervision of Captain Blackwood. 
 The main building, which was 100 feet long and 30 feet 
 wide, is now 120 by 55. The old walls were raised 11 feet. 
 In order to save the enormous expense for coal, l)y the 
 introduction of green " bagasse " burning, it was found 
 necessary to re-lay the Ijoilers and build new furnaces or 
 combustion chambers with iiot-aii- Hues; a laigc chinniey 
 of great draft-producing power ha<l also to be built. This 
 was effected by Mason Peebles, and, to-day, stands the finest 
 example of such work in the island, its dimensions being 
 112 feet high by 7 feet diameter, inside measurement. This 
 structure stands on a foundation of solid masonry 1 1 feet 
 deep by 24 feet square. Its walls at the base are G feet 
 thick and 18 inches at top.
 
 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 13 
 
 This plant of machinerj/ is supplied with steam by a battery 
 of five tubular rollers ranging in size from 16 by 5 feet in 
 diameter with 54 four-inch tubes, to 18 by 7 4 feet in diameter 
 with 100 four-inch tubes, the furnaces being fed with green 
 "bagasse" direct from the mill, which gives all the steam 
 required with the consumption of about f "bagasse" made, 
 the balance being -used up for manure. The grinding plant is 
 composed of a set of three powerful rollers. These are 
 28 inches in diameter. This mill is fed by a Krajewski's cane 
 crusher, which breaks, cuts, and crushes the cane, extracting 
 about 40% of the juice, increasing the capacity of the mill 
 from 50 to 100%, obtaining a juice extraction of about 70%. 
 The crusher is driven by an engine 3 feet stroke by 16 inches 
 in diameter, which also drives the cane carrier, the " bagasse " 
 carrier being driven by the main engine. The evaporating 
 plant is composed of an 8h feet vacuum pan, with a 6 feet 
 triple effect of the Relux type, driven by a pumping eno-ine 
 3 feet stroke by 16 inches in diameter, and runnino- ten 
 pumps, which do the work of the entire plant. The coolinf^ 
 tower appears as an enormous fountain, and is run by a 
 portion of the above-mentioned pumps. It draws the cold 
 water from the bottom of the dam, passing it throuo-h the 
 condensers which take the vapour from the vacuum pan and 
 triple effect, returning the hot water to the top of the towers, 
 where it falls from step to step, the air passing throuo-h it and 
 cooling it in its descent, thus enabling the same water to be 
 used over and over again for the same purpose. 
 
 The capacity of this plant is about 40,000 gallons of juice 
 in 14 hours, which makes about 25 hogsheads of suo-ar of 
 1500 lbs., Danish weight, each. The molasses is separated 
 from the sugar by a batter}^ of four of Weston's centrifugals. 
 This molasses is then boiled over and made into a second 
 grade sugar, the molasses resulting from this is re-boiled and 
 made into a third grade of sugar, which three grades of su^ar 
 give about 9 lbs. of sugar to 100 lbs. of cane. The washin«s 
 of the house are then made into rum. It Avill thus be seen 
 that nothing is lost, and every means employed to utilizi' the 
 product of the cane.
 
 14! A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 Attached to this line plant are machine shops, manager's 
 and overseer's dwellings, negro cabins, &c., Szc. There is a 
 weighing house where every piece of cane is weighed before 
 being carried to the mill, and every bag of sugar after it 
 is made ; every gallon of juice is measured, and the whole 
 manufacture is conducted on scientific principles, being under 
 chemical control ; the laboratorj^ being in the main building 
 under the supervision of Captain Blackwood's brother, Mr. J. W, 
 Blackwood, graduate from the Audubon Sugar School, Louisiana. 
 
 It is satisfactory to note how similar factories are beginning 
 to be planned, one being about to be put up at Estate La 
 Grange. This must be satisfactory indeed to Captain 
 Blackwood, who, with their success, must feel his own assured. 
 Let us wish it to him always, as we should do to every 
 pioneer of progress, every investor of a great capital in 
 manufactures, everyone who gives employment to the multi- 
 tude, every man who overcomes obstacles and prejudices by 
 sheer force of character, honesty of purpose, and a determina- 
 tion to do right on every occasion. 
 
 There are two towns in St. Croix, Christiansted and 
 Frederiksted, also called Bassin and West End ; that of 
 Christiansted is somewhat old-fashioned, but has some fine 
 buildings, the Government House being a massive pile that 
 would do credit to a much larger cit}'. The entrance to its 
 harbour is very intricate, it is good and completely land- 
 locked. As in " Our Island of the Sea," there is an old Fort, 
 coloured red. A few guns peep over its r;uiipa)-ts, more for 
 ornament than use, I suppose. 
 
 There is also a barracks for the soldiers, witii a iinc garden 
 attached. 'I'here are several churches, a Lutheran, Episcopalian, 
 Roman Catholic, and Moraviiui. There are no places of 
 amusement, but with such splendid drives that the country 
 affords over smooth level roads in the most comfortable of 
 phaetons one passes the time most agreeably. There are 
 comfortable boarding liousts, that of Mrs. Pcntlieny iH'ing a 
 favourite onc^ for tin; ofiicials and Americans. The house 
 itself is finely Iniilt, three storeys high. The rooms are 
 commodious, airy, and well furnished, and the table excellent.
 
 A FEW WOllDS ABOUT ST. CUOIX. 15 
 
 Mrs. Pentheny is hospitality itself. Speaking of hospitality, 
 this is a quality for which the West Indies and St. Croix 
 in particular, are famous. 
 
 There are not man}' large commercial houses here. Captain 
 Blackwood, as agent for Messrs. Bartram Bros, has a branch 
 in this town. It is a large building, and a great deal of 
 business is done there. There are several retail stores. An 
 Ice Company has been lately established for the manufacture 
 of that useful article. It owes its inception to Captain 
 Pentheny and Mr. Canegata, the latter gentleman an enter- 
 prising merchant and proprietor. A great deal of aerated 
 water is made and drank in the island, Mr. M. Pretto, another 
 energetic storekeeper, turning out thousands of bottles weekly, 
 besides owning and superintending a successful mercantile 
 business. His residence is one of the finest on King Street, 
 all the doors and bannisters being of solid mahogany. Messrs. 
 Pretto and Canegata are natives of the Danish West Indies 
 and this reminds me that most of them are very intellio-ent 
 have a fair English education, and have filled and do fill 
 many important places under Government. The Schools an; 
 very good, compulsory education being in force. 
 
 There is one newspaper, Tlte St. Croix Avis, edited by 
 John T. Quin, Esquire, F.R.G.S. An Englishman by birth, 
 he has filled the important post of Inspector of Schools for 
 many years. He is also Chairman of the Colonial Council. 
 
 There are an agency of the Bank of St. Thomas, a Club, 
 and an Apothecary's Hall. 
 
 The Sheriff's Court, Dealing Court, and Police Court ar.- 
 conducted much on the same lines as those in St. Thomas. 
 
 The Central Factory stands just outside the town of 
 Christiansted, not far from the Jail. It is carried on undei- 
 Government inspection, and turns out 'a large quantity of 
 sugar every year. We have alluded lengthily to it in a 
 former work, "Leaflets from the Danish West Indies." It 
 is satisfactory to note that it is now a successful if not a 
 paying institution, being ably managed, employing a great 
 many hands, and another illustration of how capital properh- 
 employed may benefit a community.
 
 16 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 The " Farm " or hospital is romantically situated on the 
 top of a hill overlooking the town. It is kept in a high 
 state of efficiency by V. C. Haid, Esquire, the Superintendent, 
 who gives a hearty welcome to anyone desirous of inspect- 
 ing it. 
 
 Of the inhabitants themselves, a whole volume might be 
 written. As I have said in " Our Island of the Sea," they 
 are orderly and respectable. There is an air of comfort 
 prevailing quite striking. The climate is equable, and no one 
 is exposed to the vicissitudes of life which assail one in more 
 populous centres. Labour is in constant demand, and those 
 who are willing to work can always find something to do. 
 More could be scarcely desired, except that wealth which does 
 not often bring happiness. 
 
 Now for a drive tlirough the country to Frederiksted. 
 Snuo-ly seated in a phaeton you bowl along at a rapid rate. 
 Passing the splendid residence of Bulowsminde, now the 
 residence of Robert Armstrong, Esquire, and once belonging 
 to His Excellency, Governor-General Von Scholten, you leave 
 estate after estate behind you, new views of infinite beauty 
 opening up at every turn of the road. There are sugar 
 canes on both sides of you, long avenues shaded by stately 
 palms with liere and there trees, such as the flamboyant, all 
 aflame with scarlet flowers, or the silk cotton with enormous 
 misshapen roots, and long horizontal branches on which grow 
 a multitude of parasites and air plants; flowers of all kinds 
 carpet the roadsides. Now and then you meet a labourer, 
 who respectfully salutes you. Then a great sugar cart wend- 
 ing its way, slowly along, drawn by six oxen and laden with 
 two or three hogsheads of sugar, or may be a light and strong 
 wagon, heaped n[) witli sugar in bags, drawn miicli more 
 rapidly by two mules; types of the new and tlie old way of 
 doing things. And as you near Frederiksted, just outside 
 the town, you come across a lot of women busily washing 
 in the Gut, named facetiously by a friend of mine, " TIh; public 
 wash tub," of P^rederiksted. Then you drive into the town, 
 and away from the glare of the sun you may And \(jui'self 
 .seated in the splendid room of the Club located on tlu; Hay
 
 A FEW WORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 17 
 
 Street fronting the roadstead. This is another outcome of 
 the restless energy of Captain Blackwood, and is built over 
 his large stores, forming a handsome addition to the many 
 other fine buildings which adorn Frederiksted and the Bay 
 Street in particular. 
 
 There are several commercial houses represented in this 
 town, besides the large interests of Messrs. Bartram Bros. 
 Messrs. R. L. Merwin & Co. occupy a fine store on the Bay 
 Street, in which they do a fair share of the island's business. 
 Mr. R. L. Merwin, their senior, is an American ; young, 
 energetic, and enterprising, he enjoys the respect and confi- 
 dence of the community. A branch of Messrs. McDougal & Co., 
 of St. Tliomas, who have another in Christiansted, and the 
 house of Melchior & Sons, Copenhagen, whose courteous repre- 
 sentatives, Messrs. Dessau & Ford, are well known throughout 
 these islands, are also on this street. Messrs. Pearson & Co., 
 of St. Thomas, have also considerable capital invested in 
 enterprises both hei*e and in Christiansted, and the retail 
 stores are quite numerous and evidently prosperous. What 
 will strike a close observer will be to see how many of 
 them are superintended by females. They are, all of them, 
 of native birth, and some of them remarkable for their in- 
 dustry and capacity. Though this may be said of all Dano- 
 West Indian women, who are a credit to their sex as house- 
 wives and for their intelligence. 
 
 Counsellor Faber, K.D., owns the Apothecary's Hall. It is 
 well supplied, and has realised for its owner a handsome 
 competence, which it is to be hoped he may live many years 
 yet to enjoy. As in Christiansted there are churches of 
 various denominations, all of which are attended on Sundays 
 and holy days. The Crucians are a religious people, and 
 think much of their parsons, who do excellent work among 
 them, being their friends and advisers on all occasions. 
 
 There are a hospital and other charitable institutions. The 
 hospital has been superintended for many years by H. N. 
 Mallgrav, Esquire, and is a model of good management. An 
 old red Fort fronts the roadstead to the east of the town. 
 It lias a history, more than one notable occurrence having
 
 18 A FICW WORDS AUOUT ST. CROIX. 
 
 taken place within or arouml its walls. From its ramparts 
 was read by Gi)vernor Von Scholteii the proclamation which 
 made the slaves free in 1S48. It was stormed hy the rioters 
 in 1879 at the time of the riots. At its gates, John C. du 
 Bois, an Enii'lish cleru'vman and British vice-consul, breasted 
 the anoTV moh and tried to stay them in theii' mad work. 
 Just outside, a planter, Mr. Fontaine, met his di-ath at the 
 hands of the rioters. And inside, when authorit}' once more 
 asserted itself, many of these poor misguided beings were 
 shot to death, tied to trees, which yet remain to remind those 
 who live ill these days of what is the eventual result of re- 
 bellion against law and order backed up by the bayonet and 
 rifle. 
 
 No one looking at the tine street running along the side 
 of the sea would believe that only a few years ago it was 
 laid in ashes with the greater portion of the town. It seemed 
 impossible to iiu^ at the time when I tirst witnessed it, in 
 1879, after the awful scenes of riot, arson, and pillage wdiich 
 took place on the night of the 2nd of Oct., that it ever 
 w^ould be built again, and yet here it is better than before, 
 with handsome buildings and a prosperous people inhabiting 
 them ; proving wdiat great resources are in the island if onl}'' 
 properly directed. 
 
 The port of Frederiksted is a very busy one during crop 
 time. The Quebec Line is represented by Major Moore, who 
 occupies a spacious dwelling on the Bay Street, where he 
 has his offices underneath. The steamers of this Company 
 call there twice a month ; also those of Messrs. Pickford and 
 Black, for whom Messrs. R. L. Merwnn are the agents. 
 
 Schooners and other vessels ply l^etween Frederiksted, 
 St. Thomas, and the adjacent islands, and the town is very 
 lively when a party of tourists arrive from the United 
 States; then every tropical product is in demand. Bay rum, 
 fruit, and curios, with the famous conch pearl, find a ready 
 market, and the owners of phaetons, horses, and buggies do 
 a flourishing business with the new comers. American flags 
 fly, and, if one might judge from the conversation, everyone 
 has become an American for the time bein<r. And this biin<rH
 
 
 ^^^'. '. .^^^ 
 
 CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX, D.W.I.
 
 A FEW AVORDS ABOUT ST. CROIX. 19 
 
 me to a subject wliicli has been on the tapis for the past 
 few years, a subject interesting to the writer and perhaps 
 many more, and that is, the cession of these islands to the 
 United States. I have already spoken about the possibility 
 of St. Thomas becoming the naval and coaling station of 
 America, and of the mutual advantages which might accrue 
 therefrom. 
 
 Equally so would it be if St. Croix were included in the 
 bargain. Its inhabitants are looking for it, especially those 
 who have a considerable stake in the country. 'I'hey feel 
 that the mere fact of belonging to so great and commer- 
 cial a nation means the infusion of new ideas, wealth, and 
 prosperity. Not tliat they have aught to complain of the 
 good government under which they have lived so happily, 
 socially, and politically, for so many years. But there is a 
 general impression all through the West Indies that the 
 American flag will float over them some day ; and it is be- 
 lieved that the Danish West Indies will lead the van. That 
 America will not be a loser, as far as St. Croix is concerned, 
 anyone who knows the industry of its people, its resources, 
 the large amount of capital, American capital especially, in- 
 vested in it, can testify. And then its enchanting scenery 
 will more than ever make it a resort for the American, weary 
 of old watering-places which outside of their fine hotels have 
 grown flat, stale, and unprofitable. Here, amid the lovely 
 green of its cultivated estates, its palm groves, or on its 
 sea shore with its white rolling surf, will he find such de- 
 light, such variety and novelty as can be found no where in 
 the world but in "The Garden of the West Indies." 
 
 b 2
 
 ROBERT L. MERWIN. W. HARCOURT WOODS. 
 
 ROBT. L, MERWIN & Co, 
 
 EXPORT & IMPORT 
 
 (Jommi^^ion and \{um\ Meitehant^, 
 FREDERIKSTED, ST. CROIX, W. I. 
 
 Cable Address: 
 IVIei^-wixi., St,. d:*oix:. 
 
 Codes Used : 
 
 AGENTS FOR 
 
 Corporation of Lloyd's, London, E.C. 
 Pickford & Black's West India Steamship Line, 
 
 St. John, Halifax and Denierara Route. 
 
 Oakdale Manufacturing Co., Providence, R.L, 
 
 Manufacturers of Superior High Grade Oleomargarine. 
 
 The Aermotor Co., Chicago, Illinois, 
 
 Manufacturers of Galvanised Steel Windmills and Towers. 
 
 CONSIGNMENTS RECEIVED AND ACCOUNT SALES WITH 
 REMITTANCES PROMPTLY RENDERED. 
 
 SHIP BROKERS, SHIP STORES. AND ESTATE SUPPLIES. 
 MANUFACTURE & SHIPMENT OF BAY RUM A SPECIALITY. 
 
 Branches : 
 
 CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX. 73, WALL STREET, NEW YOHK.
 
 J. C. CANECATA, 
 
 Commission /Ihercbant 
 
 CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX, D.W.I. 
 
 (ESTABLISHED 1884.) 
 
 Dealer in Provisions, Wliolesale and Retail, Liquors, 
 and Fancy Articles. 
 
 SOLE IMPORTER OF PILSEN BEER, ROYAL BREWERY. 
 
 Always on hand, a supply of Danish, English, French, and American 
 Preserves, Biscuits, Confectionery, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 Hennessy's and other Brandies, assorted Liqueurs, Whiskies, Wine, Red and White, 
 Port, Sherry, Madeiras, Angelica, «S:c., &c., &c. Syrups, Almond, Raspberry, &c., 
 &c. Mattoni Geishubler, Malt Beer and Malt Extract, Fruit Essences, Jams and 
 Jellies, Chocolate, Cocoas, Cotfee, Teas, black, green, of different quality, Angostura 
 and other Bitters, Cordials, and Oils. 
 
 ONLY DIRECT IMPORT E:R OF 
 
 L. E. BRUUN'S CHOICEST COPENHAGEN BUTTER. 
 
 Loids Roderei' ami Cliqiiot Cha lujxnjues. 
 
 Florida and Kananga Water, Cologne, Colgate's, and other 
 
 Perfumes, Hair Vigor, Allen's Restorer, Vaseline, 
 
 and Pomade. 
 
 GLASS WARE LAMPS & STATIONERY. 
 
 Havana, Porto Rico, and other Cigars, Havana and American Cigarettes, 
 Smoking Tobaccos, Johnson's Mixture, W. D. & H. 0. Wills, Capstan, Allen 
 and Ginter's Richmond Mixture, &c. Plated Ware, Cutlery, Coach Paints, 
 
 Yarnishes. 
 
 Direct Iixiporter of 
 
 ENGLISH, GERMAN, & FRENCH STAPLE & FANCY GOODS, 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 Cottons, Woollens, Linens, Hosiery, Embroidery, and Laces, dr.. dc. &c. 
 Boots and Shoes, Felt and Straw Hats. 
 
 MANUFACTURER OP 
 
 Ice, Soda Water, Lemoiiade, Ginger Ale, Orange Tonic, Kola Champagne, Bay Rum, &c. 
 
 An extensive StocJc of 
 
 FINE OILiD ST. CI^OIX P^UlVi:. 
 
 COMMISSIONS SOLICITED.
 
 M. A. Pretto, 
 
 CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX, 
 
 (Establ ished 1 8 79,) 
 
 dENERAL COMMISSION MERCHANT. 
 
 A Large Assortment of 
 
 ENGLISH, GERMAN, FRENCH, 
 
 AND AMERICAN DRY GOODS 
 
 CONSTANTLY ON HAND. 
 
 SPECIALITIES IN BOOTS, SHOES, AND FANCY 
 GOODS, SPIRITS, WINES, CIGARS, &c. 
 
 MANUFA CTURER of AERATED WATERS. 
 
 THE lL.Jl.ItGEST 
 
 SODA-WATER PLANT IN THE ISLAND. 
 
 200,000 BOTTLES 
 
 SOLID .^isrnsrTjj^LXjiz".
 
 L. FABER, 
 
 FREDERIKSTED, ST. CROIX, D.W.I, 
 
 DISTILLER of GENUINE BAY SPIRITS (from the Leaf), 
 
 DEALER IN ST. CROIX OLD RUM, WINES, BRANDIES 
 WEST INDIAN LIQUEURS, BITTERS, AND PURE SPIRITS OF 
 
 ALL SORTS. 
 
 PAINTS, OILS, VARNISHES, TOILET ARTICLES, CIGARS, &c. &c, 
 
 From The NORTHERN INDUSTRIAL, AGRICULTURAL, AND ARTS EXHIBITION, 
 
 COPENHAGEN^ 1888, have been awarded to the following specialities of 
 
 L. FABER'S Manufacture : 
 
 OLD RUM, OLD GUAYA LIQUEUR, OLD GUAYABERRY LIQUEUR, 
 
 YERY FINE OLD SHRUB, FLORIDA WATER, STOMACHIC BITTERS 
 
 and SUPERIOR DOUBLE DISTILLED BAY SPIRITS 
 
 R. G. BELL, 
 
 COME IN, 
 
 AND WHAT YOU DON'T SEE, ASK FOR. 
 
 Not room for Specifications. 
 
 FREDERIKSTED, ST. CROIX,
 
 E, L, 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 Staple and fancy Goods. 
 
 EAST INDIA HANDKERCHIEFS. 
 
 .^■^ «»■.*■ ■.*■*■* 
 
 Birthday, Wedding, and other Cards, &c. 
 
 FREDERIKSTED, 
 
 ST. CROIX, ^inr. i. 
 
 JACOB A. WENG, 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST, 
 
 ST. CROIX, D.W.I. 
 
 PORTRAITURE, INTERIOR, LANDSCAPE, 
 AND GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHILDREN'S PICTURES A SPECIALITY, 
 ALL WORK DONE BY THE INSTANTANEOUS PROCESS. 
 
 SAxisiACTioy <n A iiA.\Ti:i:n.
 
 BACHE & CO., 
 
 Ship Brohcrs anb Commission 
 nn)crcbants, 
 
 ST. THOMAS, 
 
 ID. Ifl/. I. 
 
 PARTICULAR ATTENTION GIVEN TO CHARTERING OF 
 
 VESSELS. 
 
 KLINGBERG, KREBS, & Co., 
 
 Commission Mercliants, 
 
 Mine m\b Xiquor H)ealeis, 
 
 WHOLESALE EXPORTERS OF BAY RDM. 
 
 -l.V HXTENSTVIC STOCK OF 
 
 FINE OLD ST. CROIX RUM 
 
 ALWAYS ON HAND. 
 
 Hennessy's Brandies, American and Scotch Wliiskies, &c., &c. 
 
 ST. THOMAS, D.W.L
 
 COMMERCIAL HOTEL, 
 
 ST. TMOIVIAS, 
 
 KKl'l' UY 
 
 MRS. B/ERENTZEN. 
 
 Covers laid at all hours of the day and night. 
 
 Liqueurs and Drinks of all sorts. 
 
 PRI VATE RO OMS, 
 
 T/tis Esiahlishment, from its privileged central sittialioii, nearest to the Kiiiifs 
 ]Vltarf, reduced prices, and prompt serz'ice, is most reconunendable. 
 
 COOL and COMMODIOUS ROOMS, HOT and COLD BATHS. 
 
 E. SCHRODER'S 
 
 MANUFACTORY OF 
 
 Soda-water, Lemonade, Ginger- ale, Orange 
 Tonic, Kola Champagne, &c., 
 
 AS SUPPLIED TO AMERICAN, ARGENTINE, DANISH. ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, 
 ITALIAN, RUSSIAN, SWEDISH, AND BRAZILIAN WARSHIPS. 
 
 QUALITY GUARANTEED. PRICES MODERATE. 
 
 EMPTY BOTTLES RECEIVKI) FOR KI'.FI I.I.IN'G. 
 
 S3a^ Spirit m\b Ba\> Spirit Soap 
 
 ARE MADE FROM BEST MATERIALS. 
 AI>\\'.VV.-! IX STOClv : 
 
 CAliNED AND OTHER PROVISIONS, BISCUITS, CONFECTIONERY, 
 
 Winiis, Gin, Brandy, Lium u s, Oils, Syrups, Sugars. Anjtostura Bitters, Pilsener Beer, 
 Eananga Water, Eau de Cologne, Florida Wat^r, Bay Oil, &c., &c.
 
 J. H. FECHTENBURG & CO., 
 
 Commission flDercbants* 
 
 Provisions, 
 
 Liquors, 
 
 Wines, &c. 
 
 ST. THOMAS, D.W.I. 
 
 ^Px*onrki>^ J^ti^exi-tloin. ^i'vexx t,o Ox*dei?s< 
 
 CO 
 
 _J I 
 
 ^ V^ ^S. V— .^^^l^^l— >#^A -^ 
 
 > r^ /» l^rX K. I C^ L #» A CO 
 
 a: 
 
 < ^ ^ -^ , , d 
 
 m 
 
 a: — CO 
 
 i^ AND CO 
 
 > C 
 
 D. G. FONSECA, 
 
 > (Sencval provision ■- 
 
 AND 
 
 •^1 Coniinission ^Htevcbant, ? 
 ST. THOMAS. > 
 
 Q. ^_ r 
 
 i o 
 
 CO A choice and varied assortment of Can and Bottle ^ 
 
 X Preserves and Family Groceries always on hand, 
 
 CO -J} 
 
 in > 
 
 cc 
 
 H 
 
 U_ CHAIRS, ROCKERS, ROPE, NAILS, LEATHER, &c., &c. rn 
 
 CO 
 
 SA TISFA CTION GUAR AN TEED.
 
 BAZAR DE NOVEDADES. 
 
 Agent for LA FIDUCIA LIGURE," 
 ST. THOMAS. 
 
 Importer of French, English, German, American, and 
 Italian Merchandise. 
 
 FRESH SUPPLIES BY FREQUENT ARRIVALS. 
 
 PRICES DEFYING COMPETITION- 
 
 Dealer botli by "Wholesale and. iietail. 
 
 HENRY 0. CREQUE, 
 
 (General Oommission fficvcbant 
 
 SHIP CHANDLER. 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 PLAIN and JAPANNED TINWARE and 
 
 Tinmen's Supplies, 
 
 PAINTERS' AND OILMEN'S SUPPLIES, GLASSWARE AND 
 GLASS ORNAMENTS, 
 
 LAMPWARE, EARTHENWARE, PORCELAIN, 
 
 A N 1 1 
 
 No. 29, Main St., ST. THOMAS.
 
 DELVALLE&COMPY. 
 
 General /Ihercbants, 
 
 (ESTABLISHED 1870.) 
 
 ST. TKOIVTJLS, O.^HT.I. 
 
 Dealers in all kinds of 
 
 STAPLE AND FANCY GOODS, 
 
 BOOTS & SHOES, HATS, PERFUMERY, 
 
 &c., &c., &c. 
 FRESH SUPPLIES BY EVERY ARRIVAL. 
 
 Bealer an^ importer of 
 ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, & AMERICAN 
 
 STAPLE 8l fancy GOODS, 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 Cottons, Woollens, Linens, Hosiery, Embroideries, 
 and Laces, <^c., do. 
 
 CORSETS, BOOTS, SHOES, AND SLIPPERS 
 
 For Ladies, Gentlemen, Misses, and for Children. 
 
 A GREAT VARIETY ALWAYS IN STOCK FROM THE BEST 
 MANUFACTURERS.
 
 ESTABLISHED 20 YEARS. 
 
 TAYLOR'S BOOK STORE, 
 
 MAIN STREET, 
 
 ST. THZOlVn^^S, 
 
 HAS ALWAYS A LARGE STOCK OF 
 
 STATIONERY, FANCY GOODS, 
 
 Plated Ware and Jeoiellery 
 
 o:^s HAND. 
 
 THE cELE^mi-rrE r> 
 
 BORNHOLM TERRA COTTA WARE, 
 
 Plain, or Painted with Tropical Views, a Speciality. 
 
 THE FINEST ASSORTMENT OF 
 
 ■Birthday, Congratulation, and otlier ferds 
 
 IN THE D.W.I. 
 
 Everyone calling at St. Thomas should visit 
 this elegantly appointed Establishment.
 
 W. CLINDINEN, 
 
 (Beneval flDevcbant 
 
 DEALER IN 
 
 Ironmongery, Porcelain, Crockery, 
 
 Liquors, Carriage Hardware, 
 
 Carriage Harness, &c. &c. 
 
 SOLE AGENT TO Messrs. GOSSART, GORDON & Co., 
 
 The oldest and by far the largest shippers of 
 Madeira Wines. 
 
 CHRISTIANSTED, ST. CROIX. 
 
 CLARE E, TAYLOR, 
 
 ST. THOMAS, D.W.I. 
 
 Portraiture, Interior, Landscape, Groups, and 
 General Photography. 
 
 SKETCHES IN OIL AND WATER COLOUR. 
 
 SIGN PAINTING AND GILDING. 
 
 Meebanical Ura^sriags mmmemtrndt ta scale 
 
 ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENTS REPAIRED
 
 THE 
 
 ST. THOMAS COAL DEPOT, 
 
 BRONDSTED & CO., 
 
 IHav? Contractors, 
 
 ST. m3:o:M:.A.s. 
 
 Agents of 
 
 CORY BROTHERS & CO., 
 
 LONDON AND CARDIFF. 
 
 A Large Supply of Best 
 
 CARDIFF, CUMBERLAND, NEWCASTLE, 
 ANTHRACITE, AND SCOTCH 
 
 ALWAYS KEPT IN STOCK. 
 
 Steamers drawing up to 27 feet can be coaled from their 
 
 safe and commodious jetties at the rate of 50 to 100 tons 
 
 per hour, Day or Night. 
 
 ir- SHIPPING SUPPLIED WITH FRESH WATER.
 
 "THE DIVAN " 
 
 Davana Cigai- Store, 
 
 {ESTABLISHED 1860, 
 
 ST. THOIMi^S, 
 
 LATE 
 
 F. DREJER & CO., 
 
 Be^ to call the attention of the Public to their extensive 
 
 Stock of 
 
 HAVANA CIGARS 
 
 Of Different Brands and Makers. 
 
 CIGARETTES , 
 
 American Cigarettes, 
 M\\% and Cliewing Tobacco, 
 
 AND 
 
 SUNDRY OTHER ARTICLES/ 
 
 OROERS I»ROM[JPTI-^ir EXECXJTJEO.
 
 BARTRAM BROTHERS 
 
 (k. J. BLACKWOOD, Agent), 
 
 FREDERIKSTED, ST. CROIX, D.W.I, 
 
 DEALERS IN 
 
 jf louv, flDcal provisions, S. General 
 Estate Supplies, 
 
 Fire and Building Bricks, Lumber, Coal, dc. (Slc. 
 
 THE MANCHESTER FIRE ASSURANCE COMPANY 
 OF MANCHESTER, ENGLANQ, 
 
 ALSO a(;ents for 
 
 LE BERT'S SUGAR CANE FERTILIZER, 
 
 /iftaimfactiircD in .t6arba?06 bv> 
 THE REEF MANURE AND CHEMICAL WORKS. 
 
 BRANCH AT CHRfSTIANSTED. 
 
 A. J. BLACKWOOD, 
 
 AMERICAN CONSULAR AGENT AT CHRISTIANSTED 
 
 A I, SO 
 
 Correspondent to the National Board of Marine Underwiters, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 BOARD OF UNDERWRITERS OF NEW YORK.
 
 3 1205 02531 5613 
 
 H. MICHELSEN, 
 
 Bay Rum, Bay Salts, and Florida Water, 
 
 NEW YORK, ST. THOMAS, WEST INDIES, 
 
 36, BROADWAY. 'lo ^^>^-^^!^:¥k;.SZ, 
 
 MEDAX^S AinrARI 
 
 AA 000 927 791 
 
 liosTON, Mass 1SS3 Kkri.in 1SS5 
 
 Amsterdam 1883 1 New Orleans, La 18S5-6 
 
 New Orleans. I,a 1S84-5 Liverpool, (i. B 18S6 
 
 Antweri' 1885 Berlin 1SS7 
 
 LoiisviLLK, Ky. 188^ Paris 18S9 
 
 HIGHEST AWARD at World's Columbian Exposition Chicago, 1893. 
 
 The use of the clear Bay Rum, of the colour of Rhenish Wine, has beeu recom- 
 mended by eminent physicians in the following manner :-- 
 
 AS A HEALING MEDIUM. 
 
 1. For tender feet, by rubbing witli a few tablespoonfuls on going to bed. 
 
 2. For the hair, when thin and inclined to fall, l>y rubbing the scalp in the 
 morning with a tablespoonful, whereby the roots will be stimulated and strengthened. 
 
 3. After long and fatiguing rides or walks, by rubjjing the entire body \\ilh 
 the article mixed with water (principally the feet after walking), whereby after a 
 Imlf-hour's time, not only will the application refreshen, but also jiroduce renewed 
 strength generally. 
 
 AS A COSMETIC AND TOILET ARTICLE. 
 
 For washing the face, a few tablespoonfuls added to water will suffice, 
 and by a continued use the skin of the face obtains a more brilliant and animated 
 appearance. 
 
 For the bath, quarter of a bottle in an ordinary bathing pan. 
 
 For headaches and other pains, caused by cold or over-exertion. Bay Rum is 
 often applied by rubbing, as stated above, and in case of headache by bandages 
 saturated with the article. 
 
 Bay Rum, the product of the leaves and berries of the Bay Tree [riiucitlo acris), 
 and pure Rum invigorates and strengthens the nerves, and possesses a refreshing 
 odour. 
 
 Great care must be observed in the manufacture of Bay Rum, and, I may here 
 slate, that as certified by eminent physicians and chemists, my article, above all 
 others, is highly recommendable for the qualities mentioned above. '..^ 
 
 H. MICHELSEN.
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 Goleta, California 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
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