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THEL1BRARYOF
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1835 - • 1914-
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HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.London:
Wilson and Ogilvy,
Skinner Street.A

HEALTH TRIP

TO THE

TEOPICS.

BY

N. PARKER WILLIS,

AUTHOR OF " PENCILLING^ BY THE WAT," ETC.

LONDON:

SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND CO. 47, LUDGATE HILL.
1854.9\7

W67k/

Cofp.3

PREFACE.

£ This volume would hardly represent truly the health-
22

. trip of which it is the chronicle, unless fragmented
v, as it is with the interruptions of illness. There were
intervals when the depression of disease overpowered
both the enjoyment of what was around, and the
faculty to describe it. But the intermediate scenes
and sensations were of unexpected novelty and
pleasurableness — so much so, that, even without
the stimulus of an habitual literary profession, I
should feel called upon to record them for invalid
cheering and guidance. The trip is, at least, a
delightful opiate and recreation within easy reach.
By what I enjoyed and described, those interested
may judge of what the other parts of this tropical
pilgrimage might be to themselves. I have other

4 4$bo/VI

PREFACE.

notes, made as brokenly, which I may yet write out
and publish,—but these being sufficient, thus far, to
form a volume, I give them out, in the hope that
here and there a sufferer may benefit by them; at
the same time claiming the kind indulgence of the
reading public for their fragmentary character.

N. P. WILLIS.

Idlewild, on the Hudson,
September 1853.CONTENTS.

LETTER I.

Page

June and geraniums in March—Intelligence for Invalids—
Gulf-stream atmosphere, and its effect on a cough—
Bermuda an Isle of convalescence—Town of St. George's,

where Tom Moore was once Custom-house officer—Negro
pilot—Bed-coated sentinels keeping guard amid wild
scenery—Groups of officers under ennui—John Bull's
permanent qualities—Two women to one man in Ber-
muda—Curious streets—Gardens — Shops and stores
without signs—People idle and happy—Tom Moore's
opinion of Bermudian women—Tradition as to the island's
having been settled by lovers of quiet—Permanent type
of English, &e. &c. .	.	.	.	.1

LETTER II.

English Landlady at Bermuda—One public vehicle on the
island—Government road of forty miles—Fashion of
economising here— Arrow-root native to Bermuda—No
springs nor wells—no wild animals, and few birds—viii	CONTENTS.

Page

English and negro habits in contrast—Compliment to
American liberality—Re-embarcation for St. Thomas—
Getting into warm latitudes—First effect on Invalids—
Luxurious idling in sailing in these tropical seas—Briefer
twilights and brighter stars—Running on a Reef, &c. &c. 8

LETTER III.

Becalmed with a broken propeller—Taken off by a Norwegian
captain in his Sail Boat—Kind treatment on board—Ten
mile course to St. Thomas—Norwegian bread and cheese—
French steamer towing up the Merlin—Distant aspect of
the Virgin Islands—Transparency of atmosphere and
curious effect of perspective—Hills like a shelf of sugar-
loaves—Harbour like a mountain sea reached by balloon
ships—Danish guns, not cannibals, to receive us—Cocoa-
nut grove on the wharf—Super-luxuriant tree—Negro
loafers like black Don-Caesar-Je-Bazans—Physiognomies
untouched by care—Happiness as a growth of the
Tropics, &c. &e. . . . . . .15

LETTER IV.

The proper name of " St. Thomas"—Earthquake season just
now—Heavy portmanteau carried on the head—The hotel
and its peculiarities—Windows without sashes or glass
—Mulatto child's bath—Tropical indifference to observa-
tion—Walk through the principal street during the
town's siesta—New wrinkle of enterprise in " drumming"CONTENTS.	ix

Page

—Signs by which they know Americans—Negro funeral—

Chairs in mourning—Sorrow at intervals—White gowns
and black shoulders—un-African cast of features—Reason
for tendency towards the white man's look—Curious tri-
bute of admiration for virtue, paid by an African prince to
a good man—Burials—Effects of the climate on European
health, &c. &c. .	.	.	.	.	.21

LETTER V.

Two mornings a day, and two dinners—Description of West
Indian hotel—No privacy in this latitude—Negro fami-
liarity—Danish castle, and ruins of Blubeard's tower—

View from Hotel verandah—Distinct types of beauty at
St. Thomas—Six races of coloured people—Blood of all
nations concentrated at St. Thomas—Grecian noses and
Spanish delicacy of feature grafted on negro stock—
Nature's exceptions—Beauties ignorant of alphabet and
stockings—Curiously-caused pride and stateliness of de-
meanour—Picturesque dress of women—Love' y shoulders
and horrible feet—Suggestions to artists to come and
arrest types of beauty that are passing, and may die out
with higher civilisation, &c. &c. .	.	.	.29

LETTER VI.

Lobster cockroaches and gridiron spiders—Grood climate for
insects, bad for man—Sunrise excursion to mountain-top
—Taking a walk, with a pony to do the walking—Coffee to
encourage early rising—Beauty of light on mountain-tops.

A 2X	CONTENTS.

Page

only—Louisen-hoi, a mountain villa—Soil incapable of
quiet grass—Trees of passionate and spasmodic growth—
Air-plant that gives the traveller a cup of water—Effect
of strange and new vegetation on the mind—Enquiry into
the perpetual youth of tropical plants—Whether youth,
middle age, and old age, all in one, is an enviable concen-
tration of experience—Women do all the hard work in the
tropics—Loads of stone carried on the head by a pro-
cession of girls—No lying down, out of doors—Insects
and vermin — Vampire lizards — Tropical sharks eat
negroes, but do not eat pelicans—Views from the two
sides of the summit — Hanging architecture of St.
Thomas, &c. . . . . . .37

LETTER VII.

Second earthquake since arrival—Drive to see a sugar planta-
tion—Mammoth cotton-tree—Magnificent white beard on
an old black man—Sucking sugar-stick—Pay of black
labourers—Nakedness in tropical climates—Ebony babies
un-diapered—Expensively dressed coloured belles with
bare feet—Emancipated shoulders—Odd way of carrying
a sheep—Village of sugar-cane labourers—Woman with
spare toe—Old man happy while being eaten by ants—

Black girl taking a siesta in the dirt—Curious plum—
Natural sherbet, &c. &c.	.	.	.	.45

LETTER VIII.

Predominating society at St. Thomas—Invariable type ofCONTENTS.	xi

Page

German mediocrity in classes—Style of dances—Negro
use of the voice—Drowned baby, and key for the tuning
of coloured horror—Sunday and Church—Whole congre-
gation of Madras turbans—Females do all the repenting
—Effect of such a gorgeously dressed multitude of black
worshippers—Works in marble and works in ebony as
religious ornaments—Reverie in Catholic church—Indis-
pensable article of furniture which every negress carries
with her—Danish officer's politeness—Hot uniforms of
soldiers from a cold climate—Otaheitan flowering tree—
Arrival of English steamer—Rush of passengers to the
Hotel for iced drinks—News of the death of Tom Moore
—Poem as to the sins of genius—Promise of smooth
water ocean-sailing along the Antilles, &c.	.	. 54

LETTER IX.

Tide of English travel from Southampton, touching at St.
Thomas—John Bull out of place in the tropics—Nature's
two journeymen at mountain-making, and their different
style of work—Two heavens necessary for the Carib and
the Englishman—English colonial islands all alike as to
houses and inhabitants—Dame Nature atmospherically
dressed or undressed—Climate too clear for the distance
that " lends enchantment to the view"—Nights excepted
and stars wondrously bright and beautiful—The Southern
Cross—The French islands have rivers, the English
islands none—Amazing prodigality of foliage at Guada-
loupe—English ecstasies modified by fear of humbug—
Frenchmen coming on board at Guadaloupe—Close con-Xll	CONTENTS.

Page

tact, even in these climates, never assimilating the French
and English, &c. . . . . . .59

LETTER X.

Alterations in punctuation by ants—Probable etymology of
"Antilles"—Alteration in plans—Preference of Marti-
nique to Barbadoes—Empress Josephine's birth-place—
Martinique the <c Fifth Avenue" of the Antilles—Going
ashore with an usual lap-full—Jersey Ferry outdone—

Note on Negro language—Loss and recapture of baggage
—Custom HouseVexations—Reception at Hotel—Uses of
perseverance—Apparition of Creole beauty—The good
star of woman's kindness—Negro manners after four years
of emancipation—Insolence after being overpaid—Land-
lord pitching a negro Hercules down stairs, &o. .	. 65

LETTER XI.

Tropical persuader for early rising—The business-doing sex,
and the prayer-doing sex going in opposite directions—
The Martinique Rialto—Picturesqueness of no wharfs—
Resemblance of St. Pierre to the structure of a theatre—
Air of careless elegance about the black and white mer-
chants—Tropical slovenliness of costume—Genera! air of
the gentleman—Negroes dressed in two pocket-handker-
chiefs—Curious accompaniment to the surf-antliem—
Description of coasting boats and crews—Streets of St.
Pierre at seven in the morning—Venerable buildings—CONTENTS.	xili

Page

Bright river in every street—Return to breakfast—In-
stalled in Madame Stephanie's boudoir and bed-room—
Resignation to our calamities—Tropical breakfast with
Parisian cookery—Structure of hotel and position of
eating-room—Negro guests in the house, and their polite-
ness—Beauty of our Carib waiter—Courses of dishes—
The unusual addition to our breakfast—Description of
Madame Stephanie Roque, our Creole Landlady—Her
husband, &c. &c. . . . . . .77

LETTER XII.

Pull ink, insensible to climate—Poetry descriptive of tropical
deliciousness—Tom Moore a custom-house officer on the
island which was the scene of " The Tempest"—Difficulty
of realising Ariel and Miranda at " Mrs. Tucker's Tavern"
—Horseback ride in the suburbs of St. Pierre, Martinique
—Garden of plants—Precipices with beards—Air plants
and their human counterpart—Young ladies on horse-
back, with a negro footman, on foot, carrying their para-
sols—Description of Martinique country-houses—Tro-
pical habits of ladies and gentlemen—Climate rendering
comfort unnecessary — Science of comfort a result of
Northern lack of pleasure out of doors—Question as to
the comparative results of climate—Charming incident of
Creole hospitality—Yankee lumber-yard—Madame Ste-
phanie's kind influence—Chateau Perrinel—Negro sol-
diers, and their variations from white soldiers, before and
behind—Useful fact for General Morris, &c. &c.	. 90xiv

contents.

LETTER XIII.

Page

Introduction to a black belle " who goes into society" in Mar-
tinique—Reason why she has no surname—Negro pas-
sion for changing their names—Mademoiselle Juliette the
friend of our hostess—Description of her coloured beauty
—The splendid gold ornaments peculiar to the Martinique
negresses, cinq-clous earrings, &c.—The dark belle's recep-
tion of us—Her manners—Her love of fun, and her
amusement at the New York distinctions of propriety—
Exchange of keepsakes with her, and adieu—Comparative
social position of blacks and whites on the islands—Dis-
tinctions of colour giving way—Both colours alike in-
vited to the balls and festivities of Fort Royal, the seat
of government—More reluctant amalgamation at St.
Pierre, the large capital—Society checked by negro hos-
tility at this—Admission of black female pupils to the
aristocratic school of the convent—Curious scandal, and
its result—Mons. Bissetti, the coloured representative,
and his history—The negro love of change—Law to
check his fickleness—His passion for wives away from
home—Interesting extracts on negro character, &c. &c. . 102

LETTER XIV.

Good feature of the Catholic religion—Hour of reverie in the
Cathedral—Girls crowding to the Confessional—Swallows
nestling behind the pictures of the Virgin—A negro
woman's prayer probably answered—Sunday morningCONTENTS.	XV

Page

mass in Lent—The Fashionable Creoles in Parisian toi-
lettes—The Negresses in full dress—AfFectionateness of
French people towards matrons.—Negress's substitute
for woolly head—Madras kerchiefs painted every week—
Cascade of turbans pouring down the steps of the cathe-
dral—Description of Martinique female dress—Bust left
to itself—Ungraceful manner of hitching up the petticoat
—No stockings on black feet, but patent leather shoes
thought elegant—Fortune in gold ornaments—Families
and neighbours seated in the streets—No in-door life—
Negress and her orange—The frangipane, a wonderfully
beautiful flowering tree—Politeness of French gentlemen
met in a walk—The difference of these suburbs from ours,
and the various new sights seen in the first mile or two
out of St. Pierre, &c. . . . . .116

LETTER XT.

Nuns nursing sick soldiers—Description of military hospital
—Beauty of beards in bed—Yisit to Freemasons' Lodge—
Curious vine—Coffee-plant, and Nature's law of fruit-
bearing—New way to carry a child—Temporary marriages,
and the manner of breaking off—Fashion for Gentlemen's
hair, in Martinique—-The shops with no display out of
doors—Market for brilliant handkerchiefs—Female clerks
—Negro families in mourning, .and their singular costume
—Long skirts in the street—Results of Emancipation on
the few and on the many—Black man beating a woman
—Negro journalism—Periods of waking and sleeping inXVI

CONTENTS.

warm climate—Unhealthy just before dawn—Incident of
politeness—Sugar, in the mud on one's boots, &c.

LETTER XYL

Experiences in approaching Mammoth's Cave—The tavern at
Bear-wallow, and its accommodations—A carriage in re-
duced circumstances—Splendours of a Kentucky wilder-
ness—Description of Mammoth Cave hotel—Breakfast
party and their underground experiences—The lost bride-
groom and his restoration—Jenny Lind's Ghiide, Stephen
—Description of this picturesque Charon—His intentions
as a slave—The uniform provided for entering the cave—
Suggestion of something more pictorial—History of the
ownership of the cave—Its extent and that of the estate
above ground—Farms which it probably runs under—
Attempt to make it a pulmonary hospital—The two wives
who buried themselves in the cave with their consump-
tive husbands—Terror of a death in the cave—The lost
traveller—County underground not represented—Scenery
for poems, &c. &c.	.

LETTER XVII.

Descent into Mammoth Cave—Chance companions, and their
correction of each other's impressions—The guide's basket
with its aids to enthusiasm—Funny look of party in
mustard-coloured costume—Entrance to the Cave—Rea-
lised value of the day to be lost—First half mile—Strange
atmosphere and dreary loss of smell of vegetation—FirstCONTENTS.

XVII

Page

disappointment overcome—Gorin's Dome—Curious im-
mortalising of a master by his slave—Wonders of rock
drapery—Embarrassment of multiplied objects of admi-
ration—Strange impression made on the fancy by the
Mammoth Cave—Its architectural character—An Ante-
diluvian Herculaneum—Difficulties of the Way—The
Styx—Lethe and its boat— Place for adieu, &c. &c. . 149

LETTER XYIII.

Passage down the subterranean river of Oblivion—A bride
backing out, on the brink—Niches for disappointed poli-
ticians—Wonderful echoes and vicinity of purgatory—
Firing a pistol near the Infernal Regions—Landing on
the other side of the Styx—Ole Bull's performance in the
Cave—The crowning of our companion, the Danish Pro-
fessor—Fatigue of the eighth mile—Blessed stop to dine
—Relics of former visitors—Modesty of Stephen the guide,
and our remonstrance — Claret, and its taste under-
ground, &c. &c. .	.	.	.	.	161
•

LETTER XIX.

/

Splendour of Kentucky's basement story—What an earthquake
might do for somebody— Suggestion of a Mammoth Cave
Ball—Effect like getting a first view of a new planet—
Process of disfiguring the Cave by vulgar visitors—
"Rocky Mountains" and " Dismal Hollow," and the cha-
racter of the latter place—Stephens's alleviatory musclexviii	CONTENTS.

Page

—Last hall of all at the extremity of the Cave—Golden
Fleece overhanging the altar—Sketch of the party, and
reverie at the end—Mother Eve, and our feeling alike as
to the sun and moon—Suggested inscription from Milton
for the end of the cave—Hesitation as to confessing to the
romantic effect of the last mile—Return, eyeless fish, &c. 170

LETTER XX.

Nine miles to daylight—Fatigue of walking with horizontal
spine—Fish without eyes—Organs dying with disuse—
Consumption cured with danger to nose—Lesson in
taking things easy— Caution to ladies fond of darkrooms—
Quoted descriptions of church and temple—Oak pole for
suspending corpses—The mummy lady and her sarco-
phagus—Description of her dress, posture, ornaments,
&c.—The custom of stopping to muse at this mummy
tomb—Mammoth relics—Return to daylight—Delight of
once more breathing air with the perfumes of vegetation
—Kentucky's advantage in an attraction for the intelligent
of all nations, &c. &c.	* .	.	.	. 180

LETTER XXI.

New article to pack in a trunk—Killing the eyeless fish by
putting him in spirits—To Mumfordsville from Mam-
moth Cave, by private vehicle, and adventures by the way
—Portrait of a backwoodsman—Western colloquial atti-
tude—Kentucky handiness at expedient—Mending aCONTENTS.	xix

Page

broken wheel -with hickory withes—Comment on back-
woods life—Cheerful fire at the tavern in a June evening
—Habit of Western gentlemen to frequent the taverns—
Curiosity as to strangers—Attempt to dodge enquiries—
Landlord, and his manner of conversing and waiting on
Table—Education in open air, and its results—Western
character, and its formation—High station of landlords
and stage-drivers at the West — Distinction between
Western gentlemen and rowdies, &c. &c.	.	. 198

LETTER XXII.

Cities and places approaching us by railroads—The over-
trumpeting of some watering places—Agreeable disap-
pointment on arriving at Harrodsburg Springs—English
park around the Hotel—Notes descriptive of the mineral
waters—Favourite haunt for wealthy Western families—
Dr. Graham and his character—Deficiency in English
language—The Doctor's horse and his embarrassing habits
—The Doctor's many accomplishments — Hydropathic
addition to the Hotel—Doctor Houghton, and his excel-
lent knowledge and care—Town of Harrodsburg—Salt
River, &c. &c. ...... 208

LETTER XXIII.

Ail omnibus in the woods of Kentucky—Its uses as a stage-
coach—Four men and a fighting cock as travelling com-
panions—Ignominious treatment of the warrior—His dietXX	CONTENTS.

Page

before fighting—G-entleman lending his pocket-comb to
the company — Dislike of large landowners — Indian
Creek, and a cliffs resemblance to a lady's foot—Naming
it after the foot of a celebrated Kentucky belle of Twenty
years ago—Wonderful scenery of Kentucky River com-
paratively unknown—The ferryman at Brooklyn—Shaker
village and a sight of Elder Bryant—Description of the
features of their village and property—Speculations as to
community and celibacy, &c. .	.	.	.219

LETTER XXIY.

Remedy for one great nuisance in Slavery—Northern cities
disfigured by their suburbs—Summer's evening in Ken-
tucky—Lexington like old North-End in Boston—Fami-
lies passing the evening on the door-steps—Regrets that
had been unnecessary as to falling off in Western beauty—
Aristocratic mould of Republican belles—Sudden termi-
nation of principal street in open country—Look at a
children's party over a fence—A negro at my shoulder
enjoying the same stolen pleasure—First visit to Ashland
by moonlight—Mr. Clay's loveableness—His residence
classic ground, e\en before his death—Description of
house and grounds—Crazy wanderer whom I met in the
grove—Curious monomania of autobiography, &c. &c. . 227

LETTER XXY.

Adventures on cross-road in Kentucky — Account of the
" Devil's Pulpit"—Early start—Philosophy of Driving—CONTENTS.

XXI
Page

Reasons why Kentuckians cannot yet drive, though great
horsemen—Mode of female conveyance when going out to
tea—Dr. Graham's accomplishments, but his mode of
using the reins—Stumps and earthquakes—Singular loca-
lity of King's Mills—The bridge over Dick's River, and
its indifferent toll-keeper—Attention to trout and to
strangers—The blacksmith—Majesty of primitive woods
and the lack of this charm on the Hudson—Log school-
house in the wilderness, &c., &e.	.	.	. 236

Cross-road experiences in Kentucky—The log school-house—
Apparent uselessness of world wisdom, so far away from
the world—Picturesque interior — Older and younger
girls, and their looks and attitudes—Picture of a lovely
child—Eden still around us if we knew its time and
places—The boys and their employments—Structure of
a school-house—The Master and his dignity—The
biggest boy, and his politeness and manly civilities—Way
to the Devil's Pulpit—A backwoodsman and his farm—
Character of new clearings—American facilities for getting
on, &c., &c. .	... 244

LETTER XXVI.

LETTER XXVII.

Hayti, &c.

. 251

LETTER XXVIII.

Hayti, and the Coronation of its Emperor

. 258XXII

CONTENTS.

LETTER XXIX.

Page

Havana, &e.	...... 269

LETTER XXX.

Continuation of Description of Military Mass, &c. . 27 7

LETTER XXXI.

Departure from Havana—Florida, &c. . . . 285

LETTER XXXII.

Tropical May Morning—Florida's good fortune in names of
places—Return of invalid pilgrims with Spring, and the
loveliest returning too soon—Savannah river and its rice-
fields—Pulaski House, and the Republican system as seen
in our hotel system—Tall stature of Southerners, &c. &c. 296

LETTER XXXin.

Caution to invalids—Climate of Savannah—First view of
Savannah by moonlight—Curious effect of city wholly
buried in trees — Remarkable stillness of Savannah—
Contrast between this city's habits and those of Havana—
No poor people's residences—Effects of beauties of nature
on character, &c., &c. ..... 303

LETTER XXXTY.

Want of Broadway in Savannah—Query as to shopping and
it8 attendant uses—The unfurnished apartments of this
world—Curious second-hand machinery on roof of publicCONTENTS.	xxiii

Page

building—Seeing twelve o'clock struck—Savannah Ceme-
try strangely peculiar and beautiful, &c., &c. .	. 309

LETTER XXXY.

Savannah, &c. .....	317

LETTER XXXVI.

Blood-horses in Charleston—Respectful manners of negroes—

Slow pace of inhabitants—Pine-plank drive—Railroad
across pine-barrens—Prairie of pond-lilies—South Caro-
lina marked character—Savannah River, and arrival in
Georgia—Augusta and its general physiognomy—Northern
air—Curious specimen of master in shirt sleeves and negro
carrying his coat—Unappropriated magnificence—The
Georgia " cracker"	..... 325

LETTER XXXVII.

New Orleans, &c. . . . . . . 331

LETTER XXXVIII.

Drinking Saloons at New Orleans, &c. . . . 337

LETTER XXXIX.

New Orleans, &c.	. . . . . 344

LETTER XL.

New Orleans, &c. . . . . . . 352XXIV	CONTENTS.

LETTER XLI.
Classes at New Orleans, &c.

Page
. 359

LETTER XLII.

New Orleans, &c.	. . . . . 370

LETTER XLIII.

New Orleans Piquances . • . . . .376

Desultory Notes and Information picked up on the

Way ......	384LETTER I.

June and Geraniums in March—Intelligence for Invalids—
Gulf-stream Atmosphere, and its Effect on a Cough—Ber-
muda an Isle of Convalescence—Town of St. George's,
where Tom Moore was once Custom-House Officer—
Negro Pilot—Ked-coated Sentinels keeping Guard amid
Wild Scenery—Groups of Officers under Ennui—John
Bull's Permanent Qualities—Two Women to One Man
in Bermuda—Curious Streets—Gardens—Shops and
Stores without Signs—People Idle and Happy—Tom
Moore's Opinion of Bermudian Women—Tradition as to
the Island's having been settled by Lovers of Quiet—
Permanent Type of English, &c. &c.

Bermuda, March 12, 1852.

Dear Morris,

I date, you see, from "the vexed Bermoothes,"
though I write in the same cabin in which you left
me at the wharf of Jersey City—a change of locality
it would be as difficult for me to realise as for you,
perhaps, had I not just now come off from shore,
laden with the flowers and foliage of this eternal
summer, and were not the ship-chandlery-atmosphere
of my state-room overpowered, for the present, by

B2

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the orange blossoms and geraniums which I plucked
over the garden-walls in to-day's rambles. I am
enjoying June, though my date says " March."

Of our voyage hither there is little to chronicle,
except for the invalids whose thronged pilgrimage
this route is likely to become. The long aisle of snow,
through which the pilot led us to Sandy-Hook and
the ocean, promised coldly; but the air of the open
sea was mild, and the quick arrival at the borders of
the Gulf-Stream gave us a temperature to our mind.
It is surprising what a balm for lungs is in the air
of this warm channel from the tropics. After having
coughed for the greater part of every night for months,
I slept the night through, in the Gulf-Stream, as if
stilled by an opiate. The sharper breath of the At-
lantic, as we once more got out of the floating sea-
weeds and warm wind, gave me back my cough, but
it manifestly softens with the more genial atmosphere
of Bermuda; and, for most pulmonary patients, I
am told, this climate is a cure, without going to the
more Southern Islands.

The trip from New York to Bermuda will be
easily made within three days by the new steamer
which Cunard is building for the route; but pur
little propeller, the Merlin, made four days of it.
We left you on Monday, and on Friday forenoon we
ran up the inlet which forms the access to the pretty
town of St. George's. The pilot who had boardedHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

3

us was a very handsome negro, and the air of natural
authority with which he ordered the white sailors
about, divided my attention with the winding shores
through which he was our guide. A saucy looking
fort gave us its tacit permission to pass, at the en-
trance of the inlet, and there was here and there a
fortification on the way to our anchorage; but, with
the exception of these military sharp angles, and the
red-coated sentinels, so needlessly keeping guard over
these desolate hills with their shouldered muskets,
the scenery was like the wilder parts of Roxbury and
Dorchester. Cedars and low bushes seemed the only
vegetation, and the soil did not look very promising.
Nearer the town, where it is more sheltered, the
cactus made its gayer appearance.

Arrived opposite the pier, we were a long time
warping up to the landing, and by the groups of
officers who had lounged down to have a look at the
strangers, it was evident that events are a scarce
commodity on the island. John Bull does not Ber-
muda-fy. He looks just as he does at home. Under
a delicate bright sky, and with dry walking, he wears
his weather-proof shooting jacket and double-soled
shoes—the officers out of uniform looking (till you
get a close look at their faces) like labourers waiting
about the pier for a job. Setters and spaniels were
in unusual plenty. Negro men, women, and chil-
dren idled about, as if work were a thing unheard of.4

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

I will anticipate a little by giving you a statistic or
two, from a Bermuda almanac for 1852, which we
bought at one of the shops in our ramble. It will
tell you, better than I can otherwise do, what popu-
lation we were about to see. Montgomery Martin
states that " there are twice as many females as males
in the Bermuda Islands," and yet matrimony seems
unpopular. Of the coloured males in the Parish of
St. George, my almanac says, 90 are married, 326
unmarried—of the females, 101 are married, 523
unmarried; of the whites, 117 men are married, 241
unmarried—114 married women, 265 unmarried ;
273 dwelling-houses accommodate all these. The
entire population of the Bermuda group of islands is
about 11,000. They are scattered in nine parishes*
and the seat of Government is at Hamilton, a port
on the west side of the main island, fifteen miles from
where lay our steamer. A Vice Admiral (Sir George
Seymour, in command of Her Majesty's Meet on this
side the Atlantic) makes Bermuda his station, and
Captain Charles Elliot, pleasantly known to Ameri-
cans, is the Governor.

We got ashore about eleven o'clock, and immedi-
ately started for a ramble through the town. After
a turn or two, it seemed to me as if we were walking
through unroofed catacombs, the stone walls were so
close, on either side, and the windows of the houses
so small and dark. The stillness of the town addedHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

to the effect, as there are 110 wheels to be heard—a
vehicle being a rare exotic on the island. Garden-
walls, and the walls of houses, were all built of the
same stone, the testaceous base of the Bermudas,
which is cut with a saw, like blocks of wood, and
hardens with exposure to the air—so that the whole
town of St. George's looks as if it might easily be a
labyrinth of excavated vaults and alleys. Occupying
the hollow of a curve under a hill of soft stone, this
is doubtless true of parts of it.

Fresh from New York, where every business street
seems broken out in a raging scarlatina of signs, it
was odd to walk through streets, and look in upon
stores and shops through unornamented and plain
doors and windows. The Bermudians seem to trust
their goods to speak from the shelves only. Getting
away from this part of the town, we wound away
through long and crooked alleys between walls which
shut in gardens, and here the negro population
abounded. They appeared to be not only perfectly
idle but perfectly happy. Every man and woman
saluted us with bow and smile, and every one whom
we looked at a second time had something to say.
They were all out of doors, sitting, lounging, gossip-
ing across the enclosures, idly looking at the troops
of children playing in the dirt; and, of labour, there
was little or no sign in the grounds and court-yards.
The garden-walks were overgrown with grass, and6

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the beds of vegetables with weeds. The lemon and
orange groves were in fruit and flower, but they
looked ragged and neglected, and the geraniums and
roses, in full bloom on the walls, were overgrown and
untrimmed. Life looked everywhere easy, superfluous,
and happy. It was the remark of my companion, as
well as myself, that a look of care and eagerness of
pursuit was suddenly missing from the physiognomy
around us—seen last, that is to say, in New York and
Jersey. While I write, by the way, one of my fair
fellow-passengers has called my attention to a remark
that Tom Moore (who, it will be remembered, was
for some time in office here) makes, as to the physi-
ognomy of the island. " The women of Bermuda,"
he says, " though not generally handsome, have an
affectionate languor in their look and manner, which
is always interesting. What the French imply by
their epithet aimantey seems very much the character
of the young Bermudian girls—that predisposition
to loving, which, without being awakened by any par-
ticular object, diffuses itself through the general
manner in a tone of tenderness that never fails to
fascinate. The men of the island are not very civi-
lized," etc. It is a query whether Moore made any
distinction of colour in this remark, as all the white
inhabitants are as English as the English are at home.

On the upper streets of the town we found cot-
tages built after the fashion of the suburbs of London.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

7

and met here and there a lady walking, with no
mitigation of woollen shawl from the March wear in
England—June-like as were the sky and temperature.
I was prepared to see something that should look
Bermudian, in the costume. Tradition says that the
islands had no original population, but that Madoc,
son of the Prince of Wales, " got with him such men
and women as desired to live in quietness," and made
the first settlement here. The " desire" seems to
have remained in tolerable force, but of the Welsh
cap or kirtle there is no sign. All is Woolwich-y
and Portsmouth-y, even to the stick of crooked haw-
thorn in the hand of every walking gentleman. I
write, not admiringly, however, of this permanency
and definableness. English officers are, at least, all
they look or assume to be, and they are to be prized,
as the world goes, for adhering to their type, in all
latitudes.

I cannot get out of Bermuda in one letter, I believe;
so adieu for the present.LETTER II.

English Landlady at Bermuda—One Public Vehicle on the
Island—Government Road of Forty Miles—Fashion of
Economizing here-Arrow-root native to Bermuda—No
Springs nor Wells—No Wild Animals and few Birds—
English and Negro Habits in Contrast—Compliment to
American Liberality—Re-embarcation for St. Thomas—
Getting into Warm Latitudes—First Effect on Invalids-
Luxurious Idling in Sailing in these Tropical Seas—
Briefer Twilights and Brighter Stars—Running on a
Reef, &c., &c.

\

Bermuda, March 13, 1852.

Dear Morris,

" Mrs. Tucker" hangs out no sign, though any one
who should by chance see her standing at her own
door would know the house for an Inn. Her smile
is habitual, her eyes sharp, her person amplitudinous,
and her cap of the half-mourning respectability which
landladies wear. Her parlour received us with the
usual welcome of furniture for an English public-
house— conch-shells and glass cases of artificial
flowers on the mantel-piece, Albums on the centre-
table, and a chintz-covered sofa. She had offered ushealth trip to the tropics.

9

dinner at two, and we had promised ourselves some
luxury that should tell of the Atalantides—grapes or
fruits that should acknowledge the seven hundred
miles we had left behind us—but it was England's
mutton and pudding, and neither orange nor fresh
fig, neither pine-apple nor banana.

The towp. having but one public vehicle, the ladies
of our party had been accommodated first, and had
taken their drive while we were taking our walk
before dinner. The red-whiskered carrier of Her
Majesty's mails between St. George and Hamilton,
for whom such occasional livery-jobs were a perquisite
of office, waited for us at the door, and we were soon
out from the narrow streets, and winding among the
green hils of Bermuda. The road, which looks as if
a wheel did not pass over it once in three months,
was as smooth as a floor, and, being a Government
work, is laid out and constructed with the taste and
completeness of a park. There are forty miles of it
altogether, and it seems designed only to develope
and give access to the beauties of view and scenery.
It coquets, in and out, among the hills which line the
shore, and the glimpses of this wonderfully brilliant
blue sea, with the foreground of lavish vegetation,
and the distant foam upon the coral reefs which
encircled the island, are beautiful indeed. Such
roads and scenery, with such perpetually fine weather
for driving, are an unknown combination of luxuries
b 210

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

to the English at home, and yet there is scarce such
a thing as a private pleasure vehicle on the island.
Our driver explained it by saying that" nobody came
to Bermuda for anything but to economise."

Arrow-root is here at home. Seeing some negroes
at work, digging it in a field, we stopped to look at it-
owing the compliment of a call to the long-tried and nu-
tritious friend of our children and invalids It is a long
root, and grows wrong-end upwards, like a carrot, with
ready prodigality. In this genial clime thrive also
coffee, indigo, tobacco, and every fruit and vegetable of
the tropics, and we saw plants and foliage rare to us at
every turn—the walls edged with prickly pear, and, by
the road-side, geraniums flowering wild, cactuses and
palmettos, orange, lemon and fig-trees. The voyage
seemed short which had brought us from bare trees,
cold wind and snow, to such summer air and perennial
vegetation.

Bermudahas no fresh water, except what comes from
the clouds; and quite a feature of the island is the
whitewashed slope of the tank, which everywhere sup-
plies the house. Perhaps it is owing to this want that
there are no wild animals, and very few birds upon the
island.

On our return towards the town, atfive or six o'clock,
we met the officers and ladies on their afternoon prome-
nade, a mile or two fromhome—their bright untropical
complexions showing that they were well repaid for
preserving their national habits of exercise. Their tea-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

11

tables probably assembled them afterwards, for there
was no sign of an evening promenade, even to listen to
the military band. The merry negroes alone seemed
enough enamoured of the climate to stay out of doors
without an errand. I understand, by the way, that this
is a sort of black man's paradise—the usages, indul-
gences, standards of conduct, habits and easy means of
subsistence, combining, with the respect which John
Bull pays to the dark skin, to make life in Bermuda
very much to CufFee's mind. Few who leave it stay
long away. They are certainly, as seen in the streets
of St. George's, the most happy, saucy, careless and
good-for-nothing looking population I ever saw.

We found, on getting on board, that the Admiral,
Sir George Seymour, had paid his respects to the
name that sent out the Arctic Expedition, by leaving
his card for Mr. Grinnell. Five of our passengers
had left us, two English Army-Captains, a Bermuda
lawyer and his wife, and one invalid; and thirteen of
us remained for the voyage southward. We got
under way the next morning at nine, and with our
black pilot to see us safely through the reefs, put
out from the green inlet into the smoothest of sum-
mer seas. Sea-sickness pretty well over, the wind
fair, the air upon deck delicious, our propeller en-
suring us six miles in the hour, and the breeze
three or four more, we are all content to see the Mer-
lin's beak pointed steadily for the Tropics, and care
little for the ground-swell of the ocean.12

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

March 15.—We cannot find clothes thin enough
to day. The themometer by the open port-hole in
my state-room, on the cool side of the ship, ranges
from seventy-eight to eighty. The trade wind has
brought us along very steadily, and we are now, in
our third day from Bermuda, hoping to reach St.
Thomas by midnight. The heat of these tropical
seas is singularly debilitating. A scene of unsupplia-
ble gone-ness is complained of by every one. For
me, it has somewhat loosened my cough, but brain
and limb seem saturated with utter helplessness.
Food gives no strength, and sleep only seems to ex-
haust and weaken. What health is to be found in so
prostrating a clime I shall know, perhaps, when it
has wrought its changes upon me—but for the pre-
sent, I feel sailing towards an equator of inanity.

Our company on board is as agreeable a variety of
people as often chances together. We have two ladies
who would be the charm of any society, bound on a
voyage of health; a couple of courteous Virginians on
the same errand; a Barbadoes merchant and his Creole
lady; two or three young gentlemen of the orna-
mental class, ard one or two well-matured citizens of
the world— an every-day breakfast and dinner party,
with which one would compromise to summer or
winter. We lounge all day on our cushions under
the awning, wanting only a little steady grass under
us, and a little more energetic atmosphere above us,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

13

to make it pass for a three-day fete champ etre, of the
Bocaccio quality.

The sudden twilight, which drops over the day in
this latitude like a stage curtain, interrupted my
letter; and after an hour or two of gazing with new
eyes upon the old constellations, which burn so much
brighter for these seas than for ours, I went to bed.
A heavy crash, and a continued bang of something
against the bottom of the vessel, awoke me, and my
more watchful companion came down below with the
news that we had run upon a reef, in approaching
St. Thomas, and our propeller was disabled. The
passengers, who were mostly on deck, were somewhat
alarmed, but the night was fortunately calm, and the
sails sufficed to take us off from the shore we had
shaved a little too closely. We are at present be-
calmed some ten miles from St. Thomas, and have
breakfasted on board very much against our will. A
row-boat has been sent up to the town with the mails,
and we hope for a breeze to follow it. An old sea
captain happened to be among our passengers, and
two gentlemen who have made many voyages, and
passed their lives in pursuits of commerce; and they
have volunteered a letter to Captain Cope exonerat-
ing him from blame in the matter, and attributing
it partly to defective charts, and partly to the14

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

neglect of the man on the forward look-out. It is
the agreeable news of every ten minutes, at present,
that " she don't leak/' though, with a higher sea and
a different wind, she would have knocked a hole in
her bottom with the descent upon the reef that broke
only the propeller. This being the great sea for
sharks, we should probably have been digested by
this time.

News of a sail boat coming off. Adieu for the
present.LETTER HI.

Becalmed with a Broken Propeller—Taken off by a Norwe-
gian Captain in his Sail Boat—Kind Treatment on Board
—Ten Mile Course to St. Thomas—Norwegian Bread and
Cheese—French Steamer towing tip the Merlin—Distant
Aspect of the Virgin Islands—Transparency of Atmos-
phere and Curious Effect of Perspective—Hills like a
Shelf of Sugar-loaves—Harbour like a Mountain Sea
reached by Balloon-ships—Danish Guns, not Cannibals,
to receive us—Cocoa-nut Grove on the Wharf—Super-
luxuriant Tree—Negro Loafers like Black Don-Csesar-de-
Bazans—Physiognomies untouched by Care—Happiness
as a Growth of the Tropics, etc., etc., etc.

St. Thomas, March 19, 1852.

Dear Morris,

The sail that bore down upon us yesterday, as we
lay becalmed with our broken propeller, had a cool-
looking cockswain in the stern—a gentleman in white
grass jacket and trousers, and a straw hat, who was
in odd contrast with you, the last man I bad seen at
the port I had come from, buttoned up to the throat
in your pilot-cloth overcoat. I mentally put you two,
and the two climates, together. He turned out to16	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

be a " Virgin-Islander/' however. It was Captain
Peterson, of the ship Christian, of Copenhagen, who,
hearing of our disaster by the boat we had sent on
shore, had done as his countryman Ole Bull would
have done—manned his boat to come off and bring
up the delayed passengers to St. Thomas. He ran
alongside, and his offer was gladly accepted. The
baggage was passed down; but as the ladies were
preparing to embark, a steamer was observed coming
from the direction of the port, and, on the probability
that it was one which had just arrived and was
coming to tow up the Merlin before letting off her
steam, they concluded to remain.

Three of us took our seats with the manly-looking
Norwegian, in the stern of his jolly-boat, and putting
up his helm he ran off upon a side-wind for St.
Thomas. The light breeze took a small craft along
very buoyantly, and we were soon smelling the shore,
and beginning to be found again by open-air appe-
tites. An hour after leaving the ship's side, the
captain ordered aft a capacious basket which one of
his men had under charge, and gave us a most ac-
ceptable specimen of hospitality—under the Nor-
wegian flag—a bottle or two of Sauterne, with some
jugs of Seltzer water; a loaf of sweet rye bread,
baked on board his ship, with a delicious old cheese,
and some excellent butter; and a glass of the purest
of Cognac, for a chasse-tout, afterwards. Even BlueHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

17

Beard, the pirate, (along whose caves upon this his
island we were skimming so swiftly,) never relished
lunch more. Our friend spoke English very well,
and was the model of a frank, agreeable, open-
hearted sailor; and upon that three-hours' sail my
companions agreed with me that we should always
look, as one of those chance pleasures that over-
balance the misfortune they grow from.

For the latter part of our course the wind was
ahead; and while we tacked in to the harbour, our
steamer passed us, towed by a French steamer of
war. We did not arrive quite as soon as we should
have done by staying on board, though we had seen
the coast of the island to much more advantage, and
were otherwise well reconciled to our delay. I
studied the look of the St. Thomas islands very con-
stantly on our approach. Unclad in any visible at-
mosphere, their edges from a distance look as sharp
as cut pasteboard; and, as you near them, their bald
round tops, without vegetation, remind you of the
shaved heads of a group of patients in a lunatic
asylum. It is strange to a northern eye, and like a
new sight, to see so far and so clear. We could
count the leaves of the cactuses on both sides of the
harbour, as we ran in, and perspective seemed sud-
denly abolished, so equally near seemed every house
along miles of receding shores.

An ant, taking a walk on a shelf of sugar-loaves,18

HEALTH TRIP TO THE THOPICS.

and stopping in an open space where one had been
taken out, would have nearly the same relative geo-
graphy around him as a boat in the centre of the
harbour of St. Thomas. It really looks as if you
might stand on the summit of any one of the half
dozen hills around, and toss a number of the Home
Journal (sealed up for the mail) on board any ship in
the harbour. The fifty or sixty sail at anchor lie
very close, their many coloured flags of all nations
giving them a very gay appearance, and the number-
less boats, plying constantly between them, enlivening
the scene exceedingly. Coming from that most un-
shaded and unoccupied spot on earth, the open sea,
we seemed suddenly to have slid into a mountain
market-place, with a basin of water in its deep-down
bottom, and vessels that must have come thither as
balloons. It is a harbour with a strangely moun-
tainous physiognomy.

The guns of His Majesty of Denmark's Moorish-
looking castle gave us a stare as we passed before
them, and the sentries on the walls, pacing backward
and forward, in the hot cloth caps and uniforms of a
northern clime, gave us the comfortable assurance
that the Caribs were driven out, and no cannibal was
expecting to sup upon us. A few rods from the
shore we found ourselves in the range of an avenue
of most wonderfully luxuriant foliage, new to my eye,
which our steersman informed us was a cocoa-nutHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

19

grove; and this shades the two sides of St. Thomas's
principal wharf. Never eat cocoa-nut again without
a sigh to the memory of its mother ! It is the most
prodigally beautiful tree that gives its children milk
under the sun. The fruit clings near the trunk in
clusters, and over it bends, in an emerald so vivid
and brilliant as to look newly created that hour, the
broad and expanded plume-leaves—as superfluous as
a mother's heart in their overladen luxuriance.
For a similitude of anything more beautiful than was
strictly called for, speak of the leaf of the cocoa-nut.
I give it to you for your next song, my dear Morris.

A dozen boats met us, twenty yards from the pier,
manned by clamorous negroes, eagerly begging to be
engaged to carry baggage to the Hotel; and the end
of the wharf was packed with a close crowd of them,
all competitors for the same job. Their efforts to
establish something to be recognized by were drolly
ingenious. Crooks of the finger over the nose, twists
of the mouth, grimaces, appealing looks, and panto-
mimic gestures of every description, were offered to
us as mnemonics on which to hook a promise. I was
agreeably disappointed in their physiognomies. They
were mostly of the small and delicate Spanish features
—like well-descended Castilians with black skins—
and there was nothing African or plebeian in their
aspect or demeanor. Hat, shirt, and trousers, were
their only articles of dress; and, with their slight\

20	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

forms and small waists, their white rags, relieved by
the black skins which they enveloped, were far from
inelegant. By the expressions of their faces, their
hearts, like their teeth, seemed exempt from the ordi-
nary human liabilities; and they seemed, dirty and
in tatters as they all were, to

" come from a happy land
Where care is unknown."

I set foot on the shore with a feeling that the climate
might give something of this, even to the stranger.
In the two days I have now been here, it has grown
upon me, and I fancy that to-be-happy-without-
asking-questions may be a plant indigenous to the
island. I smell it in the perfume that comes out
from these near hills at night-fall. You shall have a
seed, if I can get it.

The schooner Mary Emeline, a fast schooner, sails
in twenty minutes for New York. Mr. Wetmore,
her owner, has kindly permitted me to write, up to
the last moment of her stay, with a promise to bag
my letter without fail. The time is so nearly up that
I must say adieu, adding only that we sail probably
for Martinique, Guadaloupe and Barbadoes, to-morrow
or day after. My friend, Mr. G., says my cough is
backing out from this warm climate, and I quote
him, for I have found other things more agreeable to
keep the run of.

Yours, thermometer at eighty.LETTER IV.

The proper name of "St. Thomas''—Earthquake Season just
now—Heavy Portmanteau carried on the Head—The
Hotel and its Peculiarities—Windows without Sashes or
Glass—Mulatto Child's Bath—Tropical Indifference to
Observation—Walk through the principal Street during
the Town's Siesta—New Wrinkle of Enterprise in
" Drumming"—Signs by which they know Americans—
Negro Funeral—Chairs in Mourning—Sorrow at In
tervals—White Gowns and Black Shoulders—Un-African
Cast of Features—Eeason for Tendency towards the
White Man's Look—Curious Tribute of Admiration for
Virtue, paid by an African Prince to a Good Man—
Burials—Effects of the Climate on European Health,
etc., etc.

St. Thomas, West Indies, March 20, 1852.

Dear Morrts,

I should date my letter more properly " Charlotte
Amalia"—that being the Danish designation of the
town in which I write—or " Tappus," which, in old
times, was its more vulgar designation—St. Thomas
being about as authentically the name of it, as " Man-
hattan" is the name of New York. There seems but
one reason why St. Thomas is the better name. No22

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

spot on earth has ever suffered so frequently from
hurricanes and earthquakes, (of the latter of which,
this month, by the way, is the particular season.)
To live here with any comfort, one must be incredu-
lous that hurricane or earthquake will ever happen
again—and St. Thomas was the unbelieving Apostle.
The news of this morning is, that there was an earth-
quake last night which lasted 42 seconds. So, St.
Thomas be it!

To begin where my last letter left off—with our
landing on the cocoa- tree pier. The negro who had
succeeded in making me smile, (and to whose rights,
thereupon, to my acquaintance and custom the rest
of the sable crowd quietly yielded,) had my large
portmanteau placed on the top of his head, took my
carpet-bag in his hand, and started for the hotel.
What with books and summer and winter clothing,
the weight on the spine of that fellow was at least
one hundred pounds; yet he walked easily under it,
while my chief affliction, at the moment, was the
oppressiveness of my winter hat! I should have been
flattened, under what he carried, like the ashes of a
pastille.

At the other end of the cocoa-grove stood our
Hotel—an irregular Moorish-Jooking structure, ap-
parently all arches, corridors, and verandas—but kept
by a Frenchman, and said to be the best public house
in the West Indies. "No room to be had," was ourHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

23

first salutation; but they finally crammed Mr. G.
and myself into a narrow cell on the ground floor,
with a window upon a paved court—the court being
the lively home of all the spare black females of the
establishment, their children, their parrots, and their
dogs. As I finished my last letter to you, a large
negress brought put an earthen vessel of water, and
proceeded to strip and wash her daughter, (a pretty
mulatto child of ten years of age,) in the open court,
within six feet of my inkstand—the two scolding and
complaining so vociferously, all the while, that you
will easily understand any lack of harmony in my
grammar or cadences. Glass windows seem to be
considered a superfluity in this climate. We have
only a green blind with immovable open slats, and
no means of shutting out either the night air or the
observation of the curious. Our fair fellow pas-
sengers, two ladies from Boston, whose windows open
upon the thronged veranda of the hotel, have pinned
up shawls and dresses on. the inside of their blinds,
thus securing a little privacy at a serious expense of
light and air. I notice, however, in the manners,
habits, and faces of all the inhabitants, an apparently
entire unconsciousness of being visible to the naked
eye, which I suppose must be an opiate effect of the
torrid zone on the sensibilities. I will inquire of the
Consul how long it takes to become acclimated in
this desirable respect.24

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

We had arrived at three in the afternoon, and
white skins were out of the sun, enjoying their siesta.
There was a shady side to the principal streets, which
stretched away from the door of our hotel; and as the
negroes seemed to be abroad in multitudes, I was
tempted to take a stroll in preference to a nap before
dinner. The street was narrow, and it was evident
that a wheel went over it very rarely. The shops
were low, and looked like rough warehouses, plastered
and white-washed; and, by the signs, I saw that most
of the merchants were Germans. Their shelves of
goods, indeed, reminded me of Leipsic Fair, for,
nowhere else have I seen the same marvellous parade
of cheap trifles and gaudy toys and eye-traps. Ready-
made clothes and Panama hats seemed the next most
abundant supply. There was but one apothecary,
apparently, in all St. Thomas, and but one bookstore—
a small demand less wonderful as to the pills than the
literature. A clerk beckoned me in to one of the
variety stores as I went, and expressed his modest
hope that he had something for my money; and, on
my sauntering return, I was spoken to by several of
the shop-keepers, with questions about the news of
America, followed by a recommendation of their
goods—a " drumming" at the door, which even the
enterprise of Maiden Lane has not yet equalled. I
found afterwards, that they know all strangers, in
lumps of separate arrivals by the steamers, and thatHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

25

they distinguish Americans from. English by our
sharper eyes and invariable newness of hat.

A negro funeral was passing the door of the hotel
as I re-entered. I could not understand, at first,
why two chairs, with backs and legs draped in white
crape, should be carried in advance by two women—
but they stopped presently, and set them down to re-
ceive the coffin and rest the bearers. This was also
apparently a breathing time for the sorrow of the
mourners. I noticed that the staid gravity of sadness
with which the twenty couples followed the body
when in motion, was instantly laid aside when it
stopped, and they fell to laughing and chatting like
pe'ople at a pic-nic. The only men were the four
bearers. The others were negresses in Madras tur-
bans and white gowns—as picturesque a troop, with
their black shoulders and arms in such strong relief,
as could well be imagined. I looked in vain, in this
procession as among the blacks on the pier, for the
African features. There were no thick lips nor flat
nose. A slight and elegant mould of features seemed
almost universal. It is true they were of the various
shades of mixed colour, and the African gives a good
will as well as a ready consent to a white graft upon
the blood. There is an amusing historical record of
this, by the way, in the " History of St. Thomas"
just published by our friend Scribner. The writer
speaks of the agents sent out to Guinea by Christian Y.

c26

health trtp to the tropics.

of Denmark, to purchase slaves for this island.
These agents were described by Abbe Haynal as men
of atrocious cruelty. But, says the writer, " the good
Abbe mentions one noble exception to these agents.
Such was his character for probity and philanthropy,
that he was almost an object of worship. People
came three hundred miles to see him; and an old
prince living at that distance sent his favourite
daughter, with abundance of gold and diamonds, that
the thrice worthy Schildeross (or agent) might give
him a grandson."

The book from which I have quoted is an invalu-
able one to invalids who think of seeking this climate,
and a most careful and well-written work, extremely
interesting to the general reader. It is written by
a clergyman of the Dutch Reformed Church of this
place. On the subject of Burials, and on the sanitary
advantages of the island, I find passages which I will
add in a postscript to my letter, and then bid you
adieu for the present.

" Burials generally take place within twelve hours
after death, the funerals being ordered at 5 p. m.
Government derives a small revenue from all graves
opened. The Jews and Moravians have graves of
their own. The poor are buried at the expense of
the country treasury. Government has a burying-
ground lying in the north-east of the town, in a
romantic spot, for its officers and soldiers; othersHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPIC S.

27

than these are sometimes buried there by special
favour. The keeping of hearses is a monopoly
granted by Government to a single individual; and
only the rich, or those in good circumstances, can
pay for their use. This monopoly entails a severe
burden on the poor. They are obliged to convey the
dead by bearers, who are not even allowed a hand-
bier ; which, owing to the distance of the grave-yards
from the main body of the town, proves a serious in-
convenience. In consequence it is difficult with the
poor very often to procure a sufficient number of
bearers." ******

" Whilst foreigners who have taken up their re-
sidence in St. Thomas enjoy a good degree of health,
as a general thing, and some have remained perfectly
well during a protracted abode, yet the great majority
find an occasional change to more northern latitudes
absolutely necessary to restore the tone and vigour of
their constitutions. The continued heat of summer
and winter, even with the most careful and temperate,
ultimately debilitates the system, and induces disease
—either intermittent fever, or more especially, bowel
complaint. There are very few exceptions to this,
and we believe the remarks apply to all the West
India Islands. Hence European and American re-
sidents are continually leaving the island for a short
sojourn of a few months, during summer or winter,
in their native countries. They almost invariably re-28	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

turn with improved health to remain a few years,
and then repeat the change. If this change of climate
can be enjoyed every three or four years, we believe
there is no place of residence in any country more
delightful and healthy than St. Thomas, provided
temperance be observed, and care taken to avoid un-
necessary exposure."LETTER Y.

Two Mornings a Day, and Two Dinners—Description of West
Indian Hotel — No Privacy in this Latitude-—Negro
Familiarity—Danish Castle and Ruins of Bluebeard's
Tower—View from Hotel Veranda—Distinct Types of
Beauty at St. Thomas—Six Races of Coloured People—
Blood of all Nations concentrated at St. Thomas—Grecian
Noses and Spanish Delicacy of Feature grafted on Negro
Stock—Nature's Exceptions—Beauties ignorant of Alpha-
bet and Stockings—Curiously caused Pride and Stateliness
of Demeanour—Picturesque Dress of Women—Lovely
Shoulders and Horrible Feet—Suggestion to Artists to
come and arrest Types of Beauty that are passing, and
may die out with Higher Civilization, &c., &c.

St. Thomas, West Indies, March 22, 1H52.

Dear Morris,

We have two mornings a day, in this climate—the
second one, at 3 p.m. after the siesta, just now
beginning. I resisted these noon indolences at first,
but have given in. From 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. is as
long a day as even a healthy man can do justice to,
in an atmosphere so steeped in lassitude. The in-
habitants eat two dinners in the twenty-four hours.
Coffee and bread and butter are brought to one's bed
a little before sunrise, and at 10 in the forenoon there30

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPTCS.

is precisely such a dinner on the hotel table as is
served at 6 in the evening—a bottle of claret to every
man's plate, and meats, fruits and coffee, in regular
succession. All the boarders assemble at this meal
most punctually, and it is quite as long, conver-
sational, and hearty, as dinner No. 2.

I wish I could give you an idea of the out-of-
doors-y and free and easy character of this " crack
hotel" of the West Indies. It has but two public
apartments, a vast billiard-room and a vast dining-
room. These occupy about two-thirds of the second
story; but the other third is a marble-paved veranda,
fronting on the bay, and this last serves the purposes
of Ladies' Drawing-room, Gentleman's Parlour,
Smoking-room, and Bar. The ladies are receiving
company in one group, while sherry cobblers are
being drunk in another; ices served here, coffee there,
and cigars in all directions. The choice is between
this publicity and a very small bed-room; and the
preference for the former is unanimous. It seems to
be an element of a tropical climate that nobody can
intrude. Privacy seems as much forgotten and out of
its latitude at St. Thomas as are muffs and tippets.
While our lady fellow-passengers were at breakfast
this morning, two young gentlemen were promenading
to and fro in the drawing room, with their hats on,
smoking and looking at the strangers, as if wholly
invisible themselves. It is impossible not to overhearHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

31

the conversation of the different groups of young men
on the veranda. With no sashes nor glass to the
windows, there is no shutting out sounds; and the
most delicate of invalids must lie on her pillow,
listening to the rattle of billiard balls, the shaking of
ice in glasses, the laughter and jokes of the drinkers,
and, loudest of all, the eternal and vociferous chattel*
of the negroes—merry,undeferential,and omnipresent.
The man who waits on me came into my room last
night, after I had been two or three hours abed, and
woke me to say that a steamer had arrived. The
black laundresses talk French to me, as I sit writing
at my window, opening on their court-yard. Every
negro in the street will speak to you if you look at
him. Your neighbours at table converse with you.
Nobody is stranger to anybody. The equator seems
to be not onlv an astronomical, but a moral and social,
equalizer.

Our hotel is next door to the Danish castle or fort,
which commands the Bay—or rather there is only
the Governor's garden between us—and the chivalric
structure, with its bastions, battlements and barbican,
flag flying, and sentries pacing between the towers,
forms a corner to our view from the veranda, than
which nothing could be more picturesque. High on
a hill to the east of it stand the ruins of a castle,
called " Bluebeard's Tower/' looking feudal enough ;
and in front of us lies the bright bay, walled in with32

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

hills like a well, and with an opening like a broad
gate to the sea. With all these romantic-looking
surroundings, and with the lazy and loose climate
and its habits, it is agreeable to find such a careful
and modern exotic as a good French cook—but
such is our felicity. The Hotel de Commerce is kept
by a very polite and gentlemanly Frenchman; and
his two dinners a day are cooked and spread with a
science and variety worthy of a table d'hdte of
Marseilles or Havre. He seats about fifty persons
at a meal—no extra charge for claret, finger-glasses,
and coffee.

Artists know very well that the original and dis-
tinct types of human beauty and expression are few
and rare. In all the engravings of female heads, in
France and England, there are not a dozen. The
others are variations of these, more or less slight, but
all traceable. In St. Thomas, during the four or five
days that I have rambled through its streets and
markets, I have surprisingly enriched my knowledge
of how Nature can vary these priceless gifts of indivi-
duality■. Faces, curiously different from any I had
ever before seen, met me at every turn; and it was
not till I had reasoned a little upon the origin and
habits of the people, and made some enquiries as to
their races and combinations, that I could at all un-
derstand it.

My surprises, I should tell you, were all among theHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	33

coloured population, though of the African physiog-
nomy, (as we know it), with flat nose and thick lips,
you hardly see a specimen at St. Thomas. They are
mostly of crossed races, and the inhabitants have six
general classifications, defining more or less of white
blood:—the Negro, the Sambo, the Mulatto, the
Mustis, the Castis, and the Pustis. The Spanish oc-
cupancy of these islands, and the neighbourhood of
Mexico, have largely distributed Spanish eyes and
fine-cut regularity of feature, and it is in these two
particulars that the dark Thomasians mainly vary
from persons of colour elsewhere, But, when you
remember what a nucleus of voyages radiating from
all the nations of the world this port is—what marked
natural qualities the " bad boys" usually have who
turn out sailors because too wild to live at home, the
almost entire absence of virtue among this coloured
population, and their preference for the white man
though entirely barred from marriage with him— you
will easily see how the world will scarce have a type
of feature or character that is not likely to be im-
printed in vigorous relief on this sable ground. The
variations are startling. A soft blue eye with long
black lashes, such as I saw yesterday over a pair of
tawny lips curved with the Alhambra's own model
of Castilian scorn, looks strangely contradictory;
and the singular persistence of Nature in preserving
faultless teeth and raven hair to the dark Hebe,
c 234

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

whatever other variation of feature she may have,
makes them all comparatively beautiful. We think
we must go to Athens or Napoli to see the straight
Grecian nose, with its thin nostril, in perfection; but
no sculptor could better mould one, than from the
models of tan and orange which he could beckon to
him from every corner of St. Thomas. The short
upper lip of high descent, and the delicate small
oval of the chin, are equally common. And these
gifts, priceless to princesses, are here held in careless
unconsciousness by fruit girls, subject to none but
municipal laws—the Mustis and the Pustis, whose
merry eyes never saw alphabet, and whose brown
ankles never knew stocking.

Before closing this chapter on coloured beauty, by
the way, I must mention one other peculiarity of
these Yirgin-Islanders. Every female is trained from
childhood to carry burthens upon the head. From
a tea-cup to a water-pail, everything is placed on the
small cushion at the top of the skull. The absolute
erectness of figure necessary to keep the weight
where it can best be supported by the spine, the nice
balance of gait to poise it without being steadied
by the hands, the throwing forward of the chest with
the posture and effort that are demanded, the mea-
sured action of the hips, and the deliberateness with
which all turning round or looking aside must be
done, combine to form an habitual demeanour andHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

35

gait of peculiar loftiness and stateliness. A prouder-
looking procession than the market-women, as they
come and go with their baskets on their heads, across
the square below our veranda, could not be found in
the world. They look incapable of being surprised
into a quick movement; and are, without exception,
queenly of mien—though it come, strangely enough,
from carrying the burthens of the slave.

In dress, these tropical Cleopatras have but one or
two ideas, but those are in character, and effective.
The Mandras turban is universal. The gown is inva-
riably white—of some degree of cleanliness—and
worn with no illusions, either before or behind. The
neck is about as much decollete as a fashionable
young lady's at a ball, and the flat back, and plump
dark shoulders, certainly come out from the white
drapery with considerable artistic effect. Although
the gown is oftenest flounced with lace, the feet are
usually bare; and I must record, here, the most
detracting and almost invariable exception to their
beauty—feet large, and unnaturally flattened with the
unshod carrying of burthens. A sight of their pro-
jecting heels, corded insteps, and outspread toes, is a
sad damper to the stranger's admiration.

I will close my letter with suggesting to some
artist who is a philosopher of physiognomy, the value
of a visit to these latitudes, and the collecting of such
types of feature and beauty as will necessarily be30

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

transient with the advance of civilization and mora-
lity, but which now might be collected in a portfolio
of unequalled novelty and interest. This is the
world's laboratory for experiments in the chemistry
of blood, and the results are worth recording. Name
it to Darley and Rossitur.

Yours, under a very hot sun.LETTER VI.

Lobster Cockroaches and Gridiron Spiders—Good Climate for
Insects, Bad for Man—Sunrise Excursion to Mountain-
Top—Taking a Walk with a Pony to do the Walking—
Coffee to encourage Early Bising—Beauty of Light on
Mountain-tops only—Louisen-hoi, a Mountain-Villa—
Soil incapable of Quiet Grass—Trees of Passionate and
Spasmodic Growth—Air-Plant that gives the Traveller a
Cup of Water—Effect of Strange and New Vegetation on
the Mind—Enquiry into Perpetual Youth of Tropical
Plants—Whether Youth, Middle-Age, and Old Age, all in
One, is an Enviable Concentration of Experience—
Women do all the Hard Work in the Tropics—Loads of
Stone earned on the Head by a Procession of Girls—No
Lying Down out of Doors—Insects and Vermin—Vam-
pire Lizard—Tropical Sharks eat Negroes but do not eat
Pelicans—Views from the Two Sides of the Summit—
Hanging Architecture of St. Thomas, &e.

St. Thomas, West Indies, March, 1852.

#Dear Morris,

The English steamer, from which our Barbadoes
packet waits to take the mail, is now three days
behind her time; and till she arrives, we are making
the most of latitude 17 30. Seeing the other tenants
of our bed-rooms—cockroaches that have pretensions38

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

to be lobsters, and spiders on which you might lay a
beefsteak, mistaking it for a gridiron—you would
perhaps fancy we might feel the effect of so thrifty a
clime, and grow, as do the insects, with nothing
better to do. But I think, on the contrary, that I
grow perceptibly thin. These nights, like twelve-
hour vapour baths, and days when the putting of two
thoughts together amounts to a perspirative, are not
stuff upon which I feel a tendency either to fatten or
strengthen. They tell me it is so with all whites from
the temperate latitudes. We wane, as the negroes
wax under a tropical sun—and, if one is better for
coming here, it must be as he is better for a depletive,
with little of it. And, perhaps, an ordinary prescrip-
tion is aided by following also the poet's genial advice:

" In tropic climes, live like the tropic bird;

And, if a spice-fraught grove invite thy stay,

Be not by cares of colder climes deterred," &c

With our kind Consul for a guide, Mr. G. and I
made a sunrise excursion, yesterday morning, to the
summit mountain ridge which gives a view of both
slopes of the island. My companions went on foot;
but, with an invalid's privilege, I was allowed to take
the walk with a horse under me {promenade a cheval),
—a difference which, I find, very much assists the
admiration of scenery. Coffee, brought to the bed-
side, to open our eyes with—we contrived to be getting
up hill a little earlier than the sun, and nothing couldHEALTH TRIP Tol THE TROPICS.

39

well add more to the beauty of the landscape than
to see the hill-tops first touched with gold, and the
harbour below still lying in expectant shadow.

A romantic Dane built the charming village of
Louisen-hoi, on the summit of the ridge, and named
it after his wife; and the winding road which reaches
it is mainly of his making—a sort of staircase up the
side of the precipitous hill, which nothing but the
pony of the country could safely travel with a rider.
I was surprised, on the way, to see that this volcanic
soil, though rich in coarse weeds and shrubs, pro-
duces no grass. The ground is bare around the
stems of the wild oleanders and cactuses. The trees
have the peculiarity of appearing to seek nourishment
rather from the air than the earth, as their roots are
generally quite out of the ground; and, on most of
them, there are parasite plants, which are fed by the
atmosphere, and seem to require only a standing-
place where they can inhale the breeze. Our friend
showed us one of these, which is called the air-plant,
and which catches and retains water in the cup of
its flower, giving to thirsty man a drink, valuable
enough on an island where stream or spring is a
rarity almost unknown.

It curiously enlarges one's world to be surrounded
with an entirely new multitude of trees and flowers.
We stopped at every turn of the road to pluck some
new leaf, and admire some new beauty, or some new40

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

fragrance. Everything grows differently from the
vegetation in our climate. The branches oftenest
seem to have put forth with passionate irregularity,
and are wholly without the orderly symmetry which
Nature maintains at the North.

I have taken some pains, by the way, to enquire
into the perpetual youth of the foliage of the tropics.
Coming from bare trees and frozen grounds so re-
cently as we did, it hardly seemed natural to find
everything as blooming and verdant as in spring or
midsummer. I find it is not unusual. There are
trees which seem to rest for a month—dropping most
of their leaves and putting forth no blossoms in that
time. There are others which the hurricane season
finds weak, and strips suddenly, by its first tornado,
though they were apparently as green as ever. There
are several, however, whose youth, freshness, and
beauty know no repose and no winter—the cocoa-
tree, the citron, the orange, the banana—beautiful
creatures, every one, which bud, flower, and bear
fruit, all in one prodigal confusion of experience.
Are they to be envied by us, with our detailed pro-
gression of existence, or not ?

The women do all the monotonous and hard labour
in this climate. The negroes are even the chamber-
maids, as well as the boatmen, drivers, and tide-
waiters ; but the negresses bear the heavy burthens
out of doors. They unlade coal-vessels by a troop ofHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

41

women, who carry baskets, of the incredible weight
of two hundred pounds, upon their heads, the men
only lifting their baskets for them, and working the
windlass which hoists the lading from the hold. As
we approached Louisen-hoi, the road was undergoing
some repairs, and the stone, which was taken loose
from the soil, was to be used in a wall some fifty
feet above. Two men were overseeing the job—one,
who seemed to be the pathmaster, and stood looking
on; and another, who directed the loading of the
heads of seven negresses, with fragments of rock, and
then walked before them in slow procession to the
place of deposit. The poor barefooted girls, straight
as arrows, and as deliberate as priestesses in their
gait, were submissively patient and grave; and I
thought as I looked at them from a little distance,
that you would have to explain to a new visitant to
this planet, that they were not nobler, in their em-
ployment and demeanour, than the merchants walking
hurriedly and ungracefully about the market-place
below.

No man lies down under a tree in this climate.
The ants, lizards, toads, and snakes, axe in previous
possession. On almost every tree one sees an ant-
house as large as a half-bushel basket; and the
lizards, accustomed to be well treated by man, coolly
and deliberately walk off from any branch you may
direct your hand to, but show no haste or appre-42

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

hension of violence. The Consul told us there was a
kind of lizard, however, of which the natives are very
much afraid. Its first impulse, when surprised, is to
spring to the human hand, and fasten its teeth and
claws into the flesh; and, in proportion as this vam-
pire is resisted or terrified, it deepens its hold, never
loosing its clutch till it is cut in pieces. Of this
awkward customer we fortunately saw no specimen.

We found the lady of Louisen-hoi rambling about
the grounds with her children; and, when the Consul
presented us, she led us to the verandas of the villa,
from which we could see the ocean on both sides of
the island. A most lovely bay makes in under the
height, and here swam troops of pelicans—though
why the sharks, which deter the negroes from
swimming in these waters, do not gobble up these
nice-looking birds as well, I could not definitely
ascertain. For me, the pelican would be the better
eating of the two.

I did not enjoy the two views of the ocean the less,
because I cannot describe them to you. Life has
pleasures, and the world has beauties, which cannot
be put on paper. I may mention, however, that
there was great contrast between the two views, from
the difference in the foregrounds—on one side, the
wilderness of a volcanic island, and, on the other, a
crowded town with its ruined castles, its sentinelled
strong-hold, and busy harbour, thronged with row-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

43

boats and shipping. Most of the features of this
latter picture were entirely new. The houses of the
town—hung against the precipices like bird-cages
against a ay all, and with their yellow walls and red
roofs—looked like the innovations of yesterday, in
strange contrast with the crumbling fortifications of
old time. There is a look of renaissance about St.
Thomas—the castles old enough for the time of Co-
lumbus, and the dwellings new enough for Staten
Island or Newport. To give you an idea what singu-
larly hanging architecture is the fashion here, I may
mention one new house we noticed, where the earthy
bank of precipice cowered twenty feet above the
chimneys, while a wall sustained the basement, twenty
feet below the foundations. And to this—a three-
story house—there is no access, except by climbing
thither on foot, or, in case of illness, being borne up
or down on a hand-barrow. With the exception of
one street along the water, and one or two in the
bottoms of the glens, all St. Thomas is thus hung on
precipices.

In riding down, my stirrups, of course, were clat-
tering against the sides of my pony's bit, and I was
a most lengthwise demonstration, as to his body, with
the effort to sit upright; but, taking it for granted
that he knew the country and its accidents better
than I, I threw away my whip of twisted cocoa-leaf
and gave him the reins; and he dropped himself44

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

safely at my hotel door, and restored me, undamaged,
to level footing. People are usually very much tired
with this walk; and possibly my pony was tired with
his—but I was unfatigued, and I recommend to all
invalids, at least, no ascent of mountain, in this de-
bilitating clime, without a quadruped under the spine.

My letter is getting long. Adieu.LETTER VII.

Second Earthquake since arrival—Drive to see a Sugar
Plantation—Mammoth Cotton-Tree—Magnificent White
Beard on an old Black Man—Sucking Sugar-Stick—Pay
of Black Labourers—Nakedness in Tropical Climates—
Ebony Babies un-diapered — Expensively dressed
Coloured Belles with Bare Feet—Emancipated Shoulders
—Odd way of carrying a Sheep—Village of Sugar-Cane
Labourers—Woman with Spare Toe—Old Man happy
while being eaten by Ants—Black Girl taking a Siesta in
the Dirt—Curious Plum—Natural Sherbet, &c., &c.

St. Thomas, West Indies, March, 1852.

Dear Morris,

I write on " terra firma " I believe, though we
had an earthquake last night—the second since our
arrival on this volcanic island. What little rocking
the town gets, with these throes of nature, does not
wake me, I find, though the inhabitants have a quick
perception of one, and with great precision give you
the exact number of seconds that it lasted, as the
news of the morning. Strangers have usually a dread
of these phenomena; but I have no presentiment of46

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the earth's opening for me, except by spade and
pickaxe.

We drove out, a mile or two along the coast, to
see a sugar plantation, this morning—our vehicle an
American carry-all, which is the wonder of this pre-
cipitous island, and our driver a talkative mulatto,
who proudly mentions his indebtedness to one of the
most distinguished lawyers of Philadelphia for what
white blood is in him. On our way, we stopped to
see a cotton-tree, which is considered the largest sub-
ject of His Majesty of Denmark ; and which perhaps
would shade comfortably a Jenny Lind audience of
Tripler Hall. My friend took its measure, and found
the circumference of the trunk, at ground level, forty
feet. The cotton pods, just open, seemed making a
million offers, each one of just enough cotton for an
ear-ache. It was, altogether, a superfluous extrava-
gant tree, with a great many unnecessary branches—
a vegetable spendthrift, in fact, upon which, with my
experience, I could not look but with a feeling of
compassion. I took a specimen of what he produces,
however, and I am only sorry it will not shape, like
my superfluities, into an article for the Home Journal.

Allow me to note one thing which I saw on the
road, and which will be appreciable, perhaps, only by
artists—the blackest of negroes with the whitest of
beards. This t able au-viv ant was a pauper, of about
ninety, apparently, entirely black-bald, and withHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

47

nothing on him except certain remainders of a pair
of trousers, and a part of a shirt, his tawny chest en-
tirely bare, and his snowy beard descending over it
in waves—the effect, snowy mustache and all, worthy
of the high-priest of an Egyptian temple. He was
one of a crowd, coming from the morning mass of a
Catholic chapel, and everybody jostled and passed
him disregardfiilly—a popular unconsciousness of his
extraordinary beauty, which really seemed brutal
and unnatural. His face was that of a man who had
dignified on animal experience only—(no reason why
not, perhaps !)—and if he could have been framed,
and hung up, in a drawing-room, I would have given
5000 dollars for him, to re-sell to somebody who
could afford to own him as a picture. Black old age
is more picturesque than ours.

We passed through fields of sugar-cane—the plant
resembling very much our Indian corn in full growth
—and alighted at a mill, not just then in operation.
Its principle is a general one not confined to St.
Thomas,—the sweetness got out by squeezing. Our
semi-Philadelphian driver cut a sugar stick for us,
and sharpened the end for us to suck. With nothing
better, I could fancy it very palatable. There are no
fences at the fields, and anybody may cut stick and
suck—so that starvation in this country is purely a
matter of choice.

While my friend was inquiring into the statistics48

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

of sugar, I took a ramble through the village of huts
which the plantation sustains. The negroes seemed
to have as few wants, and to be about as unconsci-
ously comfortable, as snails and caterpillars. Each
family had two huts, built of sticks and thatched with
straw—one for cooking and one for sleeping. I stopped
at the door of one where the old woman looked
communicative. She began by showing me, with
some apparent pride, an extra toe which pointed like
a raised finger from the centre of one of her feet, and
ended by complaining that they had no bread. Her
family, then present, consisted of seven persons, who
slept altogether in about the space of a hotel's double-
bed—two grandfathers among them, and one very
pretty girl of about seventeen. I have mentioned
that there is no grass in this climate. The girl I
speak of lay flat on her back, on the earth at the
side of the cottage, with her well-turned ebony arm
over her head and only a ragged petticoat over her
limbs, as entirely unmoved by a stranger's presence
and observation as if she had been a statue of black
marble. The immovableness of one of the grand-
fathers was still more remarkable, however. He sat
on a rough wooden bench, with a pleasant and habitual
smile on his face—a decrepit old man—and, of his
two feet, which were half buried in the loose dirt,
one was literally rotten. His toes were covered with
sores, and the ants were upon them in hundreds—HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

49

yet lie leaned with his elbows on his knees, giving me
a slow and tranquil look as I stopped before him, and
seemed no more unhappy than a cheese with its mag-
gots. Do we not give ourselves unnecessary trouble
with our diseases, after all?

I learned, afterwards, that these pauper labourers
got half a dollar a week, for wages, and huts to live
in; and have two holidays in the week, Saturday and
Sunday. The old and disabled are supported by the
young and strong.

Nakedness, I find, is, to a certain degree, a matter
of climate. Modesty makes no note of anything
under six years of age. Black babies go conveniently
bare, to the end of life's first chapter. With the
same fitness and adaptation to the latitude, shoes and
stockings are dispensed with; and the young black
girls, with ear-rings worth two or three hundred
dollars, chemises edged with lace, and skirts of bril-
liant colours, parade in stately deliberateness, protrud-
ing, at each step, five shining toe-nails uncompressed
by morocco. I must own that I think they walk
more gracefully for this. White feet might not do so
well, not being so independent of the dirt—but feet
that are neatly blacked by nature are certainly as
cleanly without "leather or prunella," and vastly
more elastic and stately. Two ebony shoulders, un-
liable to tan, enjoy the open air by the same philo-
sophy; and they shine along the street, as these black

D50

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

swans sail past, with a luxuriance of effect unknown
on the sidewalks of temperate latitudes.

We met a negro walking whistling along the road,
with a sheep tied round his neck like a kicking cravat,
the feet in a bow-knot in front—the struggles of the
animal not disturbing his tranquillity at all. Half a
dozen others we saw, with their long knives, on their
way to cut the sugar-cane, and all looking considera-
bly happier than any white people I ever saw on their
way to a place of amusement. I am inclined to
think, heathen as they are, that these black and
happy ignoramuses would only be educated into a
consciousness of things to be troubled about.

I have spoken of the prodigality of this climate, in
the fact that

" Bud, flower, and fruit, together rise,

And the whole year in gay confusion lies

but it is a climate capable of simplifying matters as
well. There is a plum, native to this island, which
dispenses with the school and college of leaf and
flower, and ripens immediately from the bark of its
tree—maturity its first stage and its last. There is
also a fruit that would be interesting to Thompson—
the anana, or sour-sop, which has a deliciously fla-
voured pulp,® as plucked from the tree, and requires
only icing to surpass the choicest of sherbets in
flavour and richness. A slight squeeze, as you holdHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

51

this fruit to your lips, gives you its sweetness with a
delicacy beyond the spoon of the confectioner.

I fancy I have told you of new things enough for
one letter, so

Adieu for the present.LETTER VIII.

Predominating Society at St. Thomas—Invariable Type of
German Mediocrity in Classes—Style of Danes—Negro
use of the Voice—Drowned Baby, and key for the tuning
of Coloured Horror—Sunday and Church—Whole Congre-
gation of Madras Turbans—Females do all the Repenting
—Effect of such a gorgeously dressed multitude of Black
Worshippers—Works in Marble and Works in Ebony as
Religious Ornaments—Reverie in Catholic Church—In-
dispensable Article of Furniture which every Negress
carries with her—Danish Officer's Politeness—Hot Uni-
forms of Soldiers from a cold climate—Otaheitan Flower-
ing tree—Arrival of English Steamer—Rush of Passen-
gers to the Hotel for Iced Drinks—News of the Death of
Moore—Poem as to the Sins of Genius—Promise of
Smooth Water Ocean-sailing along the Antilles, &c.

St. Thomas, March, 1852.

Dear Morris,

Your namesake, our consul here, (Wm, Morris, of
Pennsylvania,) has kindly accompanied us in our ex-
cursions, and I could give you, from his lips, a very
minute account of the trees, plants, and insects, of the
Antilles. He is a close observer, and studies well
what is around him; Though most interesting to see,HEALTH TR P TO THE TROPICS.

53

however, such matters are not very interesting to read
about, and so I spare you. But, with your earliest
"pulmonary complaint," come and sec, smell, and
examine them.

The predominating society at St. Thomas is Ger-
man. The wealthiest merchants are of that nation,
and the largest shops are curiously faithful copies of
the booths of Leipsic Fair. Nature having no caprices
in central Europe, (German tradesmen never, by any
accident, looking like anything but German trades-
men,) the male portion of the " best society" of St.
Thomas is not very ornamental. There seem to be
no Danes, (Danish though be the Government,) ex-
cept military men and public officials ; but these have
been voted, by our fair travelling companions, a re-
markably handsome and distinguished-looking set of
men. There are but six American families, and as
few English.

The voice seems to be the great escape-valve for all
manner of excitement, among the negroes. I rushed
to the window this morning, thinking from the sud-
den screaming of one or two hundred women that
the town must have been cracked open by an earth-
quake. The street was full of people, and, for half
an hour, I watched the negresses vociferating, like
furies, at each other, and with looks that I should
have interpreted to indicate a quarrel between every
two. One of the hotel waiters came up, after a while,54	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and explained the cause of so much vehement talking.
A new-born black baby had been found drowned in
the harbour, and was laid out, for recognition, at the
Police-office, a few doors above. In any other popu-
lation, it seems to me, the horror inspired by such a
sight would have been expressed by a hush, or an
undervoiced interchange of feeling. Here it made a
clamour pitched at the highest possible key. Turn
over the philosophy of the difference, at your leisure.

Sunday—and I have been to church. Following
the tide of the Madras turbans flowing past the door
of the hotel, I found myself at matins in a crowded
Catholic chapel, the candles burning before the Virgin,
and chant and prayer pouring zealously forth—but
myself, apparently, the only male or white worshipper
in the congregation. The females of the coloured
race seem to do all the repenting, and to do it de-
voutly, whatever be their share of the sinning. You
can scarcely conceive the magnificent effect of such a
multitude of turbans, each one combining the most
brilliant possible colours, assembled under one roof
before an altar. When the chant recommenced, and
all rose to their feet, it was like an acre of tulips rising
up to pray. The whitest of chemises lay loose around
every pair of black shoulders; and, pendant on both
sides of every draperied head, hung enormous ear-
rings of gold, in strong relief upon the circles of black
skin, and glittering in the imperfect light; and, alto-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

55

gether, the spectacle was—what shall I say ?—more
tropical than religious, perhaps, but artistically most
impressive. Well! We are called upon to find hal-
lowed associations in the work of man's hand in
marble, on the capital of the Corinthian column—
why not find a hallowed magnificence added to a
church by the presence of a thousand works of God's
hand in ebony, and these, too, aH making responses
to every appearance devout and reverential? Hours
of reverie in Catholic churches are remembered, by
most travellers, among the luxuries of foreign lands.
I have no reason to thank St. Thomas of the Antilles
less than St. Peter of Rome, for the equality before
God with which I went in, as one of a crowd of fellow-
sinners, and delivered myself over to the influence of
the place. I was tranquillised and liberalised, cer-
tainly—edified, perhaps.

I notice a little personal convenience, which the
negresses almost invariably carry with them—a small
wooden cricket. Whenever they meet an acquaint-
ance, or wish to stop and rest, down goes the cricket
in the street, and they are seated and comfortable, in
a trice. With their brilliantly gay dresses, it looks
rather odd to see them sitting anywhere about, on the
crowded squares or walks, but they have no idea of
dirt on natural earth or on well-swept pavement. If
they stop to rest, when alone, they oftenest throw
themselves upon the ground, in a reclining position,56

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and place the cricket under the elbow or in the hollow
of the arm. Mr. G. and I stopped to admire a
spacious black Venus, yesterday, who was lying in
this way on the loose sand of the pier, as elegant in
her pose and drapery as if she had been modelled by
a Grecian sculptor.

We were strolling around the castle, last evening,
when a very tall and fair-haired Danish officer, who
chanced to be on duty, stepped out and invited us
into his quarters. He had a large room overlooking
the bay, and hung round with the engraved portraits
of the distinguished men of his native land, and his
centre-table was covered with books, reviews, and
newspapers, showing a taste for reading which a
soldier sometimes contrives to do without. After a
little conversation, he showed us the interior of the
castle, the barracks, guard-rooms, &c., and took us up
to the parapets, which beautifully command views of
the town and harbour. The cleanliness and order of
the Danish soldiers, and their quarters and equip-
ments, were admirable, but they looked a little pale
upon the climate. Their small cloth caps and tightly
buttoned cloth uniforms looked like positive inflic-
tions in this thin-jacket atmosphere. Scribner's
newly published book on St. Thomas mentions that
the trenches of this castle were formerly defended
only by the cactus, whose prickly thorns would keep
out any intruder unless in a coat of mail: but, atHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

57

present, the fortifications are all of stone and mortar
completeness. In one of the cultivated corners of
the grounds, by the way, I stopped to admire a fine
tree, bearing a gorgeous crimson flower; and this,
our courteous friend informed us, was an Otaheitan
product. There is taste as well as discipline among
the Danish governmentals. We parted from our
friend while the sentry presented arms, very much
indebted for his spontaneous and polite kindness.

24th.—The English steamer has arrived, at last—
five days behind her time, and twenty-two days from
Southampton. Yet this boat (the Thames) is con-
sidered one of the finest and fastest of the line. The
passengers have just come ashore, and six or eight of
them are seated on the veranda of our hotel, per-
fectly rabid over sherry cobblers—the first Transa.-
lantic product jointly and severally thought of and
called for. They pronounce ice, as found in the
Tropics, a luxury celestial.

In a copy of the London Times, brought ashore by
one of these gentlemen, I find the announcement of
the death of Moore. I little thought, in looking up
his " calabash tree," at Bermuda, the other day, and
writing gaily about him, that he was dead at the
time. So passes a poet from this troubled planet!
Honour to his memory ! I saw, by the way, in the
same paper, a poetical remonstrance against the fana-
tical prejudice that denied to Byron a corner in West-
d 258

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

minster Abbey, and would now deny it to Moore—
for their sins. It was dated at the " Athenaeum
Club/' and, of course, was written by a man whose
opinions would be respected. I copied one verse, the
doctrine of which I thought might interest you :—

In our holiest shrine there is but one corner,

Fit shrine to deposit his honoured remains,

Not saved for the sinless, but due, tell the scorner,

To genius whose brightness extinguished its stains

There will be interesting biographies written of Moore.
The society in which he moved is full of anecdotes of
him. He was a man whose every action seemed like
a trait of character. His pulse beat integers, not
ciphers. But, I am forgetting that the subject is
probably over-written upon, by this time, in New
York.

Our steamer, the Derwent, has waited only for the
mails by the Thames, and we start, this afternoon, to
pay our respects to islands nearer the equator. I
understand that we run under the lee of islands nearly
all the way, and that the sailing is as smooth as from
Hoboken to UnderclifF—so I may write you a de-
scription or two from under the awning of the deck,
daguerreotypically.LETTER IX.

Tide of English Travel from Southampton, touching at St.
Thomas—John Bull out of place in the Tropics—Nature's
Two Journeymen at Mountain-making, and their different
style of work—Two Heavens necessary for the Carib and
the Englishman—English Colonial Islands all alike, as to
houses and inhabitants—Dame Nature atmospherically
dressed or undressed—Climate too clear for the distance
that " lends enchantment to the view"—Nights excepted
and Stars wondrously bright and beautiful—The Southern
Cross—The French Islands have Rivers, the English
Islands none—Amazing Prodigality of Foliage at Guada-
loupe—English Ecstacies modified by fear of Humbug—
Frenchmen coming onboard at Guadaloupe—Close con-
tact, even in these climates, never assimilating the French
and English, &c.

Dear Morris,

In taking the steamer for the Southern Antilles, at
St. Thomas, we fell upon the tide of English Colonial
travel—officers on their way to join their regiments
at Barbadoes and Demerara, chaplains and civil func-
tionaries, governesses, nurses, and mercantile agents,
all talking unmitigated English—and, with ears so
full of London, I have really found it difficult, for60

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the last day or two, to realize that my eyes were full
of the tropics. John Bull does not seem to me to
belong here. Refined and intelligent as the company
on deck is, (and there are two or three remarkably
beautiful women among them), their accent, dress,
character and deportment, all seem out of harmony
with the climate and scenery. Try to make a vase
for a bouquet of magnolias, by tying one of your own
particularly stiff and white shirt collars around them,
my dear friend, and you will see a faint type of the
contrast I refer to.

We have been gliding along for a day or two,
under the shores of these isles of eternal summer, the
sea as smooth, (except here and there where the swell
of the Atlantic has a chance between two of them,)
as the Hudson among the Highlands. They are
ranges of mountains in the sea. You have no idea
of their outline, because you only know mountains as
made by the Deluge. Nature has another journey-
man, however—the Volcano—and he did the job for
the Tropics; and very different are the mountains of
his making. They look, indeed, like Apennines in
stacks, waiting for an earthquake to distribute them.
The Catskills and Alleghanies are arranged, and in
their places. The waves and eddies of the Deluge
shaped their summits gracefully, and proportioned
them with proper bases and approaches, by slopes and
plains. But here are mountains piled up like clouds,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

61

at angles with which the law of gravitation seems to
have had nothing to do—some lying on their sides,
and some bottom upwards, precipices leaning the
wrong way, and ravines of the most unaccountable
abruptness, one Alp rolled down upon the beach, and
half a dozen placed toppling on the edge of what
would elsewhere have been a summit range by itself
—it really seems as if the rest of the world were made
by some tamer standard, to accord with more regular
laws of beauty, gentler tastes, and passions less tumul-
tuous. The Carib and John Bull would never be com-
fortable together in the same heaven, I am quite sure,
if this scenery and that of England are fair types of
their respective natures.

Of St. Eustatia, St. Kitts, and Nevis, we had only
this ranging view, taken from the sea as we coasted
along. The English towns, where we stopped to
leave the mails, are all alike angularly built, and
looking very unpicturesque. They have no wharfs,
and to land you must run your boat upon the beach.
With the wonderful rarity of the atmosphere, you
can read the signs almost as well from your ancho-
rage in the Bay as from the sides of the streets, and
the West Indians who were on board told us that
nothing was gained by going on shore, excepting of
such other Englishmen and negroes as were not
standing on the quay. Having seen the Britisher in
one colony you have seen him in all—there being no62

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

beginning of a shading in to the negro type or habits,
notwithstanding the strong emancipation talk against
distinctions of blood.

At Guadaloupe, the French island, we found Dame
Nature once more with a little drapery on—mists
on the mountain tops, and a visible atmosphere in
the valleys—and we suddenly realized how un-
becoming had been her absolute nudity during the
week gone by. For days and days we had seen 110
atmosphere—no such thing as distance—no such
charm as perspective. Everything looked strangely
bare and near, and over all the mountains there was
a monotone of tint which would have driven a painter
to despair. As to the horizon, it seems so near, that,
if you were washing your hands on deck, you might
try to throw the slops over it, as you would over the
ship's side. The sun goes down, as it were, next
door. Fancy comes back discouraged, from any
attempt to leave the spot you stand upon. I should
except only, that the night is made beautiful by this
wondrous clearness. The stars are intensely brilliant.
Our fellow-passenger, the English clergyman, told
me, that, when the moon wa3 not up, (which it is
now, and full,) they could always see their shadows
on the ground, cast by the evening star. What with
this startling brilliancy, and the change in the places
of the planets and constellations with our change of
latitude, it seems, as one lies on his back on deck,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

63

like looking up to a strange sky, in some " brighter
and better world." If T had time to get my muse
into training, I should certainly write some poetry
to this glorious Southern Cross, that gleams over the
Equator like an illuminated crucifix. For my self-
denying prose, just now, heaven reward me !

Dress one mountain in leafy June, and let all the
mountains around be stripped for leafless November,
and you have a fair similitude of Guadaloupe in con-
trast with the islands we had passed before coming to
it. St. Thomas, St. Kitts, St. Eustatia, Nevis, and
Montserrat, are comparatively bare. They are vol-
canic islands without rivers, their inhabitants depend-
ing on the rains for water. But Guadaloupe is
plentifully coursed with rivers that start from its
mountain-tops, and, as you approach it from the
other islands, it is, to the eye, like a sudden plunge
into mid-summer. Of the prodigality of leaf upon
its tropical trees, no language can give you any idea.
Like " velvet of three pile," it is a June thrice heaped
—a group of the loveliest shaped mountains, bur-
thened three Junes deep with foliage. From the
time we began to distinguish this island, somewhere
about seven in the morning, until we had passed its
southernmost point, a little after noon, the passengers
on board were as much absorbed with it as an audience
with a play. It was like a panorama of Nature idealized.
The families of the English officers, the chaplain and64

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

his wife, the merchants and others, all stood in wonder
at the railings of the quarter-deck, expressing their
surprise and delight with London's most emphatic
though most unpoetical exclamations. Guadaloupe's
" cheeks must have burned"—that is, if an island
can know when it is sitting for its picture.

We rounded to, off Guadaloupe, as at the other
islands, to deliver mails and take and leave passen-
gers, and received quite an accession to our company
in a number of Frenchmen, bound to the other French
island of Martinique, which we were to reach farther
on. The white kid gloves of these polite gentlemen,
their shirts with ruffled sleeves, and their very orna-
mental manners, made a strong contrast with the
studiously inelegant travelling costumes, and labo-
riously un-humbugy-y manners of the English passen-
gers. How these nations do stay dissimilar, to be
sure! Here is Guadaloupe, between two English
Islands, Antigua a few hours North, and Dominica
one hour South, and yet no symptoms of assimilation
between its inhabitants and their neighbours. The
distinctions of that Babel business have lasted a
great while!

But I must to my berth. Good night.LETTER X.

Alterations in Punctuation by Ants — Probable Etymology of
"Antilles"—Alteration in Plans—Preference of Marti-
nique to Barbadoes—Empress Josephine's Birth-place—
Martinique the " Fifth Avenue" of the Antilles—Going
Ashore with an unusual Lap-full—Jersey Ferry outdone
—Note on Negro Language — Loss and Re-capture of
Baggage—Custom-House Vexations—Reception at Hotel
—Uses of Perseverance—Apparition of Creole Beauty—
The Good Star of Woman's Kindness—Negro Manners
after Four Years of Emancipation—Insolence after being
overpaid—Landlord pitching a Negro Hercules down
Stairs, &c.

Martinique, April, 1852.

Dear Morris,

My date, just written, is a little illegible, and I take
the opportunity to beg you to guard the printer
against the alterations made in my manuscript by
the omnipresent ants of this teeming climate.* I

* To show you that others have found tropical insect life
as 44 teeming" as I have, read the following passage from a
work on these islands, written by Henry N. Breen, who was
thirteen years a resident here :—

41 The most remarkable insects are the scorpion, woodslave,66

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

called my friend's attention, just now, while I counted
to him thirteen, who were running up and down on
the quill with which I was writing. They are all
over my table and paper. The pitchers and wash-
bowls are full of them. You clean your teeth with
ants and water—wash in ants and water—sleep on
ants and a mattress—all well enough, if they were
not attracted by fresh ink as well as by other mois-

annulated lizard, locust, tarantula, centipede, wasp, black
smith, musquito, bat, cockroach, fly, chigre, beetle, fire-fly,
spider, wood-ant, butterfly, bete-rouge, caterpillar, grasshopper,
cricket, and bee. Of these, the scorpion and centipede are
the most dangerous, the ant and wood-ant the most destruc-
tive, the musquito the most troublesome, and the cockroach
the most repulsive. The destruction caused by the ant is
generally confined to plants and flowers; but the depredations
of the wood-ant extend to the houses, furniture, and even
clothes of the inhabitants; and the mischief they occasion is
no less incredible than the promptitude with which it is ac-
complished. The following humorous remarks appeared some
years ago in the Edinburgh Review :—The bete-rouge lays the
foundation of a tremendous ulcer. In a moment you are
covered with ticks: flies get into your nose,—you eat flies,
drink flies, breathe flies. Lizards, cockroaches, and snakes
get into your bed; ants eat up the books; scorpions sting you
on the foot. Everything bites, stings, or bruises; every
second of your life you are wounded by some piece of animal
life. An insect with eleven legs is swimming in your tea-cup ;
a nondescript with nine wings is struggling in the small-beer;
or a caterpillar, with several dozen eyes in its belly, is has-
tening over the bread and butter. All nature is alive, and
seems to be gathering her entomological hosts to eat you up,
as you are standing, out of your coat, waistcoat, and breeches.'HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

67

ture. They do not sip, either. They first walk
through the liquid of which they intend to taste, and
hence you see my tribulation. They turn my periods
into commas, my semicolons into notes of admiration,
my quotation-marks into stars, &c. &c. Perhaps
it never occurred to you before, why these Islands
are called the " ^ra/illes"—a corruption of the plain
English word ant-hills, if my experience goes for
anything.

Finding Guadaloupe so beautiful, and so much
more picturesque in its architecture and cultivation
than the English Islands, and hearing that Marti-
nique was still more beautiful and interesting, we
were induced to make a little alteration in our plans.
Barbadoes, where we had intended to make a short
stay, was described to us by the intelligent clergy-
man on board who resided there, and we gathered
that it was merely a very large and prosperous colony,
peculiarly English, and with nothing either of scenery
or society that would be to us anything of a novelty.
Martinique, on the contrary, (which we were about
to pass in the night-time unseen,) was described as a
garden of romantic beauty, more conservatively French
even than the old towns of France, peopled with a
charmingly graceful and courteous Creole population,
(of whom the Empress Josephine, as you will re-
member, was one,) antique in its buildings and habits,
and isolated from the poetry-kilhng mediocritizing of68

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the times. The name by which the island goes, in
France—"The Faubourg St. Germain of the Tropics"
—was, in itself, a stimulus to our curiosity.

The steamer's jolly-boat had twenty-four passen-
gers to take ashore at Martinique—all French with
the exception of ourselves. It was close stowing. I
sat in the stern, next the "middy" at the rudder,
and in my lap sat a broad-based pyramid of a negress,
while, in her lap, was her baggage, viz. : a well-
packed basket, and the article of crockery without
which a French women seldom commits herself to
the chances of travel. The glorious moon in the
heavens had seldom looked down upon so much flesh
and blood, (and its baggage,) in so limited a compass.
The bay was smooth, however. Half a mile or less
was not far to carry even such a lapful of emanci-
pation as mine. We were safely pulled ashore, and
debarqued into a confusion and clamour of negroes
which promised very little for the comfort of the
place. Of this, our premier accueil, I must still
further describe the annoyances; because, though I
have to commend Martinique as probably the most
delightful of all the world's neglected spots, I should
frankly prepare the traveller for a first arrival that is
a little discouraging.

Deposited with our trunks and carpet-bags upon a
narrow frame-work, or bridge, without railing, that
juts out from the beach as a landing for canoes andHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

69

row-boats, we had half an hour's struggle with innu-
merable negroes, to keep our baggage together, and
ourselves from being crowded and knocked overboard
—a struggle which amounted, at a moderate estimate,
I should say, to about seven Jersey-Ferry experiences
condensed into one. The screaming jargon of the
almost naked wretches was, to me, wholly unintelli-
gible. I rescued my heavy portmanteau repeatedly
from the tops of woolly heads upon which it had
magically mounted, determined not to make a start
without my friend, who had been missing from the
first moment. I was seized hold of by two furious
baboons at a time, who had crowded me to the corner
of the platform, and fought with fist and tongue for
the possession of me. There was no light except the
moon's, nobody to give the slightest intelligible hint
of whom to trust or where to go. I should have liked
to make some enquiry for my lost companion—but,
to keep my identity together, trunk, carpet-bag, and
owner, required my full presence; and, in the deafen-
ing tumult of unintelligible language, I tried in vain
to make myself understood. The name of the prin-
cipal hotel—which I learned from the lady in my lap,
while coming on shore—was the only syllable they
seemed to recognise :—" Hotel des Bains !" " Oui,
massa, oui!"*

* The writer from whose description of these islands I have70

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

As the other passengers and their luggage thinned
away, my friend became visible at the shore end of
the bridge, and we succeeded in coming together, and
getting our respective effects mounted upon the
woolly summits of two emancipated spines—it being
the understanding among them, apparently, that on
one negro head could be placed all that could possibly
belong to any one traveller. We followed on—as we
supposed, to our hotel. They crossed a broad avenue
of trees that looked like a public promenade, turned
off to a side alley, and suddenly entering a narrow
vault, paved with round stones, and walled in like a
dirty cellar, they made a deposit of our baggage. We

already quoted, says of the dialect which I found so incompre-
hensible:—

"The negro language is a jargon formed from the French,
and composed of words, or rather sounds, adapted to the organs
of speech in the black population. Asajtwtois, it is even more
unintelligible than that spoken by the negroes in the English
colonies. Its distinguishing feature consists in the suppression
of the letter 'r' in every word in which it should be used, and
the addition of ckiV and 'kaV to assist in the formation of
the tenses. It is, in short, the French language, stripped of
its manly and dignified ornaments, and travestied for the ac-
commodation of children and toothless old women. The less
you know of French, the greater aptitude you have for talking
negro. I can say for myself, that although possessing an ex-
tensive knowledge of the French language, acquired during a
sojourn of five years in France, I have failed in obtaining any-
thing like an adequate notion of this gibberish, during a resi-
dence of nearly fifteen years in St. Lucia and Martinique."HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

71

were made to understand directly that this was the
Custom-house. Our passports and keys were de-
manded by officers in a sort of uniform, and, while
one of them examined nose, chin, and eyes, to see
they answered the description which was signed by
Daniel Webster, two others undertook the overhaul
of the portmanteau.

In all the Custom-houses of the world—and I have
been in most of them—I never saw such needless
and minute official impertinence. It was probably a
merely wanton gratification of their own curiosity
and that of the crowd of negroes who had followed
us from the landing—but not an article in my trunk
escaped display and examination. With no ventila-
tion in the narrow horse-stall of a place, a hundred
odoriferous blacks packed round us like cigars in a
bundle, and the thermometer at 82, it was a little
trying. The cut of my shirts was looked into, and
the patterns of my cravats. Boxes were opened,
cough-medicines carefully smelt of, coats held up,
boots stethescoped, squeezable things squeezed and
hollow things shaken. And, when every thing was
flung back, pell-mell, into the portmanteau, how to
get lid and bottom parallel again was a warm problem.
My friend had his negro audience, as I had mine.
We were both completely exhausted and used up
with this rude and needless ordeal of official imperti-
nence. Yet he looked very little like a smuggler,72

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and 7, I should hope, not overmuch. How is it that
travellers, for pleasure or health, with only ordinary
baggage, meet with this kind of reception, on landing
at the politest of the French islands ? I asked the
question—as I have written the description—in the
hope of bringing it to the eyes of the chief of the
black and white Police of St. Pierre, and thus sug-
gesting a remedy of the evil, for which other travel-
lers and invalids may be obliged to me. The custom-
house of Martinique is, at present, a very dirty gate
to a very bright little stranger's paradise.

At the risk of being tedious, perhaps, I must give
you, in this letter, the remainder of that evening's
experiences—the next morning's sun having risen on
matters describable only in a less complaining key.

From the Custom-house to the hotel was a traverse
through several dark and narrow streets—half-past
ten, not a soul abroad, nor a light in a window on the
wray. To rise at day-break, as they do in these
climates, they must needs lengthen the night at the
other end. The city seemed abed. Our barefooted
conductors dodged at last into the low door of a
building without a sign, and we found ourselves in
the presence of several marble tables and a comptoir
—the inseparable belongings of a French cafe. The
landlord made his appearance with a candle, a hand-
some man whose line condition spoke volumes for the
cooking that could do it, and staggered us with theHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

73

intelligence that he had not a bed to spare. He
would go up stairs, however, and see if there was any
possibility of accommodating us. As our baggage was
still on the negroes' heads, I motioned to them to fol-
low, and, on the floor of a corridor in the second story,
I ordered them to unload—quite sure that this was
the best hotel of the town, and bent on making a
lodgement if perseverence could do it.

Each of our herculean black porters had two or
three followers; and, while these were chattering
like frantic monkeys—night-caps visible through in-
quiring doors—we pleading and the landlord protest-
ing—a new and interesting feature was added to the
scene. A plump and graceful female figure, rather
above the middle height, glided indolently towards us
from the end of the corridor, with candle in hand,
and eyelids still heavy with sleep that had at least
been thought of. A long, primrose-coloured peignoir,
without a girdle, seemed her only article of dress, ex-
cept a gorgeous Madras turban half loosened from
her head; but, withal, she was draped magnificently,
and, to her Creole complexion, dark eyes and snowy
teeth, the faint yellow of the robe was in relievo most
becoming. To my surprise—(for, noisy negroes and
all, we were not a very desirable-looking group for a
lady to approach)—she quietly seated herself on my
portmanteau, and, with the most unconscious expres-
sion of dreamy curiosity, listened in silence to the

E74

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

arguments and chatter. She was to be the arbitress
of our fate. Her quiet study of us and our troubles
for five or ten minutes ended in our favour; and, with
a word or two to the landlord, she gave him an idea
for an arrangement. There was an unfurnished saloon
in another part of the house. If we would accept of
mattresses, for the night, upon the floor of this saloon,
she would give us her own room in the morning.
Our good star—for that island—shone in the dark
eyes of Madame Stephanie.

We were not yet rid of our sable convoy, however.
They were to be paid—and they looked more like
Caribs waiting for a cutlet, than like porters waiting
for their money. The leading man, particularly,
was the ideal of a soulless herculean brute; and,
remembering that the neighbouring island of Gua-
daloupe was, at that moment, under martial law from
a suppressed insurrection, and that a massacre was
still fresh in the history of Martinique, I looked at
the manners of the two-legged savage and his follow-
ers with some curiosity. No one of them, I observed,
showed the least deference to the presence of our
host and hostess. There they lounged, in the saloon,
with their hats on, strolling about the room and con-
versing with an air of confident insolence together,
and only changing their look, when they spoke to
the white man, by putting on a scowl of dogged
dislike. Not understanding their language or pricesHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	75

for labour, I had given the landlord a gold piece, and
requested him to pay them for us; he did so, and
giving them about twice as much as would have been
asked by a New York carman for the same porterage.
But, such a hurricane of vociferation and gesture as
followed this I had never before witnessed. The
sputter of gibberish, the hoppings about the floor,
the violent gesticulations, were like the frenzy of a
half dozen exasperated baboons. It was hard to
realize that these animals were represented, colour
and opinions, in the National Assembly at Paris.
Our handsome landlord was evidently used to this
sort of thing, however. He stood the coloured
threats and eloquence for about five minutes very
coolly, merely pointing the black leader to the door.
This being repeated once or twice, and no attention
paid to it, he advanced a step, and quietly asked the
man whether he would go out of the door or out of
the window. The next moment he had seized him
by the shoulder, spun him round two or three times
by a dexterous twirl, and when his face was rightly
directed gave him an impetus which sent him head-
long down the steps into the entry. My friend and
I stood looking on with no little interest—travellers
seldom receiving such active service from their host—
but expecting somewhat that it would end in a general
melee. The negro did not return, however. His
brother gesticulators and vociferators were suddenly76

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

silenced, and followed him as if tbey preferred to help
themselves to an exit, rather than give the landlord
the trouble; and so ended our "arrival at Martinique."
As it was quite a melodrama, taken all together, you
will allow me to drop the curtain.LETTER XI.

Tropical Persuader for Early Bising—The Business-doing Sex
and the Prayer-doing Sex going in opposite directions—The
Martinique Bialto—Picturesqueness of no Wharfs —
Resemblance of St. Pierre to the Structure of a Theatre—
Air of Careless Elegance about the Black and White
Merchants—Tropical Slovenliness of Costume—General
Air of the Gentlemen—Negroes dressed in two Pocket-
Handkerchiefs—Curious Accompaniment to the Surf-
Anthem—Description of Coasting-Boats and Crews—
Streets of St. Pierre at Seven in the Morning—Venerable
Buildings—Bright Biver in every Street—Beturn to
Breakfast—Installed in Madame Stephanie's Boudoir and
Bed Boom—Besignation to our Calamities—Tropical
Breakfast with Parisian Cookery—Structure of Hotel and
Position of Eating-room—Negro Guests in the House, and
their Politeness—Beauty of our Carib Waiter—Courses of
Dishes—The unusual Addition to our Breakfast—De
scription of Madame Stephanie Boque, our Creole Land
lady—Her Husband, &c. &c.

St. Pierre, Capital of Martinique, April, 1852.

I was up as early as your five o'clock, this morning
—being about one hour on the other side of a New-
York sunrise—and, by the tall silver flagon of choco-78

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

late and two cups of exquisite china, which were
there to encourage us out of bed, I saw we had
awaked to be well treated. We were to take the
morning walk, (our first in Martinique,) and come
back to find ourselves installed in the quarters kindly-
relinquished to us by our hostess.

As sunrise is the hour to be " on Change," in the
Tropics, we bent our steps first toward the Martinique
Rialto, to see the business-doing sex of the place,
though, as it was also the hour for matins, we en-
countered a current of the prayer-doing sex, going
" the other way, the other way,"—a reproof for our
earliest morning errand, which we should have heeded,
probably, but that we could take the more pious
walk in the evening. There are no "vespers" in
business.

The "Wall Street" of St. Pierre is a beautiful ave-
nue of tamarind and mango trees, extending along
the beach of the harbour, and edged on one side by
a row of old and picturesque stone buildings, and on
the other by the white surf of the sea. Some of the
larger trees are protected from the chance roll of a
sugar-hogshead by a triangular seat of solid masonry;
and, along under the inner line of trees, facing the
sea, are benches at short intervals, with sloping backs,
mostly occupied, at the moment of our first seeing
them, by lounging and half-naked negroes. There
are no wharfs, except a short projection at one endHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

79

of the promenade, where heavy freight is rolled,
by a railway of a few feet, into scows or lighters;
and the vessels lying in port are, of course, at
anchor in the Bay—leaving the clean beach of
sand comparatively unobstructed, and adding as
much to- the picturesqueness as it subtracts from
the convenience of the harbour. When I add
that a hemisphere of mountains closes around this
spot, almost as erectly and abruptly as the galleries
close in the pit of a theatre—the BAalto pro-
menade extending across it like the row of foot-lights,
and the city located behind it like the seats of the
parterre—you will get a very correct similitude by
which to judge of its shape and position. As these
high and for-ever green mountains are on the east side,
of course the shops, the business-promenade, and the
churches, enjoy an hour or two of the most refreshing
and protecting shade in the morning, which makes
the first dawn the most active and stirring hour of
the day.

The first general novelty which struck us, in the
look of the crowd upon the promenade, was the
universally elegant and insouciant indolence of gait,
look, and gesture. Black and white gentlemen mer-
chants strolled up and down, or stood in groups and
couples under the trees, conversing, as the French
do, with abundant action, but with no approach to
an angular movement, or any of that sharp and sud-80

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

den impatience of glance, or change of posture,
which, would characterize a business dialogue in Wall
Street. Every man had a cigar in his mouth, and
every man smoked indolently. There was a certain
slovenliness in the costume of the climate—the
slouching straw hat, the loose coats and pantaloons,
and the careless cravats—but, withal, there was an
air of Creole grace and laisser-aller in the ensemble,
which harmonized well with the make and movement
of the men; and well with the climate, to which they
looked native-born and related. They seemed to me
considerably above the average height of the French
race, generally very thin, and of sallow complexion.
The air of grave courtesy in the countenance, and in
the manner of accosting and parting, was very dif-
ferent from that of business crowds in most places,
and very attractive to a stranger.

The beach was a very busy scene. Numberless
boats, with their prows run high upon the sand, were
lading and unlading—the black crews half the time
in the surf, and working with a headlong vehemence
and want of mechanical contrivance that threw away
a great deal of their strength. Their dress amounted,
generally, to two pocket-handkerchiefs, one around
the head—and the sweat rolled down their broad
black backs and ebony legs with the profusion of a
summer shower. To heat and the sun they seemed
altogether insensible. Their merry joking, and mosthealth trip to the tropics.

81

noisy and unceasing chatter, kept their white teeth in
perpetual display, and gave their work the appearance
of a game for fan. The deliberate and solemn thunder
of the surf upon the beach, and the curiously super-
ficial and unimpregnated cadences of the negro voice,
were in singular contradiction. To the eternal
"Thus far shalt thou go and no farther," there
seemed a reply of baboon laughter.

The " coasting boats" that were coming to town
from the villages on the Southern shore, (and which
come up with oars against the trade-wind, and go
back with sails) were very picturesque. They are
long crafts, with about six oarsmen on a side; and
these dozen propellers lessen their labour by the
principle of gravitation—rising to their full height
with the dip of the oar, and falling flat on their backs
to make the pull by their inclining weight. It was a
curious sight to see a boat moving ahead by the
action of a sort of spontaneous quarter of a wheel,
whose paddles were six naked negroes on a side.

From the thronged quay we passed into the streets,
scarcely less thronged at seven in the morning, and
fed our eyes upon forms, costumes, and manners, of
which I will speak, by and by, with more study and
better knowledge. The look of the town is romantic
in all its features; and peculiarly unlike American
cities, as well as unlike the other island towns of this
Tropical Archipelago. The trashy temporariness of
e 282

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the architecture elsewhere is not found here. An
English writer apologetically says:—" The Frenchcolo-
nists, whether Creoles or French, consider the West
Indies as their country; they cast no wistful looks
towards France; they marry, educate, and build, in
and for the West Indies, and for the West Indies
alone. In English colonies it is different; they are
considered more as temporary lodging-places, to be
deserted so soon as they have made money enough by
molasses and sugar to return home" It was delightful
to my eye to see no sign of fresh paint, white, red, or
green. Every building is of venerable stone, antique
in structure, and windowed with deepest jalousies
and massive outside shutters, the doors unprojecting
beyond the smooth wall, and the overhanging roof
frowning with moss-covered tiles. The streets are
narrow, as the climate requires; but, as there are no
carriages, and the pedestrian has only to make way
for the occasional rider on horseback, they are broad
enough for convenience; while the closeness of the
dark walls to each other makes a dim light along the
pave, which is a timely relief from the glare of a
tropical sun.

But I have saved for a separate paragraph the
mention of the great charm and peculiarity of the
capital of this lovely island. It is built on a declivity,
at the foot of a range of mountains, and a bright
rivulet of the most sparkling water courses rapidlyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

83

down the centre of every street. The pavements
being everywhere admirable, and sloping toward the
centre, and the beds of these sparkling currents being
well-laid flat stones, there is no dirt except what is
thrown out from the houses on the way; and, with
the perpetually swift flow and the large quantity of
water, this carrying off of the city's daily rubbish is
quite imperceptible. It is a continually bright stream,
running before every door, and filling the town, night
and day, with its pleasant music. The little naked
black children sit in it, up to the waist, and play. The
women come out and wash their dishes in it, or sit
and sew by its side as by a brook in the country.
The rider stops to let his horse drink at it. The
loaded burthen-carrier, with the enormous weight
upon her head, stands in it for a minute or two, bathed
up to the knees, and refreshed and cooled, without
stooping. It is an inestimable blessing to the inhabi-
tants, and one originally provided at great enterprise
and cost. The mountain rivers are brought down
through aqueducts contrived with the finest of engi-
neering science, crossing ravines and rounding preci-
pices, and built with a solidity which will defy acci-
dent and decay. In the present state, Martinique
would be far from undertaking or accomplishing such
a work; but it was done in days when the Simplon
was designed and achieved, and when the colonies
were the California of France.81

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPTCS.

We were to breakfast at eleven—the hungry hour
in these latitudes—and we returned from our long
ramble to make a preparatory toilet in the new
quarters provided for us. We found our baggage re-
moved into the luxurious bed-room of Madame Ste-
phanie ; and, after the close and unsavoury berths and
cabins in which we had been, for some weeks,
cribbed and confined, it was indeed a contrast to en-
joy. Like all French conjugal sleeping-rooms, this
was furnished with two large beds, of richly-laced
pillows and immaculate curtains and linen. There
was a dressing-room at the side. The mirrors and
furniture—(for it served the fair Creole as both bou-
doir and bed-room)—were of the most tasteful
costliness and luxury. A library of French books
occupied one corner, and, with wardrobes and easy-
chair, and the heavy bronze coffre-fort, which, like
every French wife, she kept, in her character as family
Treasuress, the room was just sumptuously crowded.
My friend and I looked around us, and while we tied
our cravats by the broad mirror forgave with all our
hearts the disasters which had enlisted the sympa-
thies of the lovely occupant we had dislodged. It
would not have been impossible, perhaps, to pray
for more annoyances—at the same rate of compen-
sation.

Of the breakfast which followed I must try to give
you a picture—not for its luxury merely. CookeryHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

85

more exquisite was never tasted in Paris—so ex-
quisite, indeed, that, if I had not a companion inno-
cent of poetry to affidavy to the truth of my chronicle,
I should scarce venture to locate such a breakfast in
an isle of the Caribbean Sea. The surroundings and
accompaniments, however, belonged to the climate—
and these, perhaps in contrast with the Parisian deli-
cacy of our dishes, may make so sensuous a matter as a
meal worthy of definite description. The invalid, at
least, (who may make up his mind, at my recom-
mendation, to try Martinique,) will thank me for
detailing, with some particularity, how his "daily
bread" will be ministered to him.

The hotel is built round an open court; and our
eating-room, on the second story, faces the kitchen—
to which messages are sent, not by bell or servant,
but by a call more or less vociferous from the window.
Of course, in this clime of perpetual summer, there
are no sashes of glass, and this, like every apartment
in the house, is open to all the sounds of savoury di-
rections, fault-findings, &c., and to the responses and
conversation of the chef-de-cuisine and his chattering
menials. The room itself is a large hall with bare
floor, and without an article of furniture in it except
the chairs and tables at which we eat. It is also the
passage-way to the sleeping-chambers—and this, by
the way, secures to us a polite bow from every guest
of the house as he passes to or from his room, and,86

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

among others, from two very well-bred and well-
dressed black gentlemen, strangers in town like our-
selves, who remove their hats and give us the " good
morning" or " good evening" with the courtesy of
la vieille cour. The public cafe and the large and
sumptuous billiard-room are on the floor below; and,
of the visitors to these resorts, we see nothing—our
more private salle-a-manger being for the guests of
the house exclusively.

The small round table set for Mr. G. and myself
is attended by two ragged and bare-footed waiters,
in only shirt and pantaloons,—one a negro, and the
other a cross between the Carib and the Spaniard—
so handsome and so unconsciously picturesque a
fellow, and, withal, so proudly and fiercely majestic
in his attitudes and demeanour, that his likeness
would be worth preserving, if only as a type of the
now nearly extinct race of his mother. He seems to
have no beard except a long moustache of lustreless
and ashy black, which draws lines of singular ex-
pressiveness across his oval and leaden-coloured
cheek. His features are of Spanish fineness and
regularity, his nostrils thin and open, and his chin as
beautifully moulded as Apollo's—while his luxuriant
flakes of massive straight hair, and the attitude of
folded arms with which he stands, bending his large
and never-winking eyes upon us while waiting for our
orders, make me feel now and then, as if the usurpingHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

87

race were his inferior after all, and as if we should
be waiting on him, not he on us. I have said almost
as much to him, (since making the pencil memoranda
of which my letter is the inking over,) and his only
answer was a request to be taken as a servant to
America—a proposition to which his proud mien was
even a greater objection than his speaking only the
French language. House, horse, and servant, may
easily look too splendid for their master.

Our three or four dishes of meats cooked with
Parisian science are flanked by the numberless vege-
table novelties of the tropics, and followed, both at
breakfast and dinner, by a course of game—the wild
birds of these islands—which are truly of unsur-
passable flavour. Then comes a course of fruits, of
which this climate is an open-air museum—the five
kinds of banana, the strange alligator-pear, pineapples
of various kinds, and others of which the mere naming
would only tantalize you—and, with these, the deli-
cates wines whose true gusto can only be tasted in
the air of these latitudes; and all followed by unsur-
passable French coffee, and (for my friend) a cigar.
You see, (dear invalid reader ! for I write this with
you in my eye,) how your appetite (and consumptive
patients have proverbially good appetites,) may be
coquetted with, on the lip of the Equator.

But there is still an unnamed luxury—one I have
not found added to a breakfast in any other climate,88

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and which I suppose, therefore, to be indigenous to
latitude 14*40—the society and kind attentions of
a charming hostess during the meal. With the
removal of the covers by Fedzee the Carib, the indo-
lently graceful figure of Madame Stephanie sails into
the room, and giving us the " bon jour " with a smile
and a bouquet she has brought from the market, she
lounges into the vacant chair at the side of the table,
and gives us a carte (spoken instead of written) of
the delicacies before us. She tells us what to eat
first, and with what vegetables to accompany fish,
flesh, or game—watches which we prefer, so as care-
fully to repeat our preference at another meal-
comments on our tastes with the naive simplicity of
a child—frankly questions us of our country's habits,
our families, and our professions—gives us the gossip
of the island, tells us what shops to visit, describes
the fashions, directs our walks and rides, inquires into
our health, sleep, and comfort, as (it seems to me)
only the French can—and all this with a careless
and queenly supremacy of unconsciousness, which
seems to me as tropical as a palm-tree, and quite as
prodigally beautiful. Our breakfast and dinners, (for
I write this after nearly a week's enjoyment of them,)
have invariably had this added luxury—each meal
occupying at least two hours, and the plump and fair
Creole's vivacity never flagging during these long
sessions, and charming them away like minutes.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

89

She rises courteously, now and then, to change a plate
for us, or give us a glass for some choice wine sent
up by her husband, or to sail over to the window and
call out to the cook for some luxury new thought of;
but, for the most of the time, with her elbow upon
the table, and her heavily turbaned head supported
on her plump hand, she chats and lounges, laughs
and exchanges compliments, as if there were no other
world than that small table, and nothing to be thought
of except that hour's happiness. Whether the other
hotels of St. Pierre have the same dainty addition to
their entertainment, or whether, as rare travellers
from a country with which France has a sympathy,
we were treated as privileged strangers, I have no
means of positively deciding; but, if you go over to
Martinique, inquire for the " Hotel des Bains," and
commit yourself to the petits soins, kind and be-
witching, of Madame Stephanie Roque. Of Mon-
sieur, her husband, you will see less—but he is a
high-bred gentleman, who has taken to hotel-keeping
after losing a fortune, and he is quite as watchful
and complimentary in looking to your comfort, in
his way.

And so, having introduced you to our host and
hostess, and shown you how we live, you will please
remember it as the accompaniment to what I have
yet to record of our daily experiences.

Yours, &c.LETTER XII.

Dull Ink, insensible to climate—Poetry descriptive of Tropical
Deliciousness—Tom Moore a Custom-House Officer on
the Island which was the scene of " The Tempest"—
Difficulty of realizing Ariel and Miranda, at " Mrs.
Tucker's Tavern "—Horseback Bide in the Suburbs of St.
Pierre, Martinique—Garden of Plants—Precipices with
Beards—Air Plants and their Human Counterpart—
Young Ladies on Horseback with a Negro Footman, on
Foot, carrying their Parasols—Description of Martinique
Country-houses—Tropical Habits of Ladies and Gentle-
men—Climate rendering comfort unnecessary—Science of
Comfort a result of Northern lack of Pleasure out of
Doors—Question as to the Comparative Results of Climate
—Charming Incident of Creole Hospitality—Yankee
Lumber-Yard—Madame Stephanie's kind influence—
Chateau Perrinel—Negro Soldiers and their Variations
from White Soldiers, before and behind—Useful fact
for General Moms, &c. &c.

Martinique, April, 1852.

I wish that the ink with which I write could make a
distinction or two as to the atmosphere in which it
fulfils its destiny—for, surely, never was ink dried
upon paper by summer air so delicious, and never didHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

91

I so long for the ink to daguerreotype to you the balm
in which the poor thoughts it brings were afloat when
inveigled into it. Really you must come here to
know how much happiness may be taken in at pores
and nostrils. Bring but some life, done up in one-
day parcels, or a little opiate in your pocket, that will
enable you to forget the past and the future, and I
will warrant you, at Martinique, the bliss of Paradise
in breathing only. Before resuming my memoranda,
let me refresh your memory with the way in which
two poets have written about the kind of luxury I am
enjoying

" The laggard Spring which but salutes us here,
Inhabits there and courts tliem all the year;

Ripe fruits and blossoms on the same trees live,

At once they promise what at once they give.

So sweet the air, so moderate the clime,

None sickly lives, or dies before his time :

Heaven sure has kept this spot of earth uncursed,
To show how all things were created first."

So wrote Waller in his " Battle of the Summer
Islandsand Tom Moore (who, you will remember,
was English custom-house officer on the island where
Caliban served Prospero, and who, thus—strange
contrast of use for the same scene by two poets—
went to the " vexed Bermoothes" to prevent smug-
gling, as Shakspeare's imagination went there to92

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

create Miranda and the " delicate Ariel") sings thus
of what he found in the scene of " The Tempest

" The morn was lovely, every wave was still,

When the first perfume of a cedar-hill
Sweetly awaked us, and, with smiling charms,

The fairy harbour wooed us to its arms.

Gently we stole, before the languid wind,

Through plantain-shades, that like an awning twined
And kissed on either side the wanton sails,

Breathing our welcome to these vernal vales;

While, far reflected o'er the waves serene,

Each wooded island shed so soft a green,

That the enamoured keel, with whispering play,

Through liquid herbage seemed to steal its way/'

I may as well confess, however, that when at Mrs.
Tucker's tavern, on that same island of Bermuda, a
week or two ago, I did not very distinctly realize that
it was the spot from which Ariel started to " put a
girdle round the earth in forty minutesnor did I
remember that Moore had written so beautifully of the
waters that wrecked the lover of Miranda. The ima-
gination must have its " distance," I find, to " lend
enchantment to the view," even of a scene in Shaks-
speare.

But to my diary :—

"We started this morning, on horseback, to get a
sunrise view of the four or five miles of country-seats
on the north side of the city. From the streets, the
road opens directly up a ravine of the most romanticHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

93

beauty, tracking the course of a river which has the
curious name of " Madame." The city being sup-
plied with water by Madame and her sisters of the
mountain, the massive architecture of the aqueducts
and bridges, and of the roads which round the preci-
pices upon the sides, are in strong contrast with the
wildness of the scene; and, indeed, it is this which
makes its most prominent impression. It is the
prodigal and untrimmed luxuriance of a new country
with the solid and venerable conveniences of the old.
One other feature I will add, in the way of general
portraiture :—the vegetation, for which the air alone
is sufficient, and which clothes the faces of precipices
with vines, creepers, mosses, and tendrils, in a way
wholly unknown in other climates. The rocks have
bare faces or chins. They are all bearded with ver-
dure. And so are the caves bel©w. Nakedness there
is none. I regret that I have no book of reference
at hand, to inform myself better of this family of
plants for which the rich atmosphere of the Tropics
is soil enough—but you will look them up for your-
self, in any dictionary of flowers. See, also, if you
please, whether there is not a corresponding class in
the human family. I have a vague instinct that
living on air and being ornamental only, was the
original destiny of some men, as of some plants.

About a mile out of town, on this road, we stopped
to visit a public Garden of Plants, laid out originally94

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

with royal magnificence among the terraces and preci-
pices on the banks of the river. The accumulation
of wonderful trees, (for which no glass roofs were
needed,) must have been made with large cost as well
as directed by taste and science; but it is now a
somewhat neglected garden—everything luxuriantly
overgrown, and the effect of the gorgeous flowers, on
the untrimmed limbs of huge trees, more hay-stacky
than tasteful. The eye refuses to take in so much
brilliant magnificence at one time. It is a wilderness
of labyrinthine shades, where you are shaded more
by trees of flowers than by trees of leaves—Nature
overdressed—a surfeit of beauty.

The country-houses, for the three or four miles that
we followed the road, are as near together as spacious
grounds will permit, and they seem built for a world
where there is no suspicion,—nobody to shut out, no
reserve, and little or no privacy. I presume we saw
every member of every household we passed. The
fences are very ornamental, but quite open, and there
is no vine or shrubberry between house and road.
The high foliage of tall trees is like a portico, under
which we looked, with no obstruction except their
trunks, like pillars far apart. The houses themselves
are mostly of one story, with high and spacious
apartments, and the windows are so large and parti-
tions inside so few, that we could see through them
as through bird-cages. The ladies were walkingHEALH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

95

about in loose neglige, some with cups of coffee in
their hands, some feeding the chickens and turkeys,
(which, here, are admitted into good society, rank as
pets, and walk in front of the house or where they
please,) and some leaning indolently over balustrades,
talking to the negroes or watching the pranks of
naked black children: but it so happened that we saw
not one with a book in her hand. The gentlemen of
almost every house seemed to be lounging on easy
chairs under the portico, reading the newspapers.
From the difficulty of raising or preserving grass in
these latitudes, the grounds about the houses are very
bare, except where rich flowers are cultivated, and
this is in unpleasant contrast with the sumptuousness
of the wooden architecture, the fence-posts crowned
with vases, the gaudy colours and general air of mag-
nificence only. Of comfort there is no sign—the
climate doubtless rendering it unnecessary. How
much the English, (by the way,) owe, of their per-
fection in comfort, to the compulsion of climate; and
how much of the Northern taste for privacy, unpro-
miscuousness and hedge-about-iness, is an unnatural
and fastidious growth of excessive in-door life, are
questions that occur to one, in looking at these
people. To feel nobody's eye, and be as unconscious
of observation as a bird, seems to be a universal re-
sult of the Southern habits; as, to be nervously
exclusive and social only by effort, seems a result of96

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the Northern. It is a very pretty dinner-table topic,
as it stands—and so I leave it.

As the sugar-cane fields began to appear, and the
road grew mountainous, we turned our horses' heads
—meeting, at the moment, two young ladies of very
marked style, and faces very sweet though plain,
riding on horseback without bonnets, but with a
black servant, on foot, carrying their two parasols.
Their ponies were on an easy pace, and the servant
on a slow trot. This barefooted and literal foo£man,
in unembarrassed shirt and trousers, was rather a
variation from a London footman with gold lace and
cocked hat—but it was a fair exponent of the habitual
laisser aller of the Creole.

I must incorporate into this mention of the suburbs
of St. Pierre, an incident which occurred to us on
the other side of the city, and which will illustrate
the kind manners of these unceremonious dwellers in
the country. Mr. G. and myself had mounted the
high hill which overlooks the Bay, shutting in the
town on the southern side, but found it difficult to
get a view without encroaching upon the private
grounds of the beautiful villas which edge the decli-
vity. Seeing a gate temptingly open, however, and
which led to a terrace overhanging a bold precipice
we had walked under, we ventured in. The blinds of
the house were closed, as it was still the lingering
hour of the siesta; but a seat stood invitingly beforeHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

97

us, and upon this we made ourselves comfortable,
supposing we had done so unobserved. The city lay
at a biscuit-toss beneath us, the harbour spread away
before, and the verdure-laden rilountains rose in
grand magnificence beyond; and we were giving our
eyes their first cursory feast upon all this, when there
was a rattle of opening shutters in the house behind. A
barefooted negress was at our elbow the next moment,
with the compliments of Madame, and a request that
we would walk in. Thinking that we might have
been mistaken for authorised visitors, I explained that
we were only intruders, desirous of getting a view
from the terrace, and charged the servant with our
apology and a hope that we should not give the lady
of the house any trouble. We rose to go, with this,
but, upon the portico before us, stood a tall and slight
lady, of a manner of very high-bred repose and easy
self-possession, who repeated the invitation with a
graciousness it was impossible to decline. We fol-
lowed her into a large drawing-room furnished with
French elegance and luxuriousness, and after enlight-
ening her as to our country and our purpose of travel,
conversation turned upon general topics, and a half-
hour passed away very delightfully. Two lovely
children bounded in, after a while, giving me an op-
portunity of describing those I had left at home, and,
with these more personal topics, we were soon as well
acquainted, at least, as a letter of introduction woulij.

F98

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

have made us. The mingled ease and dignity of our
fair entertianer impressed my friend as well as myself
very strongly. It was the French courtliness with
the Creole* abandonment to indolent grace. . The
setting sun was throwing its yellow rays into the
room when we rose to go, hut it was with great diffi-
culty we resisted a pressing invitation to remain to
dinner, or to take wine or some refreshment before
leaving. A request that we would repeat our visit,
and a profusion of compliments in return for our ex-
pressions of grateful pleasure, sent us on our way
with renewed wonder upon what planet of unworldli-
ness we had dropped—a feeling which every new
change of our Martinique experience seems but to
confirm and brighten. Try and see the French under
a tropical sun, before you die, my dear Morris.

* Thiers (whose works I find in Madame Stephanie's library)
describes the Creole, in his portraiture of the Empress Jose-
phine :—" Josephine etait Creole de naissance, et avait toutes
les graces, tous les defauts ordinaires aux femmes de notre
origine. Bonne, prodigue et frivole, point belle maisparfaitement
elegante, douee d'un charme inline, elle savait plaire beaucoup
plus que des femmes qui lui etaient superieure en esprit et en
beaute."

Josephine's mother, I find, remained in Martinique, and still
lived in St. Pierre when Napoleon was made Emperor. The
Governor of the island gave a grand illumination and ball on
the occasion, at which the old lady was, of course, the lioness.
There are still relatives of the family here, and the present
harbour-master is one. The family name was Tascher de la
Pagerie.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

99

By way of respect to our nativity, Mr. G. proposed
a walk to the American wharf—the lumber-yard of
St. Pierre, off which was lying a down-easter at
anchor. As we had heard no English spoken since
we landed, we had some hope of falling in with the
skipper; but in this we were disappointed. The
planks and boards smelt saw-mill-y, and looked like
a Sunday walk opposite Hoboken. So far was our
patriotism refreshed—and no farther. This had led
us to a part of the town we had not before visited,
however, and we kept on to see what a large building,
in the distance, might be. It had a spacious court-
yard, filled with officials; and while we stood looking
in, waiting to ask a question of some communicative-
looking man, our good genius, Madame Stephanie,
suddenly stood behind us. She was just from the
market, near by, and her hands were full of flowers
as her heart was full of kindness. In a moment she
had called one of the custom-house officers to her, an
acquaintance of her own, who seemed only too
delighted to do anything to serve her, and we were
shown, with every honour and respect, over the
public store-house that it was : but this was not what
I set out to describe.

In the course of the conversation a neighbouring
chateau was mentioned, which was an object of
interest to strangers, and which we had not yet
visited, and Madame Stephanie's recommendation100

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

availed us to have one of the public offices locked up
while the polite incumbent went with us in quality of
cicerone. Passing a very beautiful cemetery (whose
every grave was in the midst of its little flower garden
watchfully tended), we crossed one of the city fortifi-
cations, and arrived at a chateau built 011 the high
bank of the river Madame, at the point of its junction
with the sea. This was a costly site, with its great
natural beauty and its close neighbourhood to the
city, but its structure and its grounds were originally
of a grandeur and magnified? ce quite royal. The
massive stone building with its stately wings, and the
gardens with their statues and artificial lakes, sum-
mer-houses and innumerable walks, are still untouched
—save by time. It is still in the hands of the family
who erected and kept it up—that of the Marquis de
Perrinel. The present lord of it, however, is high in
office in Paris, under Louis Napoleon, and the family
estate, though still held, seems almost forgotten.
M. Perriners eldest son had arrived, on a visit, a few
days before, and the old gray-haired negro domestic
who was showing us the portraits of the family and
the remains of their magnificence in furniture, &c.,
took us into a large room where the table was laid
for his breakfast. He must look round with a melan-
choly feeling—the roof of so much past grandeur
over his head which he has no longer the fortune to
sustain. We were told by our courteous conductorHEALTH TRTP TO THE TROPICS.

101

that the hospitality of the chateau, and the beauty
and accomplishments of the family, were famous and
proverbial for many generations. So burn out the
bright lights of worldly splendour! But I should
like, for one, to refill, trim, and sustain some of them,
still burning on, to be admired. We live in an age
of making all lamps alike comfortably dull.

On our return home, we passed a sergeant with a
relief guard, and two of his soldiers were black.
They enlist here without reference to colour; but it
rather spoils the uniform-\ty of the uniform. I dare
say they would fight as well, and have just as much
right to enrolment among the " unnamed demigods,"
as any whiter soldiers who die on the field of battle,
for their country or a shilling a day. The large
development, which is one of the differences of the
negro form, made the cartouch-boxes rather stick out
behind, but, in other respects, they were better built
and more military-looking than the other soldiers.

And with this military item, which you may some
day have occasion to use in the way of your command,
my dear General, I think I may gracefully close. So
adieu.LETTER XIII.

Introduction to a Black Belle who " Goes into Society' in
Martinique—Reason why she has no Surname—Negro
Passion for changing their Names—Mademoiselle Juliette
the Friend of our Hostess—Description of her Coloured
Beauty—The Splendid Gold Ornaments peculiar to the
Martinique Negresses, Cinq-Clous Ear-rings, <fcc.—The
Dark Belle's Reception of us—Her Manners—Her Love
of Fun, and her Amusement at the New York Distinctions
of Propriety—Exchange of Keepsakes with her, and Adieu
—Comparative Social Position of Blacks and Whites on
the Island—Distinctions of Colour giving way—Both
Colours alike invited to the Balls and Festivities of Fort
Royal, the Seat of Government—More reluctant Amalga-
mation at St. Pierre, the large Capital—Society checked
by Negro Hostility at this—Admission of Black Female
Pupils to the Aristocratic School at the Convent—Curious
Scandal and its result—Mons. Bissetti, the Coloured
Representative, and his History—The Negro Love of
Change—Law to check his Fickleness—His Passion for
Wives away from Home—Interesting Extracts on Negro
Character, &c. &c.

Martinique, April, 1852.

I will commence my letter, I believe, with intro-
ducing you to a belU of a new colour—my Hon.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

103

friend and myself having just been presented to a jet-
black young lady, who is " in the best of society" of
Fort Royal, (the seat of Government, twenty miles
from here,) and who is said to be more admired, by the
French officers stationed there, than any other lady
on their visiting list. Of that city of ten thousand
inhabitants, Mademoiselle Juliette Celestine, we were
assured, is quite the fashionable young lady most
attended to.

I do not give you (you observe,) the patronymic,
or surname, of Mademoiselle Juliette. As far as I
could make it out, she has none—and upon this point
I was a little troubled, till I recalled an explanation of
it in Breen's work on these islands. He states it as
a peculiarity of the negro race, that they refuse to be
enslaved to any particular name. Let me quote the
conclusion of his remarks on the subject: —

" Nor is this corruption of the language (by the
negroes) confined to mere words: it extends also to
proper names; so much so, indeed, that there are
few persons on the island that are not designated by
any name but their own. Some have the soubriquet
of Moncoq, Montout, Fanfax, Laquerre. Others
have their names mollified by means of certain dulcet,
endearing terminations : thus Anne becomes Anzie;
Catherine, Catiche; Bessie, Bessonete; whilst the
greatest number, dropping altogether the names given
them at the baptismal font, have adopted others of104

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

more modern vogue. Jean Baptiste is supplanted by
Nelson; Francois, by Francis ; Cyprien, by Camille;
and, what is still more preposterous, not only are the
Christian names altered in this way, but the patro-
nymics of many are entirely suppresssed. Monsieur
Jean Marie Beauregard considers Jean Marie too
vulgar, and adopts the name of Alfred; and his
friends consider Beauregard too long, and omit it
altogether in their dealings with him. By this pro-
cess, M. Jean Marie Beauregard is metamorphosed
into plain M. Alfred; and his wife, if he have any,
goes by the style and title of Madame Alfred. This
confusion of names would be merely ludicrous, if it
were not pregnant with mischief to the community.
From being first sanctioned in the intercourse of
every-day life, and introduced into family circles,
the alterations and substitutions had gradually
crept into the more serious relations of trade and liti-
gation ; so that, when the Commissioners of Compen-
sation were about to adjudicate upon the claims and
counter-claims from St. Lucia, (the neighbouring
island,) scarcely a single individual was found to have
preserved his proper name in the different documents
submitted on his behalf. Difficulty and delay were
the result; and many persons only succeeded in
establishing their identity and securing their property,
by obtaining affidavits, certificates of baptism, and
notarial attestations, at considerable expense."health trip to the tropics.	105

Mademoiselle Juliette Celestine, (whose name is
entitled to your respect, with this explanation,) is an
intimate friend of our fair hostess, and it was to this
happy chance that we owed the privilege of a presen-
tation to her. She was in town for a few days, and
had called yesterday; and, 011 Madame Stephanie's
mentioning, this morning at breakfast, that she was
to call again to-day, we so expressed ourselves as to
be sent for on her arrival.

Mdlle. Juliette is of the blood that does not thin
with the climate, as do the whites. She is about
nineteen, and as plump as Hebe—her original model
from Nature apparently just perfected. Her skin,
though as black a one as I ever saw, is fine-grained
and lustrous, and her shoulders, there was no denying,
quite beautiful. The gorgeous-coloured Madras tur-
ban covered her forehead to the eyebrows, and, with
a long sweep of twisted fold over the cheek, concealed
the hair—the lace hem of her snowy chemise being
the next downward interruption to the lines of
rounded ebony. Her features are strictly African—
the lips full, and the nose of that degree of flatness
which is only affectionate, and which I take to be the
highest expression of this shape in contradistinction
to the more repelling aquiline. Her eyes would have
been beautiful if there had been anything white in
the neighbourhood with which to contrast them—but
black eyes on so black a ground were " coals to New-

f 2106

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

castle." They had one fine quality, however; they
had never been contracted with a suspicion, or a
withdrawal of confidence, or an attempt to understand
anything that did not speak for itself; and they were,
consequently, as tranquilly open as the cups of two
water-lilies. Her smile was of the same never-startled
confidingness—coming and going with the ease of a
shadow—and her teeth wrere only too white and per-
fect for any piquancy of expression. No jeweller
could have cut them more evenly out of pearl. Her
little fat black hands were daintily tapered, and
looked lady-like. She wore large rings, and these,
with her heaps of gold chains, and the enormous
gold ear-rings, which they call cinq-clous, made a
sort of barbaric glitter, with her lively gestures and
expressive motions of the head, which seemed to me
very picturesque. I was pleased, by the way, with
the consistency with which she adhered to the dress
and ornaments exclusively worn by those of her own
colour. The cinq-clous ear-rings, particularly—masses
of solid gold, resembling five small kegs welded to-
gether by the sides—are seen in every respectable
black ear, never in a white one. It would have beeA
natural and reasonable for her, considering her means
and social position, to have graced her beauty with
some of the French fashions, abundantly within reach
and worn by the Creole ladies with whom she as-
sociates.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	107

Mademoiselle Juliette's reception of us was politely
cordial and entirely without embarrassment. It
seemed odd to us, at first, to hear the French, which
we consider an accomplishment, come so fluently
and elegantly from a mouth of that colour, but it
heightened the novelty and charm of her impression.
After a little talk upon climates, conversation turned
upon the usages of our ladies, and the differences of
etiquette in our different countries, and she laughed
immoderately at some of the American distinctions
between propriety and impropriety in female manners.
Love of fun seemed to be her uppermost quality; and
her own views and notions, though entirely modest
and delicate, were a singular mixture of frankness
and droll mockery. I could easily see how the
French officers at Fort Royal might find a constant
pleasure in her society. Our visit ended with an
examination of her monstrous ear-rings (for which
she held her cheek towards us with the simplicity of
a child), and, with an exchange of souvenirs between
her and myself—I giving her my watch-guard, and
she giving me two berries of the acajou tree, which
she carried as charms in her pocket. My friend and
I agreed that we had made a charming call, and that
Mademoiselle Juliette Celestine was a memorable
addition (of a new colour) to our acquaintance.

I have made many inquiries as to the comparative
social position of the blacks and whites on the island.108

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

The distinctions of colour are fast giving way. The
French, as we know by our Indian history, amalga-
mate more easily than any other nation, with what-
ever race they fall among, and there are families of
blacks who have the entire freedom of all the best
society of Martinique. There is a difference, how-
ever, in this respect, between the large commercial
and fashionable capital of St. Pierre, and the smaller
town of Fort Royal, which is the seat of Government.
The official orders are, to allow no distinctions to be
made; and the Governor's balls and parties, and
those of the officers and civil functionaries, are
attended as numerously by blacks as by whites. In
St. Pierre, there is still a reluctance to admit coloured
persons into society; and the discontent which this
creates has almost put a stop to the gaieties of the
town. If an exclusively white party is given, the
blacks of the lower orders collect around the doors,
and make such disturbances as effectually to interrupt
the pleasure of the evening. With the constant
dread of insurrections, and the memory of the mas-
sacre of the whites which occurred a few years since,
the inhabitants do not feel safe in defying these inter-
ruptions of their comfort. It is a recent triumph of
the blacks, that the famous and aristocratic convent
of this place has been compelled to admit coloured
young ladies, if offered as pupils. Another triumph
has been added to this, in the shape of a result of aHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

109

matter of some scandal. A wealthy planter, when
dying, a year or more since, recommended to the
special care of his young wife a negro youth, one of
his manumitted slaves, who had been his favourite.
The black boy, after a month or two, was found
dining at his mistress's table, and it was at this point
of intimacy that her aristocratic* relatives interfered,
and made their greatest opposition and remonstrance.
The course of time, however, brought about more
serious proofs of intimacy, and then the relatives
gave up opposition, the matter was compromised, and
the planter's widow and her manumitted slave were
very recently married, with all the usual forms and
ceremonies. The whole affair is still a lively topic of
Martinique gossip.

An introduction, kindly offered us, to Monsieur
Bissette, the negro representative from Martinique to
the National Assembly at Paris, has been prevented
by his recent illness. The history of this now
celebrated man is dramatic enough to be remembered.
A tract which he wrote upon the hardships of the
negro slaves in the colonies drew upon him the
hostility of the local government, and lie was arrested,
tried, oranded, and condemned to the galleys. On
arriving in France, an able lawyer, feeling a sympathy
in his case, undertook to procure him a new trial at
Paris. He succeeded, pleaded his cause, and pro-
cured his acquittal. Bissette returned to Martinique110

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

in 1848, and liis reception by the negroes was the
most tumultuous scene ever witnessed in the country.
The planters and citizens expected, of course, that in
him they had now a dangerous and bitter enemy;
but, on the contrary, his whole course and policy
have been to establish a kindly understanding between
the whites and blacks of the island. As Representa-
tive and citizen, he has shown himself, every way, a
man of enlarged and liberal philanthropy. A class
of the blacks has fallen off from supporting him,
naturally; but, in the general esteem of the inha-
bitants, of both colours, he stands higher, perhaps,
than any other man.

The negro's inordinate and uncontrollable love of
change is the greatest obstacle which philanthropists
find in the way of bettering his condition. Physio-
logists say it is a quality in his blood He is constant
to nothing which he can set aside. The law has
lately made an attempt to correct this fickleness, as
far as it affects service in families and on plantations.
Since emancipation, it has been found impossible to
retain them, except for a little time in each new
place; and labourers often occasioned great loss to
the planter by suddenly leaving him when his crop
was ripe on the ground and needed immediate har-
vesting. The new law compels a written agreement
for every term of service, and binds both parties, by
heavy penalties, to adhere to it. New servants andHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

Ill

labourers are not to be employed without a certifi-
cate, from the last place, that these conditions have
been fulfilled. All this excites great discontent
among them, however.

A curious proof of the negro love of novelty was
mentioned to us by a most intelligent gentleman
who has resided tw enty years on the island. They
work on estates where there are usually as many
females as males, but they never form intimacies on
the estates where they live. They must have their
temporary wives on plantations three or four miles
off; and thither they go nightly, at both great incon-
venience and great danger—the walk after dark, and
the return before daylight, exposing them to the
venomous snakes which sleep coiled up on the roads,
and the fatigue being a heavy addition to their day's
labour. This evil, however, will disappear gradually
before the growing ambition to be "respectable"—
the first step of which, usually, is to marry legally
and legitimatise children. They then become ex-
tremely punctilious and etiquettical, never addressing
each other without " Monsieur" and " Madame/' and
going through all forms and ceremonies with ludi-
crous pertinacity and gravity. Breen makes some
remarks on these points which are valuable, from his
well-weighed knowledge of the race :—

" Amongst the numerous peculiarities of the negro
character, as it is moulded or modified by French112

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

society, is their constant aping of their superiors in
rank. During slavery, the most venial offence, the
most innocent familiarity, was regarded as an " inso-
lence," and, all the year round, the din of " Je vous
trouve bien insolent" resounded in the negro's ear.
From long habit this expression has now become a
by-word with the lower orders : it is, in fact, the style
of their abuse of each other, and the most opprobrious
epithet in their Billingsgate vocabulary. Canaille is
deemed too vulgar, and negraille too personal; while
" in-so-lent" carries with it a pungency which re-
ceives added zest from the recollections of the past.

" But if to be deemed insolent is the lowest step
of degradation, to be held respectable is the highest
step in the ladder of social distinction. Nothing can
be more amusing than to observe the talismanic effect
of this word upon the lower orders; even the common
street-criers take advantage of it in the disposal of
their wares. Some time ago a female servant being
commissioned to sell a quantity of biscuits of inferior
quality, hawked them about to the cry of " biscuits
pour les dames respectablesAs she passed along
the street, the conceited recommendation did not fail
to attract the attention of those for whom it was
thrown out. The hawker was stopped at every door,
and so great was the anxiety of the negresses to test
the quality of her biscuits as a patent of respectability,
that before she had reached the end of the streetHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

113

she had disburdened herself of the contents of her
tray.

" The negro's pretensions to respectability are
founded more upon the contrast between himself and
the European labourer, than upon any positive good
qualities that he can lay claim to. In some points
there is a decided superiority on his side. His per-
son and his hut, apart from the influence of the
climate, are cleaner than those of the white peasant;
his holiday dress more stylish, and his gait and atti-
tude less clumsy and clownish: but he is surpassed
by the white man in the more solid qualities of in-
dustry and perseverance. A negro espies his fellow at
the end of the street, and rather than join him in & tete-
a-tete, he will carry on a conversation with him for
several hours at the top of his voice, to the unspeak-
able annoyance, perhaps the scandal, of those who
may occupy the intermediate houses. Should the
wind blow off his hat, and warn him to depart, he
will continue the conversation, and let some one else
pick it up for him; or, if he condescend to notice the
occurrence, he turns round, with an air of offended
dignity, puts his arms a-kimbo, takes a quiet look at
the hat as it rolls along, shrugs up his left shoulder,
and walks leisurely after it, until it meets with some
natural obstruction.

" The general character of the French negro, phy-
sical, moral, and social, may be summed up in a few114

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

words. His person is well proportioned, his move-
ments are brisk, his carriage easy, without stiffness
or swagger. His disposition is uncommonly gay and
good-humoured; he is always singing or whistling
when compatible with his actual occupation. He is
submissive, but never obsequious; and, though born
and bred in slavery, there is not a trace of servility
in the outward man. Unlike the European peasant,
who seldom presents himself before a clean coat with-
out a feeling of crawling degradation, the French
colonial negro is polite to a point; he can touch his
hat to any one, but he will not uncover himself in
the open air, even for the Governor of the colony.
He is docile, intelligent, and sober; active, but not
laborious; superstitious, but not religious ; addicted
to thieving without being a rogue; averse to matri-
mony, yet devoted to several wives; and, though
faithful to neither, he can scarcely be deemed de-
bauched. His friendship is sincere, his gratitude
unbounded, and his generosity to all about him only
surpassed by his affectionate attachment to his
children. In him the undisciplined character of the
African is tempered by the accident of his birth. He
is, in short, a compound of savageness and civiliza-
tion—the rude production of the desert, transplanted
to a congenial soil, and polished off, externally, by
the decencies and humanising contact of English and
French society; but without that culture, in religionHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

115

and education, which alone can impart either weight
or moral dignity to the social man."

This was written, you well remember, some years
ago, and, with the progress since, it is to be read with
some grains of difference. Of the present state of
the advanced class of the negro race in these islands,
Mademoiselle Juliette and Monsieur Bissette may
be to you very fair points of estimate and com-
parison—one social, the other political. In this
respect, what I have put together may be of some
value, and I believe I will confine this letter alto-
gether to the coloured topic, and close where I am.LETTER XV.

Nuns nursing Sick Soldiers—Description of Military Hos
pital—Beauty of Beards in Bed—Visit to Freemasons'
Lodge—Curious Vine—Coffee-Plant and Nature's Law of
Fruit-Bearing—New -Way to carry a Child—Temporary
Marriages and the manner of breaking off—Fashion for
Gentlemen's Hair, in Martinique—The Shops with 110
display out of doors—Market for brilliant Handkerchiefs
—Female Clerks—Negro Families in Mourning, and their
singular costume—Long Skirts in the Street—Results of
Emancipation on the few and on the many—Black Man
beating a Woman—Negro Journalism—Periods of Waking
and Sleeping in Warm Climate—Unhealthy just before
Dawn—Incident of Politeness—Sugar, in the Mud on
One's Boots, &c. &c.

St. Pierre, Martinique, April, 1852.

My walk of this morning has been through the wards
of a military hospital—a kind of walk I used to be
more fond of in days when the picture of life more
needed to borrow shading. This was different, in
some respects, from the hospitals I have seen; one
might covet a fever to be so lodged and tended. The
building was a massive and imposing one, shelved on
a terrace close to the bright green hills whichHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

117

—whatever be the immediate motive of their curiosity.
Good thoughts are apt to drop upon a man, from
sacred roofs; and without being a kCatholic, one may
have so put his heart within reach of gentler and
better influences, by daily reverie amid impressive
architecture and ceremonials, as to owe a great deal
to Catholic churches. The sight of people praying
sincerely is very moving; and the living picture
seldom wanting in any dome or cathedral, is some
poor wretch who has come in, from a world without
pity, and in finding relief and consolation in kneeling
where there is hope and mercy.

The church, this morning, (into which I had
strolled, with an hour to spare,) was a delightful
shelter from the glare of the sun, our usual sight-
seeing ramble having extended far into a southern
forenocn—nine o'clock. There was no service, except
a priest in every confessional box, and six or seven
young girls at each one, waiting with sins to disbur-
then. A young negro priest was busy about the
altar, arranging its silver furniture, and dropping to
his knee whenever he passed before the image of the
Virgin, and the only sound that interrupted the
shuffle of his slippers was the whir of the wings of a
flock of swallows, a dozen or more of them having
built their nests between the holy pictures and the
walls of the chancel. I found a seat for my tired
limbs—(the dim light and lofty roof an easy-chair for118

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

my tired mind)—and, for an hour, enjoyed at least
the luxury of the spot.

Several had come in and told their beads while I
sat there, and the turbaned heads had one after
another been laid against the brass plate, (the other
side of whose secret-keeping holes were at the priest's
ear in the confessional box,) and when I rose to go,
I was almost alone. One negro woman was the only
worshipper I saw—a hideous-looking object, she
seemed at first—who had apparently just ventured to
creep within the threshold, and setting down the
wooden tray with which she had brought in a load for
the market, had sunk into a heap of rags and misery
upon her knees. I was passing her, when the expres-
sion of her face arrested my attention—complete
exhaustion and suffering, softened with an inexpressi-
ble sincerity of imploringness. She prayed as if she
felt, that, if there was a God in heaven, she would
then be heard—that she had suffered enough, and
was poor enough, and old and weary enough, to make
it sure—and she was waiting to be answered. T
stepped over the ashy white soles of her skinny and
dusty black feet turned up on the edges of her rags,
and as I rounded the post of the porch near which
she knelt, dropped a piece of money into the dirty
cloth she had laid aside upon the floor, the cushion
which softened the weight of her tray upon her head.
To her it was an answer to prayer, there is littleHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

119

doubt—and, if the angel did not do it, (perhaps they
did, by prompting me,) she probably believed they
did; and there are illusions, if this were one, which
it is better should be believed in.

We were at the Sunday morning mass, at this same
church, and as it is the sesson of Lent, it was
unusually thronged. We saw, we were assured, the
choicest of the female society of the place—and female,
almost to a man, the congregation was. The Creole
ladies were in unexceptionable French toilet—
charming bonnets of the newest Parisian fashion,
beautifully worn as well as beautifully chosen—and
there was no look of the Tropics about them except
in their complexions. A sallowness of the hue of
handled ivory (which I am growing to think rather
elegant than otherwise) is on the youngest and
healthiest cheek, and of roses there are none. But
we were charmed with one thing, which delights
the traveller wherever the French are found—the af-
fectionate and caressing respect with which the
elderly ladies of the crowd were treated by their
younger friends and acquaintances. As the dispers-
ing congregation poured out of church, the centres
of the groups were the gray-haired matrons—(who,
by the way, were dressed with a care and an elegant
propriety that expressed their social value)—and who
were beset, and questioned, and kissed, as if to be
loved and admired it were only necessary to be old.I

120	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

The manners of these grav-haired favourites were
most winning, I thought—their dignity and ease
being mingled with a kind of condescending playful-
ness and gaiety that must make the young people
at home in their company, and which showed, besides,
how completely restraint was removed, and how sin-
cere and natural were the exchanges of compliments
and kind words. Life brightens to the end, in this
way, as the sun sets.

But the Sunday mass, we had been told, was the
great opportunity to see the holiday costumes and de-
meanor of the middle and lower classes of the is-
land—and a show of no small magnificence it was.
The French negress gives up her wool, as impractica-
ble of coiffure; but she makes up for her disowned
peculiarity as a thunder-cloud is replaced by a rain-
bow. Her Madras turban is not only of every
colour that can be woven, but the squares in it are
painted with brighter colours, renewed after every
washing. In any street of St. Pierre on a week day
you may see the black beauty with pots and paint-
brush, preparing her bright kerchief for Sunday wear.
You can have no idea of the effect of a thousand
of these gorgeous heads coming down the steps
of a cathedral. It was like a Trenton Falls of
tulips and bouquets—a slow cascade of negresses
crowned with rainbows—the black faces giving the
relief of velvet under flowers. A true copy of aHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

121

thedral with a congregation issuing from it, would
astonish even Williams and Stevens's show window.

The remainder of the dress—the fashion of which
they adhere to with singular universality—is primi-
tively simple. It is a chemise and a petticoat—nothing
else. The short sleeves of the white under-garment
hang very loosely about the shoulders, and as it is
not shaped at all to the form, there seems to be no
particular design of concealing the bust either by
young women or old. As to figure, indeed, they
have evidently no idea of any differences of beauty in
it, or display of it, except by the colours in which it is
draped. The petticoat is a mere skirt of brilliant
dyes, tied over the chemise at the waist, and they
have a very unbecoming fashion of wearing it so long
that it cannot be loosed upon the ground, but must
be caught up and hitched at the side. It consequently
clings ungracefully close behind, showing, some-
times, to be sure, a well-turned and polished calf of
a black leg, but otherwise quite spoiling the beauty
of these stately Cleopatras. I have not seen a
stocking on one of them since I have been here, and
they are usually barefooted; but it seems to be the
height of elegance, with here and there a dressy one,
to wear gentlemen's walking pumps of patent-leather,
in which the skin sets like a neat black stocking.
The gold ornaments are of such monstrous massive-
ness and quantity as to be the feature which catches

G122

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the eye, however, I am told that a girl usually
carries her whole fortune in them, and to her ebony
complexion the rich yellow of the gold is certainly
very embellishing.

A walk through the streets of St. Pierre, on a Sun-
day afternoon, is not very much what a walk through
the streets of New York would be at the same hour.
The whole population are seated outside—the white
people in chairs around the doors, the black people in
the middle of the street, squat on the pavement—and
all in costumes of the gayest colours. The climate,
which, at the North, is simply air to breathe, here
furnishes several things beside, viz. :—a drawing-
room with a blue roof, happiness when idle, and
several articles of dress.

A house, for the negro, is only a place to sleep and
be sick in. He and his family reside in the open air;
and, on a holiday evening, every corner you turn
seems to present you with an immense game of " hunt
the slipper," played by the opposite neighbours on
the pavement between their houses. I have described
to you the bright rivulet in the middle of every
street, and the cleanliness of every one of them,
from there being no vehicles and seldom a horse pass-
ing; and this makes the front of every dwelling
like a court-yard, and it is so used. The naked
children sit in the water or run about like a litter of
puppies; the men and women lounge on the flatHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

123

stones, and smoke and look on; the old folks lean
against the wall, happy in their cigars ; young girls
coquet "with their finery, straightening up and taking
an attitude as the stranger comes along; nobody
looks " bored," nobody particularly grave, everybody
content, and half the world, at least, very merry.

Through all this, it is very amusing for a foreigner
to stroll, and, to me, it is a succession of tableaux
vivants of which I never tire. One picks his way
through seated neighbourhoods of people, and around
groups, making the circuit of a fat beauty and her
dress, or stepping over a child or its grandmother,
and, really, sees more of the physiognomy of the
people and their habits, in half an hour, than else-
where in a month. " Interior life"—of which the
stranger may see nothing, in other cities—is here all
open to him. Le diable boiteux, w ho looked down
through the roofs, could scarce see more.

An instance of negro politeness which we fell in
with, the other evening, may amuse you. My friend
and I were sauntering slowly toward the lovely sub-
urbs of the town, when I found myself compelled to
go round a fat negress, very gaily dressed, who sat
on the pavement in the street, and was indolently
dividing an orange. The segments of the fruit looked
so ripe and tempting, that I ventured to put thumb
and finger toward one of them, and asked for it with
a s'il vous plait. She nodded her chin quite down124

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

into her black bosom as she handed the orange up
to me, but seeing Mr. G. at the next moment, she
insisted on my taking the rest of the fruit and sharing
it with my friend. With a broad smile of good
nature that had not a shadow of servility or obse-
quiousness in it, she waved her fat hand with an adieu,
and we went on our way enriched with a new ac-
quaintance. I have met her once since, and taken
off my hat, with quite as much pleasure as a bow
usually gives—and the world would be happier, I
think, if this were a specimen of its every-day in-
tercourse.

A little farther on, in the same walk, we passed a
garden in which there was a flowering tree of a
beauty quite new to us. Its green foliage was very
full, -and the tree was about as tall as the common
tulip tree; but it looked precisely as if a soft damp
snow had fallen in the night, and laden down its
branches with as much as they could bear. The rich
white flowers lay cupped in the middle of each
spreading branch—a large lap-full in every cluster.
We learned afterwards that this was the frangipane
—and it seemed an exotic, for we in vain enquired
its name of two very intelligent-looking gentlemen
who were passing at the moment, but of whose
politeness I wished to speak, by the way, as illustrating
the manners of the better class of white inhabitants.
They raised their hats very courteously at my abruptHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

125

question, stopped, and entered into conversation, and
parted from us, after five minutes' discourse upon the
trees and plants of the island, with the civility of
friends or acquaintances. As we were bound to a
public promenade, we passed these same gentlemen
again, seated on one of the stone benches, and they
took off their hats to us again with the same genial
courtesy and a polite phrase of recognition. This
is not much, perhaps, but as a feature of national
manners I think it very admirable. The stranger is
made to feel at home by such kindness, and there is
an out-door hospitality in it, which, for the pleasure
it gives, leaves " letters of introduction" far behind.

Poor people, here, live in the city—not in the sub-
urbs ; and a walk out of town is, consequently, a
pleasanter thing than where the suburbs are shanties
and pig-styes—(a three-mile gauntlet of vile smells,
as it is at New York.) Gardens and villas commence
immediately at the ends of the streets, and, to an
American eye at least, there are few objects, moving
or stationary, even for the first mile out of St. Pierre
on the north, that are not new and picturesque. So
it seemed to us. A little altar, at the side of the
road, had one poor candle burning before its rude
image of the Virgin, and a negro knelt praying before
it. The ladies sat smoking their cigars under the
porticoes. Yoked together by the horns, and with
their noses crowded down to the dust, the poor oxen,126

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

that could not turn their heads, toiled past with their
monstrous loads, and gave us a side glance out of
their great mournful eyes. A new volcano, lately
broken out in the side of the mountain beyond, (and
in which the inhabitants rejoice, as a vent for what
might otherwise have been an earthquake,) sent up
its black column of smoke to the sky. Charming
waterfalls, sluices from the sides of the massive
aqueducts, poured over the precipices that were not
born to the honour of so white a veil. Soldiers off
duty were strolling over the hills in their bright uni-
form. Naked black children were playing everywhere
on the road, stamped with daguerreotypes of the white-
dusted stones they had sat down upon. Flowers of
the most brilliant dyes grew wild on all sides. The
air was an unmingled deliciousness to breathe, and
everybody's countenance indolently and contentedly
expressed it. Take me such a walk in your temperate
zone, my dear Morris !

And with thus getting the better of you, I will
close this letter.LETTER XV.

Nuns nursing Sick Soldiers—Description of Military Hos
pital—Beauty of Beards in Bed—Visit to Freemasons'
Lodge—Curious Yine—Coffee-Plant and Nature's Law of
Fruit-Bearing—New Way to carry a Child—Temporary
Marriages and the manner of breaking off—Fashion for
Gentlemen's Hair, in Martinique—The Shops with 110
display out of doors—Market for brilliant Handkerchiefs
—Female Clerks—Negro Families in Mourning, and their
singular costume—Long Skirts in the Street—Results of
Emancipation on the few and on the many—Black Man
beating a Woman—Negro Journalism—Periods of Waking
and Sleeping in Warm Climate—Unhealthy just before
Dawn—Incident of Politeness—Sugar, in the Mud on
One's Boots, &c. &c.

St. Pierre, Martinique, April, 1852.

My walk of this morning has been through the wards
of a military hospital—a kind of walk I used to be
more fond of in days when the picture of life more
needed to borrow shading. This was different, in
some respects, from the hospitals I have seen; one
might covet a fever to be so lodged and tended. The
building was a massive and imposing one, shelved on
a terrace close to the bright green hills which128

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

embosom the town, and with the courts and gardens
of a palace around it. There were two picturesque
peculiarities—one of which had a touch of senti-
ment also : the attendants were Sisters of Charity,
nuns nicely coiffed in white, and with their black
crosses suspended over the whitest of aprons, whom it
looked as if it might be a pleasure to be nursed by.
Then the sixty or seventy sick soldiers were heavily
bearded; and, as they lay reading, or sleeping, in
their long rows of white beds, their heads upon the
clean pillows—mustaches, imperials and all—were
studies for an artist. Grow your beard, if you wish
to look well in bed, my dear General!

Our charming hostess had put me under the charge
of one of her friends, a polite French gentleman,
who took me from the hospital to the courts of law,
and thence to the Lodge of the Freemasons—the
latter a labyrinth of access, and full of the mystic
symbols of the Order, but not very distinctly
describable. What the eyes in the wall meant—the
columns with single letters on them, the daggers on
the desks, and the blazing suns with mystic inscrip-
tions—I did not venture to inquire of the venerable
negro who showed us the premises. He opened a
concealed cupboard in one of the rooms, however,
and offered me a glass of brandy and water, and it
needed no mutual finger-twist to understand that.
Over one of the arbours* in the garden grew a vinehealth trip to the tropics.

129

which was new to me, and which looked like a
" washing" of embroidered lace spread to dry in the
sun. The leaf was as large as a sheet of note-paper,
and snowy white, except that in the centre was its
own picture in green—a small green leaf, looking
precisely as if painted upon the white one, with
exquisite art. It seemed native to the soil, and grew
most luxuriantly.

I have inquired for the coffee-plant here, but,
though it is one of the products of the island, I
cannot get sight of it. They say it is now nearly
unproductive, from the ravages of a worm which
destroys the leaf. The effort to reproduce the leaf so
exhausts the plant that it bears no fruit—a law of
Nature, my dear poet, of which you will see many a
pretty and similar operation in human character and
vicissitude. What berries of delicious flavour some
hearts and intellects might bear, but for the worm of
care that uses them up with eternal re-producing of
the mere foliage for common necessities !

The women of St. Pierre carry their babies ta
good advantage by putting them astride the hip. In
this position the child rides as comfortably as in a
saddle, while the left arm of the parent, relieved
entirely of the weight, has only to steady the little
one in its place, leaving her right arm entirely at
liberty. The youngster so spread, with one leg before
its mother and the other behind her, has probably a

g 2130

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

better chance to grow, than one tightened into a heap
by the squeeze of a tired arm. I saw a nurse yester-
day, by the way, leading a white child of perhaps four
years of age, with a beautiful little French cap on its
head, but otherwise entirely naked. Children here
are considered clothed by the climate. I am told,
that when the temporary marriages of the negroes
come to an end, they separate in the most friendly
manner, the father taking the girls and the mother
the boys, and that no family interest is felt afterwards
between the children of the same parents. As they
change their names whenever the caprice seizes them,
brothers and sisters are very likely to meet without
being aware of their relationship, unless enlightened
by instinct or resemblance.

Hair is unfashionable on this island as an article
of gentleman's wear. They clip it as close as scissors
will do it, letting the beard out, however, with pro-
portionable luxuriance. Our handsome host pleads
the heat of the climate as the reason for the fashion ;
but, cushioning the lips and lungs while the skull is
shorn, seems to me a careful cooling of the brain,
with a strange forgetfulness of the more sensitive
respiration—and excessively unbecoming. The
taking off the hat here looks like a polite uncovering
of a cocoa-nut. The negro probably likes the fashion,
as it effaces one distinction between the white man
and himself.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	131

I have said nothing of the main street of shops in
St. Pierre, though it is part of our daily stroll—but
there is less to describe than in such localities usually.
There is no outside show—or so little, that, in stand-
ing at one end of the street and looking up or down,
you would suppose it to be a thoroughfare of dark-
fronted dwelling-houses. The display of goods is all
inside, and the sign, if there be any, is about of the
size and ostentatiousness of a New York attorney's
tin " shingle." Still, the finery on sale for the ne-
groes is excessively gay, and kerchiefs particularly
are made for this market, which altogether out-glory
Canal Street and Maiden Lane. For a flashy morn-
ing cravat, to be worn with a dressing-gown, there is
no place where an exquisite could make a pick so
brilliant. And, for a foulard to twist into a turban,
or put pockets to, for a lady's apron, even Paris
could not show such wealth of variety. The shops
are tended by women, as in France, and most gra-
ciously and courteously it is done, as the money in
your pocket feels and freely comes out to acknowledge.

Among the common sights of the streets of St.
Pierre are the negro families in mourning, on their
way to matins or vespers. The erect and graceful
gait adds to the picturesqueness, perhaps, and their
auto-credulity or complete belief in their own so-
lemnity and propriety, probably adds to the effect; but
they certainly are groups to turn and. look after. The132	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

dress is entirely of black, with the exception of a
snow-white turban, even the huge gold ear-rings being
covered with crape. The skin of the neck and arms
seems to be part of the " funeral sable" also, and the
white head-dress is in most unbroken and striking
contrast. The going barefooted, as is not inconsistent
with a ceremonious toilette in this island, of course
makes no speck of white on the moving darkness of
form and petticoat.

There is a part of the more ordinary costume of
the negress of Martinique, which is less artistic, how-
ever. With no time or place for a trailing skirt,
they still make their dresses as long as a court-train,
and, in the street, are obliged to bring them round
and hitch them up at the side or front. The close
cling of the drapery behind is not redeemed by the
sight of the projecting heels and glimpses of black
ankles as they walk—and, indeed, to all display of
the beauty of mere form, the negress seems quite in-
sensible. Her chemise sits loosely about her chest,
and her waist is only defined by the string of the
skirt carelessly tied. This is more unaccountable,
for so ostentatious a tribe, considering that the best
models of Parisian embellishment of form are con-
tinually before them. The Creole white lady of
Martinique dresses with faultless French elegance.

You will not understand me as portraying the
whole, or even a large portion of the negro popula-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

133

tion, in the specimens which I thus select for descrip-
tion. The great majority of the blacks seem to be
content with the merest animal existence, idle, ragged,
dirty, and saucy. Emancipation seems to have de-
graded the many, while it has elevated the very few.
With the French facility of amalgamation of colour,
the more intelligent negroes, when set free, found the
way to respectability easy, and some of them have
unquestionably taken advantage of it; while, to most
of them, freedom was but the license to be as brutal
as their nature dictated, and viciously idle. In our
evening walk, yesterday, we came upon a group who
were quietly looking on, while a stout fellow was
furiously beating a woman over her naked shoulders
with a heavy stick; and a more rascally looking half
dozen human beings I never saw. The men and
women, as little clad as is desirable, lie down any-
where in the dirt together, caring, apparently, for
nothing on earth but the perpetual cigar—an ex-
istence which nothing but the liveliness of bad pas-
sions prevents from being the most sluggish order of
brainless vegetation. Of the negro intellect in acti-
vity and cultivation we have not yet, perhaps, full
means of judging. I find very contradictory opinions
among the residents here, as to their probable pro-
gress with time and freedom—the majority declaring,
however, that the negro relapse into barbarism is
instinctive and inevitable, and that the presence of134

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the white man, who will soon be outswarmed and
driven from these latitudes, is all that hinders their
sudden and complete abandonment of the restraints of
civilization. Some negroes who returned educated
from Prance, by the way, started a journal at St.
Pierre. It lasted about two years, and was little
except a tissue of personal scurrilities. It was finally
quashed by suits for libel.

The periods of the day, here, are a little difficult to
adopt. The cocks crow, and the people rise, at least
an hour before dawn, though whether the roosters
take a compensatory siesta at noon, as well as the
people, I have not yet inquired. All those who
cough, know very well that there is a change in the
air, towards morning, which starts the throat's un-
willing music; and my landlady informs me that it
is a common opinion, (in this land where window-
glass is unknown,) that it is unhealthy to sleep for
the two hours preceding day, So everybody sees the
stars come and go, and half the business of the day
is over at our common hour of rising. The siesta
seems to me an unnatural sleep, which it takes time
to learn the trick of, however, and waking being
always a sort of disastrous sensation, it is a pity to
make it come oftener.

The tropical insensibility as to being looked at, (of
which I have before spoken,) adds very much to the
pleasure of the stranger. One likes to scrutinizeHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	135

%

new faces in new places, and tliere is a certain agree-
able freedom in finding that a fall indulgence of this
natural curiosity is not considered an impertinence.
In one of my daily lounges along the busy water-side
of the harbour, I was attracted by the unlading of
one of the coast-boats, the freight of which appeared
to be mostly baskets of fruit and vegetables, from the
estates along the sea. The crew, eight or nine ath-
letic negroes, dressed only in the two pocket-handker-
chiefs which form the boatman's attire, were landing
these on the beach, and a crowd of town servants
apparently were waiting to receive them. One neat-
looking mulatto girl, as tasteful and attractive in her
costume as she could well be, seemed very much
embarrassed among the thirty or forty packages, and
finally, after questioning in vain several other servants
in the group, she looked around, and come up to me,
with a most easy and graceful curtsy. " If
Monsieur can read writing," she said, in a most de-
ferential and daintily pronounced French, " will he
please come and tell me what is written on a basket? "
Her thanks, when I had picked out the one which
was labelled for her mistress, were expressed in the
same modest and graceful way, and I could not but
make a white mark for a country where politeness
sat so becomingly, even on servants.

In a land where sugar grows there is no starvation.
After a walk along the shore where the sugar-hogs-136	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS,

heads are perpetually rolling, the sugar-mud sticking
to one's boots would probably sweeten the coffee for
a family breakfast; and I observed, that, while the
coopers were heading the casks, any ragged beggar or
urchin was at liberty to help himself to a handful.
This being a elimate that requires no clothing, the
two great evils of hunger and nakedness are thus
tolerably lessened. Adieu once more.KENTUCKY.

LETTER XYI.

Experiences in approaching Mammoth Cave—The Tavern at
Bear-Wallow, and its accommodations—A. Carriage in
reduced circumstances—Splendours of a Kentucky wilder-
ness—Description of Mammoth Cave Hotel—Breakfast
Party and their Underground Experiences—The Lost
Bridegroom and his Restoration—Jenny Lind's Guide,
Stephen—Description of this picturesque Charon—His
Intentions as a Slave—The Uniform provided for enter-
' ing the Cave—Suggestion of something more pictorial—
History of the Ownership of the Cave—Its Extent, and
that of the Estate above ground—Farms which it pro-
bably runs under—Attempt to make it a Pulmonary
Hospital—The Two Wives who buried themselves in
the Cave with their Consumptive Husbands—Terror of
a Death in the Cave—The Lost Traveller—County under-
ground not represented—Scenery for Poems, &c. &c.

Mammoth Cave, one may say, is in the depths of
Kentucky, far away from thoroughfares, and buried138

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

in the woods. The nearest public house is the cele-
brated " Bell's Tavern," six miles south; and from
hence there is a stage-coach to the cave; but the
approach from any other direction is by private
vehicle, and fifteen or twenty miles through the
wilderness. Coming across the country from the
north-east, I was told that " Bear-wallow" was the
nearest point upon the stage-route from whence a
conveyance could be obtained, and at this place with
the ominous name I was dropped at midnight. Asleep
when we arrived, the coach drove off before I was
fairly awake, and I found myself, with my baggage
and a full moon, in front of the only building any-
where visible—a ten-foot shanty, with a single room
that served for Post Office and " Store." Upon
inquiry of the Postmaster (a barefooted young gentle-
man in shirt and trousers), I learned that there was
one other building in the village, Hare's Tavern; but
as this, the house of his only neighbour, was nowhere
visible, I requested the Postmaster to show me the
way to it. " No sir-ee !" said he, " that man and I
don't speak ! I aint been tharr in twelve months !"
Upon which he prepared to close his door, leaving me
and my baggage to the tender mercies of the moon.
Persuading him, apparently against his will, to house
my portmanteau till morning, I shouldered my
carpet-bag, and trudged " just up the road/' as
directed, till I came to the tavern, where I wasHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

139

violently set upon by two dogs—and, after a fight with
sticks and stones for fifteen minutes, succeeded in
rousing a black girl from her sleep, and gaining ad-
mittance and a bed. I am giving you a very literal
description of all this, because great wonders throw
a charm over their neighbourhoods, and one must
tell how Mammoth Cave is approached, as Mr. James
describes no castle without first telling how " a horse-
man was seen winding up the avenue."

Spite of the dog-welcome given to the traveller,
Bear-wallow Tavern is liberally and kindly kept. A
negro came into my room in the morning with a large
tub of water (a bathing luxury not common even in
more frequented places); the breakfast set for me
alone would have fed twenty persons, and the society
of the landlady and her head man was thrown in—
charge for lodging, bath, breakfast, and the conversa-
tion of two very agreeable persons, only fifty cents.
The large, grassy front yard is nicely shaded, the bed-
rooms spacious, the parlour well furnished. As one
of those solitary inns for which a man sometimes
sighs, where he may go to " forget and be forgotten"
(for a week), this seemed to me worthy of a memo-
randum. Bear-wallow, I should add, was named by
the hunters, and was formerly known as the greatest
resort in Kentucky for bears. They came to wallow
in the mud of the ponds in the neighbourhood.

The sixteen miles through the woods, from Bear-140	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

wallow to the cave, would be the most beautiful of
rides on horseback, but a rougher track for wheels
could scarcely be imagined. My conveyance had
seen better days. Its torn curtains and shabby panels
told the story of reduced " circumstances/' though to
which of those numerous " first families of Kentucky"
it had once been the pride and glory, my black driver
was unable to tell. Under miles of beach trees, every
third one an unsung monarch—through orchestras
of mocking-birds and thrushes—over rocks, stumps,
and gullies, and through streams and quagmires—we
made our varied way. It was an interesting ride—
for one never tires of the primitive wilderness with
its fragmented sublimities and splendid accidents of
beauty; but the sight of the more civilized looking
fence, which betokened an approach to the place of
our destination, was a considerable relief. Those who
come to the Mammoth Cave must prepare for rough
riding.

We emerged directly from the woods upon a great
mass of irregular building—like two streets of log
houses shoved up close, and added on to a two-story
tavern—and this clapboarded and porticoed heap
seemed islanded in the forest. Its acre or two of
courtyard was surrounded by an ocean of foliage, and
the whole place looked like a village that had crowded
together from a sense of loneliness. Not a soul
visible. The visitors, if there were any, were pro-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

141

bably underground. But my driving up to the door
brought out the mammoth landlord—a towering and
broad-shouldered Kentuckian, with a very kind and
hospitable face—and I was soon installed in a clean
room with broken windows and no handle to the door,
and as comfortable as need be.

At breakfast the next morning, I met a party of
five—two ladies and three gentlemen—for whose re-
appearance from the nether world we had " waited
tea" the night before, but who had not returned till
after bed-time, their underground pilgrimage having
occupied all day and part of the night. They had
penetrated nine miles under ground-—an eighteen
mile walk, in and out—and their exchange of en-
thusiasms and felicitations, recounting of adventures,
and recalling of splendours and wonders, was all very
exciting to the curiosity. One of the gentlemen, an
elderly Boston merchant, was something of an in-
valid, and he had achieved this wonderful walk very
much to his own astonishment-—attributing his un-
foreseen energies partly to the exciting interest of the
scene, and partly to the cool and sustaining dryness
of the air. To my own damaged chest and weak
limbs this was very encouraging—though instances
were mentioned of travellers whose strength had
failed them, and this when they were in so far that it
was very difficult to get them out. A newly married
man, among others, had left his bride above ground—142

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and, passing the Styx, (the cave's subterranean river,)
had penetrated six miles, when he fainted from ex-
haustion. The famous guide, Stephen, (of whom
honourable mention is made in Benedict's account
of Jenny Lind's visit, and every other description of
the cave,) actually brought him back, six miles, in
his arms; though, considering the ladders to go up
and down, the holes to creep through, the crags to
climb, the rivers and lakes to navigate, the slippery
abysses to edge around, and the long passages in which
it is impossible to walk upright, it was considered
almost a miracle. It seemed a pity that they did
not give the bride an opportunity to make a new
version of the story of Eurydice, by summoning her
to cross the Styx and bring out her Orpheus. Things
come so provokingly near being romantic, sometimes,
in these common-place days !

The ladies of this party were talking with a very
picturesque-looking personage, after breakfast, and
he was presently pointed out to me as the charon of
the Kentucky Styx—the remarkable " Stephen."
As this was the man who was to take me to " Lethe,"
(and bring me back again !) ferry me over the " Styx,"
and show me, on the way, such wonders as " Purga-
tory," and the " Bottomless Pit," (names of different
portions of the cave) I was interested to see him. I
stepped up and joined the group, and the first glance
told me that Stephen was better worth looking atHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

143

than most celebrities. He is a slave, part mulatto
and part Indian, but with more of the physiognomy
of a Spaniard—his masses of black hair curling
slightly and gracefully, and his long moustache giving
quite a Castilian air to his dark skin. He is of middle
size, but built for an athletic—with broad chest and
shoulders, narrow hips, and legs slightly bowed, and
he is famous for the dexterity and bodily strength
which are very necessary to his vocation. The cave
is a wonder which draws " good society," and Stephen
shows that he is used to it. His intelligent face is
assured and tranquil, and his manners particularly
quiet—and he talks to charming ladies with the air
of a man who is accustomed to their good will and
attentive listening. The dress of the renowned guide
is adapted to dark places and rough work. He wears
a chocolate-coloured slouched hat, a green jacket and
striped trousers, and evidently takes no thought of
his appearance. He is married. His wife is the
pretty mulatto chambermaid of the hotel. He has
one boy, takes a newspaper, studies geology, and
means to go to Liberia as soon as he can buy his
wife, child, and self, from his present master. After
sixteen years' experience as guide to the cave, he is
anxious to try his hand at some one of the above-
ground ambitions. I would warrant him success
wherever the specific gravity of merit has a fair
chance. He has tact, talent, and good address. You144

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

see I am getting a little before my story, and giving
you some of my after knowledge of Stephen—but I
wish you to comprehend why he figures so promi-
nently in my own and other descriptions of this sub-
terranean Switzerland; and he is so likely to be
heard of, some day, as President of Liberia or Am-
bassador from St. Domingo, that his portraiture
cannot be wisely slighted.

There is an extraordinary uniform provided by the
Hotel for visitors to the Cave. At one end of the
long hall is a row of pegs, where hang the articles
for ladies, and at the other end are pegs for gentlemen.
You are directed to go up stairs and equip yourself
before starting. I cannot say that the dress is be-
coming. A stuffed skull-cap of mustard-coloured
flannel is worn by ladies to guard them from knocks
on the head where the cave is low. Then " Lethe"
and " Purgatory" being muddy and slippery places,
and the ladders to " Fat Man's Misery" and " Bottom-
less Pit" being wet and perpendicular, short-skirted
petticoats of this same mustard-coloured flannel are
provided, to be worn with trousers of the same, or
Bloomers of the lady's own. Gentlemen wear the
skull cap sometimes, and a short devil-may-care is
very generally worn—all of the same unpleasant
yellow—the crouchings in the wet boats, where the
river roof is low, and the lying on the back to see
the "Milky Way" to more advantage, being dirtyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

145

work for coats. In the two or three days that I re-
mained at the hotel, I saw several parties start for
the cave in this singular costume, and the effect of
their procession out of the grounds, I must say, was
very funny, though it so happened that the ladies
were too pretty to be made to look unsightly, even
by ugly head gear and unaccustomed Bloomers. I
should like to make a suggestion to visitors to the
cave, however. In the dark pictures which impress
them so powerfully, while under ground, their own
party form the figures of the foreground. A dozen
or more persons, each one with a lamp, passing in slow
procession through those gloomy halls and corridors,
add prodigiously to the effect of the perspective, and
one need not be a painter to understand how much the
picturesqueness might be aided by something pictorial
in the costume. A slouched hat and plume instead
of the skull cap, and short coats instead of those
disfiguring frocks, would add essentially to the plea-
sure and beauty of the pilgrimage.

This preparatory information has spun out till I see
that I shall not have room for a description of the
cave itself. I will save it for another letter, adding
to this an item or two more of the lesser history of
the great wonder—such, at least, as I picked up in
stage-coaches and table-talk on the way thither.

Col. Croghan, to whose family it belongs, was a
resident of Louisville. He went to Europe some

H146

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

twenty years ago, and, as an American, found himself
frequently questioned of the wonders of Mammoth
Cave—a place he had never visited, and of which, at
home, though living within ninety miles of it, he had
heard very little. He went there immediately on his
return, and the idea struck him to purchase and make
it a family inheritance. In fifteen minutes' bargaining
he bought it for 10,000 dollars—though, shortly after,
he was offered 100,000 dollars for his purchase. In his
will, he tied it up in such a way, that it must remain
in his family for two generations, thus appending its
celebrity to his name. There are nineteen hundred
acres in the estate—three square miles above ground
—though the cave probably runs under the property
of a great number of other landowners. For fear
of those who might dig down and establish an
entrance to the cave on their own property—(a man's
farm extending up to the zenith and down to the
nadir)—great vigilance is exercised to prevent such
subterranean surveys and measurements as would
enable them to sink a shaft with any certainty. The
cave extends ten or twelve miles in several directions,
and there is probably many a backwoodsman sitting
in his log-hut within ten miles of the cave quite un-
conscious that the most fashionable ladies and gen-
tlemen of Europe and America are walking without
leave, under his corn and potatoes !

The equable air, and the good health of the miners,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

147

who were at one time employed in digging saltpetre
from near the entrance, started an idea, some time
since, that a hospital for consumptive patients might
be profitably established in the cave. Stone huts
were accordingly constructed, in the dark halls beyond
the reach of external air, and, among those who tried
the experiment, were two consumptive gentlemen,
who, with their two healthy wives, passed six weeks
in hideous seclusion from daylight. One of the
gentlemen died there, and the other received no
benefit: but the devotion of those voluntary buried
wives should chronicle their names in the cave's
history. Another patient, who went in and remained
some weeks, was attended by friends and a servant;
but, his end approaching, the death-scene in that
dark and silent abyss became so appalling, that they
fled in terror—friends and servant—and left the dying
man alone. Nothing could induce them to return,
and, when others went in, the poor man was found
dead with an expression of indescribable horror upon
his features. Those who have seen these dreary huts,
miles away from the sunshine—who have smelt the
grave-like air, barren of the pervading vitality which
vegetation gives the atmosphere above ground—and
who have realized the intense Silence and Darkness
that reign there like monsters whose presence is felt
—can appreciate the horror of being left alone at
the last hour in such a place.148

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPTCS.

The side avenues of the cave, into which visitors
are not usually taken, are said to be labyrinths of
interminable perplexity, and the guides are instructed
to let none enter them alone. A gentleman who
left his party a year or two ago, and ventured to ex-
plore for himself, lost his way, and was only found by
Stephen, after many long and vain searches. He
had stumbled and put out his lamp, and had been
forty-three hours alone in the darkness. When dis-
covered, he was lying on his face, benumbed and
insensible. Stephen brought him out, several miles,
upon his back, and he recovered: but he had had
the experience of a death in darkness and solitude.

The Mammoth Cave is as large as a county, but
having another county on top of it, it is not repre-
sented, I believe, in the Kentucky legislature. In
the country's literature it will be strongly represented,
some day—for there is scenery for a magnificent poem
—a new Dante's Inferno—in its wondrous depths.
It is a Western prairie of imagination—still wild and
unoccupied.LETTER XVII.

Descent into Mammoth Cave—Chance Companions, and their
correction of each other's Impressions—The Guide's Basket
with its aids to enthusiasm—Funny Look of Party in
Mustard-coloured Costume—Entrance to the Cave—Rea-
lized Yalue of the Day to be lost—First Half mile—Strange
Atmosphere, andDrearyLoss of Smell ofVegetation—First
Disappointment overcome—Gorin's Dome—Curious Im-
mortalizing of a Master by his Slave—Wonders of Rock
Drapery—Embarrassment of Multiplied Objects of Ad-
miration—Strange Impression made on the Fancy by the
Mammoth Cave—Its Architectural Character—An Ante-
diluvian Herculaneum—Difficulties of the Way—The Styx
—Lethe and its Boat—Place for Adieu, &c., &c.

Mammoth Cave, June.

After luxuriating a day or two in the blessedly un-
catechised idleness of a tree in the woods, expecting
a party of friends who were to accompany me under
ground, I gave up the hope of their coming, and
joined the Monday's chance gathering of travellers.
They were five—one lady and her husband from
Nashville, one French gentleman from New Orleans,
a Boston merchant, and the Danish Professor150

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

Koeppen, whose lectures you may have seen reported
in the Picayune. We were quite amiscellany, as to
local origin, habits, and experience; yet, as my com-
panions were all very cultivated people, I rejoiced in
the correctives we were likely to be to each other's
impressions, and was made more sure of not being mis-
led by novelty and enthusiasm, and of discovering, by
the variety of minds, what was truly beautiful in
what we were to see.

I looked with some interest at Stephen's basket.
To walk eighteen miles, on a common road, I should
simply have thought impossible; but here were
eighteen miles of pathway over broken rocks to be
traversed lamp in hand—ladders to be ascended and
descended, precipices to be climbed, half mile holes
to be crept through, tight places to be squeezed in and
out of, crags to be scaled, hanging rocks to be crawled
under, and chasms to be scrambled over—all by the
aid of excitement from sublime objects. With every
reasonable confidence in this stimulus, I ventured to
hope that Stephen had provided ham and chickens
also. The white towel in the basket, I found upon
inquiry, covered a generous supply of these less capri-
cious sustainers of the system. There was also a
bottle—contents confidential. Stephen's history af-
forded a grain of comfort, besides. He had brought
out, upon his back, two gentlemen from the innermost
depths of the cave; and into the weight of these IHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

151

made a precautionary inquiry. One weighed 180
pounds, the other 165. My own avoirdupois being
only 135 pounds, I could make sure of coming to
light again, even should the sublimity and the cold
chicken fail to sustain me.

Time is less pressing when there is to be no sunset
to tell how it passes, and our party for the dark
regions were a little slow in making their appearance.
The reluctance to appear in the mustard-coloured
costume added a little to the delay, perhaps. We
were all mustered, at last, however, and I presume no
one of us, as he fell into the procession behind Ste-
phen, would have liked to have been seen by the
gentlemen destined to write his "obituary notice."
Irving himself would be unidealized and ludicrous,
described in such a costume. Exception must be
made in the lady's favour, only—for the Bloomers
and other changes gave{ a look of charming espieglerie
to her appearance, and we felt our descent to the Styx
very much graced by her company.

After leaving the house, we turned down a pretty
ravine, and, on the right of the descent, came pre-
sently to a hole in the earth, which we might have
passed without noticing, as it was somewhat hidden
by overhanging trees and creepers, and the entrance
was a short turn backwards, under the way we had
come. The first subterranean hall, indeed, is said to
be directly under the dining-room of the hotel.152	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

The lighting of our lamps occupied a few minutes—
and as the day was one we were to see no more of, I
could not help taking particular notice of its beauty.
It was the first warm and sunny morning, after
rather a chilly week, and to let so sweet a day sud-
denly pass unenjoyed into a yesterday, gave one a
feeling of regret which made its balm and beauty
more delicious. From the air of the cave, meantime,
we all turned back, as it came up in a strong current
several degrees colder than the atmosphere around
us.

Stephen took the basket of provisions on his arm,
slung his canister of oil over his shoulder, and gave
us our lamps—the poor little flames that were to light
our way through such labyrinths of darkness, shining
very dimly in the brilliant sunshine. Down the steps
into the darkness went the chocolate-coloured slouched
hat we were to follow, down went the pretty feet in
the Bloomers, down went the moustached Professor,
the respectable merchant, and the elegant French-
man—each with his lamp swinging in its wire-socket
and growing brighter as the gleam thickened—and I
followed, with a cough which protested bitterly against
the cold wind coming to meet us.

At the foot of the rough stone staircase we entered
upon a tolerably level road, marked with wheel tracks,
and hemmed in with a wall of the loose stones re-
moved to make it j and this, with other belongings ofhealth trip to the tropics.	153

the saltpetre works formerly carried on near the
entrance of the cave, occupied the first half mile.
The cavity which we were pursuing was from fifty to
sixty feet high, enlarging once or twice into roomy
openings, fancifully named—such as The Rotunda,
Kentucky Cliffs, Gothic Galleries, &c.—all very
dingy and gloomy-looking places to eyes fresh from
the sunshine, though grand when one remembers
where they are, and for what ages of gloom their vast
solitudes have been unsunned and unvisited. This
part of the cavern is less striking to casual observa-
tion, from the smoke and dust which the pursuits of
mining industry have left upon the walls. It looks
more like a succession of vast old warehouses, aban-
doned to dirt and cobwebs, than like the structures
whose fine names have been given to it.

The air had, after the first half mile from the en-
trance, become perfectly dry. So hushed with still-
ness, too, I could easily understand why its unvarying
temperature and tranquillity had been prescribed for
the invalid. Yet its quality was disagreeable to me,
from the strange absence of the smell of vegetation.
I had never before realized how much the common
air is impregnated with the scarce-recognised perfume
of grass and leaves. The cave seemed to have the
skeleton of air without its flesh and blood—an under-
groundy and sepulchral dryness, wholly destitute of
the cheerful vitality af the common atmosphere. At
h 2154

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the same time that my lungs made no complaint, and
I had less disposition to cough than usual, my nose
(or the nose of my imagination) longed for a sniff of
common earth, with roots and weeds which the sun
had shone upon. A mile or two farther in, we found
a sprig or two of mint upon a rock—the remainder
of a julep, intended or perpetrated, by a party who
had preceded us; and its homely and sunny-bank
fragrance was indescribably welcome—welcome as a
spring in the desert.

Whereabouts the feeling of disappointment ceased,
and I began to feel the sublime presence of the Spirit
of the Cave, I could not definitely say. But, after
hearing Stephen discourse eloquently of a mile or
more of successive wonders, and regretting that I felt
somehow less enthusiastic than he seemed to expect,
I found myself stopping still with surprise at the
wonderfully new kind of places that we came to.
Life's new sensations are few and precious. Here
was one—a discovery that there were places of which
I had never before conceived the character and exist-
ence—utter novelties—effects of form, structure,
space, and combination, which were strangely unex-
pected, at the same time that they flooded, satiated,
staggered the craving sense of the love of the wonder-
ful. What they call " Gorin's Dome" was the first
point where I openly acknowledged this victory of
the Cave over my incredulity. The approach to itHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

155

was by a long and narrow passage through the rock;
Stephen telling me, on the way, that he had named
the Dome for his former owner, Mr. Gorin, and that
Mr. Gorin had once taken him to Louisiana to sell,
but brought him back because nobody would give him
eleven hundred dollars for him. I was stumbling
along by the light of my flickering light, musing how
oddly a man might chance to have a Dome named
after him, and how a handsome and intelligent fellow
might be too dear at eleven hundred dollars, when
we stopped before a hole in the wall. Here our guide
left us, requesting us to wait for a moment till he
could light up the Dome.

We stood wondering how a " Dome" could be pro-
duced out of a corner in the cave where we could
scarcely find room to stand, when a light began to
shine in upon us through the hole in the wall, and
Stephen called to us to look through, one by one.
In my turn I put my head out of the rocky window.
He was holding up, and throwing down, sheets of me-
dicated paper, commonly known as " Bengal light,"
which produced a brilliant illumination above and
below. I looked down first into a profound abyss,
and then up to a height of which I could see 110 ter-
mination. And it was hard to realize that such vast
depths and altitudes were all under ground—graves
dug and trees growing far overhead: but it was not
the extent upward and downward that formed its156	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

novelty and beauty. It was like a steeple built over
a gulf, but both steeple and gulf seemed curtained
with uncut velvet of creamy richness, fringed at all
its folds and edges with elaborate embroidery. The
stalactical ooze which had been employed since the
Deluge, or since creation, in draping and embellishing
this cavernous temple, had fallen in fluted folds, like
the most massive yet artistic drapery, and, with its
superb doublings and overlayings, it was indeed the
upholstery of giants. A tyrant would forbid his
courtiers to see such a place, for the contrast would
impoverish his grandeur. The damask and velvet of
a throne would look scanty and poor after it.
Height and depth together, this magnificent Dome
measures three hundred feet, and the window through
which we saw it is one hundred and sixty feet
from the bottom. The path to it, from the entrance
of the cave, is about two miles.

I have omitted a whole mile of the wonders of sub-
terranean architecture, and, indeed, I have no inten-
tion of giving you a detailed description of the cave.
In the language of Appleton's Guide Book, " it is
said to contain 226 avenues, 47 domes, numerous
rivers, 8 cataracts, and 23 pits and Stephen estimates
the aggregate length of the different corridors that
branch off at the sides, (most of which are not visited
by travellers,) at several hundred miles. Every rood
has something to wonder at. Every eighth of a mileHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

157

has some miracle which it would take a newspaper
column to describe. Adjectives would give out, if
your patience would not. I think I shall try,
mainly, to convey to you the impression which the
visit to the cave made upon me—using as much
special description as is necessary for this; but refer-
ring you to the Guide Books for a detailed account
of its wonders.

That the Mammoth Cave is an antiquity of the
world before the Flood—a city of giants which an
earthquake swallowed, and which a chance roof of
rocks has protected from being effaced by the
Deluge and by the wear of the elements for subsequent
ages—is one of the fancies which its strange pheno-
mena force upon the mind. All is so architectural.
It is not a vast underground cavity, raw and dirty,
but a succession of halls, domes and corridors, streets,
avenues and arches—all under ground, but all telling
of the design and proportion of a majestic primeval
metropolis. It is not a cave, but a city in ruins—
a city from which sun, moon, and stars, have been
taken away—whose day of judgment has come and
passed, and over which a new world been created and
grown old. By what admirable laws of unknown
architecture those mammoth roofs and ceilings are
upheld, is every traveller's wondering question. In
some shape or other, I heard each of my companions
express this. No modern builder could throw up158

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

such vast vaulted arches, and so unaccountably sus-
tain them. And all else is in keeping. The cornices
and columns, aisles and galleries, are gigantically
proportionate; and as mysteriously upheld. Streets
after streets—miles after miles—seem to have been
left only half in ruins—and here and there is an
effect as if the basements and lower stories were en-
cumbered with fragments and rubbish, leaving you to
walk on a level with the capitals and floors once
high above the pavement. It might be described as
a mammoth Herculaneum, first sepulchred with over-
toppling mountains, but swept and choked afterwards
by the waters of the Deluge, that found their way to
its dark streets in their subsiding. What scenery and
machinery all this will be for the poets of the West,
by and by ! Their Parnassus is " a house ready fur-
nished."

We were walking, meantime, with feet constructed
since Adam and Eve, and the roughness of the way
was very modern and unendurable. Up hill and
down dale, (and there was a great deal of ascending
and descending,) every step had to be picked over
broken rocks, by the light of the lamp; and, where
there was so much to be seen above and around us,
the careless steps were many, and the twists and
scratches abundant. Now and then we came to the
foot of a ladder, and a sort of ascent up a chimney
was to be performed by the very ladies and gentlemenHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

159

who had just been wondering at the sublimities of
their route. Or, there was a ladder to lead us more
pokerishly downward. One place, called the " Fat
Man's Misery/' was the mere zigzag through cracks in
the rock. Another was a quarter of a mile, called
the "Valley of Humility/' along which we almost
crept upon hands and knees, the ceiling was so low.
" Great Relief" is the name of the avenue which im-
mediately succeeds this, and then comes the " Bottom-
less Pit/' over which there is a comfortable new
bridge, with cedar posts, as passable as the most san-
guine sinner could desire.

The impression that, by this time, you are as deep
down into the bowels of the earth as you could well
go, prepares you for a surprise when the path comes
to the brink of " The Styx/' and you look over into
a profundity of darkness, and hear the stone which is
thrown in, splash, far below, and echo up from a vast
cavern of stillness. This far-down subterranean river
is disclosed, as if through the merest chance, by a
cleft in the rocky roof that shuts^it in, and it seems
an abyss unfathomable—one that, with its very look,
asks to be left alone with its secrets. None who have
ever gazed into its black depths are likely to forget
them. They have come back upon traveller's dreams,
I venture to say, with every lobster salad's beckoning
finger.

From " The Styx" to " Lethe" is a short walk.160

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

It is by a gradual and easy descent, and as its un-
rippling waters stop the way, it is here that a boat is
taken to go farther on. My companions seemed glad
to set down their lamps—blest with the idea of, at
least, some new mode of conveyance. The three
miles of climbing, scrambling, and wandering, had
given me some premonitory symptoms of fatigue. I
began to wonder how far on the other side of Lethe
we should get something to refresh the mortal appe-
tite that might remain to us. For six miles beyond
that black stream our journey was yet to continue;
but, as the extremest mile was said to reveal the
greatest wonders, I felt no disposition to turn back
—the dinner, which we were to eat at the far end,
adding (I am free to confess) its modest encourage-
ment to my enthusiasm.

But my letter is getting long, and Lethe's brink is
a good place for an adieu. While the guide is em-
barking his basket and his canister of oil, I will drop
the curtain, trusting that you will look for my expe-
riences beyond Lethe, spite of the forgetfulness with
which those commonly turn back who here take their
leave of the voyager.LETTER XVIII.

Passage down the Subterranean River of Oblivion—A Bride
backing out, on the brink—Niches for Disappointed Poli-
ticians—Wonderful Echoes and Vicinity of Purgatory—
Firing a Pistol near the Infernal Regions—Landing on
the other side of the Styx—Ole Bull's Performance in the
Cave—The Crowning of our Companion, the Danish Pro-
fessor—Fatigue of the Eighth Mile—Blessed Stop to Dine
—Relics of Former Visitors—Modesty of Stephen the
Guide, and our Remonstrance—Claret, and its Taste
underground, &c. &c.

Mammoth Cave, June.

We were three miles underground at the close of my
last letter, and the subterranean river called " Lethe"
was before us. The voyage looked un-tempting. A
shallow skiff waited to receive us, and the stream,
black as ink under the dim glare of our lamps, disap-
peared suddenly around a corner of rock, leaving all
that was beyond entirely to the imagination. Dark
and glooming cliffs walled in and roofed over the
entrance. Not a weed, nor a ripple, nor a breath of
air, gave token of life further on. It was to be a
launch into blank darkness.162

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

And the worst of it was, that we were to leave be-
hind us all that was young and lovely in our party.
The one lady who had accompanied us thus far held a
side conference with her husband while the lamps were
being trimmed, (they were a newly-married couple, we
understood,) and the result was a decision to leave
Oblivion for the present un-tempted. There was a
spare guide, fortunately. He could return with them to
daylight and the bridal moon. They waited kindly to
see us off, however; and really, as they stood with their
swinging lamps on the receding shore, the lovely bride
smiling and joyous, and with one little foot already
turned from under her short petticoats to retrace her
steps, I thought,—lights, groupings and all, I never
had seen a more dramatic picture. We dropped
silently down the stream, with our lamps hidden at
the bottom of the skiff—Stephen's slouched beaver,
raven moustache, and large melancholy eyes, looking
even more poetical than old Charon, as he shoved
from the shore—and in the next minute we were
hidden from view, alone and afloat on a breathless
and rayless river. And thus romantic is the first
launch upon Lethe ! Be comforted, oh many bards !

The passage of Lethe is like an aisle of a cathe-
dral, a mile long, traversed with a lamp at midnight.
The gliding between its gray walls in a boat, silently
and without effort, adds a strange mysteriousness to
its effect. The ceiling of arched rock, which roofs it
in, varies from twenty to forty feet in height; and,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

163

half way up, runs a shelving gallery, as designedly
architectural as a thing could well seem; and along
under this gallery is a succession of empty niches of
the shape commonly constructed for busts—a natural
Westminster Abbey for the likenesses of disappointed
politicians, which makes its name, as the river of for-
getfulness, singularly felicitous. " Salt River," you
will remember, is but sixty miles from this.

There is a short interruption of a sand-bank after
the first quarter of a mile, and, crossing this, we took
another boat and resumed our glide down the dark
river. From the remarkable echoes along this last
mile or three-quarters, Stephen gives it the separate
name of Echo River; but this seems a needless mul-
tiplying of names, for it is all one stream, and Lethe
is, if anything is, a name for continuance. We
stopped oar and tried the echo. There seemed to be
remote caves which only answered upon very long
and deliberate reflection, yet as sweetly as reluctantly.
Stephen sang a negro song, and the echo of the first
line came back about the time of the fourth. It
struck me that it would be a pretty thing to imitate
in a duet—suspending the last line while the leading
sentiment, (say a struggle against the river's tide of
forgetfulness,) recurs with a mournful echo. My
brother the composer will build good music for such
a song, and you can do the words, being as good at
that. If a passenger down Lethe is wanted, I am164

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

good at most kinds of victim, and will do that part of
it. So copyright your tears, my dear Morris, and
begin.

The dead silence with which we floated downwards
most of the way—Stephen having a fine idea of the
dramatic, and suspending oar and voices for very
effective intervals—was far more affecting and impres-
sive than I can well give you an idea of. It was like
the pathos in a play. I thought an interlude might
be agreeable, and having seen the handle of a pistol
in the pocket of our comme il faut companion from
New Orleans, I asked leave to try the echo with a
discharge. Chapultepec ! what a roar ! The imme-
diate thunder was like the coming down of the rocks
about our ears, but the long-continued and far-off
reverberations seemed to tell of caves that had never
before been reached or found utterance. I have
omitted to mention that there is an avenue called
" Purgatory," which runs parallel with this river, and
the loudest echoes were doubtless from that. Whether
it was a disturbance, or an agreeable variety, to
the spirits who thus groaned back their answers, we
had no " medium" to tell us. It seemed as if the
echoes would never be done. Silence after a while,
however—and silence—and silence. The grass must
stop growing, and the stars hold their breath, to give
you, above ground, any idea of that silence.

My companions expressed great regret at disem-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	165

barking from the breathless river of Oblivion. Even
the lively Professor, who was making a pedestrian
tour on the other side of the Styx (your side), resumed
his legs and his lamp very unwillingly for the dark
explorings still beyond. I was the last to leave the
boat, being probably the most tired of the party, but
contriving to be the last, throughout the trip, for the
sake of adding my friends and their procession of
lamps to the beauty of the picture. However splendid
the avenue or the dome, a foreground of half a dozen
illuminated figures is a great embellishment. I record
it as a hint to any reader who may visit the cave
after me.

Picking a corner of a stone for every step one
takes, makes a mile very long, besides keeping one's
eyes and enthusiasm more busy with one's toes than
with the surrounding scenery. Stephen called my
attention to the even loftiness of the roof of " Silli-
man's Avenue" (forty feet high), but I only remem-
ber that it was as

" Long as a pilgrimage on peas to Rome."

And, of a tedious labyrinth called " The Infernal
Regions," I remember nothing but Stephen's cautions
against stumbling into pits. We stopped in one large
opening called " Cascade Hall," where there is an
anonymous waterfall, heard but never seen. We turned166

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

a spacious corner which singularly resembles the hull
of a ship, and is called "The Great Western."
" Ole Bull's Concert Room" is just beyond, and here
we sat down and listened to Stephen's very graphic
description of the romantic Dane's under-ground
performance. George D. Prentice, the poet-editor,
was present, with his wife, and, except the " spirits
whose walk is there/' I understood Stephen to say
there was no other audience. Those applauded who
had the wherewithal. The reverberations were fine.
The hall is eighty feet wide and sixty feet high; and
three unexplored passages open from it in different
directions. Ole Bull seemed very much excited, and
gave Stephen new ideas of the agility of music. As
the Dane walked back seven miles through the woods
(after his departure from the Cave Hotel), to take one
more pilgrimage under ground, he doubtless found it
a genial atmosphere for his wild nature. I forgot,
when at Louisville, to ask Prentice about that trans-
Lethean performance, but he ought to record his
impression of it. Ole-Bulliana will be interesting,
by the time the Cave find its poet and historian.

Our Danish Professor, with his wit and eccentricity,
had given us an occasional half-mile of uproarious
laughter on the way, and when we came to a stalactite
singularly like a suspended crown, we placed him
under it and unanimously elected him Emperor—
Koeppen the First. To make a bad pun, his longHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	167

blonde moustache looked sufficiently be-Czar for the
occasion. This gentleman, by the way, has been for
several years one of King Otho's Professors at Athens;
and, stored as his mind seems to be with information
on every scientific subject, and speaking half-a-dozen
languages with perfect fluency, I should suppose him
and his Lectures valuable additions to our community ^
His knowledge also of real life (as different from the
same thing in books as figs before packing), would be
a valuable ingredient in the compound of a College
Faculty. He has been lecturing at Brown University,
and more recently at New Orleans,

Great wonders, but weary miles ! " The Pass of
El Ghor" I mentally promise to remember and
admire, with more strength and better leisure. The
" Hanging Rocks," " Martha's Vineyard," " Black
Hole of Calcutta," and "Elindo Avenue," I duly
recognized, at Stephen's request, as remarkable things
and places—hoping, all the while, that the next an-
nouncement would be the kindly rock on which we
were to dine. The eighth mile, I observed, was a
procession performed in profound silence, lamps no
longer lifted to admire, nor lingerings made to
examine and philosophise. The Cave is too large
and too long. Its nine miles, in one iteration of
wonder, are like nine dinners in a day. Writing this
as I do, in the hungry abstinence of distance from
the spot, it seems to me as if any one of those num-168

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

berless halls and sparry grottoes which we tracked so
wearily with little notice, would be a feast to see.
Yet, at the time, I would have exchanged twice
the sublimity of any one of them for a look into
Stephen's basket.

But. the chocolate slouched hat, everlasting pre-
ceding in the distance, " rounded to" at last. Our
long single file of stumblers stumbled into a group,
and stood surveying, with expressions of strong in-
terest, a tabular ridge of rock, situated (Stephen
assured us) in " Washington Hall." For Washington
and his Hall we should feel enthusiasm, perhaps,
with something in our stomachs whereon to place it;
but our gaze, for the moment, was on the basket
being unstrapped from Stephen's shoulders, and on
the wicker flask which looked defiance to the State
of Maine, out of his trousers pocket. The rock we
stood around looked historical. Champagne and ale
bottles were piled here and there in stacks, eloquent
of destinies fulfilled beyond the Styx—poets first un-
corked when under ground. A small sprig of mint,
of flavour truly delicious in that dry air, lay on a
crag—evidence of some julep, doubtless provokingly
reminiscent, which had been drank in presence of the
spirits hereabouts. There were crusts of bread and
bits of chickens; and of some of these last, still sweet,
Stephen told us the posthumous age, proving that
meats do not become corrupt in an atmosphere ofHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

169

that degree of dryness. Some of the gentlemen and
ladies who had dined there, had left their cards
sticking in cracks of the rock. I could have wished
for a seat, and a soft one, near the table: but we
were accommodated upon sharp corners of crags, at
various distances, and, for every fresh bone to pick,
we were obliged to walk up. It was an active per-
formance, however.

If one could most describe what he most enjoys in
travel, (alas! no !) I should enlarge upon this dinner
eaten at eight miles from daylight. Sun or moon
would scarcely have improved it. Our guide modestly
remembered that he was a slave, and, after spreading
the repast under the weight of which he had toiled so
far, he seated himself at a distance; but, remembering
his merits and all the geology and history he had
given us on the way, we voted him to the first " table/'
by an immediate and general remonstrance. Our
friend from New Orleans had provided claret, which
had an unexpected affinity with the climate under
ground—(worth making a note of.) And all was
brightened by the Professor's mingled fun and
wisdom.

Having got you into the Cave, I must get you out
of it, my dear Morris; but there are mummies and
mammoths, and many a wonder yet to tell of, and
this letter will scarcely give the room. You shall
see daylight in my next.

iLETTER XIX.

Splendour of Kentucky's Basement Story—What an Earth,
quake might do for Somebody—Suggestion of a Mammoth
Cave Ball—Effect like getting a First View of a New
Planet—Process of Disfiguring the Cave by Vulgar Visi-
tors—" Rocky Mountains" and " Dismal Hollow,'1 and
the character of the latter place—Stephen's Alleviatory
Muscle—Last Hall of all at the extremity of the Cave—
Golden Fleece overhanging the Altar—Sketch of the Party
and Reverie at the end—Mother Eve, and our feeling
alike as to the Sun and Moon—Suggested Inscription from
Milton for the end of the Cave—Hesitation as to confessing
to the Romantic Effect of the last Mile—Return—Eyeless
Fish, &c. &c.

Mammoth Cave, June.

Under whose farm lies that ninth and inner mile of
the Mammoth Cave, it would be interesting to know,
for he grows his corn over a splendid possibility—a
suite of halls of unsurpassable magnificence, requiring
nothing but a moderate earthquake to open just before
his door. Why, the state apartmentsof Versailles are
not half so sumptuously ornamented as this portion
of the basement story of Kentucky. The proportionsHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

171

of tlie successive rooms are imposing enough, but the
wonder is in the walls and ceilings. They are studded
with gems. Crystallization has lined and roofed
those halls with every variety of brilliant spar, and
the snow-white and calcareous glitter fairly dazzles
the eye. Floor these mammoth grottoes—illuminate
them—and give a ball there—a ball a mile long—
and the world never will have seen a spectacle so
splendid. Could it not be done, (tell us, Prentice !)
to celebrate the completion of the railway from New
York to New Orleans? Kentucky has the broad-
handed hospitality becoming to the central State of
our confederacy, and would play the host and enter-
tain the world with a grace chivalric and character-
istic. She might well celebrate an event that will
open her lordly woodlands to the admiration of the
vast tide of travel that now goes unappreciatinglv
past, on the Ohio.

Dinner had doubtlessly something to do with our
appreciating the ninth mile better than the eighth
and hungry one; but, if I remember rightly, it is
only at this far end of the Mammoth Cave that the
snowy white halls are found, built of stalactites, and
every inch a study of brilliant crystallization. The
prodigality of these delicate and dazzling wonders
impresses the traveller. In museums and minera-
logical cabinets, you see geodes and specimens of
crystals, the largest of which can be taken into the172

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

hand. Here they form rotundas and palaces—and
miles of them ! There is something so new in finding
oneself in such strangely magnificent apartments (and
looking at them with a lamp,) that it seems like a
visit to a just created and more brilliant planet, where
God has not yet said, "Let there be light/' but
where the Adam and Eve for whom a sun is to shine
on this darkness, are to find themselves lodged in
ready-built palaces, gem-studded and crystal-roofed
—a dwelling house growing wild like an apple-tree.
No offence to our friend Downing, that his beautiful
art would be a superfluity on such an improved
planet.

People like to leave word that they have been here.
In one of these calcareous halls there is a stack of
crystals, of about the height and shape of a female
servant, and, upon this, every visitor seems to have
thrust a card. Others more barbarous, or thought-
less, have hoisted candles upon sticks, and smoked
their names on the otherwise unblemished ceilings
and walls, a disfiguration by which, in a very few
years, the Mammoth Cave will have lost all its
beauty—for those surfaces of delicate texture can
never be cleansed. Stephen was eloquent upon this
profanation, and doubtless puts in his protest in-
variably ; but a slave's remonstrance would not be
much, with the kind of white man that would thus
immortalize his own bad taste.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

173

Before reaching the last hall of all, there are
" Rocky Mountains" to climb, and a " Dismal Hol-
low" to traverse. The dreary immensity of this
innermost cavern, save one, is thought worth the ex-
hibiting, and it is part of Stephen's routine to bring
Bengal lights and burn them here, to show the wilder-
ness of darkness and desolation. We are not com-
monly aware how much a desert valley of broken
rocks is relieved (above ground) by having a sky over
it; and the effect of "Dismal Hollow" is probably
owing to the fact that there is no chance for the eye
to get away—just such another valley of broken rocks
being heaped in a concave of horror to overhang it.
It has its moral influence; for perhaps the visitor has
never before got so good an idea of a place where
Heaven was out of the question—a Hades roofed in
with a Hades, and I must own that I was very glad
to have Stephen to admire, as he knelt on one knee
at the far side of the cavern, receiving on his romantic
physiognomy the full glare of the tar and brimstone.
His moustache had a pleasant look of a " continued
state of probation."

We picked up our lamps and " got out of that"—
a few minutes of scrambling bringing us to the sort
of small chapel which is the farthest penetrable point
of this underground pilgrimage. It is not a place
very brilliant or spacious—but there are some stalac-
tical formations on its walls which would be curious174

health trip to the tropics.

but for the greater wonders seen on the way, and at
the far end there is something which might well be
considered as dramatically in character with the spot.
It is a kind of projection like an altar, over which
the stalactical ooze has formed in a resemblance to a
golden fleece, and thus seems to be hung as an irre-
movable veil over the entablature. In superstitious
days some mystic word would have been believed to
be written underneath this veiled extremity of the
cave—some secret to which the long subterranean
pilgrimage, with its many wonders, was the fitting
approach. Long-robed priests, and the swinging of
censers, might make it, even now, a spot of reve-
rential awe and visitation.

We were at the the end of our journey—3 p.m.,
and nine miles from daylight. The facile descensus
Averni had occupied six hours. Stephen had con-
cluded his nine-mile lecture on geology, and sat
waiting our pleasure. The Professor was examining
a stalagmite. Our French friend smoked his cigar
in silent contemplation ; and the Bostonian, having
managed to get behind the Golden Fleece, was re-
appearing at the other side of the altar with his
enterprising lamp. I was almost too tired myself to
realize where I was—much too tired to be as indus-
trious as you would probably expect of so interesting
a locality. The Dane and I had been talking of
emigrants from monarchical countries to our land ofHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

175

independence. It was the only furniture I could
summon for a reverie. I sat upon as comfortable a
rock as I could find, and endeavoured to remember,
emigrant from above-ground that I was, what an
ocean of darkness divided me from my native day-
light—how King Sun and Queen Moon, and the
Princes of Little Stars, had become far-off nonentities
—how the laws that regulate Dawn, Noon, and Twi-
light, were dead letters to me, then and there—and,
as to your tyrannical Timeday, how safely I was
beyond its clocks and jurisdiction. The underground
freedom of all this, while it occurred to me, did not
greatly enliven my fatigued republicanism, however.
I even felt neglected that the arbitrary Afternoon,
that punctual officer of the Sun, was at that moment
assessing his lengthening-shadow tax without think-
ing of mine. Was it possible that the sun could be
going to set—all the same as if we five gentlemen (in-
cluding Stephen) were above ground as usual ?
Mother Eve, if you recollect, expresses somewhat the
same discontent—a jealous unwillingness that the
heavenly bodies should shine when she was not look-
ing at them. This she does on her wedding-night,
and Adam gently snubs her for it—our indefinitely-
great-grandmother having thus received her first
curtain lecture, for the same unnatural uneasy feeling
with which I sat down at the end of Mammoth Cave !176

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

Milton tells it in beautiful poetry. Let me quote it
for you :—

* * " Sweet the coming oil
Of grateful evening mild : then silent night
With this her solemn bird, and this fair moon,
And these the gems of heaven, her starry train:
But wherefore all night long shine these ? For whom
This glorious sight when sleep hath shut our eyes ?

To whom our general ancestor replied:

Daughter of God and Man, accomplished Eve,

These have their course to finish round the earth
By morrow evening, and from land to land
In order, though to nations yet unborn,

Ministering light prepared, they set and rise,

Lest total darkness should by night regain
Her old possession, and e xtinguish life
In nature, and all things. * *

These, then, though upheld in deep of night,

Shine not in vain; nor think, though men were none,
That Heaven would want spectators, God want praise,
Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep :

All these with ceaseless praise his works behold
Both day and night"

Sooner or later—in the Mammoth Cave or some
shallower underground sojourning—we are all to be
thus omitted and easily done without, by the sun and
moon; and perhaps our " general ancestor's" sweet
little sermon on the subject is not inaptly quoted, to
meet the discontent felt by the traveller, at the day-
light's doing without him even for his short intermentHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

177

in the Mammoth Cave. To engrave its rebuke to
self-consequence, on that stalactical veil where the
murmurer sets down his lamp and is farthest away
from sun and moon, might point that nine-mile
pilgrimage with a moral that would give meaning
and value to its fatigues and splendours.

Up lamps, and start on our return;—but I have
not written what I at first intended, nor described
what I most felt in traversing this last mile. You
were less like to laugh at what I least felt, and so I
have given you that—as a writer feels it wise to do,
alas, how often! The truth is that there is a
dramatic progress in the day's experiences of the
Mammoth Cave, which works up the imagination to
a height not wholly to be trusted. I pencilled down,
as usual, before going to bed that night, my notes of
the day's events and feelings—(the notes of which my
letters are but the more wordy transcript)—and I saw
where the sympathy-car of the reading public would
unhitch and let my too accelerated locomotive whiz
off by itself. The circumstances and surroundings
are more progressively exciting than the visitor is at
the time aware of. The slow procession of indistinct
figures, each with its flickering lamp—the sombre
strangeness of the objects pointed out—the half
penetrated and mysterious darkness above and
around—the intervals of profound silence when the
stillness of the cave becomes oppressive—the sublime

i 2178

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

grandeur of the scenes themselves, and the wild indis-
tinctness of the legends peopling the air with spirits
—all this, easily resisted for an hour or so, becomes,
with hunger and half a day, an atmosphere of reality :
and the imagination gets the upper hand by the last
mile, as it does in the fifth act of a play. Describe
this exactly ? Oh no ! Few visitors to the Mammoth
Cave would " own up." The fear of ridicule is kept
too constantly on the alert, in this age of sneering
and unbelieving. And it is as well, perhaps; for there
should be something to prevent something or other
from being written about. Authors (I have long
thought)make life a dreadfully second-hand business.
Is it not possible that the world would be a happier
place if there were more surprises in it—if there were
something for the traveller to see, or for the lover to
feel, which had not been anticipated by " inspired
pens?" A man, at least, should find something
under ground that is not " the old story"—so I leave
you undescribed that last mile and its emotions.

My companions started off so trippingly that I
called Stephen aside and made interest to be looked
back for occasionally. To be left behind without that
oil-canister on his left hip, was a calamity which my
weary legs warned me to guard against. As to keep-
ing up with the pace at which they began those nine
retrograding miles, it was w holly improbable; and my
lamp had not more than three miles' oil in it, even ifHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	179

I knew the way. This provision made, however, 1
took it very leisurely, and was consequently left
behind at every turn of the labyrinth, and, indeed,
for three-fourths of the time, quite out of sight and
hearing. There was a chance luxury in this I had
not anticipated. The wondrous rooms in which I
found myself alone with my faint lamp were more
imposing and beautiful than when seen with more
light, and with the company of friends; and, if I
dared write of the spirits of the cave, I could tell you
how much more thickly than before the sombre gloom
seemed haunted. In darkness so many miles deep
one cannot but feel that he is over the border-land,
and in regions where, if anywhere, ghosts inhabit.
The noise one makes with his own step does not
break silence (if you ever noticed), and to get rid of
the feet and voices of your companions, in such a
place, is to be left with the spell in full power. I
found the " influence," though melancholy, sweet and
gentle. They are friendly spirits that walk there.
I shall remember my weary linger through those halls
so hushed and haunted, as among the pleasantest
passages of that knowledge unconfessed, which we all
cherish, more or less, in these days of "spiritual
manifestations."

Of the cave's eyeless fish, mummies, and other
visible inhabitants, I have yet to tell you, and these
must be reserved, I believe, for still another letter.LETTER XX.

Nine Miles to Daylight—Fatigue of walking with Horizontal
Spine—Fish without Eyes—Organs dying with Disuse—
Consumption cured with Danger to Nose—Lesson in
Taking Things Easy—Caution to Ladies fond of Dark
Rooms—Quoted Descriptions of Church and Temple—Oak
Pole for suspending Corpses—The Mummy Lady and her
Sarcophagus—Description of her Dress, Posture, Orna-
ments, &c.—The Custom of stopping to muse at this
Mummy Tomb—Mammoth Relics—Return to Daylight—
Delight of once more breathing Air with the Perfumes
of Vegetation—Kentucky's Advantage in an Attraction
for the Intelligent of all Nations, &c. &c.

Mammoth Cave, June, 1852.

This letter will not be sprightly, if it express the
weariness of back and brain with which I walked over
the ground it is to describe. I had scrambled nine
miles into the earth, you will remember, stumbling,
poetizing, theorizing, dining, and being very much as-
tonished, on the way. Astonishment is more fatiguing
than pleasure, you know, as stumbling is more fatigu-
ing than walking; and I should have been thoroughly
exhaustediftherehadbeen any conveninetopportunity.
It was nine miles to the first daylight, however, andHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

181

like the horse in the hack-cab, so tightly reined up
that he could never give out, the inducement to go
on overcame the weakness. But that half mile under
the rock, which the visitor traverses on the wheel-
barrow principle—the load at right angles to the
legs—really that was too much. Did you ever try to
walk half a mile with your hips uppermost, my dear
General ?

We reached Lethe, with many stops and occasional
drops of encouragement and water from Stephen's
flask, and here we halted to catch one of the eyeless
fish who swim in this river of forgetfulness. I held
the lamp while the pole net was quietly slipped under
the little victim of celebrity. He saw no danger,
poor thing ! and stirred never a fin to escape being
taken out of his element and raised to a higher
sphere. In size he was like the larger kind of what
the boys call a " minim"—say an inch and a half
long—but very different in construction and colour.
His body was quite white, translucent, and wholly
without an intestinal canal. The stomach, (what
there was of it,) was directly behind the brain, (if
brain there was,) and all the organs of the system
were forward of the gills—the head alone having
blood or other discolouration. Under the chin he
disposed of what was superfluous in his nourishment.
He was curiously correspondent, indeed, to the poet-
ized character of the place—like a fish in progress of182

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

becoming a fish in spirit-land, his dis-animalization
having commenced radically at the tail and working
upward. Nothing could be more purely beautiful
and graceful than the pearly and spotless body which
had heavenly-fied first, leaving the head to follow.
I looked for some minutes at the others swimming in
the stream. They idled about, with a purposelest
and luxurious tranquillity, and I observed that they
ran their noses against the rocky sides of the dark
river, with no manner of precaution. Unhurt and
unannoyed, they simply turn back from the opposing
obstacle, and swim slowly away. It would be well to
learn the trick of this easy withdrawal from opposi-
tion, and I am glad to have one of the little philoso-
phers to set on a shelf—-a bottled lesson from Lethe.

The scientific people tell us that these blind fish
once had eyes, and that the microscope still shows
the collapsed socket. The organ has died out in the
darkness of the subterranean river—-dwindled into
annihilation with lack of using. If this be a law of
nature, and true in graduated degrees, as of course
it is, it should be a warning to the ladies of our day.
What more universal than the passion for perpetual
twilight in drawing-room and boudoir ?—yet it
appears that eyes dwindle anddiminish in proportion
to lack of light. Let the large-eyed beauty take
warning !

I spoke figuratively of noses just now. But IHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

183

presume that these fish have no "pituitary membrane."
The same law of annihilation by disuse would exter -
minate noses in this Cave under ground; for with
absence of vegetation and complete dryness, the air
is utterly inodorent. It is a fact that should be
remembered in the proposed occupancy of the Cave
as a hospital for consumption. If organs lessen with
disuse, the nose would dwindle into annihilation with
nothing to smell, as the eye with nothing to see.
The value which the pulmonary patient puts upon his
nose should be conscientiously inquired into (I ven-
ture to suggest), before subjecting him to a cure which
might endanger it. A case is highly possible, of a
gentleman to whom convalescence without a nose
would be no object.

As we go up stream, my dear Morris (on the return
voyage of Lethe, which I trust we may some day
make together), I remember that there is much in
this wondrous Cave which I may seem to have
neglected, confining my account mainly, as I do, to
its impression on myself. If I have awakened an
interest in the spot, and if the accounts of it are as
little known and as inaccessible to you as they
chanced to have been to me, it may be worth while
to quote descriptions, by other pens, of one or two of
the wonders of the Cave which I have omitted to
mention. Here, for instance, is an account of " The
Church," which I walked through without saying a
word about it:—184	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

" The ceiling is sixty-three feet high, and the
church itself, including the recess, is about one hun-
dred feet in diameter. Eight or ten feet above the
pulpit, and immediately behind it, is the organ-loft,
which is sufficiently capacious for an organ and choir
of the largest size. This church is large enough to
contain thousands (another account says it will
accommodate five thousand); a solid projection of
the wall seems to have been designed as a pulpit, and
a few feet back is a place well calculated for an organ
and choir. In this great temple of nature, religious
services have been frequently performed, and it requires
but a slight effort on the part of the speaker to make
himself heard by the largest congregation."

The same writer"thus describes the Vestibule of
the cave:—

" This is a hall of an oval shape, two hundred feet
in length by one hundred and - fifty wide, with a
roof as flat and level as if finished by the trowel, and
from fifty to sixty feet high. Two passages, each a
hundred feet in width, open into it at the opposite
extremities, but at right angles to each other; and as
they run in a straight course for five or six hundred
feet, with the same flat roof common to each, the
appearance presented to the eye is that of a vast hall
in the shape of the letter L, expanded at the angle,
both branches being five hundred feet long by one
hundred wide. The entire extent of this prodigious
space is covered by a single rock, in which the eyeHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	185

can detect 110 break or interruption, save at its
borders, which are surrounded by a broad sweeping
cornice, traced in horizontal panel work, exceedingly
noble and regular. Not a single pier or pillar of any
kind contributes to support it. It needs no support:
but is

4 By its own weight made steadfast and immoveable.'

At a very remote period this chamber seems to have
been used as a cemetery; and there have been
disinterred many skeletons of gigantic dimensions,
belonging to a race of people long since vanished
from the earth. Such is the vestibule of the Mam-
moth Cave. The walls of this chamber are so dark
that they reflect not one single ray of light from the
dim torches. Around you is an impenetrable wall
of darkness, which the eye vainly seeks to pierce,
and a canopy of darkness, black and rayless, spreads
above you. By the aid, however, of a fire or two
which the guides kindle from the remains of some old
wooden ruins, you begin to acquire a better concep-
tion of the scene around you. Far up, a hundred
feet above your head, you catch a fitful glimpse of a
dark gray ceiling, rolling dimly away like a cloud,
and heavy buttresses, apparently bending under the
superincumbent weight, project their enormous masses
from the shadowy wall. The scene is vast, and186	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

solemn and awful. A profound silence, gloomy, still
and breathless, reigns unbroken by even a sigh of air,
or the echo of a drop of water falling from the roof.
You can hear the throbbings of your heart, and the
mind is oppressed with a sense of vastness, and
solitude, and grandeur indescribable."

In Lee's account of his visit to the Cave there are
two of its features well described:—

"The Temple is an immense vault, covering an
area of two acres, and covered by a single dome of
solid rock, one hundred and twenty feet high. It
excels in size the cave of StafFa, and rivals the cele-
brated vault in the Grotto of Antiparos, which is
said to be the largest in the world. In passing
through from one end to the other, the dome appears
to follow like the sky in passing from place to place
011 the earth. In the middle of the dome there is a
large mound of rocks rising on one side nearly to the
top, very steep, and forming what is called the moun-
tain. When first I ascended this mound from the
cave below, I was struck with a feeling of awe, more
deep and intense than anything I had ever before
experienced. I could only observe the narrow circle
which was illuminated immediately around me;
above and beyond was apparently an unlimited space,
in which the ear could not catch the slightest sound,
nor the eye find an object to rest upon. It was filled
with silence and darkness; and yet I knew that IHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS,

187

was beneath the earth, and that this space, however
large it might be, was actually bounded by solid walls.
My curiosity was rather excited than gratified. In
order that I might see the whole in one connected
view, I built fires in many places with the pieces of
cane which I found scattered among the rocks. Then
taking my stand on the mountain, a scene was pre-
sented of surprising magnificence. On the opposite
side, the strata of gray limestone breaking up by
steps from the bottom, could scarcely be discerned
in the distance by the glimmering. Above was the
lofty dome, closed at the top by a smooth slab beau-
tifully defined in the outline, from which the walls
sloped away on the right and left, into thick darkness.
Every one has heard of the dome of the mosque of
St. Sophia, of St. Peter's, and St. Paul's; they are
never spoken of but in terms of admiration, as the
chief works of architecture, and among the noblest
and most stupendous examples of what man can do
when aided by science ; and yet, when compared with
the dome of this temple, they sink into comparative
insignificance. Such is the surpassing grandeur of
nature's works."

" From the Bandit's Hall diverge two caves, one of
which, the left, leads you to a multitude of domes;
and the right to one which, par excellence, is called
the Mammoth Dome. This dome is near four hundred
feet high, and is justly considered one of the most188

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

sublime and wonderful spectacles of this most won-
derful of caverns. From the summit of this dome
there is a waterfall. Foreigners have been known to
declare, on witnessing an illumination of the great
dome and hall, that it alone would compensate for a
voyage across the Atlantic."

For the description of the " oak pole" which, with
the dry air of the Cave, had stood in the subterranean
cemetery imperishable for ages, and which was so
placed as to warrant the belief that it was used to
suspend a body in the air, to dry off into nothingness ;
on its own hook—and for the mammoth-bones of
animals, two of whose ribs would make an arch for a
Gothic doorway—for these and other antiquities of
the place, I refer you to the books on the subject;
but there is no locality of the Cave which, with its
tenant, has been described by a scientific visitor, and
of this description, though long and elaborate, I must
give you the whole. The gentleman who writes it
visited the Cave in 1813. He says:—

"In the digging of saltpetre earth in the short
cave, a flat rock was met with by the workmen, a little
below the surface of the earth, in the cave: this stone
was raised, and was about four feet wide and as many
long : beneath it was a square excavation about three
feet deep, and as many in length and width. In this
small nether subterranean chamber sat in solemn
silence one of the human species, a female, with herHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

189

wardrobe and ornaments placed at her side. The
body was in a state of perfect preservation, and sit-
ting erect. The arms were folded up, and the hands
were laid across the bosom; around the two wrists
was wound a small cord, designed, probably, to keep
them in the posture in which they were first placed ;
around the body and next thereto were wrapped two
deer skins. These skins appeared to have been
dressed in some mode different from what is now
practised by any people of whom I have any know-
ledge. The hair of the skins was cut off very near
the surface. The skins were ornamented with the
mprints of vines and leaves, which were sketched
with a substance perfectly white. Outside of these
two skins was a large square sheet, which was either
wove or knit. The fabric was the inner bark of a
tree, which I judge from appearance to be that of the
linn tree. In its texture and appearance it resembled
the South Sea Island cloth or matting; this sheet
enveloped the whole body or head. The hair on the
head was cut off within an eighth of an inch of the
skin, except near the neck, where it was an inch long.
The colour of the hair was a dark red; the teeth
were white and perfect. I discovered no blemish
upon the body, except a wound between two ribs,
near the back bone; and one of the eyes had also
been injured. The finger and toe nails were perfect
and quite long. The features were regular. I mea-190

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

sured the length of one of the bones of the arm with
a string, from the elbow to the wrist-joint, and they
equalled my own in length, viz.: ten and a half inches.
From the examination of the whole frame, I judged
the figure to be that of a very tall female, say five
feet ten inches in height. The body at the time it
was discovered weighed but fourteen pounds, and
was perfectly dry; on exposure to the atmosphere, it
gained in weight, by absorbing dampness, four
pounds. Many persons have expressed surprise that
a human body of great size should weigh so little, as
many human skeletons, of nothing but bone, exceed
this weight. Recently some experiments have been
made in Paris, which have demonstrated the fact of
the human body being reduced to ten pounds, by
being exposed to a heated atmosphere for a long
period of time. The colour of the skin was dark, not
black; the flesh was hard and dry upon the bones.
At the side of the body lay a pair of moccasons, a
knapsack, and an indispensable, or reticule. I will
describe these in the order in which I have named
them. The moccasons were made of wove or knit
bark, like the wrapper I have described. Around the
top was a border to add strength, and perhaps as an
ornament. These were of middling size, denoting
feet of a small size. The shape of the moccasons
differs but little from the deer-skin moccasons worn
by the northern Indians. The knapsack was of woveHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPTCS.

191

or knit bark, with a deep strong border around the
top, and was about the size of the knapsack used by
soldiers. The workmanship of it was neat, and such
as would do credit, as a fabric, to a manufacturer of
the present day. The reticule was also made of knit
or wove bark. The shape was much like a horseman's
valise, opening its whole length on the top. On the
side of the opening, and a few inches from it, were
two rows of loops, one row on each side. Two cords
were fastened to one end of the reticule at the top,
which passed through the loop on one side, and then
on the other, the whole length, by which it was laced
up and secured. The edges of the top of the reticule
were strengthened with deep fancy borders. The
articles contained in the knapsack and reticule were
quite numerous, and were as follows: one head-cap,
made of wove or knit bark, without any border, and
of the shape of the plainest night-cap; seven head-
dresses, made of the quills of large birds, and put
together somewhat in the way that feather fans are
made, except that the pipes of the quills are not
drawn to a point, but are spread out in straight lines
with the top. This was done by perforating the pipe
of the quill in two places, and running two cords
through the holes, and then winding round the quills
and the cord fine thread, to fasten each quill in the
place designed for it. These cords extended some
length beyond the quills on each side, so that on192

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

placing the feathers erect, the feathers could be tied
together at the back of the head. This would enable
the wearer to present a beautiful display of feathers
standing erect, and extending a distance above the
head, and entirely surrounding it. These were most
splendid head-dresses, and would be a magnificent
ornament to the head of a female at the present day.
Several hundred strings of beads; these consisted of
very hard, brown seed, smaller than hemp-seed, in
each of which a small hole had been made, and
through the whole, a small three-corded thread, simi-
lar in appearance and texture to seine twine; these
were tied up in bunches, as a merchant ties up coral
beads when he exposes them for sale. The red hoofs
of fawns, on a string supposed to be worn around the
neck as a necklace. These hoofs were about twenty
in number, and may have been emblematic of inno-
cence. The claw of an eagle, with a hole in it,
through which a cord was passed, so that it could be
worn pendant from the neck. The jaw of a bear,
designed to be worn in the same manner as the
eagle's claw, and supplied with a cord to suspend it
around the neck. Two rattlesnake skins; one of
these had fourteen rattles; these skins were neatly
folded up. Some vegetable colours done up in leaves.
A small bunch of deer sinews, resembling cat-gut in
appearance. Several bunches of thread and twine,
two and three threaded, some of which were nearlyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

193

white. Seven needles, some of which were of horn
and some of bone; they* were smooth, and appeared
to have been much used. These needles had each a
knob or whorl on the top, and at the other end were
brought to a point like a large sail needle. They had
no eyelets to receive a thread. The top of one of
these needles was handsomely scolloped. A hand-
piece made of deer skin, with a hole through it for
the thumb, and designed probably to protect the
hand in the use of the needle, the same as thimbles
are now used. Two whistles, about eight inches long,
made of cane, with a joint about one third the length;
over the joint is an opening, extending to each side
of the tube of the whistle: these openings were
about three-quarters of an inch long, and an inch
wide, and had each a flat reed placed in the opening.
These whistles were tied together with a cord wound
around them.

I have been thus minute in describing this mute
witness from the days of other times, and the articles
which were deposited within her earthen house. Of
the race of people to whom she belonged when living,
we know nothing; and as to conjecture, the reader
who gathers from these pages this account can judge
of the matter as well as those who saw the remnant
of mortality in the subterranean chambers in which
she was entombed. The cause of the preservation of
her body, dress, and ornaments, is no mystery. The

K194

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

dry atmosphere of the cave, with the nitrate of lime,
with which the earth that covers the bottom of these
nether palaces is so highly impregnated, preserves
animal flesh, and it will neither putrefy nor decom-
pose when confined to its unchanging action. Heat
and moisture are both absent from the cave, and it is
these two agents acting together which produce both
animal and vegetable decomposition and putrefaction.
In the ornaments, &c., of this mute witness of ages
gone we have record of olden time, from which, in
the absence of a written record, we may draw some
conclusions. In the various articles which consti-
tuted her ornaments, there were no metallic sub-
stances. In the make of her dress there is no evi-
dence of the use of any other machinery than the
bone and horn needles. The beads are of a substance
of the use of which, for such purposes, we have no
account among people of whom we have any written
record. She had no warlike arms. By what process
the hair on her head was cut short, or by what pro-
cess the deer skins were shorn, we have no means of
conjecture. These articles afford us the same means
of judging of the nation to which she belonged, and
of their advances in the arts, that future generations
will have in the exhumation of a tenant of one of our
modern tombs, with the funeral shroud, &c., in a state
of like preservation; with this difference, that with
the present inhabitants of this section of the globe,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

195

but few articles of ornament are deposited with the
body. The features of this ancient member of the
human family much resembled those of a tall, hand-
some American woman. The forehead was high, and
the head well formed."

The boudoir of this lady of uncertain age is in one
of the side avenues of the Cave, usually the object of
a separate day's visit. It is not a very attractive-
looking place in itself, though the imagination lights
fire immediately, like a tinker with a good job, and
sets to work there with great industry. Stephen set
down his lamp, after showing us the hollow niche in
the rock against which the fair one was found sitting,
as if, with his sixteen years' experience as a guide,
he had found this to be a spot where the traveller
usually takes time for reverie. It cost me no coax-
ing to have mine. With the silence of the spot, and
all the world shut out, it is impossible that the ima-
gination should not do pretty fair justice to the single
idea presented. There has been many a charming
fancy portrait thus drawn of the departed Fawn-hoof;
and of all the ladies of past ages, I doubt whether
there is one who is the subject of a more perpetual
series of unwritten poems. She is Kentucky's pos-
thumous belle.

We emerged from the Cave somewhere about 9
in the evening, having been twelve hours in the hands196	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

of darkness and Stephen. The stars were pleasant
to see—the supper was pleasant to anticipate—but,
to me, the strongest sensation of "rising again"
was the luxury of being once more in the world
of things to smell. The unearthly dryness and death-
liness of the dew-less air had been all day most op-
pressive to me. Confinement there would be my
worst kind of un-dew-ing. As to fatigue, mine had
become chronic; and, though probably several times
used up, I walked to the hotel without thinking par-
ticularly of being tired, but enjoying the perfume of
the pines, hemlocks, and moist earth, with a zest
worthy of the first breath at a thrown-up window in
the morning. The olfactory sense has not been done
justice to in poetry. When Milton deplored his
blindness as "wisdom at one entrance quite shut
out," he should have mentioned the consolation he
still possessed in the neighbouring entrance of his
nose. There could have been no sweet-briar in his
garden-walk, nor daughter's hand to place bunches
of flowers by his plate at breakfast. Give us a song
to this neglected sense, my dear Morris ! To honour
what the world slights is the poet's mission.

We supped and went to bed on our fill of that and
the day's astonishment, and I felt that I had seldom
or never seen more since a morning. The Mammoth
Cave is certainly a wonder of indescribable varietyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

197

and beauty. It will increase in attraction as the
world knows more of it, and Kentucky, rich in so
many specialities, will be rich in a viaduct of cosmo-
politism, having that which the intelligent of all
nations must needs come and see.

Adieu once more above ground.LETTER XXI.

New Article to pack in a Trunk—Killing the Eyeless Fish by
putting him in Spirits—To Mumfordsville from Mammoth
Cave, by Private Vehicle, and Adventures by the Way—
Portrait of a Backwoodsman—Western Colloquial Attitude
—Kentucky Handiness at Expedient—Mending a Broken
Wheel with Hickory Withes—Comment on Backwoods
Life—Cheerful Fire at the Tavern in a June Evening—
Habit of Western Gentlemen to frequent the Taverns—
Curiosity as to Strangers—Attempt to dodge Enquiries—
Landlord, and his Manner of Conversing and Waiting on
Table—Education in Open Air, and its Results—Western
Character and its Formation—High Station of Landlords
and Stage-drivers at the West—Distinction between
Western Gentlemen and Rowdies, &c. &c.

Harrodsburg Springs, June.

You are enough of a traveller to know that the most
dire inevitableness of human allotment, (after ori-
ginal sin,) is the perpetual packing of a trunk. To
be one of that class of animals that requires baggage
—or, rather, not to be accommodated, like the ele-
phant, with a trunk that is taken care of by the
stomach and general circulation—is a calamity for
which we are doubtless pitied by kind angels. I was
realizing this feature of my humanity, as usual, inHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

199

preparing to leave the Hotel at the Mammoth Cave
—groaning over the inexorable unwillingness pf boots
and shirts to go in where they had once come out—
when I discovered a new embarrassment. Swimming
vigorously around in my wash-bowl was the eyeless
fish I was to kill, bottle, and take away. You that
have laid hands upon poetical thoughts, swimming
in your brain, lovely and happy in a state of nature,
and have paralyzed the poor things with rhymes and
corked them up in stanzas for immortality, can un-
derstand with what compassion I looked upon that
involuntary victim of celebrity. I had brought him
out of the cave in a pocket flask, and he seemed to
have become rather lively than otherwise with the
smack of artificial spirits which must have tinctured
the water. His coming to light did not seem to affect
him. He bumped his nose against the white sides of
the washbowl as blindly and unconcernedly as against
the rocks in the darkness of Lethe. Happy he could
scarcely have been in a strange place, and with
nothing to eat—but a more active little creature I
had never seen. The phial of immortality (some
people call it gin) into which he was presently to be
dropped, looked cruel and pokerish. I made all
manners of delays to defer it. So beautiful a life to
be brought suddenly to an end! If " Morris and
Willis" had both been there, Morris should, as usual,
have " done the business."200

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

I have thought it might be interesting to record
that this little blind creature lived ten minutes in
alcohol. It was evidently a most painful death. I
had supposed it would be immediate, but he evidently
lived longer than he would have done on air. The
jumps, convulsions, and gaspings of his tiny mouth
for some more congenial element, were prolonged, it
seemed to me, interminably. Death came hard,
though he was dying to be saved. Still grew his
little translucent tail, at last, however, and he was
wrapped in a winding sheet of the sighed over and
packed—and here he floats before me motionless, on
the mantel-piece, and seen and thought of, while his
brethren in darkness are forgotten.

In getting from the cavq to a stage-route, I fell
upon a bit of Kentucky experience which interested
me. We had taken a return carriage—three of our
subterranean party—to cross over, fifteen or twenty
miles, to Mumfordsville. After bumping and stump-
ing through the woods for an hour or two, we came
to a dead halt. The tire of the force wheel had
parted, and another revolution would have dropped
the wood-work in pieces. Five miles back to the
Mammoth Cave, ten miles to a blacksmith, six o'clock
in the afternoon, and only a log hut visible in the
wilderness. Our negro driver was a smart lad, but
he rubbed his wool in great perplexity. To borrow
a wheel seemed to him the only chance of not passingHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	201

the night in the woods; and so advanced a refinement
as a wheel, anywhere in that neighbourhood, was at
least an improbability. The backwoodsman had
come out to us, by this time—a social, friendly,
athletic, ample young adult, whose growth, mental
and bodily, had been as natural and untrammelled as
that of the trees visible from his door. No yearling
steer could have been more frankly unceremonious,
and no courtier more unembarrased and agreeable
in his politeness. He was barefooted and dressed in
homespun. After exchanging civilities with us, he
took a colloquial attitude very common in the West,
but which I never had chanced to see east of the
Alleghanies—sitting down plump upon his o wn heels,
with his elbows between his knees. Thus made into
a comfortable heap, with only the soles of his feet
coming to the damp ground, he picked up gravel
stones and contemplated the posture of our affairs.

His father had a " four-wheel-fixin," and lived a
mile off. The negro was despatched to see if one of
these wheels could be borrowed; and (by the way)
his unhesitating and entire obedience to the white
backwoodsman, combined with the most free and
easy conversation between them, impressed me as a
curious harmony of intercourse. The limbs and will
were those of a slave, but the tongue was free. He
was gone some three-quarters of an hour, and mean-
time we listened to the most charmingly simple account

k 2202

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

of himself from our friend who sat looking tip at lis.
We learned, among other things, that a man required
no property, beyond a shirt, to " make a gal have
him," in that country; that the neighbours would
" make a bee " to build his house, and he could get
trusted for tools—so that it seems a happy climate
where the native can begin life without capital. He
himself has married at eighteen; had nothing to
begin with, but three children now: lived off the
land which he had paid for with half the crop, and
was as " contented as he wanted to be." Looking
at the magnanimous, un-careworn, genial and unsus-
picious countenance of the man as he talked, I let a
small wonder creep through my mind, whether, after
all, the mere enjoyment of life were not better attained
in this way. Count D'Orsay and this backwoodsman
—naturally men very much alike—might weigh hap-
piness at the close of life, with a strong probability
that the latter of the two had found the more.

The driver came, at last, sweating under the heavy
fore-wheel of a lumber-waggon. It was no fit—but
its owner had followed it, and then came the Ken-
tucky handiness at expedient. " The old man," a
most merry counterpart of his big son, set the slave
to cutting hickory withes, and his boy to twisting
them into ropes, and in a few minutes he had the
broken wheel bound together so tightly, that it was
even more road-worthy than the other three. TheHEALTH TRTP TO THE TROPICS.

203

job was done with jokes and good-humoured zeal.
They had given us two hours of their time and labour,
and the old man had the odd wheel to carry home a
mile on his back; but they would receive no compen-
sation, and sent us off with the good wishes and cordial
kindness of old friends. The well-mended did its
work for the remaining fifteen miles, and we had a
Kentucky experience, cordially and pleasantly to
remember.

It was as late in the summer as June the eighth,
but we found a roaring hickory fire in the bar-room
at Mumfordsville, and the neighbours around it—
talking politics, of course. The tavern, in Kentucky,
is not only the resort, but the respectable resort, of
the male inhabitants of the village, at all lesure
hours. You seldom drive up to one without alight-
ing amid a group—oftener amid a crowd—and the
titles flying from mouth to mouth soon inform you
that all the Judges, Generals, and Colonels, possible
to the size of the population, are among the com-
pany. The stranger is received with some show of
courteous acknowledgment, a chair given him or
remarks addressed to him, and if he will take any-
thing to drink, or requires any information or other
civility, it is abundantly ready for him. But they
require something in return. Who and what he is,
and where he is going, and what for—if it does not
all ooze out in his conversation, is specifically asked204	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

about in the course of the evening. At Spring-
field,* a populous little town where I passed the
night on my way to Mammoth Cave, I tried hard to
dodge this paying of autobiographic toll to curiosity.
I had been asked whether I was " in the dry goods
line/' what I was " agent for," whether I carried
my " business card about me/' &c.: to all of which I
replied with a courteous monosyllable, changing the
subject by some immediate remark. But the land-
lord came up at last with a direct statement that
" there were several gentlemen present who would be
very happy to know my name." One side of every
bar-room, at the time, was covered with the enormous
placards of a travelling menagerie, and the name of a
Mr. Willis, as the distinguished leader of the band,
was printed in enormous capitals. There was a risk of

* It may interest you to read the printed card which I found
nailed to my bed-room door at this same tavern of Springfield.
It ran thus :—

RULES OF THE HOUSE.

1.	Regular hoarders are expected to pay up weekly.

2.	Gentlemen without baggage are expected to pay in ad-
vance.

3.	Gaming of all kinds strictly prohibited.

4.	All lights to be put out at 10 o'clock.

5.	Strict attention paid to baggage, but no responsibility ex-
cept for such as left in charge of the bar keeper.

6.	Good order is expected to be kept by all persons when in
this house.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

205

my being taken for more of a celebrity than might
be comfortable. Stepping to the tavern register,
therefore, in reply to the landlord's application, I
wrote my name in such a way as to slur the tops of
the two i's very slightly—by which management I
passed the remainder of the evening in comfortable
unconspicuousness as a Mr. Welles, and was not ad-
miringly mistaken for the distinguished clarionet,
Mr. Willis.

Our landlord at Mumfordsville was quite a supe-
rior and intellectual-looking man, and when supper
was ready he waited on table with his hat on, con-
versing with great ease as he handed round the hot
cakes, and seating himself at the head of the table
when all were helped, and (still with his hat on) dis-
cussing the religious topics which chanced to come up,
very intelligently. I noticed, throughout the West,
that, in all small villages, the landlord is a person
who is considered to honour the guest by his company.
There is nothing doubtful in his position. That and
the profession of stage-driving are too rich in oppor-
tunity for influence—give too much access to the
minds and opinions of the community—not to have
been gradually promoted to the class of occupations
for the "leading citizens." A Judge drove the stage
in which I crossed the country from Harrodsburg,
and the women came out from the farm-houses and
gave him sixpenny errands to do in the village, with206

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

unhesitating familiarity. The wealthy nabob of
Elizabethtown was the " stage agent" who helped us
in to the changed coach, and arranged our baggage.
Mr. Bell, you know, the father of Mrs. Senator Gwin,
keeps the nearest tavern to Mammoth Cave, and he
is one of the most influential and respected of Ken-
tucky's "first men." The traveller is obliged to
jearn these distinctions; and with any lack of defe-
rence, or any demand for more than the services
ordinarily performed by these gentlemen, he gets a
very peremptory reminder that he has all along been
the obliged person of the two.

The wives of the West may not like the habits I
have alluded to—husbands and brothers passing their
leisure times at the taverns. But I am not sure that
promptness and manliness are not thereby cultivated.
The universal fluency of tongue, and universal quick-
ness and boldness of face-to-face action, which are
marked and allowed characteristics of these people,
at least get their training in this daily school. At the
North we teach youth what human nature is by books,
and books are but life at second hand. These frank
Kentuckians learn it, by seeing and being perpetually
familiar with just what they are afterwards to en-
counter. What they do on the Stump or in the Le-
gislature is what they have been doing every day in
the bar room, or practising while balanced on the
two legs of a chair amid the crowd seated on theHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

207

tavern sidewalk. They never insult without knowing
it, and being ready to answer for it, being well prac-
tised in what is due from one gentleman to another.
They are habitually courteous and deferential, from
the laws and usages which are the standards in these
familiar crowds. They argue adroitly from constant
habit. They can control the expressions of their
faces, their muscles and nerves, from the same habit.
It is the old Areopagus school for men, and the result
seems to show, that, though the citizen of the North
is wiser in books, at twenty, the citizen of the West
is wiser in men at thirty. Do not understand me as
speaking of the rowdies of the west, of whose bowie-
knives and revolvers you read so much. These are
a class who are not seen by the stranger unless he
seeks them in resorts for mere drinking and gambling.
I refer to a higher and very different class, who still,
however, are found assembled in every town at the
taverns. As it is interesting to see how our na-
tional character is forming, what I have here noted
may be set down as one of its influencing causes.

I had thought to says omething of Harroclsburg
Springs in this letter; but I will defer it to my next,
I think. And, for the present adieu.

Yours, &c.LETTER XXII.

Cities and Places approaching us by Railroads—The Over-
trumpeting of some Watering-Places—Agreeable Disap-
pointment on arriving at Harrodsburg Springs—English
Park around the Hotel—Notes descriptive of the Mineral
Waters—Favourite Haunt for Wealthy Western Families
—Dr. Graham, and his Character—Deficiency in English
Language—The Doctor's Horse and his Embarrassing
Habits—The Doctors many Accomplishments—Hydro-
pathic Addition to the Hotel—Doctor Houghton, and his
excellent Knowledge and Care—Town of Harrodsburg—
Salt River, &c. &c.

Harrodsburg Springs, Kentucky, June.

Cincinnati has " sidled-up," as you know, to within
forty-eight hours of New York, and by this same
scarcely noticed but perpetual " sidling-up"—(on
grease and smooth iron)—the place I write from is
likely to become the central Saratoga of America.
With next year's completion of a railroad now in
progress, it will be a couple of hours south from Cin-
cinnati ; and then, between New York and New
Orleans, Washington and St. Louis, Harrodsburg
Springs will be the hub of the wheel of fashion—HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

209

nearly equi-accessible from these four outside points,
and a rallying spot for all the beauty and be-sociable-
ness between. Its chief attraction, for Boston, will
be, that the summer commences there a month earlier
—for New Orleans, that it commences a month later;
and in that compromise month of June, (shivering at
Boston, sultry at New Orleans, but summery to
Harrodsburg,) it is likely to attract, from North and
South, all, at least, who are susceptible to climate.
At present the crowded season is in July and August;
and, during those months, it is the grand field of
tournament for Western flirtation, and the gathering
point for politicians out of harness, and for such
wealthy Westerners and Southerners as like to spend
their money on the side of the Alleghanies that slopes
towards home.

People and places are so over-trumpeted now-a-
days, that, when we meet with man, woman, or
watering-place to which common report has not done
justice, we feel a kind of compensatory eagerness to
make it up to them. I went to Harrodsburg Springs
as the best place I could hear of, for a fortnight's
loitering—the Northern summer not being ready for
my lungs, and Kentucky having some inviting features
and qualities of which I wished to see more—but, in
the establishment of " The Springs," I expected to
find little except clap-boards and white-wash, solitude210

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and sanguine expectations of company, a ball-room
fall of cobwebs, and a vehement negro to ring the
bell for meals. I hoped it was such a place, for the
loneliness I wanted, and the leisure it would give me
to write up my notes of travel. There are hundreds
of such, places that are more puffed and talked of
than is Harrodsbujg, with all its real advantages.

After a most lovely drive of thirty miles from Lex-
ington, I was landed at a massive gateway of granite,
between a couple of bronze lions; and, through the
gently ascending grounds of a court-yard, laid out
and shaded with exquisite taste, I saw a structure of
unusual magnificence, looking every way solid and
well-finished. Two long wings of cottage-buildings
enclosed the front court, but the well-laid walks
seemed to lead off to grounds beyond; and, to enjoy
the twilight, I gave my baggage to the servant and
started for a stroll before going to my room. I found
that the hotel was surrounded by what might well be
a nobleman's park, the walks apparently endless, and
yet carefully and neatly kept, and the natural ad-
vantages of the undulating woodlands charmingly
understood and improved. I rambled till the stars
came out to light me back to supper, and returned,
feeling that I had stumbled upon a most unexpected
mixture of paradise and public-house.

My private letters have told you with what pleasure,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

211

and with what profit to health, I passed two or three
weeks at this lovely and luxurious sojourn. Some
facts which should be more generally known with
regard to it, I will copy (in a note,*) from printed

* " The Harrodsburg Springs, one of the most fashionable
watering places in the State, have become deservedly celebrated
for the medicinal virtue of the water, and as a delightful
summer resort, both to the votaries of health and pleasure.
Dr. Christopher Graham, the amiable, enterprising, ana in-
telligent proprietor, has spared no pains or expense in the
preparation of accommodation for visitors, the improvements
having already cost three hundred thousand dollars. The
main hotel is one of the finest and most commodious buildings
in the West, and the surrounding cottages are admirably
arranged, alike to promote the convenience and comfort of the
occupants. The grounds are elevated and extensive; adorned
with every variety of shrubbery grown in America, interspersed
with some of the most beautiful and rare exotics from Europe
and Asia, and traversed by wide gravel walks, intersecting and
crossing each other in every direction. A small and beautiful
lake, three hundred yards long, one hundred yards in width,
and fifteen feet deep, lately excavated, is well stored with fish
of the finest flavour, and its glassy surface enlivened by the
presence of many wild and tame water-fowls."—Collins' History
of Kentucky.

"I cannot relinquish the subject of diseases of the liver,
without mentioning, in terms of almost unqualified approbation,
my candid opinion of the waters of the Harrodsburg Springs,
situated in the county of Mercer, and State of Kentucky.
These waters are well known to operate powerfully and bene-
ficially on the liver; nor do I believe there have been many
instances, if an absolute consumption, or an induration of the
liver had taken place, in which those waters have not been212

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

documents, on the subject: but, before turning to
my more personal befallings, let me speak admiringly
of the mere hotel. It is furnished and kept like the
best establishments in cities. You could be nowhere

efficient in removing diseases of the liver. Their almost cer-
tain efficacy is so well known that they are frequented by
thousands of invalids, during the summer months, from every
part of the United States. And I would advise all persons
labouring under complaints of the liver, or under dyspepsy or
indigestion, and who have become hopeless of the influence of
medical prescriptions, never to omit, if it be possible for them
to travel to those springs, to give those waters a fair trial.
They are situated in a beautiful and healthful country, and
the accommodations are always such as to insure the comfort
and convenience of all invalids who approach them."—Gum's
Domestic Medicine.

" The town of Harrodsburg, one of the oldest in Kentucky,
is situated ten miles south of the river which bears that name,
and near the geographical centre of the State. The site is
elevated, rocky, and rolling, but not hilly; and the surface of
the surrounding country has the same character. Neither
the town nor its immediate vicinity presents, in scenery, any-
thing striking or picturesque; but within two or three hours'
ride, in different directions, the perambulating invalid may
see several objects not unworthy of notice :—

1.	Union Village, inhabited by Shakers, who exhibit a
characteristic specimen of the social, economical, and political
relations of that singular people.

2.	The spot denominated Knob Lick, fifteen miles south-
east of Harrodsburg; five miles from the old and pleasant
village of Danville, the site of Centre College ; and two miles
of the farm of the late venerable Governor Shelby. The knobs
or hillocks are from one to two hundred feet high, more or
less conical, some of them insulated, others connected byHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

213

more luxuriously comfortable. The wealthy Western
families whose equipages daily throng and enliven
the gateway, and who take rooms and reside here for
months together, with a reference to the fashionable
season, are the best evidence of the quality of the
accommodations. A good table, and a good society,
are two luxuries which I believe you may always
make sure of, at Harrodsburg.

crumbling isthmuses—the whole forming a group of barren,
conodial eminences, which are finally contrasted with the deep
verdure of the surrounding plain. They consist of a marla-
ceous slate clay, strongly inclined to disintegration, and re-
posing on shale.

3. The gray, mural cliffs of the Kentucky Biver, which flows
in a narrow and winding ravine, nearly four hundred feet in
depth. This great natural canal may be visited with facility
by several roads, and offers, in the grandeur of its high and
precipitous banks, embellished with evergreens, a great deal
to interest all who have a taste for the sublime and beautiful.
But we must return to that which is more important to the
invalid.

The Springs.—These are six or eight in number. They
burst out near the summit of the ridges on which the village
of Harrodsburg is built. The mass of these ridges is com-
posed of limestone, much of which is of a fine grain, and im-
pregnated with magnesia.

The water from one of them has been examined, with some
care, by Dr. Best and myself.

The water contains the following salts :—

1.	Sulphate of magnesia in large quantities. This is the
characteristic ingredient.

2.	Carbonate of magnesia, in a small quantity.214

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

But I wish to introduce you to Dr. Graham, the
proprietor of this vast establishment. The Doctor is
not an individual. And our language, by the way,
is deficient in the phrase which should express what
he is, more than an individual. We want something
which should correspond to the distinctions we make,
for instance, in speaking of land. We say "a lot,"
" a farm," " a tract," " a township," " a county,"—
but, though Dr. Graham is at least a township, if
not a county, as to extent of influence and amount of
value in the neighbourhood, there is no way of
denominating him as more than u a lot." To say he
is an enterprising and gentlemanly man does not ex-

3.	Sulphate of soda, in a small quantity.

4.	Sulphate of lime,	do.

5.	Carbonate of lime, in minute do.

6.	Iron, (probably in the state of a sulphate,) a trace.

7.	A minute quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen, as I ascer-
tained by experiments made at the spring itself.

From this analysis, it appears that the waters of the Har-
rodsburg Springs are analogous, in the materials which they
hold in solution, to the celebrated Seidlitz Fountain of
Bohemia. Their predominant ingredient is sulphate of mag-
nesia, or Epsom salt; though the other matter which they
contain, especially the sulphate of iron, small as is its quantity,
may contribute to their beneficial effects.

I am not in possession of the facts necessary to a full expose
of their therapeutic powers, but that these are so great as
justly to place them at the head of all the known mineral
springs in the States bordering on the Ohio Biver, I have no
doubt."HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

215

press a quarter of an acre of the whole county he is.
With the ten thousand words said to be in common
use, it seems a pity that we should have no means of
expressing the graduated magnitude of so varying a
thing as a citizen, where a single individual amounts
to an institution, as Dr. Graham does—or is quite
equal, as he is, to a quorum, or a committee, or a
majority—we should be able to express it by some-
thing shorter than writing his biography. I hereby
put in my plea for this amendment to our language.

You would be likely to draw an erroneous conclu-
sion as to the Doctor's character, from the habits of
his horse. Of all the gentlemen in the county he is
probably the most prompt, expeditious, and energetic
man of business; yet his horse (which he lent me for
a ride every day) walked me straight up to every
carriage and horseman on the road, and, spite of whip
and other remonstrance, came to a dead halt, and
stayed there, till he had heard some conversation. It
was occasionally a little embarrassing to me, for
where there were ladies in the carriage the possible
habits of the horse were not likely to occur to them;
and, for a stranger to stop them in the middle of the
road, and have nothing to say, looked like rather a
thinly-covered indulgence of curiosity. But the
Doctor, though he has time and politeness for every-
body (as this confirmed habit of his tall bay horse
undeniably betrays), is still of a most omnipresent216	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS,

where-he's-wanted-ness. No guest comes or departs
without the courteous host's welcome or farewell.
No beau's boots have had their chalked bottoms mis-
read, and then left at the wrong door, without an
instant meeting between the protruded head of inquiry
and the rectifying master of the house. No invalid
longs to tell how he has passed the night, without
finding the kindest of listeners in the Doctor; and no
young lady walks alone on the portico without the
Doctor's large Spanish eyes ready at half a glance to
come and unload her heart of its eloquent unexplain-
ableness. The innumerable things attended to for
the guests, comfort, and the quantity of time, chat,
and personal presence to spare, on the part of the
handsome man who does it all, was the miracle of my
daily perplexity while at Harrodsburg. But you see
from this what sort of house and host you may find,
should you go that far southward to anticipate a
June.

And the spirit of the age was not likely to be un-
watched by the vigilant eye of Dr. Graham. With
his experience as surgeon in the army and practising
physician, he knows the value of health in a world of
care and contention; and the general pursuit of it, in
connection with pleasure, opened his eyes to the move-
ments of the day—the general Siamese between hydro-
pathy and watering-place. Few belles have papas
and mammas of undamaged constitutions. FewHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	217

flaunt in lace in the evening, who would not be fairer
as well as healthier for a " pack in a wet sheet" in
the morning. Those wrho have made a fortune
usually have sore need of renovating juices to enjoy
it. The summer demand for health and pleasure will
so combine the family inclinations as to bring old and
young to the same place, if that place furnish facilities
for both. A ball-room, a water-cure establishment,
and a good table, are the three supplies to combine,
for a world that employs its summer solstice to flirt,
freshen, and fatten.

The hydropathic establishment which has been
added to the costly hotel at Harrodsburg is probably
as complete and well-arranged as any one in the
country. No pains nor expense have bem spared
upon it. Dr. Graham came to New York, and, after
much inquiry, selected Dr. Houghton (whose Lectures
on Hydropathy are so well known) as the best medical
man who could best found the system of Hydropathy
in the West. This gentleman has the present charge
of the establishment at Harrodsburg. I was a fort-
night under the treatment while there, and may
perhaps write of it when my experience shall give me
more authority to pronounce upon my present im-
pressions. In Houghton's skill and knowledge of the
subject I have unlimited confidence. To a thorough
medical education he adds a characteristic carefulness
and patience of analysis, and these advantages, with

L218

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the manners and habits of a most refined gentleman,
form desirable hands for an invalid to fall into. I
feel very grateful to him. All will who come under
his kind and intelligent care.

Of the town of Harrodsburg itself I have said
nothing. It has about two thousand inhabitants, a
neighbourhood of wealthy proprietors, lots of livery
stables and " dry goods" stores, several Female
Academies, and (a superfluity for you and me, my
dear General, as we are not in politics) Salt River only
one mile off! Yes, I rode "up Salt River" every
day; and a charming stream, with a green bank
through the woodlands, that celebrated refuge of dis-
appointment turns out to be. It rises near here, and
empties into the Ohio just below Louisville. In the
quantities of mint that crush under the horse's feet
as he follows its windings, I could smell nothing pro-
phetic of the party it is preparing to welcome from
the coming campaign.

Things dull in themselves are sometimes valuable
for what they suggest. My letter has been written
with a brain somewhat out of condition, but if you
know more of Harrodsburg Springs by reading it, its
dulness may well be pardoned. Yours, &c.LETTER XXIII.

An Omnibus in the Woods of Kentucky—Its Use as a Stage-
coach—Four Men and a Fighting-Cock as Travelling Com-
panions—Ignominious Treatment of the Warrior—His
Diet before Fighting—Gentleman lending his Pocket-
comb to the Company—Dislike of large Land Owners—
Indian Creek, and a Cliff's Resemblance to a Lady's Foot
—Naming it after the Foot of a Kentucky Belle of Twenty
Years Ago—Wonderful Scenery of Kentucky River com-
paratively unknown—The Ferryman at Brooklyn—Shaker
Village, and a Sight of Elder Bryant—Description of the
Features of their Village and Property—Speculations as
to Community and Celibacy, &c.

Harrodsburg Springs, Kentucky, June.

It reminded me of you—for it was like falling in
with one of tlie vertebrae of Broadway—to find an
omnibus at the door of my Kentucky hotel. I had
been reading of the fossil remains of Mammoth Cave,
and my first thought was that of stumbling unexpect-
edly on an organic specimen of New York or "the
General"—antiquities both, to me, so long seemed
the four months since I had seen them. The omni-
bus was doing duty as a stage-coach, and was to take220	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

me thirty miles to Harrodsburg. How so city-fied a
thing had followed the setting sun so far over the
horizon, I could not conjecture; but with four horses,
and the baggage on top, it bowled merrily away, and
worked as well, I thought, as if picking up ladies in
Broadway. The sixpence-hole, by the way, was not
in operation, and should have been stuffed with straw,
for it let in the dust uncomfortably.

My travelling companions were five—four men and
a game-cock. The latter was sewed up in a pocket-
handkerchief, and with only his head out, was treated
ignominiously as a bundle. I inquired into his
history as he rolled about on the floor, and on hearing
that he had been the victor at the Lexington races,
the day before, killing three successive antagonists,
and winning considerable money for his master, I
could not but philosophise on what may follow glory,
in the experience of heroes. Here was a warrior,
with the blood of battle still unwashed from his crest,
and who, as Hoffman says of the men of Churubusco,

" Was equal in the deeds he wrought,

To any common five,"

tied up in the base retirement of a pocket-handker-
chief, and trying in vain to find a support and hold
his head up. The ingratitude of this world's fought-
for ! I m$de some inquiries as to the education and
diet of the brave bird—overcoming, meanwhile, con-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	221

siderable disgust at his master's brutal way of
kicking him about the floor of the omnibus; and as
it may be useful to know how to get ready for glory,
I will record the process. The Irishman who owned
the game-cock, and made a business of it, gave me
all the dietetics in a single sentence: " For three
weeks afore the fight, feed the feller on egg, corn-
meal, rock-candy and barley-water." In case of an
invasion from the Lobos Islands, my dear General,
you may be called on to fight for glory and guano,
and the recipe may be worth sticking under your
belt.

My other omnibus companions were free and kindly
Conversation was unembarrassed. The best-dressed
man of the three pulled a horn comb from his pocket
after a while, combed his own head, and then passed
around the utensil. All accepted and made use of
it, till it came in turn to me, and (not to give offence)
I apologized for declining it, on the ground of having
a curly head that took care of itself. The comb-
lender was a hater of the men who " owned such a
bloody quantity of land, a poor man couldn't get a
place to call his own." He pointed to a porter's
lodge on one of the beautiful woodland estates we
were passing, (the road, for thirty miles, by the way,
seeming to pass through a lordly English park,) and
said he liked to see a shanty with a pig-trough at
the door, and fences around small lots—not such a
sign as that, of a man's gobbling up more than his4 222

health trip to the tropics.

share. As to the old Kentuck that God made,
belonging to a few of these cussed aristocrats, he
didn't believe it was good law. You might as well
do without it. Why didn't Cassius Clay take up that
idee, and not be trying to make gentlemen out of
niggers ?

Thus discoursing and exchanging knowledge, we
arrived at Kentucky River—and with my eyes wide
open; for the descent to its banks, through the
valley of what is called Indian Creek, was a perfect
gem for the artist. The bed of this tributary stream
is deep, through precipitous rocks; and the road
follows one of the sides of the ravine, on a sort of
corkscrew shelf, every inch revealing some new com-
bination of cliff and foliage. There was one graceful
point, more particularly, held forward like a lady's
foot to a shoe-maker's measure, of which I quite
longed for a sketch to bring away. The prettiest
known foot of the fashionable world having been born
in the immediate neighbourhood, I ventured to name
this projecting instep of the lovely mountain above;
and I beg some friendly artist to pencil and bring it
along in his portfolio. Governor Adair's estate is
within a mile or two, and " Florida's foot" should be
the name of the loveliest reminder of his daughter's
beauty. The shower of sonnets written to it at
Saratoga, twenty years ago, might be still traced in
the fertility of Parnassus.

And now, my dear Morris, consider Kentuckyhealth trip to the tropics.

223

River presented formally to your acquaintance and
particular attention—a stranger you should see and
know more of. Deepen Trenton Falls for one
or two hundred feet, smooth its cascades into a river,
and extend it for thirty miles—thirty miles between
perpendicular precipices from three to five hundred
feet high, and only a biscuit-toss across at the top—
and you have a river of whose remarkable beauty the
world is strangely ignorant. At the point w here it is
crossed by the route to Iiarrodsburg, the banka, though
sublime even here, are less lofty than elsewhere. Of
another visit to it, at a bolder point, I have some
pleasant memoranda, from which I may scribble, in
this or another letter; but meantime I must record
the loveliness of the crossing at Brooklyn Ferry. This
Kentucky Brooklyn consists of one house under the
rock, one fine-looking and Herculean ferryman, who
is also postmaster and father of the family that con-
stitutes the population of the place, and one broad-
bottomed scow, into which the stage-coach is driven,
and which is pulled across by one negro, on a rope
pulley. In that ten minutes of gliding noiselessly
from the base of one cliff to another, the traveller who
loves scenery enjoys a feast. That postmaster ferry-
man looks like a capitally good fellow, (let me
chronicle,) and to go and lodge a week with him, and
pull up and down stream in a " dug-out," would be a
delightful thing for an artist to do—a thing I have224

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

put down among my own life's many little reluctant
foregoneings. Some idler man will 'perhaps thank
me for this turning down of a leaf of travel for his
notice.

A village of Shakers lies a few miles beyond Ken-
tucky River; and it is curious to see the effect of
celibacy on barns and fences. Things look too virtu-
ous for comfort. I never saw such excessive neatness.
The stones of the walls looked as exemplary as if every
one had been catechised and wiped clean with the
corner of an apron. Nature had been permitted to
retain no more beauty than the laws of fertility made
inevitable. The rich apple-trees looked sorry they
were such sinners as to be beautiful. The green
grass seemed rebuked and overawed. A dozen large
stone houses were severely well built, and the eight
or ten women, whom we saw going to and fro, turned
in their toes and elbows as if carefully taught to be
ungraceful. I walked to an enclosed well for a drink
of water, while the broad-brimmed postmaster over-
hauled the mails, and found I was within the fence
of Elder Bryant, the head man of the community.
It was Saturday evening, and he was at the open
window, shaving himself for Sunday; the morrow's
law of rest, to which the incorrigible beard pays no
attention, being enforced upon the more manageable
soap and razor. Though in his shirt sleeves, and
with a face half covered with lather, the Elder had ahealth trip to the tropics.

225

noble and commanding presence. How so intellec-
tual and dignified a man could ever dance with the
women, to worship God—and believe in it—was hard
to realize. But he looks sincere and good.

One cannot but admire the operation of the tenets
of this sect, as to business matters. Though, by
their creed, babies are iniquitous, and the world ought
to come to an end, they raise better vegetables and
breed better cattle for the support of the present off-
spring of sin than any other class of farmers. I am
assured that every article of produce from the Shaker
village brings a third more of price than any other in
the markets of the surrounding towns. They pros-
per. They add yearly to their stock, and their land.
What is the secret ? Is it in the community princi-
ple as to property, and the abstinent principle as to
person? Is it in employing the women in the
raising of crops instead of the raising of children—
reducing them to the level of the men, as labourers
in the field as well as sharers of the profits ? Is it
that taste, grace, and pleasure, are impoverishing prin-
ciples, and that thrift and beauty cannot, in this
fallen world, dwell together ? Or, has the awkward
dancing or " trying celibacy " nothing to do with it,
and is it merely that the world is too largely con-
structed for any " one-horse concern," and it is
against the natural order of things for an individual
to be sole proprietor of anything ? Who will tell us
l 2226

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

how we can borrow Shaker prosperity and leave
Shaker uglinessess behind ? The hominy of human
happiness is so hard to separate from the corn's cob
and kernel-skin!

After such a sermon, this seems a good place for an
Amen—so	Yours, &c.LETTER XXIV.

Remedy for one great nuisance, in Slavery—Northern Cities
disfigured by their Suburbs—Summer's Evening in Ken-
tucky—Lexington like Old North-end in Boston—Families
passing the evening on the Door-steps—Regrets that had
been unnecessary as to falling off in Western Beauty—
Aristocratic Mould of Republican Belles—Sudden Termi-
nation of Principal Street in open Country—Look at a
Children's Party over a Fence—A Negro at my shoulder
enjoying the same stolen Pleasure—First Visit to Ashland
by Moonlight—Mr. Clay's Loveableness—His Residence
Classic Ground, even before his Death—Description of
House and Grounds—Crazy Wanderer whom I met in the
Grove—Curious Monomania of Autobiography, Ac. &c.

Lexington, Kentucky, June 1852.

Slavery has an advantage which I realised in a twi-
light stroll at Lexington. It ensures the absence of
what is perhaps the greatest nuisance of the cities of
Free States, and particularly of New York. With all
the splendour and luxury of your great metropolis, it
is, as you know, with its suburbs, a jewel set in filth;
a two-mile purgatory of shanties-and pig-styes, hor-
rible to see and smell, lying between it and the228	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

country, on every road that leads out of it. The
labouring classes live in the suburbs of towns at the
North. At the South they live, each with his master,
and either in compulsory cleanliness, or in dirt hidden
from the public eye.

I dare say there are several features of a summer's
evening in Kentucky which are more artistically
picturesque than your Northern mind would be made
up for, and I will try to give you a general idea of
the scene in which I noticed more particularly what
I speak of above. With the rest of the two hundred
hats my well-worn " Beebe" had been snatched up
for the sudden after-tea afflux to the front of the
hotel; and, on chairs and in groups the promiscuous
multitude (for court was in session) thronged the side-
walk on the street—lawyers listening and clients dis-
coursing, and witnesses, judges, and jurymen, all
smoking uncompromisingly under the trees—myself
the naturally inquisitive stranger for whom Western
politeness provides that the nearest citizen shall be
the courteous entertainer. Henry Clay's "office"
was "just around the corner," and this, and the names
of the most distinguished-looking persons in the
crowd on the side-walk, I had learned from a gentle-
man at my elbow, when the light began to be rosy.
I was up to the eyes in men, and losing a sunset.
The street to the right looked as if that way led to
gardens. I started for a stroll.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

229

Lexington has the air of being—as a part of old
North-end in Boston used to be—aristocratically and
conservatively primitive. The same side-walk that
once owed a man room for his front steps owes it
still; and the public is bound to walk round them,
and round his family, if they are seated on them en-
joying the evening air. The parlour windows on the
whole of this principal thoroughfare of Lexington
are plump on the street.

The " first citizens" live here, as you may see by
the style of the ladies on the door-steps. They sit
out of doors after tea — mothers, daughter^ and
children—and groups of more stylish mould, more
natively thoroughbred, and more unconsciously and
undeniably of the world's " porcelain undashed with
crockery," you would not find by unroofing Belgrave
Square in London, than by walking along the door-
steps of this capital of Kentucky on a summer's
evening. It was a succession of lovely pictures—
the range and quality of the beauty which I saw
giving me double pleasure from correcting an error
in regrets. Such were the Western and Southern
belles, who used to come to Saratoga. I had vowed
such came no more—piously yielding to the inference
(when requested) that the "falling off" was in the
scales of the eyes that looked for them. But here
was Lexington as I should have thought to find it
twenty years ago—a garden of most distinguished-230

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

looking girls, the plant indigenous and the qualities
not running out with repetition. The several visits
which I have chanced to make to this same town, in
going and coming to the different points of interest
in the State, have abundantly confirmed this impres-
sion. I saw dozens in every walk, any one of whom
would be, (like an American belle whom I remember
in London,) the " season's wonder at Almack's."
How we come by this " blood look," (which is so
much more common in our Democratic republic than
in countries where it is more prized and guarded,) I
could never satisfactorily explain; but physiologists,
disposed to study the problem, might well begin in
Kentucky.

Passing perhaps half a mile of family groups en-
joying the sunset out of doors—(with a delicious bit
of contrast to each one in the group of happy-faced
slaves of all ages, gathered at the alley-gate opening
from the side of the house)—I came suddenly to the
end of the side-walk. The street stopped abruptly
in a grassy meadow. I looked around with a vague
eeling of inquiry for something missing, but it was
a minute or two before I saw what it was. There
was no suburb. Where were the poor people?
Where was the usual entrenchment of a city—the
pigstyes and the poverty ? The air of the fragrant
open fields came to me as I stood at the end of the
street. A country fence commenced where theHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

231

paving-stones ended; and at a short distance up the
road stood a rural villa just visible through shubbery
and flowers. The merry black faces, with the num-
berless ebony babies, which I had seen in the group
at the side entrance of every house as I came along,
were instead of this nuisance I missed—negro com-
fort well distributed, instead of white wretchedness
filthy in a heap. The contrast—say between Lex-
ington and New York in this respect—might as well
be taken into the account by the precipitators of
abolition.

I stepped off the side-walk into the country, on the
evening I refer to, and enjoyed a charming little bit
of stolen pleasure—stolen by looking over a fence. I
shared it with a negro, who I suddenly discovered
was looking over the fence at my shoulder, and who,
with spade and basket, was returning from his work,
not too tired to be made happy by a pretty sight.
We stood ten minutes—we two uninvited inquisi-
tives—watching a children's party in the grounds of
a cottage; and a lovelier scene could scarcely have
been arranged by a painter. The lamps in the
drawing-room were just beginning to brighten
through the shrubbery with the thickening twilight,
and a party of grown-up people thronged the porti-
coes ; but the extensive grounds outside were populous
with the blue and pink sashes and the lively little
jackets and trousers, and scores of eager voices went232

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

up in a general hum of happiness whose key-note
was very contagious. I caught the happiness with
hearing it. So did Cuffee at my elbow; though his
heart made itself audible in a chuckle, which (or
some other voicing) mine needed. In and out of the
openings of the serpentine walks came and went the
little couples—some only merry, some confidentially
engaged in imparting a secret—arms over necks,
heads uncovered in the warm air, grace all uncon-
scious—a little Eden peopled for a night, and briefly
innocent and beautifal. How little they knew how
much pleasure they were sending out between the
pickets of the fence that enclosed them—how far and
how well, over mountain and lake, the chance sight
of them had brought the images of three others
to be unseen figures in the picture! My children
were there! So sometimes, by the wayside, falls
what little happiness the traveller gets—though I
am not sure you will think such " airy nothings"
worth reading of.

The moon was bright, and Ashland, Clay's resi-
dence, was but a mile further on. I was in the
humour for communing with what was absent, and
the home of the " gentleman statesman" was vacant
of its owner. The promise of his recovery was
brighter when he had last been heard from, but he
was ill and in danger—a patient whose sick bed a
nation was watching. I was among the many whoHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS

233

could not help loving as well as honouring Mr. Clay—
and, indeed, that all who had ever seen him did not
tenderly love him, must have been because,

" He who surpasses or subdues mankind,

Must look down on the hate of those below."

He was wonderfully loveable, by that common yet
mysterious law of magnetism which regulates that
matter; and there are probably few on whom he had
ever concentrated voice and eye, who would not have
felt as I did under that Western moon—tearfully
persuaded to make its light of that night sacred, by
going to see his groves lit up by it. Ashland already
—before the death of him who had planted its trees—
was classic ground. Tfie love he had inspired had
overruled the niggard withholding of the tribute
to greatness—denied commonly till the ear is deaf to
it. There was his home—honoured beyond all pos-
sible reversion, though its door might still open to
him. Of whom was this ever more true than of Mr.
Clay?

The summer dew just made the dust heavy, and
the path along the wayside was like a carpet. I fol-
lowed the road (which was but a continuation of the
principal street of Lexington,) and inquiring the
localities, of the only foot passenger whom I met,
soon came to the tall locust-trees which overhang the
gate. Two square posts hewn roughly from the log,234

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

marked the entrance; the gate was ajar, and the
fleckered moonlight, among the avenue curving to
the left, seemed paving it with plates of silver. I
followed the path, somewhat grass-grown and
neglected, and stood presently before a manorial-
looking mansion of octagonal shape, with wings pro-
jecting upon the lawn. To the left the grove closed
in upon it, but to the right, a cluster of small build-
ings, and lights and voices, seemed to indicate the
residence of the " people" of the estate. The rear of
the large mansion opening upon the greenhouse and
garden, was apparently the part occupied by Mrs.
Clay.

Not venturing to intrude farther, I passed off by a
path leading under the majestic trees to the left, and
was musing on the Providence which leaves the per-
fected oak, such as I saw above me, to flourish through
long and strong maturity, but removes, just when
perfected to greatest usefulness, the man who planted
it—the tree having a continuity of ripeness which is
denied to man—when I was accosted by a gentleman
of a very large stature, who seemed to have been
seeking solitude, and musing idly like myself. I re-
joiced at first in the apparent opportunity to learn
something of Mr. Clay, as seen at home—but I soon
found I was addressing a mind gone astray. The
only reply to my questions was what professed to be
a history of the tall broad-shouldered gentlemanhealth trip to the tropics.	235

himself. He said he was the celebrated Indian
Doctor, James G. Hardin, of whom I must have
heard—that he had cured one gentleman who had
given him four thousand dollars—that he could give
his daughters four millions apiece—that, in the
course of his practice, he had made countless money,
but that it was by " cutting deep into the rich, but
letting the poor slide " I thought this last a good
phrase, and tolerably sane as a rule of medical prac-
tice. The Doctor did not seem to be accustomed to
good listeners. He broke off abruptly at a curve of
the path, and turning again toward the house, round
which he appeared to be habitually and innocently a
wanderer, left me without even a good night. But
he had broken the thread of my musings. His frag-
mented autobiography would not again give place to
the first-conjured spirit of the spot. I remembered
that I was fatigued, and slowly paced my way back
to the hotel—visiting Ashland again, however, and
by daylight; and of the visit and some more tangible
memorabilia of Mr. Clay, another letter may perhaps
discourse to you. For the present, Adieu.LETTER XXV.

Adventures in a Cross-Boad in Kentucky—Account of the
" Devil's Pulpit''—Early Start—Philosophy of Driving—
Reasons why Kentuckians cannot Drive, though great
Horsemen—Mode of Female Conveyance when Going
out to Tea—Dr. Graham's Accomplishments, but his
Mode of Using the Reins—Stumps and Earthquakes—
Singular Locality of King's Mills—The Bridge over Dick's
River, and its Indifferent Toll-Keeper—Attention to Trout
and to Strangers—The Blacksmith—Majesty of Primitive
Woods, and the lack of this charm on the Hudson—Ix>g
School-House in the Wilderness, &c. &c.

Harrodsburg Springs, Kentucky, June 1852.

I have had a day's experience of cross-road know-
ledge in the heart of Kentucky, and perhaps, though
less imposing than turnpike knowledge, it may
interest you to read of its humbler and more homely
befallings. As we may have, here and there, a sub-
scriber to the Home Journal, who wants but little to
wonder at, at a time, an uneventful letter may be
excusable, even to publish.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

237

My hospitable host. Dr. Graham, had been the
historian* of a curiosity which is almost inaccessible,

* Collins, in his " History of Kentucky," thus gives it:

" We are indebted for the following account of a visit to this
remarkable curiosity, to the pen of a well-known citizen of Ken-
tucky, Dr. Graham, the enterprising and intelligent proprietor
of the Harrodsburg Springs. He says:—After much vexation
and annoyance, occasioned by the difficulties of the road, we
arrived near the object of our visit, and quitting our horses,
proceeded on foot. Upon approaching the brink of the preci
pice, under the direction of our guide, we suddenly found
ourselves standing on the verge of a yawning chasm, and
immediately beyond, bottomed in darkness, the Devil's Pulpit
was seen rearing its black gigantic form from amid the
obscurity of the deep and silent valley. The 'background to
this gloomy object presented a scene of unrelieved desolation.
Cliff rose on cliff, and crag surmounted crag, sweeping off on
either hand in huge semicircles, until the wearied eye became
unable to follow the countless and billowy-like mazes of that
strange and awful scene. The prevailing character of the
whole was that of savage grandeur and gloom. A profound
silence broods over the place, broken only by the muffled rush-
ing of the stream far down in its narrow passage, cleaving
its way to its home in the ocean. Descending by a zigzag
path to the shore of the river, while our companions were
making preparations to cross, I strayed through the valley.
The air was cool, refreshing and fragrant, and vocal with the
voices of many birds. The bending trees, the winding stream
with its clear and crystal waters, the flowering shrubs, and
clustering vines walled in by these adamantine ramparts—
which seem to tower to the skies—make this a place of rare
and picturesque beauty. The dew-drops still hung glittering
on the leaves, the whispering winds played with soft music
through the rustling foliage, and the sunbeams, struggling
through the overhanging forest, kissed the opening flowers,238

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.*

on the Kentucky River; and a trip to this—twenty
miles across the country from Harrodsburg—was the

and all combined made up a scene of rural loveliness and
romance which excited emotions of unmingled delight. The
boat having arrived, the river was crossed without difficulty,
and we commenced the ascent, and after measuring up two
hundred and seventy feet, arrived at the base of the ' Pulpit.'
Fifty paces from this point, and parallel with it, in the solid
ledge of the cliff, is a cave of considerable extent. At its
termination, there passes out, like the neck of a funnel, an
opening, not larger than a hogshead. Upon pitching rocks
into this cave, a rumbling was heard at an immense distance
below the earth. Some are of opinion that this cave contains
a bottomless pit. We now ascended the cliffs some fifty feet
further, clambering up through a fissure in the rocks, having
the Pulpit on our right, and a range of cliffs on our left. To
look up here makes the head dizzy. Huge and dark masses
roll up above you, upon whose giddy heights vast crags jut
out and overhang the valley, threatening destruction to all
below. The floating clouds give these crags the appearance of
swimming in mid air. The ascent up these rocks, though
somewhat laborious, is perfectly safe, being protected by natural
walls on either side, and forming a perfect stairway with steps
from eight to ten feet thick. At the head of this passage there
is a hole through the river side of the wall, large enough to
admit the body, and through which one may crawl, and look
down on the rushing stream belowk At the foot of the stairway
stands the Pulpit, rising from the very brink of the main ledge,
at more than two hundred feet of an elevation above the river,
but separated from the portion which towers up to the extreme
heights. The space is twelve feet at bottom, and as the cliff
retreats slightly at this point, the gap is perhaps thirty feet
at the top. The best idea that can be formed of this rock is
to suppose it to be a single column standing in front of the
continuous wall of some vast building or ruin, the shaft stand-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

239

excursion of the day. With an active little horse in
a buggy-waggon, we were on the road at the hour
which the birds make so industrious and musical, our
breakfast in its place, and our dinner waiting its turn
in a basket. The Doctor was the driver.

And let me record here, by the way, a simple bit
of observation which had never occurred to me before
—that driving is an art not learned in one generation.
If roads were introduced into the Deserts of the East,
it would be the Arab's grandchild, not the Arab nor
the Arab's son, who might learn to be " a whip."
The sequence of wheels after hoofs, and the relative
responsibilities of the ears that precede and the axle-
tree that follows confidingly after, are secrets no more
learned in a day than the scent of game by a race of
quadrupeds. The Kentuckian, therefore, who might

ing, as colonnades are frequently built, upon an elevated
platform. From the platform to the capital of the shaft is not
less than one hundred feet, making the whole elevation of the
' Devil's Pulpit' three hundred feet. It is called, by some, the
inverted candlestick, to which it has a striking resemblance.
There are two swells, which form the base moulding, and
occupy forty feet of the shaft. It then narrows to an oblong
of about three feet by six, at which point there are fifteen
distinct projections. This narrow neck continues with some
irregularity for eight or ten feet, winding off an angle of
more than one degree from the line of gravity. Then com-
mences the increased swell, and craggy offsets, first overhanging
one side and then the other, till they reach the top or cap
rock, which is not so wide as the one below it, but is still
fifteen feet across."240

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

compete with the Arab sheikh, as the world's best
horseman, is 110 driver. Roads are entirely too new
to him. Even at this day, the commonest sight on
turnpikes where wheels might be used, is a woman on
horseback with three children—the baby in her lap
and two urchins a-straddle behind. To go five or six
miles to take tea, most Kentucky mothers, to the pre-
sent moment, would prefer the saddle, By birth and
education, it is consequently a horseback State—the
animal at the end of a long pair of reins much too
far off for Kentucky instincts of control and comfort.

Entering upon an Archipelago of stumps and rocks
after the first mile, I very soon received the impression
which I have just recorded. My friend the Doctor—
famous when surgeon in the army for whipping off a
leg with dexterity, and famous since, as the best rifle-
shot in his neighbourhood, had no eye for the liabili-
ties of wheels. He evidently thought a stump done
with if the horse went clear of it. It was a wonder,
to him, how the buggy came to a stand-still upon an
obstacle he had thought comfortably left fyehind. An
eloquent man, and warm on history and scenery as he
rode along, his arms were busy with gestures, and the
reins loose about the horse's heels, no matter what
the apparent impossibilities or impending antagonisms
of the road. The books speak of earthquakes, for-
merly so frequent in Kentucky that every family had
a key suspended over the Bible on the mantel-piece,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

241

to know by its vibrations when to fall on their knees
and pray. The Doctor's driving seemed historically
accordant with this—a series of earthquakes, every
shock bringing us to our knees—though, as there will
be progress with even the worst of iteration, we arrived
thus at the precipice overhanging "Dick's River."
And here was scenery worth some rough using to get
a sight of.

Those who " go to mill" at " King's mills" must
seem to have their grain ground on the earth's axle,
for the bed of Dick's River, which turns the wheel,
is three hundred feet down between almost perpen-
dicular rocks; no complete daylight known there, I
should suppose, except at high noon. We should pro-
perly have been let down by a string, but the breeching
proved faithful, and we reached the bank of the river,
horse first, without being precipitated over the head
of the animal most of the way on end. At the small
bridge spanning the stream sat a man in a picturesque
red w aistcoat, fishing ; and I was struck with the fact,
that though strangers must be comparatively rare
in so remote a spot, he never took his eyes from his
line to look at us. We crossed the bridge, and, as we
went crashing over the loose rocks on the other side,
he called out, " They take toll here !" The Doctor
pulled up. "Bill aint home," he continued, still
keeping his eyes dreamily on the water, and speaking
in a tone as low and unexcited as the murmur of the

M242	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

stream, "but I'll take it for him." " How much?"
" Why they ask a quarter, but I'll make twenty cents
answer !" And with this kindly dialogue my friend
walked to the contemplative angler and dropped the
money into his hand without disturbing the possibility
of a coincident nibble. To one surfeited with the
" digito monstrari" this might be a pleasant variety
of human notice, though the chances were that the
traveller, thus made second to a trout, might think
himself indifferently treated.

The village, a few rods up the stream, consisted of
the mill and a blacksmith's shop; and here we stopped
to inquire our way to the Devil's Pulpit. " I've
hearn a heap of talk about that place/' said the
brawny Vulcan, "but I never was thar. Do you
know, Jem ?" he asked, turning to the man wielding
the other hammer. But Jem had also lived close to
the remarkable spot without going to it, and we took
the road slanting up the opposite precipice of the
ravine, trusting to the Doctor's reminiscences of a
way he had once travelled before.

The trees, in a country that has never been " cut
over," are wonderfully majestic, and even the dislo-
cating roughness of the road did not prevent my con-
tinual amazement at the beauty of single trees,
standing on the green floor of the forest, each one a
monarch in mere glory of presence. On the Hudson,
so perpetually felled and burned over, you neverHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

243

realize the splendour of the primitive wilderness; and,
indeed, it takes all the majesty of the Highlands and
Cat skills, and all the artificial wonders of steamers
and rail trains, to compensate for this comparative
nakedness of your beautiful river.

It was in the midst of one of these lofty " mille
colonnes" of nature that we came to a log school-
house built upon a knoll; and here the Doctor pulled
up for another inquiry. The schoolmaster was likely
to know where the Devil's Pulpit might stand, and I
was interested to see the schoolmaster and his
urchins. For my visit here, however, and the
remainder of my excursion, I shall require the space
of another letter, I believe, and for the present, adieu.
Yours, &c.LETTER XXVI.

Cross-road experiences in Kentucky—the Log School-house-—
Apparent Uselessness of World Wisdom so far away from
the World—Picturesque Interior—Older aud Younger
Girls, and their Looks and Attitudes—Picture of a Lovely
Child—Eden still around us if We knew its Times and
Places—The Boys, and their Employments—Structure of a
School-house—The Master, and his Dignity—The Biggest
Boy, and his Politeness and Manly Civilities—Way to the
Devil's Pulpit—A Backwoodsman and his Farm—Cha-
racter of New Clearings—American Facilities for Getting-1-
on,

Harrodsburg Springs, Kentucky, June.

The log school-house (at the door of which I left you
in my last letter) was so remote from the world, there
in the heart of the wilderness, that the laborious ac-
quiring of still in such encounters as cyphering and
oratory seemed like the harnessing of knights for a
crusade far away. Considering the road we had come
over, the arrival of any of these barefooted urchins at
the world's battle-fields of humbug and cheating
seemed too improbable for this trouble of preparingHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	245

the weapons. To recognize the beauty of a tree, and
listen to the " still small voices" of conscience and
indigestion, would have seemed to me (had I been
consulted at the door, and had schools been a new in-
vention) the learning for which the necessity was
more immediate: though in thickly settled neigh-
bourhoods, of course soft sodder and calculation
obviously come first.

I wanted Darley at my elbow to sketch the interior
of this school. Unconsciousness makes beautiful
pictures—the rudeness and grotesqueness of real-life
groupings rather adding than otherwise to their effect.
While three or four of the larger girls, just entering
upon awkward-hood, had their heads on the benches
and sat with their chins on their knees, feeling of
their toes, there were two or three of the younger ones
with grace and beauty enough to equip angels—the
heaven they were leaving behind them* still radiant
in their delicious little faces. One I could have taken

* Almost as often as I see young children, I quote Woods-
worth's beautiful imagining:—

" Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The soul that rises with us, our life's star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar.

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God who is our home."246

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

to my bosom with a hug, and stolen—(to adopt and
add to the "Orion's belt of three" who form iny
constellation at home)— a little fairy, lying flat on
her stomach upon the top of a sloping desk, and with
her heels in the air and her cheek on her hand, too
busy with her spelling-book to notice our coming in.
Her heaps of curls were masses of brown tanned
lighter at the curves, and the russet red of her cheek
was beaming with tranquil health—eyes large and
steady, hands plump and dirty, shoulders and back
bare, and frock ragged. There she lay learning to
spell; and meantime more beautiful than she will be
when the lesson is learned; and better worth admir-
ing and loving than when her heels are kept down
and her rags changed to the petticoats of womanhood.
How out of time and place come the things we most
want, in this world ! I am inclined to think Eden is
still around us. Its loveliness and happiness are only
mislaid, mis-labelled and unrecognised.

Of the troop on the board bench provided for the
jacket-and-trouser department of the school, one-half
at least were picking the clay from between the logs,
and so getting a look at the open air outside; and
they had so far succeeded that the four walls let in
the light like a honey-comb. There was one window
—a hole sawed through one of the logs, that is to say
—but the main supply of daylight that had been
calculated for evidently came through the door.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

247

Near this stood the tall, erect, majestic form of the
schoolmaster—certainly the largest supply of dignity
for the money (twenty-five dollars a month) which I
had yet seen in my travels. How so handsome a man
could see himself in the glass once a day, and keep
that school for the pay, I presume Providence knew
and provided—but he seemed to me to have Na-
ture's ticket on his brow for the government of
older minds.

To our enquiries for the way to the Devil's Pulpit,
the schoolmaster shook his head—but up spoke the
biggest boy in the school. He knew where it was
—some people call it "Candlestick Rock"—it was
two miles off, and he would go and show us the way.
And, of the prompt, manly, unservile and yet most
genial kindness and cheerfulness, with which this
young Kentuckian of sixteen gave us four hours of
his time and attention, I should like to have a " seed
for planting." Our way was through a wilderness
partially cleared, and every quarter of a mile brought
us to a gate, or to heaps of just-felled timber, to be
navigated with great care by horse and waggon; and
with this bright lad for guide and gate-opener, we
were " only passengers." He took us to the Devil's
Pulpit, and brought us back, walking before or at the
side of our waggon, and conversing as fearlessly and
unsuspiciously as a nobleman taking his guests over
his park. I liked the grace and self-confidence of248

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the boy. The highest cultivation of courts and
palaces would only take such manners round a circle,
and bring them back to where they are.

Near the point of our journey we came to a settler's
farm-house, and here we unhitched our active little
locomotive, and left him to " wood up " for the pas-
sage back. Our own basket of provender was here
remembered also, though, as we had arrived just at
the dinner hour, the hospitable backwoods-man
pressed us hard to go in and dine. We rather gave
offence, I thought, by insisting on sitting down to
our own sandwiches and liquids in the outer room—
the ladies, whom we should have seen at table, not
making their appearance at all ; but our host was all
kindness, and after looking at our horse, he offered to
accompany us in our visit to the point of curiosity.

This Kentucky farm looked like a scene of vigorous
industry, though the first beginnings of civilization
are very unsightly. Woods are very beautiful, but
half a wood cut down is like half a house torn away
—leaving a front most ruinously unarchitectural.
Then trees prostrate in all directions, fences of log
and branches, stumps just high enough to look
ugliest, and nature's rude rocks exposed and dug
around by the plough, are dismal features to a land-
scape. Our friend was very communicative on the
way, and gave us, in his own history, a curious type
of the American facility for " getting on." When heHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	249

first came into that part of the country, he had
nothing but the protested five hundred dollar note of
a broken merchant. On the possibility of its being
eventually paid, he managed to buy four hundred
acres of land, of which he now had one hundred and
thirty under cultivation. It was a proviso in the
purchase that he should give the land back after a cer
tain number of years, if it was not paid for; his labour
on the soil, of course, being rent as well as security
to the original owner. He had married, owned three
negroes, and, by the cattle in all direction, his farm
was numerously stocked. He was a broad-backed,
cheerful, happy-looking man. Those who have seen
the working population of Europe know what there
is to emigrate for, in such a contrast to their condi-
tion as is presented in this picture.

By no paths, but over chasms and rocks so wild
and so seldom visited that the hawks and eagles flew
around and over without fear of us, we arrived at the
point in the abysm called Kentucky River where
stands " Candlestick Rock." It is a column which
the action of water has separated from the pre-
cipice, and left toppling and alone—in shape and
form like a pile of muffins, but two hundred feet high.
Dr. Graham's description (which I sent you with my
last letter) gives you the detailed dimensions of it. It
is a wonder, yet it is but part of a wilderness of
wonders. This strangly deep-down river is here at
m 2250

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

its finest point of precipitous walling-in. A projected
railroad is to cross it, at this place, I understand, and
when that is completed, they will need a station-house
on the river bank, for the traveller will not go by,
without stopping to climb about and admire. It is a
most beautiful and picturesque State, Kentucky !
Give us but facilities for getting into it, and its scenery
will be a constant attraction for visitors from the
North.

I must abruptly close my letter, my dear Morris.LETTER XXVII.

HAYTI, &c.

The mountain tops of Hayti visible off the starboard
bow—their bases and the main stretch of the isle of
Negro-cratic dominion hidden by the cloud-mist of
morning. The air off the shore is wonderfully fra-
grant—every white nose that comes up from the break-
fast table acknowledges it with a sniff of pleasure.
Sweet, sweet weather! Smooth and sunny sea!
But languor and loving good-for-notliingness taking
the edge off from the sense of novelty, and making
all seem like a dream.

I find that the surgeons of these steamers, and two
or three other medical men with whom I have con-
versed, think it a mistake for delicate pulmonary
patients to come to the West Indies for health. The
greater softness of the air is counterbalanced, they say*
by the greater debilitation; but, more than that, the
sufferers from this complaint run great risk, from the252

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

inconveniences of tropical life, from exposure, and the
complete lack of home-comforts. Window-glass is
unknown south of Bermuda, and delicate lungs find
the night's last hours, even in the torrid zone, chilly
and irritating. It is not the clime for prudence,
either. Inhabitants and strangers alike indulge appe-
tite and forget caution. In the teeming and prodigal
life around the invalid, his individual poverty of
health is forgotten. The air is an oblivious opiate,—
soothing, but full of danger.

My own experience corroborates this. Enjoying
the luxuriousness of the clime in every nerve and
pore, I have still felt that there was in it neither
strength nor medicine. The consciousness of revivifi-
cation that one feels in a bright day at the North,
or in a breath of mountain air—nature's acknowledg-
ment of aid—is not a part of the enjoyment.
It seems to me only a climate in which death
would be easier. The nerves ar$ quieted out of
reach. And it is wonderful what a different event
death seems, with that part of the system sleeping or
waking!

That many people go to the West Indies for their
health, and find it there, is very certain. But it is
less to be attributed to softer air than to entire change
of scene; and associations. There are more cases
than we imagine of persons supposed to be " in a
decline/' where organic disease is but half the trouble.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPTCS.

253

They require to be removed from what shall remind
them that they are ill—to be got away from sym-
pathy, away from doctors, away from contrast of
their invalid habits with habits when they were
stronger. Their attention to the subject of their
health has become morbid—itself the disease which
most requires medicine. To such, the entire novelty
of climate and vegetation, and the close neighbour-
hood of so many varieties of government and manners
—Danish, Spanish, French, English, and African
islands, all ^within a summer day succession of visits
—amount to a delightful and salutary self-forgetful-
ness. They are amused out of themselves, and return
to find that the body has taken advantage of the
mind's absence to put the nerves to their proper
work. Health has come, they scarce know haw.
Many a physician, probably, would recommend this
" alterative course" of three months' travel in the
West Indies, if the ninety pills at five dollars a-piece
(the average day's expense in these latitudes) were not
too expensive.

The sword of Her Majesty's veteran Lieutenant
was laid on the cabin table, ready to be girded on, to
carry the mail ashore at Jacmel—(this officer doing
it in uniform, and having his own boat, and being as
separate from the ship's company as a diplomatic
passenger) and great interest was being made to ac-
company him. Everybody wanted to see the negroes254

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

at home. How their exodus had operated on their
condition and manners, and whether they looked diffe-
rent, in this their Canaan, from what they used to
look in the Egypt of New York, was a matter of some
curiosity to me. We might be the greater part of a
forenoon, disembarking freight, &c. &c., and a ramble
in the most important town of the isle under the
"coloured" administration of the Emperor Faustin the
First, was a novelty worth shouldering for at a gang-
way. I put on my go-ashore clothes, and, mingling
with the crowd of passengers on the freight-deck,
watched with great interest the gradual nearing of
the shore.

This going steadily westward, by the way, and
arriving at island after island regularly at the hour
expected, gives one a kind of almanac feeling—a pain-
ful sense of matter-of-course-nesa—at which the
spirit rebels, under the wild and careless influence of
the Tropics. As we approached Jacmel, and saw its
stately mountains more and more distinctly, the
scenery was so lovely—smooth sea, delicious air, soft
sunshine and all—that I quite longed to be embarked
upon some craft less prosaically " due" at the
port we were nearing—under some unknown sail,
with a capricious wind—a passenger with a Columbus,
in short, rather than in a steamer from the docks
of London. The approach to Hayti had been very
beautiful from the distance. It was a soft AprilHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

255

morning, and the clouds, which had lain low, and
shown only the mountain-tops, gradually lifted as we
neared the harbour of Jacmel, and disclosed the town
as if by the lifting of a stage curtain. With Irving's
honey-dropping description of Columbus's first ap-
proach to this island, nearly four centuries ago,
clinging to one's memory, it was droll to see the
freight that was going ashore—(millinery from Paris
taking up more room than anything else)—and it
was difficult to anticipate, with the romantic sweet-
ness of the air and the beauty of the lofty mountain
sides around us, anything but the scenes of the
savage Paradise as first discovered.* To facts, how-
ever :—

I had not been sufficiently on the alert to secure a

* It may serve as an effective relievo to my picture of Hayti,
now passing from the white man to the black, to quote a
passage or two descriptive of it when passing from the red man
to the white. Irving says ;—

" In the transparent atmosphere of the tropics objects are
descried at a great distance, and the purity of the air and
serenity of the deep blue sky give a magical charm to scenery.
Under these advantages, the beautiful island of Hayti revealed
itself to the eye as they approached. Its mountains were
higher and more rocky than those of the other islands, but the
rocks rose from among rich forests. The mountains swept
down into luxuriant plains and green savannas, while the
appearance of cultivated fields, with the numerous fires at night
and the columns of smoke which rose in various parts by day,
all showed it to be populous. It rose before them in all256

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

passage in the barge of tlie epauletted mail officer,
and my only chance of getting ashore was to jump

the splendour of tropical vegetation, one of the most beautiful
islands in the world, and doomed to be one of the most
unfortunate,

- " On the evening of the 6th of December (1492) Columbus
entered a harbour at the western end of the island. * * *
After various ineffectual attempts to obtain a communication
with the natives, three sailors succeeded in overtaking a young
and handsome female, who was flying from them, and brought
their wild beauty in triumph to the ships. She was treated
with the greatest kindness, and dismissed finely clothed, and
loaded with presents of beads, hawks' bells, and other baubles.
Confident of the favourable impression her account of her
treatment and the sight of her presents must produce, Columbus
on the following day sent nine men, well armed, to seek her
village, accompanied by a native of Cuba as an interpreter.
The village was situated in a fine valley on the banks of a
beautiful river, and contained about a thousand houses. Th
natives fled at first, but being reassured by the interpreter,
they came back, to the number of two thousand, and ap-
proached the Spaniards with awe and trembling, often pausing
and putting their hands upon their heads in token of reverence
and submission.

" The female, also, who had been entertained on board of the
ships came borne in triumph on the shoulders of some of her
countrymen, followed by a multitude, and preceded by her
husband, who was full of ^gratitude for the kindness with which
she had been treated. Having recovered from their fears, the
natives conducted the Spaniards to their houses, and set before
them cassava bread, fish, roots, and fruits of various kinds ;
offering them freely whatever they possessed—for a frank
hospitality reigned throughout the island, where, as yet, the
passion of avarice was unknown. * * *HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

257

in among the bales of freight in the larger boat, and
be delivered at the Cnstom House after a slower pull.
A fort of mud on the right, and a grove of coeoa-trees
on the left, were the two embracing arms which re-
ceived us as we approached, and a single wharf of
rough planks, supported on posts which had rotted
and let it partly drop into the water, seemed to con-
stitute its only pretensions as a port for commerce.

The morning at Jacmel, next week.

" The natives believed that their island of Hayti was the
earliest part of creation, and that the sun and the moon issued
out of one of its caverns to give light to the universe. They
ascribe to another cavern the origin of the human race, be-
lieving that the large men issued forth from a great aperture,
but the little men from a little cranny. For a long time they
dared venture from the cavern only in the night, for the sight
of the sun was fatal to them, producing wonderful transforma-
tions. One of their number having lingered on a rivet's bank,
where he was fishing, until the sun had risen, was turned into
a bird of melodious note, which yearly, about the time of his
transformation, is heard singing plaintively in the night, be-
wailing his misfortune.

"When the human race at length emerged from the cave,
they for some time wandered about disconsolately without
females, until, coming near a small lake, they beheld certain
animals among the branches of the trees, which proved to be
women. On attempting to catch them, however, they were
found to be as slippery as eels; so that it was impossible to
hold them until they employed certain men whose hands had
been rendered rough by a kind of leprosy. These succeeded
in securing four of them; and from these slippery females the
world was peopled." * * *LETTER XXVIII.

HAYTI, AND THE CORONATION OF ITS EMPEROR.

The foremost inhabitant of Hayti to welcome our
boat's approach was a negro clad in a suit of black—
the suit he was born in—standing erect, shiny and
unconscious, on the end of the pier. He seemed
quite independent of our observation, and was taking
his morning swim. The water side of the harbour
was a beach, with the exception of the tumbling-down
wooden wharf towards which we were heading; and
a few stranded boats, some dead animals of various
kinds, and prodigious heaps of rubbish, formed the
seaboard line of the city of Jacmel. All I could see in
the way of buildings looked to me like the weather-
beaten booths of some long-deserted fair. There
was nothing that could elsewhere be called a house
—nothing that had ever been clapboarded, painted,
or fenced in,—little to indicate that this was the
principal port and town of the " Queen of the An -
tilles," an island as large as Ireland, and whose Em-
peror, Soulouque, was to be crowned on the following
Sunday. Our anticipations had been a little over-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

259

coloured, perhaps, from the description which one of
the passengers had given of the coronation boots of
His future Majesty. He had seen them in New York,
where they were made. The cost was three hundred
dollars, and described them as sumptuously embroi-
dered with gold, and hung with jewels in the tassals.

We climbed up the broken timbers of the half-
fallen wharf with some difficulty, and were immedi-
ately surrounded and addressed very volubly in French,
by the most ragged rabble I had ever yet fallen
among. I was inclined to think at first that it was
some pantomimic festival, and that the universal rags
and strangely confused costumes were but the fun of
the day. There was a sentinel on duty at the end of
the pier, and a shanty near by, which seemed to
serve as a guard-house, with a dozen soldiers around
the door. These military negroes were even need-
lessly tattered and ragged. No two of them were
armed or dressed alike. It looked as if it might be a
frolic masquerade, got up with the discarded ward-
robes of a company of itinerant players—an infantry
cap, that might have been used for a fire-bncket, on
one head; a hussar cap that may have served for
years as an ash-pan, on another; one a full dressed
grenadier down to his chin, and the rest of him a
complete raggamuffin; the fourth in a general's epau-
lettes, but barefooted; this one with only a bayonet
stuck through his trousers pocket, that one with a260	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS,

shabby old court sword, the next with a rusty mus-
ket—the whole apparelling and equipment a caricature
of cast-off finery and uniform. I was prepared to laugh
at them for civility's sake. It was scarcely possible
that they did not expect it. But the savage fierceness
with which they surveyed us from head to foot for-
tunately kept me grave; and a mulatto, to whose
politeness I was afterwards indebted, informed me
that it would have been a dangerous blunder. The
whites are only tolerated there, he earnestly assured
me, and as my skin was of the objectionable colour,
I inferred from his friendly caution that I had best
know my place and be civil.

The access from the wharf to the main street of
the town was between the rear corners of two build-
ings set askew—all the houses of the place, indeed,
conveying the impression that they had been lifted
by a flood and dropped again, pell mell, with confused
fronts and angles—and, passing through this opening,
we entered upon an irregular avenue of shabby shops.
These were structures of rough boards, one story high,
the single window consisting of a wooden shutter
hung on a hinge, and displaying the goods within by
being raised and hooked to a sort of shed-roof in
front. The shop-keeping seemed to be the employ-
ment of the women only, and a very full-dressed and
self-possessed class they seemed to be. A pair of
bare shoulders, a very gay coloured turban, a necklaceHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

261

and earrings, and something like a fall ball dress,
waited for the customer at every door. She sat in a
chair, with all her gay goods hanging around her, and
two or more naked children played in the dirt at her
feet; but there was none of the surly gravity of the
male inhabitants in this other gender of citizens.
Desirous of purchasing some memento of the place,
in the way of an article manufactured there, I went
into shop after shop, ransacking their various assort-
ments of things for sale, and endeavouring in vain to
find something Haytian. There were only the
brighter coloured portions of London Oxford Street,
or of the New York Bowery. The showy dames were
all smiles and accommodation, however, every one with
manners which would be called frolicsome elsewhere,
and whether because their answers were in French,
I cannot say, but it seemed to me that they were all
unusually witty and ready. After taxing for some
time the patience of one of them, a plump dame of
twenty or twenty-five in a green gauze dresS and
yellow turban, I asked, with some impatience, what
on earth they did make in that island. Her reply
was instant, and expressed with a look of mischievous
archness of which I should have well liked a daguer-
reotype, by way of the memento I was seeking: —
" Rieri que les enfans, Monsieur! En voulez vous ?33
With my chance companion, (an English passenger
who had come ashore with me in the freight-boat,) I262

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

strolled through, all that we could find in the way of
streets, the other principal one leading up rather a
precipitous hill. Both had the traces of being ra-
vaged at times by powerful torrents. Large and
loose stones lay in the centre, and the lower street,
which was more closely populated, seemed built on
the two banks of a common sewer, so filthy as well
as rough was its whole extent. We saw no marks of
wheels. Probably there is no vehicle on the island.
Ten or twelve black horsemen passed us—country
gentlemen, we were told, who had come in for their
letters by the steamer. Their shabby rags were
partly covered by leather leggins, and they had long
spurs and pistols in their belts and holsters. No man
rides safely in the island, they say, unless armed to
the teeth. Broad-brimmed straw hats and all, how-
ever, these horsemen were not unpicturesque objects.

The inhabitant with whom we had the most con-
versation was a female hen merchant, whose impor-
tunity might have been partly curiosity, but it ex-
ceeded even that of a Yankee pedlar. With her
basket on her head, and her chickens trying appa-
rently to talk her down, she followed us from shop to
shop, giving us a torrent of French persuasion
between every two doors, till she brought us to a
regular parley. Why we wanted no chickens was to
be distinctly stated. It was not reasonable that she
should have nothing to sell us. " But what wouldhealth trip to the tropics.

263

you take for yourself ?" asked my companion,
rather impertinently. "Pour combien de temps,
Monsieur ? " was her ready and mischievous reply.

Having come on shore without my breakfast, and
feeling the want of " summat," I selected the most
amiable-faced coloured gentleman I could see in the
street, and enquired my way to an eating-house. He
was a young man very wqII dressed, and seemed
promenading at his leisure. Taking his cigar from
his mouth with very deliberate grace and self-posses-
sion, he said there was no hotel nor eating-house in
the place—but if we would honour him so far, his
breakfast should be nearly ready at his lodgings, at
that hour, and we should be most welcome to share
it. This prompt and frank invitation was given with
a grave and courtly politeness that I thought quite a
model of good taste, and nothing but our limited time
prevented my accepting it, with quite his own freedom
from prejudice as to difference of colour. My two
or three hours of conversance with the coloured-
ocracy of the island had somehow insensibly given a
sort of level to my notions on the subject of com-
plexion. That I should have any hesitation in return-
ing the compliment of the polite Haytian, and in-
viting him to breakfast in New York, were he to
meet me there, seemed, at the time, a very improbable
illiberality.

Our friend had directed us to a shop where he264

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

thought we might get a banana and a bottle of claret,
on our way to the water side. We climbed up three
or four crazy steps, and made our entrance into the
dingy front apartment of the one-story house he had
indicated—a shop lighted by the small swung up
window-shutter, and something like a narrow wine-
closet in its accommodations. On the floor, however,
were two very interesting objects—a baby quite white,
and a baby quite black. I mention them for the
sake of recording a new experience. Taking up the
two children, I was immediately struck with the
difference in the feel of their skins. It had never
happened to me before to pass my hand over a live
negro surface, and, to my surprise, the black child
felt like quite a different fabric from the white one.
It was like a warm bundle of uncut velvet, singularly
rich and agreeable to the touch. Could it have been
peculiar to that one tropical child, or is it the feel of
the race, common to them in all climatcs ? I ask it
as a question in natural history.

A look into the back room of our wine-dealer's
premises showed that there was French taste pre-
valent in the island as well as the French language.
It was a large, roughly-boarded apartment, with rude
rafters overhead, and no sign of any attempt beyond
mere shelter from the weather; yet the three beds in
three of the corners would have looked tempting
even in a Parisian hotel—the sheets snowy white, theHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	265

ample pillows edged with lace, and the coverlids of
the best quality. The woman who officiated as vender
of liquors was polite, but not talkative. She uncorked
our bottle of claret, and pointed out a heap of pine-
apples in a dark corner; but it was evidently against
the custom of the house to have wine drunk on the
premises, and she obliged us reluctantly with tum-
blers and room to stand. While we were enjoying
the delicious fruit, and the wine, (which seemed to me
the best claret I had ever tasted) a mulatto came in
who had been a slave,' and was brought up in Charles-
ton, South Carolina. He spoke the first English we
had heard on the island. By his account, the coro-
nation of Soulouque, which was to have taken place
on the following Sunday, was deferred, by the dis-
affection of some of the more important personages
of the capital, and the Governor of Jacmel particu-
larly was opposed to the would-be Emperor, and had
gone to Port au Prince to prevent the ceremony.
The mulattoes were the opposing party, and they
were strongest hereabouts. In the other cities of the
island, the undiluted black-blood was in the majority,
and Soulouque had sworn the extinction or ultimate
expulsion of every shade of white. To be the ebon
Emperor of a realm all negro, is his ambition and
resolve. With a circumference of a thousand miles,
850,000 inhabitants, scenery, soil, and productions
unsurpassed, an Eden of a climate, and ports that are

N266

health trip to the tropics.

on the world's most frequented highway, this coming
Cuffedom may yet be an important power.

While loitering, as we thought rather venture-
somely, over our fruit and wine, we hailed the cock-
swain of our boat, passing the door, and found we
had still an hour of waiting for the mail. They take
it leisurely, in these seas—I was everywhere happy to
discover; Her Majesty's steamers seldom making
more than five miles in the hour, and the stoppages
at ports being more ruled by Southern luxuriousness
than Northern expeditiousness. I did not complain,
even of the five days, beyond her time, which this
steamer had kept us waiting for her at St. Thomas.
Hurry seems no more natural to that latitude than
ice.

The one wharf was now crowded with the gentle-
men of Jacmel, assembled to see the departure of the
packet. Two very elegant young mulattoes were the
only exceptions to the universal raggedness and
shabbiness, and these, two youths, I was told, were
the sons of the wealthiest merchant in the place, and
had been educated in Paris—just returned. They
looked anything but amused or at home. I endea-
voured to stroll about on the wharf, and look on,
ud observed; but I found that every man whom I
looked at without addressing, seemed to resent it as
an impertinence, and my friend, the Carolina mulatto,
came up and cautioned me against being too obviouslyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

267

observant. He said that there was an impatience of
the eye of the white man, as it was generally sup-
posed to be seeking something to ridicule or dis-
parage. I spoke to several, however, and invariably
received most kind and courteous answers.

As we were about climbing down the broken rafters
into the boat, a jet-black, half naked Hercules seized
me by the arm, and pointed to a sack of pine-apples
which I had stopped to look at on first landing.
Glad to secure the delicious fruit, I offered him the
money he had first asked, but he now wanted twice
as much, for the time which he said I had kept him
waiting. His affected fury and violent gestures at
my turning quietly away, drew a crowd immediately
around us, and, as there was some delay in bringing
round the boat, he had me quite at his mercy. I
really expected, part of the time, to be knocked head
foremost into the water. In broken English he swore
he was " proud man, tooand " big man," and
" wasn't going to be kept waiting," and " white
rascal damn mean," &c. &c. But persisting in
laughing at his claim as a joke, I finally took the
first step to embark, and then turned and offered him
once more the original silver. The black faces of our
audience expressed clearly a preference for*my side in
the dispute, and the naked-legged giant gave in. The
tow-cloth bag, with its twenty pines, was tossed into
the boat with a sulky look of defiance, his dirty fist268

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS

took the money instead of fulfilliiig his threats of
knocking me overboard, and so ended my intercourse
with the inhabitants of the " Queen of the Antilles."

We were soon under way, gliding smoothly over
the loveliest of seas, with leaf-burthened mountains
looking down temptingly upon us, and I stayed on
deck till we lost the delicious fragrance from the
shore, and could no longer distinguish the graceful
curvings of bay and promontory. It is an Eden to
see and inhale the breath of this fair isle—though the
new Adam and Eve be of colour least prayed for in
our " Paradise Regained." I shall look to its coming
history with no little interest.LETTER XXIX.

HAVANA, &c.

The Military Mass calls people very early out of their
beds oil Sunday mornings at Havana—early, that is
to say, considering breakfast and the holiday toilette
to be achieved before starting. So magnificently
elaborate, indeed, are the full-ball dresses which alight
at the church door, and so ready for conquest look
those unbonneted and bare-shouldered worshippers,
that the service seems less the beginning of a day
than a sort of doxology after a ball. There are no
pews on the church floor; the ladies' heads are dressed
with flowers and jewels, and the gentlemen are in
white cravats and body coats; and the assembling of
the audience with these rather festal costumes and
surroundings has no very devout aspect for a stranger.

I was abroad a little before the hour, on the first
Sunday that I was in Havana, and, not knowing
Spanish enough to inquire my way, I picked out a
gentleman who had a cigar stuck behind his ear like
a clerk's pen, and who was quite too newly equipped
in other respects not to be going from home, and to270	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the fashionable resort, and followed him as my best
probable guide. The conjecture proved a true one.
His pace, tropical and leisurely, brought us duly to
the church door—giving me time, on the way, to
look at him and his acquaintances, and to make an
observation as to the build and style of Cuban gentle-
men.

Owing, it is said, to early initiation, as children,
into the unbridled license of plantation life, to exces-
sive smoking, and to intermarriage of the same race
through many generations—to these causes more than
to climate—the Cuban gentlemen are the most
miniature aristocracy in the world. There seems
hardly an exception. They are so universally small,
that a promenade in Havana is like taking a walk in
Liliput—or so it strikes you if you come suddenly
upon an Englishman or an American of the ordinary
size, and are thus reminded of the contrast. At the
same time there is a curious freedom from pettiese
in the movements and manners of these little gentle-
men—an apparently entire absence of any conscious-
ness of being smaller than other people. They feel
large; and they walk, sit, bow and gesticulate, like
large men seen through an inverted opera-glass. It
would appear as if Spanish dignity and courtliness of
mien could not die out, nor lessen with the other
diminutions of the blood. I recollect being struck
with it in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland—HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	271

peopled centuries ago by a colony from Spain—where
not only the architecture is still Spanish, and very
unlike the rest of Ireland, but where the dark eyes
and hair, crossed with the red cheeks and large stature
of another race, are even less expressive of their origin
than this same deliberateness of movement and general
dignity of style and demeanour. We are to see, pro-
bably, whether it will stand the infusion of the blood
which of all on earth is most unlike it—the restless,
hurried, scrambling, undignifiedly successful Yankee,
and I hope Cuba will not be o^r-fillibustered, but
will remain so far Spanish for the next fifty years, as
to give a fair chance to the experiment.

As to the apparent character in the physiognomy
of these pocket edition copies of the old quarto
chivalry, there seems to be little or no variety. They
all look torpidly indolent, passion-seated and cold, at
the same time that their features are very finely cut,
and the expression is that of mingled pride, courtesy,
and refinement. Superciliousness comes very easy
to them, and I have noticed some marked instances
of it whenever the turned-down shirt collar (con-
sidered to be the invariable indication of a Yankee)
appeared on a public promenade. Whatever republican
love there may be for us among the Creoles in other
parts of the island, there is no trace of it to be found
in the scornful sallow lip of the Havanese gentlemen
recognising an American. A coffee-house in the272

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

suburb, the walls of which are painted with fresco
caricatures of us, gives a key to the feeling most pre-
valent in the metropolis.

But—to the military mass:—

I had followed my unconscious guide to an excellent
standing-place near the altar, and we observed, to
great advantage, the coming in of the gay dames who
formed the centre of the audience. Each one was
preceded by the postilion of her volante, who laid
down her kneeling-carpet on the marble-floor, and a
black servant-maid followed with a low chair and a
missal. Never were ladies more becomingly placed.
Everything around contributed to the effect of those
tranquil dark eyes and unlustrous ivory of those plump
shoulders—for plump is every woman in Cuba, I
believe, as certainly as every gentleman is thin. The
central floor of the church, thus occupied, formed
altogether a beautiful picture. It was like a gorgeous
design by Turner's delicious pencil. It was an
artistic addition to the effect, by the way, though
probably not to the pleasure of the dames of quality,
that beggar-women came in and knelt upon the bits
of bare floor between the corners of the rich carpets
—a promiscuousness such as we are promised in
Heaven, of course, but bringing praying rags and
praying jewels into closer contact than I had ever
before seen in this world of sinful assortment. I
declare that a lump quite rose in my throat at theHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

273

poetry there was in it. I gave the Catholic religion
a white mark for worship in which it might occur.
Beggars are spoken equalizing to, by other sects ; but,
as to their approaching where they touch elbows with
richer sinners while they pray, there would probably
be many a Protestant objection—pew-door vet at to
begin with, at least.

There was an introduction to the after music, by
the way, which sounded curiously to my ear—the
trailing over the marble floor of the enormous spurs
of the negro postilions. Bringing in and unrolling
their mistresses' carpets, they next made for the font
of holy water on the other side of the church, dipped
their fingers and re-crossed to the street door—a
double traverse to which their shovel-arid-tongs-sized
persuaders made a most clamorous accompaniment.
So, perhaps, sounded the spurs of knights on the
floors of castles of old—though I doubt if ever knight
wore so much metal in sword, buckler and dagger,
all complete, as forms the spur of one of these Jehus.
The jack-boot to which it is affixed is proportionately
monstrous, reaching to the hips, and serving a secon-
dary purpose in this drowsy climate—the negro, as he
sits on the doorstep, waiting for his master, resting
his head on the stiff boot-fronts high before him, and
sleeping as comfortably as on the front of a pew.
The dress throughout is equally clumsy and osten-
tatious. The jacket is one mass of silver lace, the
n 2274

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TtlOPlCS.

waistcoat elaborately embroidered, and the liat bound
with silver. And I was told, that, to have a volante,
with a postilion thus equipped, was considered, in
Havana, indispensable to any respectable condition of
life ; the barber's wife and the shoemaker's as certain
to have one as the millionaire. A city so full of
dashing equipages I am quite sure is not to be found
in the world. It gives a wonderful gaiety to Havana.
At the promenade hour, every common day, in that
comparatively small capital, seems like a festa in some
grand metropolis.

I will extend this digression to explain that a
" volante " is a far more ostentatious vehicle than the
private carriage of any other country. The lady riding
in it is as much seen as in her easy-chair at home—
always bare-headed, usually bare-shouldered, and
with her jewels upon her neck and wrists, her fan
spread, and her face undisguisedly made up to be
admired. The body of the volante is that of the old-
fashioned chaise, with one seat, carrying properly but
two persons. The shafts are so long, and the horse
with the postilion astride of him is so far ahead, that
it is commonly explained as a precaution against a
man's losing both horse and carriage by the same
earthquake. It is made to look less graceful, as to
outline, by a law of Havana, which forbids any horse
to be abroad without his tail tied to the saddle; the
most showy animal, therefore, having this flowingHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

275

appendage braided and tightly drawn around and
fastened to his side. (The object of the law, I believe,
is to secure the passenger, in those narrow streets,
from being spattered by the whisking of the numerous
tails in muddy weather; but it is cruel in fly-time,
besides giving the spirited creature a most amputated
and inelegant appearance.) Ill contrived as this
enormously long vehicle would seem, however, for
mechanical economy of draught, it is the easiest and
most luxurious conveyance in the world, as well as
the best fitted for display in a public promenade.
The Cuban ladies will be slow to give up the volante
for any carriage that may be introduced by the in-
vading Yankee.

I should add a curious fact to this mention of the
volante. It and its horse do not keep the same
society. At the end of the drive, the horse goes to
the stable—but the vehicle to the front parlour ! It
is literally an article of drawing-room furniture.
With a neat stand to hold up the shafts, it occupies
one side of the reception-room in which sits the lady
of the house, and its presence there is evidently
thought creditable to the pride and style of the
family. It is partly owing, perhaps, to the fact that
the houses in this climate are built with a large court,
the centre of which is open to the sky; but the
family portraits hang on the walls around this half-
roofed apartment, and it is the inhabited portion of276	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the house—the place where company is received, and
where stands the work-table and piano, cradle and
flower-stand. And this blending of parlour and car-
riage-house seems the more surprising to the stranger,
when he looks in from the street, (every house being
open to the observation of the passer-by,) and sees
the pompous ceremony with which the white-gloved
and body-coated visitor is received by the lady sitting
alongside of her vehicle. In point of fact it is a sort
of coat-of-arms upon wheels—an escutcheon to which
a horse may be harnessed for the owner to take a
drive !

Yours, &c.LETTER XXX.

CONTINUATION OF DESCRIPTION OF MILITARY
MASS, &c.

The close crowded. congregation of beauties and
female beggars, in the centre of the church, were on
their knees with their prayer-books,—(the men
lounging about the side aisles as if their sins were
included in those of the women, and one sex did the
praying for both,)—when the military band was heard
approaching, and, with a lively quick-step, they pre-
sently made their entrance over the threshold. The
sound of the time-keeping feet, and the sonorous
reverberation of the drums from the lofty roof, were
startling interruptions to the silent service that had
been for some time going on, and it was more like an
invasion than an act of reverence to see six tall
pioneers draw their axe-falchions, surround a priest
in a long white robe, and march him to the front of
the altar. They were to officiate as his body-guard,
apparently. The pioneer cap is a particularly irre-
verent looking one, however; and, as they wore it278	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

cocked jauntily on one side, while the shaven skull of
the priest was bare in their midst, the " god of war "
seemed to have rather the upper hand.

The troops were arranged along the sides of the
church, with the officers standing behind the kneel-
ing congregation of dames in the centre, when at a
sudden tap of the drum the soldiers dropped on one
knee, and the band commenced playing an air from
the fashionable Opera of " La Favorita." Between
the bars of the profane but sweet music, the voice of
the priest, reciting the mass at the altar, could be
heard; and with his open book before him he alter-
nately read and knelt, and the little boys in white
robes swung the smoking censers, and the tall candles
burned, and the worship went visibly on. But the
music of the band seemed an entirely separate affair.
It was theatre and church contesting the occupancy
of the place. Airs from different Operas followed
each other, the drum alone recognising the religious
service by a loud tap from the kneeling drummer
whenever the priest knelt or rose. The soldiers in
the ranks accompanied him in his droppings and
risings, and I noticed that their lips moved in appa-
rently devout prayer when prostrate; but the officers
preserved the erect position, and their handsome
moustaches made no stir for or emus or paternoster.
These officers were small but very distinguished look-
ing men, by the way. The orders upon the breasts ofHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

279

their uniforms showed them to be noblemen; and
this corps, the Artillery, is the most distinguished
one in the Cuban army. In their regular and
decided features, and graceful military postures, there
was a completeness of the soldier-like air, and some-
thing unequivocally chiyalric over all. Of the reso-
lute peppering from the cannon of these caballeros,
the Filibusters may make sure.

In the wickedest of Operas, " Lucrezia Borgia/'
occurs the most delicious passage (I have sometimes
thought) in all music,—Orsini's story told to his
unknown mother, and I could wish this transferred
to sacred words and use, with a law against its ever
serving in profane amusement again. Its pathos and
appealing tenderness are, it seems to me, the articu-
late embodiment of a confession and a prayer. Heard
in that dim church, with lights upon the altar and a
congregation kneeling around, it stirred one's tears
spite of the surroundings otherwise undevout. Bene-
dette, whose moving and refined voice used to breathe
it so touchingly at our Opera, was educated, they say,
for a monk; and I would go far to hear him sing it
apparelled in cord and sacred stole.

But never in theatre or ball-room was heard livelier
music than followed close upon this—the "divine
service " of the morning proceeding with a rapid suc-
cession of redowas and polkas, waltzes and mazurkas,
while the audience still knelt and the priest still280

HEATLH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

prayed! The vaulted dome and dim old arches
answered back to these dancing jigs with all the
alacrity of upper tiers and ball-room ceilings, however,
though I must confess to an instinctive impulse to
escape before the roof should fall in—sinners that we
were even to listen to such music in such a place!
It was really too profane, too contrary to the proper
spirit of the spot, if it were for artistic effect and
propriety alone, leaving higher standards out of the
question, and its formal repetition every Sunday, and
the fashionable attendance, show the established reli-
gion of the island to be reduced to a level with its
gaieties. And this I have since heard more than
accounted for, in the characters given to the Cuban
priesthood by intelligent residents. They describe
them as most licentiously and openly corrupt, and
entirely without respect or consideration as a class in
the community.

To " see the people come out of church," is, any-
where, something of a show, but the pouring out and
dispersion of the audience at the close of the " Mili-
tary Mass " at Havana is a lively spectacle indeed.
Just before the drum struck up the quick-step for the
exit of the troops, (by the way,) I had been startled
by a novelty of sound, in the deliberate striking of
the church clock in-doors—the rafted roof being open
up to the belfry, and the nine thundering strokes
pealing down upon the aisles and area below, withHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

281

plunges of reverberating echoes that were like a
cataract of time departing. There is a waltz, by
Wallace, which stops suddenly for the clock to strike
twelve; but I think a vesper voluntary might be
composed, to be played in this dim old Spanish
church, in the departing twilight, where the interrup-
tion of the belfry clock's ponderous and solemn
iteration might come in very effectively.

American ladies have a new experience in Havana,
an instance of which I saw giving some annoyance as
the gay congregation were preparing to disperse. A
very lovely group of the invalid pilgrims who come
with every winter to this latitude, stood in the front
line of the side aisle, waiting for the crowd to pass,
when two or three of the little elegantly-dressed
duodecimo Spaniards walked around, and, planting
themselves in front, looked deliberately into their
bonnets, as you would look into the open pane of a
post-office window. The ladies at first raised their
hands to their faces, or turned an inquiring look to
their companions, evidently thinking the gentleman
may have seen a wasp or tarantula—lip or cheek in
danger, to call for such close investigation; but, as
the stare continued, they turned their backs with
evident surprise and displeasure. They were not
aware, that, by the custom of the country, they were
receiving a polite tribute of admiration. The Spanish282

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

lady goes home very discontented, from promenade
or public resort, if she was not walked vp to and
looked at. The windows of their houses are like
halves of bird-cages thrust out from the wall, and, as
they sit out in the street, with only an iron grating
between them and the passer-by, they feel slighted if
he does not slacken his pace and gaze deliberately
into the dark eyes open to him. It is an innocent
admission of what beauty is supposed to be made for,
and why jewels are worn, and hair braided—to be
seen. And this custom, I think, partly gives the
key to what strikes the stranger as a peculiarity in
the physiognomy of this people. There is no dodge
in the Spanish eye. In man or woman, it comes
round to you as fair and square as the side of a
decanter—fearless and unwinking as an open ink-
stand. It has nothing to conceal or avoid. It can
receive no offence from another's look—it can give
none by its own. This seems to me a very great
beauty. I am sorry for the twenty reasons why it
cannot be a peculiarity of a " fast" country like ours,
with its exciting rivalries, and highly civilized im-
provements upon Nature. The rarest thing in New
York is a calm, trusting, open and unsuspicious eye.

But the after-church scene ! A dashing regiment,
with bright feathers and glittering arms marching with
lively military music out of one sacred door—andHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

283

scores of brilliant equipages, with prancing horses
half buried in gold and silver, and footmen and
jockeys bedizened all over with gaudy colours,
glittering lace and bright metal, drawn up at the
threshold of another—the ladies, as they emerged
from the dim light of the interior, coming bare-
shouldered, bare-headed, and full-dressed into the
sunshine like the guests from a ball that had been
danced into the morning—the costly fans spreading
their pearls and diamonds between the bright light
and the multitudes of large dark trusting eyes,
loving and lambent—beggars looking happy in their
warm dirt and tatters, and romantic-mannered
Spaniards stepping so indolently and gesturing so
carelessly and gracefully, that the scene seemed all
natural and of course, and nothing forced or un-
necessarily extravagant — this scene, I say, in the
atmosphere of calm and conscious intoxication which
belongs to the climate, seemed, somehow, strangely
preferable (for once in a way) to a New England
April morning of the same date, with its East wind
and more exemplary observances. The whole cere-
mony was an abominable profanation of the Sabbath
—it were impossible not to own—but I record it and
my enjoyment of it, as one of those incidents and
influences which, in these latitudes, be-chloroform the
soul of the traveller.284.	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

One should ask pardon, perhaps, for so lengthy a
description of a single before-breakfast experience—
but the prodigal vegetation of the clime works upon
one's pronouns and adjectives as it does upon pine-
apples and pomegranates. I will be briefer as I get
North,LETTER XXXI.

DEPARTURE FROM HAVANAH—FLORIDA, &c.

[The republication here of the following explana-
tion, from the Home Journal, may, perhaps, be expla-
natory of my invalid interruptions, for the reader of
this book also.]

Hudson Highlands, Feb. 1853.

Dear Friend,

The bird with whose feather I write~(a goose, but
with an opinion of his own), seems to object to
coming North while the weather is so cold. In a
sketch half written, of my starting homeward on the
Mississippi in the latter part of May, I am stopped
by a memorandum of a fire in the cabin-stove, the
first I had seen for months—a sign of latitudes less
genial, at which my quill grows manifestly reluctant.
Shall we humour the bird, and turn South again, dear
reader, leaving Kentucky and Ohio till the reading
about them will be more seasonable ? I have a wil-
derness of more sunny memories, in pencil waiting
for ink—Martinique, to which the unwilling farewell
is unrecorded; the return voyage to St. Thomas by
Gaudaloupe and St. Vincent; the lake-like glide
Westward along the Antilles; Porto Rico and J a-286

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

maica; and Havana, a bouquet of delicious seeings and
enjoyings, from which, as yet, I have plucked but one
pencilled leaf to ink over. Shall we forget the snow
and the cold winds around us, and go back to these
warm memories of the Tropics ? Or—I have pen-
cillings of scenes nearer home, the return by Florida
and Savannah to Charleston, and the traverse across
to Mobile and New Orleans, through Georgia and
Alabama. What say ? Shall this last track of my
memoranda be first re-written ? It may breathe less
fragrantly of the voluptuous air of the Tropics, but it
will describe a healing clime more within reach, and
some invalid may sooner profit by my experience.
You agree ? A nib to this summer-loving quill, then,
and with an Adieu-sniff of the sultry April of Havana,
let us turn prow across the Gulf towards the Ever-
glades of Florida.

Delighted, if I can show you any thing to give you
pleasure, through this words-glass of mine, dear
reader,

Yours, N. P. W.

Except for some special and over-ruling reason,
probably no traveller comes away willingly from Ha-
vana. I wondered why, (as I leaned over the side of
the "Isabel," while she was weighing her anchor)
and I came to the conclusion, that half the charm,
at least, of this fascinating place, lies in the fact that,HEALH TRTP TO THE TROPICS.

287

gay as it is, life here is not too fast. They not only have
just luxuries enough, but they take just time enough
to enjoy them. In the other gay metropolises of the
world, life (in this our day) is so exhaustingly intel-
lectualized, so painfully intensified, so unnaturally ac-
cumulated and accelerated, that the " another and
better world," one sometimes longs for, would be in-
stinctively defined as one of blessed and merciful just-
enough-ness. It amounts to a wretchedness in London
that you can only be in one place at a time. The
bewildered youth comes from Paris with a census
of the women he might have loved, without having
stopped to love one. In the morning paper which a
man devours over his breakfast in New York, there
are three or four Lectures reported—new stuff enough
for a month's thinking, besides news in avalanches.
And—what with prima donnas to hear, lions to see,
artists to appreciate, public dinners to eat, parties to
go to, fortunes to make, new books to read, politics
to watch, " progress" to keep the run of, society to be
" in," and total insignificance to desperately contend
with—thepowers of attention of a common individual
are blunted to the stump—antennae, feelers and fingers,
stunned and paralysed. Materialists tell us that
human faculties have sprung into existence, one
after another, as there was a necessity for them. Is
it not time to look out for a fresh phenomenon in
New York—a man with two brains to do one souFs288	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

headwork—two hearts to do his loving—two stomachs
to do his digesting—two galls to do his envying and
hating, and two pair of hands to do his spending
and money-making ? From exhaustion by inward
over-tasking, which has really become the most
common disease of our time, Havana is a hospital of
recuperation—having (as I said before) that heavenly
just enough of life and excitement which the soul
yearns for while it rejects the solitude and inanition
of places more quiet and secluded. Most travellers
have a touch of this complaint. And it is with a de-
licious memory of the restored tone given to the
system in this way, that the last regretful look is
usually taken of the blue and red houses of Havana.

We glided out from under the guns of Castle
Moro at seven o'clock of a June-like morning of
April, and, at three o'clock of that same day, were off
the coast of Florida, making for our first landing at
Key West. It was a smooth run across the Gulf—
no one sea-sick, apparently, and the deck, with its
crowd of lady-passengers, having very much the air
of a day-boat to Albany. A Spanish family, (of some
distinction, by the moustaches that came to see them
off, and handkerchiefs waved after them at parting)
had taken a private cabin, probably in expectation
of the usual tribute to Neptune; but the plump Se-
nora, who had eaten her breakfast under Queen
Isabella, carried it safely into tranquil digestion underhealth trip to the tropics.

289

our filibustering republic, remaining bravely on deck
while the boat passed (with no perceptible jar) over
the Tropic of Cancer.

The first view of " our free country/' on
approaching it from the South, is certainly unfavour-
able. The islands off the point of Florida are sand-
banks only. Key West looks like a place where
nature " has been and gone"—a few utterly blasted
trees, (killed and stripped almost of bark by a
hurricane four years ago,) being the only sign I saw
of indigenous vegetation—an appearancelhat is made
more strange by the delicious air which one breathes
while observing it. We are so accustomed to
associate bleakness with cold, that, in the soft warmth
of tropical air, it seems unnatural. Remembering
how even bare rocks will find room and nourishment
for some growing thing in the ungenial atmosphere
of the North, it feels (in the lungs) as if roses and
lilies would grow in the air only.

We were soon moored to a frame-work of very
long-legged timbers—looking like a wharf with its
trousers rolled up, wading out to sea—and part of
the structure being a " look-out," (an arrangement
something like a scaffolding built round a steeple,) I
mounted to take a general view of this capital of
wrecker-dom. It seemed to consist pretty much of
one long street of wooden and unpainted houses
stretching across an island of intensely white sand,
o290

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

everything in the way of a building looking cheap
and temporary. The ssa all around was made dismal
by being part of such a landscape; and, to look
down upon such a town, as a vis-a-vis to the flowery
and luxurious one we had just left on the other side
of that Southern horizon, was indeed a contrast. A
stroll up to what was apparently the centre of resort
—a grocery and boarding-house with a bar-room—
did not much mend my impressions of things. Half
a dozen particularly ill-favoured looking chaps sat
smoking upSn a shanty portico, with their feet up
in chairs, half occupied with the steamboat passengers
and half with the lashing of a stout fellow to a cart.
He was a " wrecker" who had just had a stroke of
the sun, and for the tremendous strength with which
he dashed himself about in his frantic fury, the four
men who were trying to confine him, seemed,
all together, hardly a match. The scene was watched
by the spectators with evidently much more amuse-
ment than sympathy.

The population hereabouts, who are supported
entirely by wrecks, number seventeen thousand.
They are complaining just now of "a very dull
season;" but few disasters having happened lately
along the coast. Business is brightened up a little,
in such cases, by the art of persuasion, the wreckers
boarding vessels that are in safe water, and con-
vincing the captain that he is within reefs, and lostHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	291

unless lie avails himself of their better knowledge at
a very high price. It is an open trade of vilify—
as wicked a beginning for a new community as was
ever made, probably, by seventeen thousand people
in the previous history of the world. Apropos to my
need of statistics on the subject, yesterday's Tribune
(Jan. 29,) contained a letter from " Key West/* an
extract from which will perhaps refresh the reader's
knowledge of this badly-booted leg of our country:—

" Since the date of my last letter, there have been
three additional wrecks upon the Florida Reefs,
making the whole number of wrecks, since the
advent of the present year, eight—the number, size
of the vessels, and value of the cargoes, being un-
precedented upon this coast, within any previous
period of twenty days.

" The salvage upon these eight vessels will exceed
50,000 dollars, and the expenses a still larger sum,
giving an unprecedented impetus to the business of
this Island City, and impressing upon the faces of its
mixed population expressions of joy and gladness.

"We naturally associate with wrecks, high winds,
protracted storms, and terrific thunder gusts, and one
would naturally infer that these wreckers could say,
with peculiar significancy, ' It's an ill wind that blows
no one any good / but the wrecks upon this coast
more frequently occur in fair weather, the oceanic
current and eddies imperceptibly drifting the vessels292	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

off their course, and upon the shoals and reefs,
which extend from Cape Florida to the Tortugas
Keys, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles.
And another reason why these wrecks happen more
frequently in fair weather is, that many of them
are premeditated and intentional, and there is little
danger to life and property in drifting upon shoals
or reefs in fair weather: of course a dishonest
captain would designedly wreck his vessel only when
the cargo could be saved, and he could obtain his
share of the spoils by arrangements with the wreckers
and commission merchants for a division of the
salvage and commissions.

" Last year there were but twenty-two wrecks upon
this coast, and the total amount of salvage and
expenses 162,700 dollars. In 1849, they were 219,160
dollars; and during the eight years previous to the
present the aggregate amount was 1,434,584 dollars.
You will thus see that the prospects of the present
year, to the wreckers, are unusually flattering—eight
wrecks in twenty days, and the salvages and expenses
at least 100,000 dollars.

"This is known to be a dangerous coast, not
especially on account of its shoals and reefs, but
particularly on account of the oceanic currents—the
Grulf-stream. The immensely valuable exports from,
and imports to, the States of Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

293

Ohio, Missouri, Texas, and others, pass within a few
miles of these shoals and reefs, and the Government
has built light-houses, and erected a series of signals
upon the most dangerous reefs, for the protection of
this commerce. Additional light-houses are building,
and the signals and beacons increasing, although
Captain Rollins, of the steamer Isabel, has passed
along these reefs four times monthly during the last
four years, without accident.

" I stated in my last letter that a large portion of
the wrecks upon this coast was premeditated and
intentional; that, although the wrecking business was
popularly regarded as quasi piracy, yet, that a frac-
tional portion, only, of the odium was justly
chargeable to the wreckers; that the captains of
the wrecked vessels, and the wrecking merchants or
consignees, individually and collectively, were gene-
rally the guilty parties. Every captain has the
selection of the consignee of the wrecked cargo; and
every captain who frequents this coast knows that
he can sell the consignment for from 500 to 5,000
dollars, according to its value. The consignee makes
from 5000 to 10,000 dollars upon a cargo worth
100,000 dollars, giving him a large margin for
negotiating with the captain for the consignment.

" A wrecking merchant is one who has a dock
warehouse, and often a large and general assortment
of marine goods, for repairing, furnishing, and294

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

supplying vessels and their crews; and some of these
merchants are owners, in whole or in part, of nearly
all the wrecking vessels of the port. They select the
captains, and supply the vessel with provisions, &c.,
and the captains are generally furnished with ample
means and full power to negotiate with, and buy
from, the captain of every wrecked vessel he boards,
the consignment of the cargo, so that the merchant
is, generally, the largest interested in the salvage, as
owner of the wrecking-vessels,—interested in ob-
taining the largest award of salvage possible—and is,
at the same time, the consignee of the owners of
the cargo, receiving large commissions, upon the
supposition that he labours for their benefit, and
protects their interest from unjust and exorbitant
salvage and expenses. Thus you perceive how mul-
tiplied are the ramifications connected with this
wrecking business—all tending, more or less, to
cause fraudulent, collusive, and intentional wrecks—
to seduce men from the strict observance of honesty
and fair dealing in their business relations, and
resulting in making this wrecking business quasi
piracy, and its collateral branches dishonest and
fraudulent.

" For several days past the auctioneer's bell has
called the people together to attend the sales of the
damaged goods of the wrecked cargoes—dry goods
and groceries, drugs and medicines, boots andHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	295

shoes, hardware, cotton-gins, turning-lathes, planing-
machines, books, fdrniture, piano-fortes, &c. The
sales were well attended, and very many articles sold
for more than the original cost, while others at great
bargains: six cotton-gins sold for 80 dollars each,
worth about 250, I suppose; and two piano-fortes
sold for 117 and 201 dollars, worth from 200 to 250
dollars originally. They were but slightly damaged.
In a few days we shall have a large sale of damaged
cotton."LETTEE XXXII.

Tropical May Morning—Florida's Good Fortune in Names of
Places—Return of Invalid Pilgrims with Spring, and tlie
Loveliest returning too soon—Savannah River and its
Rice-fields—Pulaski House, and the Republican System
as seen in our Hotel System—Tall Stature of Southerners,
&c. &c.

The first of May, and a morning air by which a new-
born child would be sufficiently clad! What a con-
trast to New-England's May morning ! As I sat on
the deck, fanned to luxury by the speed of our swift
steamer—the sea breathless and the fragrance from
the Florida shore full of the undefinable sweetness of
the plants of the tropical wilderness—I recalled vividly,
by contrast, those " Firsts of May" which I was called
upon to believe in, in my boyhood—the rousings
before daylight to go to Dorchester Heights, and the
shivering search after never-found green leaves and
flowers. The buttoning up of boy-jacket to keep
out the cold wind, and pulling out of penknife to cut
open the bare stem of the sweet-brier in search of the
hidden odour of the belated bud, formed my youthfulHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

297

experience of that much-sung festival—contrasted
now with the same-named anniversary in a more
Southern clime. Oh, this almanac-ing for all lati-
tudes alike !

It is common enough to say " What's in a name/;
but, as we sped along in sight of the shore of Florida,
I could not but wonder whether it might not be
reasonably more stimulative to the imagination—
likelier to inspire patriotic poetry, for instance—that
the names of towns, lakes and rivers, along that vague
horizon were so musically beautiful. The Spanish
and Indian taste are alike charming in nomenclature,
and Florida has a poetical inheritance from both.
Tallahassee and Withlacoochee, Alachua and Suwanee
—Florida and Fernandina, Santa-Rosa, and Santa-Fe
—were names as easily given as Smith-ville and
Jones-ville, Cape Cod and New York; and, at least,
euphoniously and poetically preferable. It has pro-
bably occurred to most persons of taste that the
giving of names for the use of the public has been
done much too carelessly and irresponsibly in our
country—an irremediable evil that may as well
be spoken of while there are towns still unborn to
be baptized.

With the absolutely delicious air and lake-like
smoothness of the sea, the deck of the Isabel looked
more like a drawing-room reception than a voyage,
that first day of May. Yet it was mostly a troop of

o 2298	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

returning invalids—some better, some worse for the
wintering in the Tropics, but all happy in the atmos-
phere of Eden which enveloped us, and hope, probably,
sleeping in every bosom unalarmed. The centre of
attraction and interest, and certainly the most bril-
liantly gay and cheerful in the conversation of the
day—as lovely a woman, I think, as it has ever been
my lot to see—died at Charleston a few days after,
struck down by the first breath from the Northern
clime to which she was prematurely hastening. She
had been with us throughout our voyage among the
islands, manifestly gaining, and, at Havana, had made
purchases and preparations for the summer, with con-
fident expectation of recovery. Her fate is probably
that of many who are beguiled into starting home-
ward too early from the West Indies with the Tro-
pical Spring. It is so hard to remember, under such
soft and unchanging skies, how tardily and reluctantly
comes the summer of the north.

We arrived off the mouth of Savannah River at
noon of the second day of May. My companion and
I were bound to the city of Shade and Silence. The
steamer, with its delightful load of our tropical fellow-
travellers, was bound to Charleston. A small tow-
boat was in waiting for the Savannah passengers, and
we were soon speeding up the broad entrance of the
river, looking with strangers' curiosity, of course,
upon the islands and new shores around us, butHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS. * 299

watching alternately, and with far more interest, the
lessening track of the receding vessel we had left.
Few fellow travellers are endeared to each other like
the invalids who have been idlers together, waiting
for health in the sense-entrancing climate of the
tropics. If a heart were never genial before it would
be genial there. All around—people as well as trees
and flowers—seem bound up in the same spell of
enchantment, common as air, and which it has taken
no trouble to conjure or compel, but they are also
made near and dear to each other, (the pilgrims for
health at least,) by the suffering they have together
forgotten, and the golden leaf added, unexpectedly,
to life's varied book by a season looked forward to
with pain.

Savannah River is a stream of some dignity, from
the office it holds as a linfc between the two States
of Georgia and South Carolina; but, with its marshy
banks and coffee-coloured complexion, it was rather
an unattractive new acquaintance. Our impressions
were, perhaps, less agreeable from the sudden change
of the temperature with the land breeze that met us
—a drop of some eight degrees of the thermometer
in the course of an hour—and I really shivered over
my first view of rice fields, though, with their green
surfaces, embanked round for irrigation, they were
remarkable likenesses of the gooseberry pies, which
formed part of my early education, at Andover, and300

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

which are among the warmest of my recollections
of that classic academy. The price of land on which
this best quality of rice is cultivated was mentioned
to us so high as to be scarcely credible. Of the
Zodiac of remarkable Hotels strung along the ecliptic
of our country's travel, the " Pulaski House" at
Savannah is the Aries, or first " sign" after passing
the equator. The traveller, on arriving here from
the West Indies, (as we did on the evening of the
second of May,) immediately discovers that he is
no longer to be indebted for accommodation to the
indefinite " milky way" of ordinary public houses.
" Mine host" and his establishment amount to a
constellation.

And, really, nothing is more new and noteworthy,
among the stranger's first experiences of sojourn
upon American ground, than the beginning of this
Astral belt, of which the ^/or-house of New-York
was, perhaps the (properly named) first recognised
beginning. Seriously, however, the great gregarious
principle of the republic is more exemplified, and
more successfully carried out, in this than in any
other of our institutions. The individual is made
comfortable in other lands—but to accommodate the
supreme Many more luxuriously than the isolated
and subordinate Individual, was a truly American
sign of progress. Its operation extends to that
moveable Hotel—a steamboat. The "captains ofHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	301

steamboats" and the "keepers of crack Hotels" are
representatives of the popular will in this country, to
whose influence and position there is no counterpart
abroad. It is, in fact, an industrial oligarchy. For
real power and influence, who would compare a
Member of Congress with one of them ? They must
be superior men to retain the " custom" and (so
called) " patronage" which is in their constituency.
They are so. For tact, manliness, force of pur-
pose, good judgment, and regulating influence upon
each day's turnings up, they have not their betters,
as a class.

Beginning with mine host of the Pulaski, who would
cut up into quite a committee of the largest men in
Cuba, I was immediately struck with the contrast
between Havana and Savannah in the stature of the
men. A few minutes after our arrival the gong
sounded and the crowd poured from all quarters of
the house to the Sunday evening "tea," and the
sudden change in the average level of hands around
me, affected my comparative consciousness in a way
which, for a moment, I was at loss to understand. I
felt suddenly pulled under like a cork with " a bite."
It is curious how soon the general angle with which
one looks at people becomes a habit. Most of the
faces I had met for a couple of months had been seen
down a declivity of forty-five degrees. I now felt
strange at being obliged to look off at my own hori-302

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

zonta! and above it—almost every man in the house
standing six feet and over, in his stockings. The
Georgians are doubtless a tall race—walking rifles to
the little pistols of Cuba—and, with so slight a dif-
ference of latitude and longitude in the respective
soils that produce them, it would, by the way, be a
pretty study of physiology to inquire into the reasons
of the contrast.LETTER XXXIII.

Caution to Invalids—Climate of Savannah—First View of
Savannah by Moonlight—Curious Effect of City wholly
buried in trees—Bemarkable Stillness of Savannah—Con-
trast between this City's Habits and those of Havana—No
Poor People's Eesidences—Effects of Beauties of Nature
on Character, &c. &c.

I must record, far invalids, that it was cool at
Savannah—cool enough for an invalid's great coat—
on the evening of May the second. I had hoped
better things of it. An old gentleman, to whom I
sat next at the tea-table, said it was too cool for his
daughter to leave her room. He was on his way
with her to some more thermal resort in Florida, of
which I have forgotten the name. A pale lady in
blanket shawl sat opposite me. A summery and
healing association comes up usually with the mention
of Savannah, the name being descriptive of a peren-
nial feature of Southern scenery; and doubtless the
general average of its temperature deserves it. Its
caprices should be guarded against, however. It has304

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

long been the first refuge of the alarmed consumptive,
and its history, truly written, would probably be that
of a " Bridge of Sighs/' by which many had returned
to health, and as many had passed on to remediless
confirmation of disease.

The bed-room candle offered me by Prudence after
tea was outvoted by a brilliant moon out of doors—
(a " tie vote," of course, on the republican principle,
but the individual moon, to my thinking, being a
majority over the individual candle)—and I started
to get a first view of Savannah while she was probably
looking her best. It was indeed a glorious night.
And a more singular scene, than that city first seen
by moonlight, is not likely to fall often in the
traveller's way. It is laid out curiously, as the
Guide-book tells—its plan a chequer board, and
every other square a park—but the streets, besides,
being lined with trees, and avenues being planted
through the centre of the principal ones, the leaves
form a complete ceiling overhead, and no two stars
are visible at a time, I should say, from any side-walk
or thoroughfare in the entire municipality. I have
sometimes felt, in the woods, a desire to climb up
some tall tree and see out—and the same feeling
comes over one, after a while, in walking along miles
of a closely-chequered carpet of light and shade, with
a roof as closely-chequered and interminable above.
It occurred to me whether we might not leave outHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	305

the skv a little too much much, occasionally, in our
improvements and beautify ings.

Whether these overshadowing trees act on the city
like the outspread hand with which a mother says
" hush \" to her children, is open to supposition; but,
that some peculiarly quietizing influence is exereised
on the habits and character of the inhabitants must
be the stranger's invariable impression,—though he
might balance between this explanation of it, and the
town's growing considerate, even in the shutting of
doors, from its long use as a Mecca of invalids. So
still a plaae, it seemed to me, I had never been in
before. Constantinople, with no wheels in its streets,
and Venice, with its silent-gliding gondolas, are noisy
to Savannah. It is true that the deep sand of every
thoroughfare makes carts and carriages unheard, and
the profusion of leaves may so thicken the air as to
deaden the common reverberations; but there is a
stillness more deep and universal than can thus
obviously be accounted for. I was there three
Sundays—(week-days behaving themselves like Sun-
days, that is to say,)—and the hush of this first
evening, which I was inclined to attribute partly to
strict observance of the Sabbath, was, I afterwards
found, the perpetual habit of the people. In my two
hours' ramble I passed through whole streets without
meeting a soul. I scarce saw ten persons altogether,
in the two hours. Thinking the homes should be306	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

livelier, for the life not stirring abroad, I looked for
open windows and lighted rooms; but a sign, even of
a single lamp in the front apartments of houses, was
strangely rare. There was every were the shut-up
look of families absent. For long distances I saw
nothing to disturb the idea forcibly suggested by the
excessive foliage and the loneliness and stillness—
that it was a silent city, deserted but undecayed,
which the growth of a luxuriant wilderness had over-
taken and buried.

It is curious that it should be but ".across a ferry,"
as it were from Havana, the most ow£-doorft-y city in
the world, to Savannah, the most m-doors-y. It
cannot be altogether a matter of principle, though
Savannah is said to be the most religious of towns,
and Havana—(where I heard the military band play
polkas as part of the Sabbath service)—is perhaps as
peculiarly irreligious. Nor can it be altogether a
peculiarity of race—though the Havanese would Seem
to play the sun-fish as naturally as the Savanese play
the oyster. There is a fashion—which is a part of
the character of a town differing in different places
to a degree which is not easily explainable—in the
amount of appearing abroad, ("gadding," as the
strait-laced call it,) which is respectable and proper.
The subject might profitably be lectured upon. In-
estimable as the fireside virtues are, domestic bliss
requires a certain amount of airing, " in the best-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

307

regulated families," and the natural desire "to see
and be seen " has its use in the composition of human
society.

With twenty thousand inhabitants, Savannah ap-
pears to have no poor people. In various rambles,
during the few days of my stay there, I could find
no quarter of the city where there were any but com-
fortable dwellings—more than comfortable, indeed, for
the poorest inhabitant has an avenue of shade-trees
before his door, and must see an open square from
his window. The luxuries of park culture, which the
noblemen of England spend fortunes in maintaining
around their dwellings, are here at the humblest
man's threshold, free of cost. No child can grow up
in Savannah without nature for a nurse—beautiful
trees for the infant waking-dream to build its nest in
—velvet grass, clover and buttercups, to make the
world seem like a playground, and the commonest
highway a path of flowers. Does any one think that
character is not affected by such influence—that hope
and imagination, confidence and cheerful habit of
temper, (to say nothing of health,) are not nurtured
by such surroundings in childhood? They make
impressions too vivid and too universal not to have
been intended by an all-wise Providence as a blessing
to improve. Schools should be where there are trees,
streams, mountains—teachers for the play hours as
well. If I may strengthen my remark by recalling308

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

what made ail impression on myself, I have forgotten
every circumstance of a year or two that I was at
school at Concord, New Hampshire, when a boy,
except the natural scenery of the place. The faces of
my teacher and my playmates have long ago faded
from my memory, while I remember the rocks and
eddies of the Merrimac, the forms of the trees on the
meadow opposite the town, and every bend of the
river's current. Whether Governor Oglethorpe, in
laying out the city of Savannah, thought of more
than the health and luxury in parks and shade-trees,
it is too late, perhaps, to inquire; but, to his beauti-
fully rural plan, and energy of forecast in the com-
pletion of it, the inhabitants are indebted, I believe,
for a perpetual teaching of moral beauty, no less
than for a sanitary luxury.LETTER XXXIV.

Want of Broadway in Savannah—Query as to Shopping and
its attendant Uses—The Unfurnished Apartments of this
World — Curious Second-hand Machinery on Eoof of
Public Building—Seeing Twelve o'Clock Struck—Savan-
nah Cemetery strangely peculiar and beautiful, &c. &c.

Savannah has the peculiarity of being remarkably
" retired" all over. It has no one thoroughfare that
is particularly frequented-—no " dress" street, so to
speak, devoted to shopping, driving, and lounging—
no avenue which should perform for it the vertebral
function of a Broadway. At every second corner—
walk which way you will—you come to an open
square; and it was probably from this peculiarity of
the city plan that no one length of street was, at
first, devoted to shops—a peculiarity that would have
been corrected in the subsequent growth of the city,
perhaps, but for the tortoise-like repugnance to putting
the head out of doors, which seems to be universal
to its inhabitants. There are very handsome shops
scattered here and there, but, for the three or four310

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

days that I was rambling about, at all hours, I saw
no one " shopping/' no sign of anybody lounging or
walking for pleasure, no preference shown by any
two people for the same promenade. This seemed to
me singular. In every other large city that I have
seen, there is a popular shopping-street, which is not
altogether a matter of " dry goods." It appears to
be a common want—to common minds at least—all
over the world, except at Savannah—to go out and
be promiscuous once a day; and indeed, so often do
superior minds find it relaxing to take the air where
they can unobservedly dilute the individual, that a
fashionable promenade may be set down as one of
the general human necessities. How the commercial
capital of genial warm-hearted Georgia comes to be
an exception—by what local influence the great prin-
ciple of love for shopping and its accompaniments
has been overruled and subdued in almost the same
climate which makes it rampant at Havana—it would
be interesting to know.

With a friend who was showing us, the wharf por-
tion of the city, stores, warehouses, &c. my companion
and I mounted to the top of the Exchange, to get a
look over the river into South Carolina. It was too
cold (May 4) to stand out upon the roof long at a
time; but, from the broken-windowed cupola, we
got a far glimpse of fields under flood for irrigation,
and a flat country diligently cultivated. The horizonHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

311

looked dispiritingly low. It must be one of the
advantages of the town's roof of leaves, that it pre-
vents the inhabitant from being reminded that there
are no mountains visible—a lack of an apparent
ladder to the sky which the fancy feels, even if the
faith of the believer works jnst as well without it.
Mountains are privileges, refuges, blessings, Ararats
whereon the dove of thought may alight when weary
of the deluge around. An horizon without one is
an unfurnished apartment of the planet we live in.

While my companions were studying the commer-
cial physiognomy of Savannah, from the more exposed
outside of the roof, I had taken refuge among the
whittled autobiographies on the inside of the wooden
cupola — a well jack-knifed list of fellow-citizens
impatient to be read of—and by such reading and
admiring as lay in my power, was duly paying my
share for republican equality of reputation, thus laid
before the public, when my eye fell upon an ap-
paratus curiously composed. Pointing towards the
city bell which hung outside, was what seemed to be
the battered half of an old scythe, punctured at one
end to receive a wire which descended and passed
through the roof, and, at the other end, sustaining a
rough lump of lead. Half wondering how the owner
of that building (our Glorious Country) could come
by a second-hand tool, and at the economy of the
arrangement, altogether, for furniture ordered by the312

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

metropolis; and half musing whether (poetry at its
present discount) it were not, on the whole, a truthful
representation of the decline of respect for any such
flummery as " the scythe of Father Time/' I was
startled by a slight rattle at one end of the rusty
object of my contemplation. The wire quivered,
and the scythe-blade began slowly to arise. Up it
went, gradually and silently, to the height of a school-
master's forefinger—my slow wits not anticipating
what was to come of its admonitory attitude—when,
suddenly, crushingly, astoundingly, down went the
uplifted lead weight upon the bell! I stayed in my
boots—neither pumped out nor left in a precipitate
at the bottom; but the air which started at that
sound to carry " the time of day" to twenty thousand
people's ears in a second, seemed unwilling to first
stop and be breathed. I fairly gasped—but the
scythe was, by this time, on its way up again;—
another thunderbolt!—and another—and another—
twelve merciless iterations ! And this only a com-
mon-place noon! What a difference propinquity
makes in the appreciation of things ! To listen while
the clock strikes twelve scarce quickens a pulse,
ordinarily—but to be close by twelve when the clock
strikes it, is quite another experience. I felt as if I
had taken a common instant, and gone where the
article was manufactured. The strokes of a clock
seem to follow^ rapidly, as we hear them while readingHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

313

a book, yet to watch the hammer as it rises and
descends, and be yourself a quivering part of the
first and nearest vibration, is to feel that there may
be eternities in seconds. We measure rays of light
across the thread, when we measure life by minutes
or years.

The strange cemetry at Savannah, with the trees
hung in mourning, is described in every traveller's
journal. My companion and I drove to it (four or
five miles out of the city) with the feeling of fami-
liarity with which one makes a first visit to Pere-la-
Chaise. But, often as I had read descriptions of
this remarkable spot, its peculiar character took me
entirely by surprise. It is the perfection of that to
which England and our country have, of late, become
fully awakened, as a feature of national taste—
places of repose for the dead. Yet it owes little
to Art. Nature has outdone even the builders of
the famous cemetry at Pisa, with their costly en-
closure of cloisters for reverie, and their fifty ship-
loads of earth brought from Jerusalem. The Sa-
vannah cemetry, as the reader knows, is a wood
of majestic trees clad with a plant peculiar to the
moist and warm savannas of this latitude—a pendant
moss, or tree-fern^ dropping from every branch in
long and graceful folds, and of a sad-coloured grey.
The silk in common use for half-mourning is about

of the same tint. With the luxuriant green of the

p311

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

foliage on every tree tenderly subdued by the profuse
folds of this sombre drapery, and even the ordinarily
softened light of a thick wood darkened to perpetual
twilight by the same curtaining, there is an atmo-
sphere of irresistible pensiveness and melancholy
throughout its wilderness of majestic columns which
no architecture could imitate—or contrive.

A day in such a place is one of those poems for
one's own heart only with which the w orld is not
willing to be troubled; but, of one leading impres-
sion, made on my own mind while there, I will
venture to make a record.

The graves (which seemed few, perhaps from there
being no apparent limit to the long aisles of tree-
trunks which retreated away in shadowy vistas on
every side) were so secondary to the overpowering
spirit of the spot, that I scarce looked at a name or
read an epitaph. I remember but one—that of a
father and his daughter; and my attention was drawn
to this, probably, by the chain which fenced in the
tomb, and which was overgrown by the same mourn-
ing drapery of moss which enveloped the trees. I
had no friend buried there—or, of course, affection
would have led me to look for the sod that covered
him. But there was no object conspicuous enough
to arrest the curiosity of the stranger—nothing to
call aside the footstep, or call off the mind of the
visitor from the influence of gentle sadness pressingHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

315

upon his own memories of the dead. The spell of
the place—less powerful only than the grief which
should come there to find what itself had lost—was
of hallowed power and predominance. Are there
not those who, with me, will see a beauty in this ?

Of any privacy in the memory of the dead, our
fashionable cemetries seem to give no sign. The
beloved one, who was, in life, so guarded about with
delicacy and protection—her home shut in from the
footfall of common approach, and the door of her
chamber of nightly rest kept high and far out of
profaning sight, by triple locks and life-blood ready
to come between it and intrusion—this beloved one
is laid and left in a thronged avenue of resort, her
last home marked by a fancy monument which asks
the vulgar to stand over her and admire it, and her
sweet maiden name written in glaring letters on the
door, for every ruffian's lips to spell out with his
coarse utterance, and desecrate with his scrawl or
comment. For a world where Hell and Heaven
walk at large together, and where the instincts of
common safety have combined in usages to guard
somewhat the paths of the angels among us while
they live, it seems as if there should be some privacy
as well for the ashes and memory of the departed.

Monuments to great men may reasonably be con-
spicuous to every eye. They are needed for example,
and public gratitude raises them. But privacy is316	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS,

more blest, even in life; and the luxury of the grave
(and the spirit of this might well be remembered in
private monuments) is to be forgotten but by those
who loved us. This home of the dead at Savannah,
so more sublime and sadly beautiful in itself, seems
to offer the repose thus wanted. Hate and Indif-
ference would here walk by, unreminded of even the
name. Malice and Coarseness would see no call for
idle criticism, and, in the spirit of the spot, would
feel a restraint unaware. Affection would find the
corner where one's ashes slumber in peace, and to
the tears or sweet memories which alone should visit
them, the very air would seem to give a sigh of
welcome. So fitting and sweet a place to be buried
in, it seems to me I never elsewhere saw.LETTER XXXV.

SAVANNAH, &c

The sensation of driving through the streets of
Savannah, ordinarily, is not very pleasant. One hates
to throw away so much ploughing. The action of a
beautiful horse is quite destroyed by the dead pull of
the sinking wheels and the effort of wading fetlock-
deep through the- sand. But it is wonderful what a
difference in the get-about-ableness is made by a
heavy shower. The city seems suddenly paved with
marble. Packed with the rain, the sand is so hard as
scarce to take an impression of a wheel, and, for half
a day at a time, a carriage at Savannah may thus
become a luxury—dried into a mere necessity again,
of course, by the second day of fair weather. Nature
has supplied a convenience for travelling over sand—
the camel5 s foot, elastic and flattening out with pres-
sure. If I were a resident of Savannah, I think I
should either import a small dromedary " to drive in318	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

a buggy/' or offer a premium for the invention of an
India-rubber horse-shoe on the camel's foot principle.
The article would be saleable in New Jersey and other
sandy neighbourhoods as well.

Savannah is a place to go to and be good in. I
saw but one sinful circumstance while there—a small
shop open on Sunday evening for the sale of cigars
and umbrellas—everything else looking unexeeption-
ably exemplary. The world has not been sufficiently
praised for the variety in the character of its cities.
It will be appreciated when railroads have dissolved
the charm by abolishing the distance that secured to
each its separate atmosphere. There are states of
mind very varied which require changes of scene quite
as varied. Of the winter pilgrims to the south, it is
happier that there is a Savannah for some and a New
Orleans for others. As a Yallombrosa of retreat for
the intermittent student—for one who would like to
stop living and being heard of, long enough to write
a book or perfect a theory—Savannah is the one best
place, ready-cloistered and hushed.

With a presentiment (afterwards confirmed) that
by going too early north I was leaving what little
convalescence I had picked up in a warmer clime, I
embarked for Charleston on the evening of the 5th of
May—arriving the next morning, after a rough, cold,
and thoroughly uncomfortable passage. Quite pros-
trated by sea-sickness and influenza, and having moreHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

319

desired to see Charleston than any other one point of
my winter's travel, I had never found illness more
untimely. We rejoined here some of our fellow-
voyagers in the Tropics, but the most admired and
beloved of that happy company lay dying under the
same roof with us, and a melancholy sadness weighed
upon all who had known her. Altogether, I obtained
but an imperfect and clouded view of the great me-
tropolis of the South. My best remembrances of it
were such as do not come within a traveller's chroni-
cle—the meeting with valued friends and acquaint-
ances. It must pass for the broken page of my
journal—to be re-written, if possible, with better
knowledge hereafter.

In what little I saw of Charleston, in my mopings
about, I was impressed with the air it wears of a town
built for gentlemen. It is a little behind-liand with
paint and repairs, but in the contrivance and charac-
ter of its private residences there is the original
imprint, still legible, of first owners who built exclu-
sively, each one, for taste and comfort of his own.
There is none of the amputated look given to city
buildings by the more utilitarian taste of the North.
Even in houses of very moderate pretensions, it was
quite evident that the plan had not been sent back to
the architect, shaved of all its superfluities of elegance
merely. In the bay windows, verandahs, odd angles,
porticoes, and gardens, and in the unstereotyped320	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TKOPJCS.

variety with which the caprices of ornament had been
combined, the look of refinement quite at its ease, and
apprehensive of neither eclipse nor criticism, is very
manifest. Every house looks as if the same family
had always lived in it. Without strict architectural
taste, this atmosphere of household gods may be made
to envelope a home with an individuality more attach-
ing to children, and more inspiring of respect; and I
must own that, to my eye, it is an innovation upon
art worth studying.

In the days when North and South were more in-
timate—the gay society of the two latitudes holding
an equally divided empire over Ballston and Saratoga
—Charleston was the unquestionable Corinth, from
which came the best models of gentlemen and ladies.
With the plantation conservatism of family—custom
of sending sons to Europe for education—general
habit of yearly travel, and prevailing tone of courtesy
and chivalry handed down from a superior class of
first inhabitants—this may easily be accounted for.
The mark of it would still impress a stranger in walk-
ing the streets of Charleston, or looking in upon its
society. Shouldered aside as the city is, somewhat
perhaps by the current of " Progress/' and becalmed
in the still water of such respectability and dignity as
this " fast" age will leave behind, its gaieties probably
assemble, at the present time, a higher-bred class of
men and women than any other capital of ourHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	321

country. The epidemic rage for action and contact
with the world, which is setting the noblemen of
England to lecturing, will soon reach here, doubtless,
and lively-fy Charleston up to the dreg-stirring
activity of New York; but, meantime, its streets are
walked by gentlemen who look tranquilly noble,
and its drives are graced by ladies who sit in
their carriages with the air of princesses at
leisure.

There is a childish disappointment (which I do not
find that I outgrow,) in the first visit to most large
capitals. Until one sees a famous place, its great men
form a conspicuous part of the ideal picture of it. A
boy, in going for the first time to Boston, for instance,
would feel an unexplainable disappointment not to
see Webster with at least a dome and cupola; Pres-
cott with a Gothic arch to him; Emerson with a
steeple, and Everett with a colonnade all round—or
some equally tangible, visible, and imposingly archi-
tectural proof that this is the Boston of which, as
seen from a distance, those men compose so large a
part. I had always thought of Charleston, South
Carolina, as a city built not so much of brick as of
Calhoun—not so beautiful for its public walks as for
its Washington Allston. To arrive there, and walk
through it, and drive round it, without seeing any-
thing of them—no sign of the statesman and painter
who would still show for Charleston, though the city
p 2322

health trip to the tropics.

were sunk by an earthquake—was to find it " less of
a place" than I had expected—to take out the glory
and put in brick. It is to this feeling (among others,)
that cities owe monuments for its great men. Willing
to pay for gas, they should be willing to pay also for
the " nebulous aurora" of genius which, shining from
there, lights them up so that they are seen the world
over.

The Dutch have an invention for helping a vessel
when she is aground—placing buoyant floats on each
side of her, sinking them till they can run a timber
through, and then removing the weight so that all
rises together. Corroborative quotation is sometimes
necessary to do a similar service, and bring a writer
safely into port. In the present state of low water
in the river of poetry, I have probably run aground in
the passage just written, and will, therefore, make
sure of a buoyant conclusion, by applying a float or
two in the way of confirmatory remarks by greater
authors on the same subject:—

" Fontenelle was never more gratified than when
a Swede, arriving at the gates of Paris, inquired of the
custom-house officer where Fontenelle resided, and ex-
pressed his indignation that not one of them had ever
heard of his name."

" A distinguished man, in a eulogy on Leibnitz, said
' The Elector of Hanover unitedunder his dominion anhealth trip to the tropics.

323

Electorate, the three kingdoms of Great Britain, and
Leibnitz and Newton."

" Spinosa, when he gained a humble livelihood by
grinding optical glasses, was visited bythe first General
in Europe, who, for the sake of this philosophical con-
ference, suspended the march of the army."

" A solemn funeral honoured the remains of the poet
Klopstock, led by the Senate of Hamburg, with fifty
thousand votaries, so penetrated by one universal sen-
timent, that this multitude preserved a mournful
silence, and the interference of the police ceased to be
necessary through the city, at the solemn burial of
the man of genius."

" In Ferarra, the small house which Ariosto built
was purchased, to be preserved, by the municipality,
and there they still show the poet's study; and under
his bust, a simple but affecting tribute to genius records
that Ludovico Ariosto in this apartment wrote."

" Travellers never fail to mention Erasmus when
the city of Basle occupies their recollection ; so that,
as Bayle remarks, e he rendered the place of his death
as celebrated as that of his birth/ "

" The Grand Duke of Tuscany became jealous of the
attention paid to Magliabecchi, as strangers usually
went to visit Magliabecchi before the Grand Duke."

" We cannot bury the fame of our English worthies324

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

—that exists before us, independent of ourselves ; but
we bury the influence of their inspiring presence in
those immortal memorials of genius easy to be read by
all men—their statues and their busts, consigning
them to spots seldom visited, and often too obscure
to be viewed."LETTER XXXVI.

Blood-horses in Charleston—Respectful Manners of Negroes—
Slow Pace of Inhabitants—Pine-plank Drive—Rail-road
across Pine-barrens—Prairie of Pond-lilies—South Caro-
lina Marked Character—Savannah River, and Arrival in
Georgia—Augusta and its General Physiognomy—Nor-
thern Air—Curious Specimen of Master in Shirt-sleeves,
and Negro carrying his Coat—Unappropriated Magnifi-
cence—The Georgia " Cracker."

There is an air of style given to Charleston by the
prevalence of blood-horses; almost every vehicle I
saw, public and private, telling thus of the universality
to which had prevailed the sporting tastes of the gentle-
men of Carolina. The particularly respectful, and
the same time half-affectionate, manners of all the
blacks who came in my way, told also a story of the past
character of the city, confirming the impression of old
family conservatism for which it is famous. I am
inclined to read a third historic chronicle in the
average speed of promenade on the sidewalk here,
which is considerably slower than on the pave of any
other American city. I was quite impressed with326

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

this last phenomenon. A passage to Charleston from
New York to see the let-alone magnolias, the looks
of leisure, and a few things taking their time as if
eternity were really still on hand, might be rationally
established, I think, among the pilgrimages of refined
curiosity on our very fast side of the water.

The inhabitants have a luxury here, cheap in a pine-
timbered country, but the enjoyment of which is very
far beyond any cost, with so sandy a soil and so warm
a climate—a plank road, forming a drive of some
miles out of the city. An excursion upon it, under
very lovely guidance, was one of the bright lines in
my companion's and my own chronicle of Southern
travel. We saw here and there upon the road side
one of those moss-draped trees which form so beauti-
ful a feature of the cemetry at Savannah; though
without the associations which there give a melan-
choly character to this pendant drapery, it has a per-
versely different expression. So raggedly apparelled,
and standing in the dust by the side of a common
road, the " monarch of the woods" looks ludicrously
Don-Cesar-de-Bazan-ish.

We left Charleston on the morning of May 8th,
and travelled across a couple of States, with fewer
" experiences," it seemed to me, than I ever before
found in the same amount of longitude. It was partly
the mode of travel, no doubt. Railroads seem only to
erase distance—stage-coaches used to punctuate, em-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

32 7

phasize, and make it intelligible. But some part of
the monotony of our traverse of South Carolina was
due to its pine-barrens, no doubt—a class of land-
scape where nature does not seem to be turning the
elements to ordinary account. One sees neither vege-
tation nor inhabitants. At a cross-road, I remember,
we saw a quadruple waggon-team almost becalmed
amid the sand, with a sleepy-looking negro on the
nigh-wheel horse; and at a desert station, from which
several sand-tracks branched away, there was a private
carriage waiting for one of our fellow-passengers;
but of the remainder of the great State that has such
a will of its own I remember nothing but one prairie
of pond-lilies and meals with wildernesses between.
Perhaps the influence this kind of native soil might
have on a mind that would thrive by being turned in
upon itself, may account for the marked character of
which this State seems to be a natural cradle. There
are those who require to " see life," and there are
those who can stay at home and live it—the domestic
manufacture making the latter class better acquainted
with the warp and woof of the article.

We were eight hours crossing South Carolina—a
disrespectfully brief traverse of which I felt quite
ashamed, on a first visit—and, crossing the Savannah
River, we ascended a bank into the State of Georgia.
This seemed the beginning of a higher platform of328

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

land, a different soil, and surface more uneven and
picturesque. Augusta, the town we landed at, looked
very New-England-ish, to my eye. There was a
lively air about the people in the streets, plenty of
fresh paint on the houses, new signs, bright-coloured
bricks, broad streets with no grass in them, and an
unequivocal accustomed-ness to " enterprise" in the
paces of the cart-horses. The ladies whom we saw
shopping looked very fashionably dressed and metro-
p6litan. I saw but one novelty which told me of
climate and usages different from the North—a
very common-looking man strolling along leisurely
in his shirt-sleeves and gazing into the shop-windows,
but with a negro behind, carrying his coat ! This
was the nearest approach I had seen, out of London,
to the mounted " tiger" riding behind the dandy
" swell," with the waterproof overall fastened to his
crupper. The darkey footman was dressed in tow
cloth jacket and trousers, and wore a white felt hat
with ragged rim—his black skin underneath looking
fat, shiny, and comfortable. The curious part of it
was to see the quality of man that could afford to be
his master. He was himself hardly as clean and tidy
as would be necessary to pass for " respectable" in a
working-man at the North. Most likely he was an
eccentric specimen, but there was no misgiving of his
authority in the air of his faithful Juba.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

329

There must either be a generally diffused taste for
park-scenery in Georgia, or there is some local
advantage in thinning out woods and clearing them
of under-brush, which appeals to the common policy
of every inhabitant. Woodlands of majestic trees,
with open pasture-range beneath, were never out of
sight, from one side of the State to the other. It
was only odd — after seeing these in England as
appurtenances of ancient family estates, every aisle
of tree-trunks serving mainly as a note of admiration
to some famous name—to see them here doing
honour to nobody in particular. Passing through
what might be manorial estates of great magnificence,
I inquired in vain for the name of a proprietor.
Nobody knew whose grandeur and dignity was
there waving in the wind and making the hill-
sides imposing. It was like glorification going to
waste.

I was disappointed, (travelling as one does in a
rail-car, like a mailed letter in an envelope) not to
have had the opportunity to see a specific and un-
doubted specimen of the Georgia i( cracker " This
is said to be the only customer with whom the Yankee
has no chance—a sharper of the South that can out-
wooden-nutmeg even a Connecticut pedlar. They
inhabit the sand tracts, waste lands, and border
settlements, and are usually described as white-
headed, yellow-skinned, lean and depraved out of330

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

missionary reach. How they come by the sagacity
with which they "squat/' swindle, evade the law,
and enjoy an Arab freedom of range, and what is
their constituent genealogy, I wish same Audubon
would ornithologize.LETTER XXXVII.

NEW ORLEANS, &c.

New Orleans, Middle of May, 1852.

Cities are apt to have some lesser peculiarities by
which they are as much remembered as by that of
which they are prouder. Venice is famous for her
gondolas, Constantinople for her ways of bathing and
smoking. The traveller thinks once of the picture
galleries of Dresden, where he thinks twice of their
women harnessed into market-carts—once of St.
Peter's at Rome, and twice of what is there recog-
nised as good morals. The Louvre that one sees at
Paris is little to the dinner that one eats there.
New York looms up, to the common eye, as a vision
of Broadway and broiled oysters. Boston's granite
respectability is a less ready thought than its east
wind and codfish. Washington is less remembered
for its Capitol and Congress than for the easy, every -
body-dom of its society. And so New Orleans has
its lesser and yet more prominent peculiarity. I
should like to describe it before naming it; for the
same thing, or what goes elsewhere by the same332	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

name, is nowhere else so respectable. A description
of New Orleans would be little without it, and,
indeed, the traveller would not be just to this gay
Venice of the West, without showing what is included
in its little custom of doubtful repute. Perhaps I
should better prepare the reader for what I have to
say of it, by giving a recipe for compounding the
same mixture out of ingredients existing in New
York:—

Take three-fourths of the purposes and pleasures
of fashionable society; one-tliird of the side-walk
uses of Broadway; several first class oyster-cellars
with the rowdies carefully extracted; a moderate
portion of Wall street, stirred till it effervesces; a
pinch of gossip and Fine Arts, hilarity at discretion,
and a sprig or two of such " going-it-strong" as gives
no annoyance to others. Shake these ingredients
well together, label the whole " highly respectable,"
serve it to the public in splendid saloons opening from
the level of the most frequented promenades—and
you have very nearly what is proposed to you at New
Orleans in the phrase " come-take-a-drink." The
ingredients which New York could not furnish are,
of course, understood—difference of climate, a dash
of the manners which mark the French origin of the
city, and the good behaviour fully insured by the
Western promptness in dealing with bullies and
blackguards.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPTCS.

333

Thus prefacing, I may perhaps venture, without
offence to the temperance of the day, to record a
stranger's observations of this lesser peculiarity of our
South-Western Metropolis.

The Hotel St. Louis, (the principal one after the
burning down of the > St. Charles,) is an immense
structure on the scale of the Astor House of New
York, but built around a lofty rotunda, that was once,
I believe, the City Exchange. The towering dome of
this imposing architectural centre reaches to the roof,
and is surrounded with corridors and a gallery; and
the hotel (an excellently kept and highly luxurious
one,) seems quite secondary to it, in its magnificent
use as a " bar-room." It is paved with marble, a
marble counter extends around one half of its circular
area, and so vast is the exterior, that the half-moon
of busy bar-keepers, seen from the opposite gallery,
as they stand and manipulate behind their twinkling
wilderness of decanters, looks like a julep-orama, per-
formed by dwarfs ; the murmur of the gliding ice, and
the aroma of fragrant mint, betraying their occu-
pation, but their features quite undistinguishable in
the distance.

New Orleans is studded all over with these temples
of drink—none quite as architecturally imposing as
the St. Louis dome, but all sumptuously splendid and
costly. The walls are hung with costly paintings, and
all that damask and velvet can do for comfort, and33 4

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

gilding and mahogany for splendour, is lavishly done.
Of the amount of frequentation of these resorts, some
idea may be formed by what a friend mentioned to me
as the history of one of them, which he had chanced
to learn in the way of his profession. This one
(" The Gem/') cleared its rent of 3,000 dollars, paid
for its decorations and furniture, and made a net
profit besides, of 20,000 dollars, in the first year of its
operation. The average receipts of any one of the
fashionable drinking saloons may be set down at 200
dollars a day. A gentleman's expenses, for the ine-
vitable drinks with friends and acquaintances, average
from two to three dollars per diem. A sumptuous
lunch of turtle-soup, &c., is furnished, gratis, at noon,
to attract customers—a man getting more than the
worth of his money, of course, who lunches and drinks
for sixpence, but the proprietor finding his profit in
the few who eat, in comparison with the many who
drink at that hour, and in the policy of any thing
which will add to the repute of the place, and draw a
crowd. The rivalry of these drinking palaces makes
a yearly increase of magnificence in their luxuries and
appointments, which seems to promise that the Arts
shall be tributary, and the city be largely indebted to
them for its splendour.

Too much of an invalid, while at New Orleans, for
any except very leisurely sight-seeing, and the easy-
chairs of these gorgeous saloons looking very temptinghealth trip to the tropics.

335

from the street, I made a daily halt at some one or
other of them, in my strolls to and fro—calling for
something cooler than the weather, and enjoying most
luxuriantly, as a solitary and unknown idler, my tum-
bler of privilege to look on. I do not know that I can
persuade into a description what it was that interested
me. I had seen drinking of most kinds before, but
there was, somehow, a daily novelty in the scene.
With the little I have to tell, it will be set down per-
haps to the debilitated state of my curiosity.

In the first place, I had seen no such bar-keeping
elsewhere. It amounts to a profession, I observe; for
the principal bar-isters are gentlemen of leisure, at all
except the crowded periods of the day, the decanter-
ing, at the less frequented hours, being done less ex-
pertly and less formally, and by another class of appa-
rent students in the art. But, the giving a gentleman
a julep, from twelve to two, p.m. ! It is not so much
the skill at mixing, though that is a considerable
science, and the principal decanter receives a sort of
flourish in the air which must require some practice to
do safely and gracefully, and which probably origi-
nated in an affected carelessness as to the quantity.
The manner of waiting on a customer at that hour,
is the thing. Its philosophy lies deep. It is based
on the probability that every man has a second thirst
in his bosom which may as well be ministered to at
the same time—his vanity. Never were difference336	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and eargerness to serve more promptly and blandly
thrown into manner, than by the New Orleans bar-
keeper on giving his ever-sudden attraction to each
fresh customer. Whatever the thirsty man thought
of himself as he came up, he drinks as a superior man
just recognised. It is a court trick harnessed in into
business, and working to a charm. The lump of
sugar in the tumbler is of no sweetness compared to
the one dropped into the self-esteem. It is an elec-
trified sixpence that is paid for it—so small a coin
quite ashamed to be called upon to express so great
an obligation. The slight leaning over of the well-
dressed dispenser of liquors—the admiring lift of his
eyes—the respectfully timid half-smile of pleasure at
the opportunity to wait on the gentleman—the up-
lifted hand with its undecided fingers eager to select
the privileged decanter—the swift and dexterous obe-
dience to the command—and the overflowing and
freshet-like Mississippi-politeness with which it is
handed across the counter—all for sixpence ! It is
a study of human nature, to sit in one of those
saloons for an hour, and see not only how the most
cherished Art of high life can be learned and used in
the way of business, but how flattery operates, on
those unused to take it in their brandy and water..LETTER XXXVIII.

DRINKING SALOONS AT NEW ORLEANS, &c.

New Orleans, Middle of May, 1852.

In the five hundred or more whom you may see
walking up to "take a drink" at any one of the
fashionable " bars" of New Orleans, on a warm morn-
ing towards noon, there is, of course, a difference of
class and great variety of character. Of the large
proportion of French inhabitants of the city, you
scarce see one, however. They stick to their claret
and coffee—drinking no water, it is said, and being,
with habits of generous diet in other respects, the
most healthy portion of the inhabitants of New
Orleans. Difference of language may be part of
what renders the bar-room distasteful to the Louisiana
Frenchman; but it is, in other respects also, an
" institution" not suited to French nature. The
julep and sherry-cobbler are fairly naturalized in
London, but we see no sign in Paris of these bubbles
on the counter-current from the New World. Mon-
sieur makes his drink secondary to his eating. Then
he is not so prodigal of pocket, nor of stomach, nor

Q338

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

of intimacy—and the bar-room frequenter is a spend-
thrift of all three. Last, (perhaps not least,) the
Frenchman would never devote so large an apparatus
of happiness—time, feeling, and furniture—to one
sex alone.

New Orleans is thickly sprinkled with transient
visitors from the North—junior partners, business
agents, travellers for pleasure, actors, artists, and
adventurers—this being the Rialto of the great valley,
the turning-round place of tourists, the Paris of
Western gaieties, the golden apple held between
the thumb of the Gulf of Mexico and the finger of
the Mississippi. As it is understood to be a " gay
place," where a man is less watched and more excused
than any where else, the restraints of previous good
habits are here somewhat let up; and sober men,
who have not had the opportunity of going abroad,
take the opportunity of a business visit to New
Orleans to vaccinate their ignorance with a little
precautionary " knowledge of the world." It is thus
to its population in transit that the city mostly owes
its somewhat light reputation. A London Times,
which I have taken up while writing, speaks of it as
"the profligate city of New Orleans." But, that
the residents are not the chief incurrers of this
odium, any one can see who will observe these public
resorts for a day or two, with the aid of a friendly
cicerone.HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

339

The planter " takes a drink" a dozen times in the
forenoon—but he does not drink it. He seldom calls
for it when alone. It is with him a matter of
etiquette. Wherever he meets friend or acquaintance,
there is a drinking saloon near by—and he would
feel as much at a loss to exchange the compliments
of the day without stepping in to do it over a glass,
as to bow to a lady without his hat, or manage an
interview without mention of health or weather. In
the way he walks up, signifies his wish to the bar-
keeper, sees that his friend is properly attended to,
and disposes of his own glass—in the manner of all
this—there is a certain absolute ease, and a sort of
cotton-bale solidity of suavity, that form a type of
politeness which borrows nothing from intoxication.
It is the Westerner at home—perfectly self-trustful,
and ever ready for emergency, but boundlessly hos-
pitable and courteous, and, withal, careful in his drink.
The arrangements for the convenience of tobacco
chewers receive the greater part of what he takes
into his mouth for courtesy, and he modifies the
mixture of his own glass with such adroitness as not
to make it a comment on the stronger drink of his
companions. I was amused at the clever manner in
which this was done, and the many instances of it
that came under my observation. So many are the
strangers, that they are part of almost every coterie
in a bar-room; but whatever or whoever they were,340

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the planter was the man of mark among them. He
is a gentleman by every influence of education and
climate. With a slight touch of the tetrarch in his
manner, perhaps, the constant habit of authority has
made it sit gracefully upon him, and it impregnates
his whole bearing with that indescribable air of con-
scious superiority which never can be assumed, but
which is prized abo^re all other traits by the high-born
in Europe. We shall be proud yet of our planter
school of gentlemen. The early-learnt self-possession
as master, the climate's lavishness of generosity, the
habituation to personal risk and chivalric promptness,
and the large amounts and elegant intermediary
leisure with which plantation business is transacted,
are the training for a peculiar as well as a very high-
spirited class of men. By the members of the pro-
fessions, and by those who have long resided at the
West, the manners of this class are very much
adopted. It is the secret of that gracefully cavalier
tone pervading the upper classes of the Yallev and
the Southern Tier—the more valuable because the
same thing is fast dying out in the lands where it has
been historical.

The other drinking, at the bar of one of these
fashionable saloons, is miscellaneous, without being
riotous or rude. The newly arrived Northern man
is the most conspicuous from being quite the earliest
in the day to get " happy " He is used to havingHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

341

the worth of his money, and drinks all his liquor.
The bar-keeper's flattering manner has made him
feel appreciated for the first time in his life, and,
with his hat on the back of his head, he shakes hands
right and left with great vehemence, and is otherwise
inconvenient with his cordialities. The next most
eager customer is the exhausted business man, who
is new to the climate, and who rushes in from the
hot streets for an iced drink, as if cholera and yellow
fever were behind him. Then there are brokers
negociating gravely over a julep, and groups around
the popular actors chancing to be in town, and half a
dozen of those blandly-resolute and keen-eyed looking
men, whom you know at once to be steamboat cap-
tains, and a traveller or two exceedingly entertained
with the novelty of the scene. And, what with the
costliness of the pictures and drapery, the splendour
of the appointments, the prevailing courtesy and cer-
tainty of good manners and behaviour, it is unques-
tionably a more orderly and higher-toned resort than
one of the drinking saloons of other cities, and would
deserve to be named, perhaps, in the same breath
with some of the clubs, or other permitted shapes of
gentlemen's convivialities.

Directly opposite to the St. Louis Hotel, and
within scent, of course, of the fragrant atmosphere of
the largest " bar-room" in America, stands a French
cafe, Parisian in all its appointments, and forming342

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the corner of a long alley of French shops for wine-
drinking, billiards, &c. I went over, at the after-
dinner hour, and found it thronged with the French
mechanics, most of them in their shirt-sleeves, but
with wonderfully smooth hats, and boots brilliantly
lustrous. It was a singularly fat and happy assem-
blage. The higher class, I believe, do not frequent
the cafes, here, as in France. The quality of the
coffee might tempt them. It was truly delicious.
Whether there was anything unmetropolitan in the
accent of the merry chatter around, my ear was not
sufficiently practised to decide, but it sounded to me,
as the coffee tasted and the surroundings looked,
Frencli-y enough to have been in France. To have
such marked exponents of the two countries as a bar-
room and a cafe, on opposite sides of a street, each
the best of its kind and each in full national opera-
tion, and noisy exclusively with its own language,
seemed to me a racy and novel contiguity. So strong
and close a contrast of nationalities could be found
nowhere else, I fancy. You set down your Yankee
julep on the counter, and cross the street into France.

Of the shops in the French quarter, the glovers,
hosiers, and apothecaries, as in Paris, array their
windows very invitingly—quite outdoing New York
in the display of these particular merchandises. The
apothecaries, as elsewhere, deal also in perfumeries;
but they add still another outrider to their drugs andHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

343

medicines—a most brilliant assortment of daggers
and revolvers. Their show-cases present a curious
juxtaposition of means for keeping life in a man, and
for letting it out of him—salves and dirks, pills and
pistols—possibly a prudent hedging against the inroads
of homoeopathy; for, however the trade in drugs and
medicines may languish before the progress of new
lights, the demand for deadly weapons is likely to be
lively in the West for some time to come. It is
generally supposed that every man has his "per-
suader," of some sort, in his pocket. The ten thou-
sand river-boys and other lawless frequenters of New
Orleans are reminded of it by the numerous shop
windows which advertise the supply of the demand.
And it is doubtless owing to the knowledge of this
universal equipment and readiness, that insolences
and acts of violence are so comparatively rare in this
community. In New York, where the peaceable
man is very sure to be unarmed, rowdyism is ten
times as rampant.LETTER XXXIX.

NEW ORLEANS, &c.

New Orleans has three classes peculiar to itself—
migratory males, Creoles, and Quadroons; and while,
to the respective habits of each is attributed the pecu-
liar character of the other two, the three together
form the piquant physiognomy of the city, and the
difference of its manners and morals from those of
all the other capitals of the Union. The Creoles
being mostly of Spanish and French descent, and
the Quadroons being the various feminine dilutions
of the negro—the cotton and sugar atmosphere of the
climate, apparently, giving a voluptuous elegance to
both classes which is not produced by the same
crosses of blood in other places—it is to New Orleans
that the traveller must come to see these varieties of
the human family. They are indeed, among the
city's prominent objects of interest, and the stranger
would probably be an exception who should notHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

345

inquire the whereabouts of these wonders of the ado-
rable gender, before visiting the churches and court-
houses.

To begin with the least interesting class. The
" migratory males" (or the portion of the population
known by this phrase, and so designated by Norman,
in his Historical and Geographical Guide Book),
number about twenty thousand. These constitute
one-half or more of the business men of the place.
The commerce of the city being a matter of " season,"
or occupying but the cooler months, the merchant is
not necessarily a resident citizen. With this excuse,
indeed, (and carefully renewed traditions of the yellow
fever, cholera, and alligators,) the northern man who
is "so unfortunate as to have business at New Orleans,"
is justified by public opinion in encountering its
perils singly. He leaves wife and family at home.
Married man or bachelor, therefore, he is one of that
class who live at hotels and boarding-honses, and
whose large number furnishes the patronage that has
made these establishments the most luxurious in the
world. Nowhere is the single man better fed and
lodged than at New Orleans. Nowhere is the pro-
blem of nourishment, or the effect of generous diet,
on the spirits, and general juvenescence, more satis-
factorily carried out. Judging by the different man-
ners and looks of the same men domesticated else-
where, the fount for the renewal of youth, in search
q 2346

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

of wliich Ponce de Leon voyaged to the mouth of the
Mississippi is here sucked through a straw.

The migratory male, though usually a man of
means, is so seldom a candidate for matrimony as
never to be valued for that probability. If summer
and a wife do not come round to him together, the
mere fact that he is a bachelor at New Orleans
pronounces him unlikely to wed. This, and the
rareness of any comfortable proficiency in the French
language, combine to isolate the aristocratic Creole
society from the approach of these men about town.
Polite hospitality is a dull lottery without prizes;
and love made in broken French, or vicariously
through the mamma, as French usage requires, is not
very tempting bait to hearts that can otherwise spice
their leisure. By this exclusion, however, the gen-
tleman with money and domestic capabilities to spare
is deprived of the restraint which society imposes.
It is only those who belong to society who feel the
eye of its good opinion on their morals. And the
consciousness of this Saturnalian freedom exercised
by twenty thousand of the more youthful male in-
habitants, is perhaps part of the secret of the singu-
larly gay and irresponsible demeanour for which
New Orleans is proverbial. It is confessedly the
secret also, (and the Creole exclusiveness is openly
pleaded as the excuse,) of the intermittent matrimony
of the Quadroons, valid only during the businessHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

347

season, and conducted with much of the decency and
(it is said) more than the good faith of ordinary
society. In confirmation of these views, I will quote
a passage from the admirable Guide Book to which
I have been indebted for the statistics I have given.
The author, B. M. Norman, Esq., remarks:

" Of the one hundred and thirty thousand souls
who now occupy this capital, (in 1845,) about twenty
thousand may be estimated as migratory. These are
principally males, engaged in the various departments
of business. Some of them have families at the
North, where they pass the summer. Many are
bachelors, who have no home for one-half the year,
and, if the poets are to be believed, less than half a
home for the remainder. As these two classes of
migratory citizens, who live at the hotels and board-
ing-houses, embrace nearly, if not quite, one-half
the business men of the city, it may serve to some
extent to account for the seemingly severe restrictions
by which the avenues to good native society are pro-
tected. Unquestionable character, certified beyond
mistake, is the only passport to the domestic circle of
the Creole. * * The restrictions thus thrown
around society, and the great difficulty which the new
comer experiences in securing a share in those social
enjoyments to which he has been accustomed in other
places, have had an unfavourable effect upon the
morals of the place. Having no other resource for348

health trip to the tropics.

pastime, when the hours of business are over, he
flies--" &c. &c.

Of the lovely disdainers of these birds of passage—
the exclusive and thorough-bred Creoles—the
stranger who is in New Orleans but for a few day s,
gets, of course, a very casual and unreliable impres-
sion. His curiosity, if he be an American, is scarce
more stimulated than his ideas of precedence are
embarrassed, by that which is an excessive novelty in
his own country, though common enough on the
Continent of Europe—the foreigners are the upper
class. Here are two halves of a city, as distinct, up
to the very dividing edge, as the half of a pine-apple
fitted to the half of a pine-apple cheese—one as
thoroughly Yankee as granite-fronted and big-win-
dowed new book-stores, and slender-necked, sharp-
eyed-looking shopkeepers can make it, while the other
is as old-fashioned and conservatively French: but,
while the enterprise and business prosperity seem
all on the side where his own language is exclusively
spoken, the patrician society wherein move the dames
he is most curious to see is on the side where he
hears nothing but French ! "Willing enough to re-
cognise the precedence, if he had time—(an Atlantic
between, to make up his mind to it)—the suddenness
with which he is called upon to reverse his habit of
uppermostage, and place the speakers of a foreign
language above his Yankee-speaking countrymen,health trip to the tropics.

3 49

here on their own soil, confuses and perplexes him.
He lacks the accommodating facility with which the
municipality have arranged the street signs—" Rue
des Grands Hommes" on one corner, and " Great
Men Street" on the corner opposite; or the still
more pat and plump putting of the French uppermost,
in the conspicuous sign of one of their respectable
vermin-killers — "Mort aux Rats" above, and
" Death on Rats" immediately below.

My own most satisfactory glimpse at the Creole
ladies was an accidental one—caught from a friend's
carriage as he stopped under balconied windows, and
called out the inmates for a moment's gossip in pass-
ing : but it does not take long to see (what is the
very beau ideal of fashionable culture, and what one
thinks perfectly adorable wherever one sees it) the
loveliness of a French lady in demi-toilette. It was
a summer's afternoon, and we were driving around
among the avenues of charming suburban residences
—my friend kindly playing the cicerone, but, himself
a Creole, and taking advantage of passing the resi-
dences of intimates, by exchanging here and there a
greeting where a window showed sign of fair inhabi-
tant—and, with those picturesque balconies suddenly
enlivened by a fair form, exquisitely dressed, though
in neglige, and with the lively familiarity of gossip in
the only language that can express gossip in perfection,
and, withal, with the complete simplicity which only350

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

seemed to be there because Art had found and left
it there—I thought I had never seen glimpses of life
more delightful. The Creole manners are those of
French life (I am led to believe) before Napoleon
sold Louisiana to us, when, for an age, it had been
the world's model of polite culture. Both here and
at Martinique, I fancy, the Frenchman might find,
shelved and flourishing, at high-water mark, that old-
time courtliness which has found a drift-wood destiny
on the ebbing tide of aristocracy at home.

I had a fuller view of the Creole fashion at the
Opera—a crowded house, and apparently none but the
ladies of this particular class present. Sir William
Don was playing at one of the other theatres, and
the city was most showily placarded on every corner
with the bills of " A Bloomer Ball"—this last being
the evening's most likely attraction for the "mi-
gratory males." The Opera drew its audience, appa-
rently, by mere force of fashion. Madame Wiedemann
was the prima donna, and her intellectual ugliness,
unredeemed by her voice, left us plenty of spare
attention for other things. It would have been like
a dress opera at Paris or Dresden but for the singular
delicacy of the female physiognomies, and (I could
not help thinking) a far greater amount of beauty
than ever is seen assembled in those capitals. The
house was not very large, but it was crammed to
every corner with absolute good taste in toilettes. IHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

351

had a favourable seat in the box of a French acquaint-
ance, and, with a complete view of the assemblage, I
tried in vain to find an un-stylish dame or demoiselle.
There was a languidly self-possessed air curiously
universal; and not practised upon one attitude, either,
for, so sociable an audience, with so lively a circulation
of beaux, I had seldom seen. It was evidently used
as much for a conversazione as for an opera. Of the
Creole beauty, as there seen, the stranger would
bring away a charmed remembrance, I am very sure.
The magnolia-like indolence of their pale but still
passionate-looking sweetness, shows a perfecting
touch, (for love, at least,) given to the blood of a race,
by the climate.LETTER XL.

NEW ORLEANS, &c.

The Quadroon's humble table, oil Sunday, is graced
by the presence of her lord and master; or, in this
way, at least, we may plausibly account for the fact,
that, only on this morning of the week, the bandanna
beauty is sure to be seen at the market with her
basket. The stranger who expresses a curiosity with
regard to the class is reminded by any citizen not to
lose this opportunity, as the Quadroon is seen regu-
larly abroad at no other place and time. She is a
wife that day, table and all, and must herself pick
the delicacies that are to assist her tenderness in
making a domestic meal more agreeable than the
luxurious dinner at an hotel.

It was a brilliant and balmy sunrise that called me
out of bed for this market-scene, and (atwo birds
with one stone") for the matins in the cathedral near
by. May is a sort of Quadroon month, famous forHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

353

making a day of uncertain weather begin as if it were
summer sure to last—May mornings having thus
passed into a phrase; and being proverbially and
sweetly bright, however cold the noons or cloudy the
evenings. The climate of New Orleans (let me here
record my pulmonary warnings to invalids) is not to
be tropically believed in; but the air in the streets,
on the Sabbath morning I speak of, was of a quality
for which it was worth while to have had bad lungs
made delicate, even by illness. There was a caress
in it to which a well man (with his finer nature out
of reach under his animal health) might have been
almost culpably indifferent.

My way lay through the French quarter of the
town, where the shops were all being opened as on a
week-day—the shop-shutting Sunday, as in Paris,
not commencing till noon. As the traveller knows,
it is part of the French distribution of employments
to the sexes, that the persuading across the counter
shall be done by attractive women; and as these fair
clerks, though they take down the window-shutters,
and sweep, and sprinkle, are never ungracefully
dressed, the busy side-walk of shop-openers is not an
unattractive promenade for early risers. If one
wants a contrast it is near by. Missing my way, I
passed through a street entirely inhabited by German
emigrants—homely clothing needlessly ungraceful,
and filth needlessly aggravated and lived-in like a354

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

natural element, from one end to the other. The
Germans seem to me to have been unmistakeably
assorted before birth. If " low-born/' it is not, as
in other countries, an accident that may be remedied
by removal to the atmosphere of the "free and
equal." They are natural plebeians—if plebeians
at all—their inferiority of blood affidavited by every
look and movement, and perpetuated by instincts
hopelessly quadruped-esque. And while they thus
"live like pigs" in New Orleans, there are streets
of French people just as poor all around them, and
from every window juts out a box of flower-pots, with
roses in bloom, and no woman, child, door-step, or
poodle-dog, looks otherwise than picturesque and
cleanly. The "Microscopic World," not long since,
gave us an account of insects whose eggs are eaten
and digested by two different birds before being
first found winged and lively in guano; and, that
German emigrants may thus be the guano-cracy of
our country, ready to brighten into American citizens
after an age or two of filth and omitted intellect, may
be an analogous fact in natural history.

The market was audible before it was visible, and
the turning of the corner which brought it into view
was quite like the lifted curtain of a play. The build-
ing was but a light roof supported upon columns,
and being thus open on all sides to the surrounding
streets, its whole busy scene was embraced in a dra-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

355

matic coup d'ceil. But the action and vociferation
with which every huckster drew attention to his stall,
were still more dramatic. A practised player would
hardly have outdone any of them. Over one shelf
rather meagrely furnished with vegetables, the
salesman was industriously blowing a trumpet—per-
haps by way of balancing the attraction, as most of
the venders were women. Flowers in sumptuous
bouquets seemed an article in great demand. The
potatoes and turnips were sold by small earthen
potfuls—the pots of a shape somewhat promoted by
their present occupation. Hot coffee was smilingly
pressed upon the passer-by from almost every corner,
and, indeed, it seemed the custom to take a cup in
the course of the morning's marketing. Flowers,
coffee and all, it was a gay matinee.

I made the round of the alleys, jostled here and
there a fair and unscrupulous elbow, and shoved right
and left by the neat French baskets carried on vigo-
rous petticoated hips; but I needed a cicerone. The
class I had particularly come to see were doubtless
around me in any number; but there seemed various
shades of complexion, and I looked in vain for those
differences of demeanour which might indicate the
nearer or remoter approaches to the matrimony for-
bidden in its full extent to persons of their colour*.

* It may explain my embarrassment in this particular to356

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

Frailty by the day is usually recognisable in a crowd
all over the world; but the fidelity by the quarter, or
by the season, for which the " Quadroon" is remark-
able, seems to allow her to walk, dress, and buy
vegetables, so much like a wife, as not to be distin-
guished by a stranger. Some of the basketed mar-
keters were so white, that, but for the bandanna on
the head and the barbaresque gold ear-ring, I should
not have supposed them " persons of colour." The
tan-stripe down the vertebrae of the back—which is
said to betray any shade of negro taint in the blood—
was, of course, beyond my promenading observation.

I must confess to have had my sympathies some-
what excited for this class by conversation with
Southern gentlemen, who spoke of their condition, of
course, with no Northern prejudice. One or two
Quadroon families were mentioned, who, with free-
dom, had acquired means to give their children edu-
cation, and who had sent them to France that they
might marry and enter into business, where there was
no reproach upon their blood. But it is a curious
peculiarity of their race, that home-sickness seems to

quote the account of the varieties of mixed complexion given
in the Encyclopaedia:—

" The offspring of a white and a mulatto is called a
' quadroon,' or one-quarter black; of a white and quadroon, a
'muster,' or one-eighth black; of a white and muster, a
' mustafina,' or one sixteenth black,—after which they are said
to be ' whitewashed,' and are considered as Europeans."HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

357

be the weakness of their nature. These who were
incidentally mentioned in the conversations I speak
of had returned, leaving what might be thought
excellent opportunities in a land where they were not
stigmatised, and were now living in New Orleans in
complete seclusion, their inevitable melancholy deep-
ened and embittered by education. One family was
instanced more particularly, who possessed beauty
and talents to a very unusual degree.

My anticipations were not exactly realised by the
female Quadroons whom I saw in the market. Those
whose white parent had been of light complexion—a
sort of freckled mulatto, with reddish hair, were
frightfully ugly. The brunette complexion of the
Frenchman or Spaniard mixes best with the negro
blood. Some, who had a slight down of dark silk on
the lip, and the sort of hushed eye of day-slumbering
night-awakening passion-—the clear brown iris large,
liquid, and indolent—looked capable of being thought
beautiful, at least by one person at a time. A beauty
which they all had, however, was the perfectly flat
and straight back, with the head and neck springing
from it with admirable pose and proportion. Betw een
ankles and chin, they are said to be the best-formed
race of women in the world—the foot inheriting with
fatal certainty the trace of toil, and the face the far-
descending imprint of conscious servitude. This last
is slight, though I think universal. I could make358	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

no other generalising remark upon the character of
the faces I saw, except that there was a kind of defe-
rential modesty in them all, and (what I very much
admire, for it is elsewhere found only at the other
extreme of high breeding) complete unconsciousness
of observation. Every Quadroon I saw walked
through the crowd as if she felt herself to be invisible.

From the market I made my way to the Cathedral:
matins over, apparently, but doors open, and dimness
and stillness within for all who needed them. The
Catholic worship is the religious luxury of the tra-
veller. Away from home and its set times and places,
the heart needs to know that it may enter a house
of God whenever world-weary or willing to be alone
with better thoughts. We may not always pray
there. To go in may be rather a luxury than a duty
performed. But the accustomed influences are sooth-
ing; and, if one has a home, and has been long
away, it is the place to go and be alone with tender
memories of it. I sat down in the dim light, and an
old grey-headed negro said his prayers near by —we
two, as far as I could see, the only profiters by the
open door, for that hour—and I felt myself somehow
magnetised by his neighbourhood and his apparent
devotion. Perhaps his praying, also, for the sick-
looking stranger, may be part of the history of the
morning whose mingled experience I have thus
endeavoured to chronicle.LETTER XLI.

CLASSES AT NEW OBLEANS, &c.

The " Alligators"—the boatmen of the Mississippi
—were a part of the transient population of New
Orleans, about whom I had long felt a curiosity.
In story and in common parlance, they occupy
somewhat the position as to the West, that the
Bedouin Arabs do to the East; though, with a home
three thousand miles long, and with a life which
compels them to " combine the accomplishments of
the sailor, the whaleman, the backwoodsman, and the
Yankee," they are vastly superior to those mere
mounted loafers of the desert. Probably no vocation
in the world so taxes every kind of bodily dexterity,
so disciplines the courage, so calls upon the sharpness
of the wits. Their constitutions are not only sub-
jected to the changes of all climates, but their inter-
course is with the inhabitants of all latitudes. They
vibrate between the icicle and the sugar-cane,
familiarized on the way with every variety of produce,
of soil, of merchandise, and of character. They eat
anything, toil anyhow, sleep anywhere. The par-360

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

ticular neighbourhood to which any one of them is
responsible for character—the spot in the wilderness
where his chimney smokes and his wife waits for
him—are trifles lost in the vastness of his range.
His credit is the length of his visible purse, his repu-
tation the length of his visible shadow. From the
overlapping reciprocities and influences that sustain
other men he is completely isolated. His strength
is in what he can show, what he can do, what he has
got, and what he is—for the moment. He depends
wholly and habitually on himself.

With the level of the human family to which this
class belongs, as with the opposite extreme of the
most refined and cultivated, I must confess to be
more interested than with the classes intermediate—
as one admires the tree in the untrimmed wilderness
of the woods, or when made into something useful or
ornamental, without wishing to give much time to it,
as lumber. The school of character in which these
amphibious Westerners are educated, for example, is
more interesting than much that is called " society."
It is a school without books—taught by nature and
contact only—and must be full of curious phenomena
of development, mental and moral. I regretted
exceedingly that I had not the health and leisure to
make a careful study of the five-mile extent of
"alligators" along the Levee of New Orleans.
Among the occupants of the two thousand flat-boats,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	361

(estimated to be moored along the shore at one time,)
there must be many a monotype of a man who would
never have been so genuinely himself, though he
might have more largely developed with education
and opportunity — many a poet whose soul is all
there, though not bound also in morocco; many a
hero whose heart swells without straining gilt
buttons; many a statesman whose power sleeps, like
the statue in the block of marble, waiting for the
chisel of his country's need. Judging by the graphic
and pungent phrases which we are continually
adopting from the vocabulary of the " alligator/' he
is, at least, a talker of most entertaining originality;
and, as one of the most important features of our
national character is forming in his western growth
and progress, he might be an instructive study as
well as an interesting and amusing one.

My walks to the river, at New Orleans, were
not taken, of course, without remembering to what
that span of muddy water is the wondrous gate.
Including the tributaries of the Mississippi, it is the
outlet of seventeen thousand miles of internal naviga-
tion. The Yalley of the great river alone, (says
Norman,) contains nearly as many square miles, and
more tillable ground, than all continental Europe;
and, if peopled as densely as England, would sustain
a population of five hundred millions—more than
half of the present inhabitants of the earth. It is

R362

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

almost impossible to anticipate the future magnitude
of New Orleans as the commercial emporium of this
vast tract. The productions of many climates are
tributary to its progress. The Mississippi abounds in
coal; lead; iron and copper ore, all found in veins of
wonderful richness. The Missouri stretches thirty-
nine hundred miles to the Great Falls, among the
Flat Foot Indians, and five thousand from New
Orleans. The Yellow Stone River, navigable for
eleven hundred miles, the Platte for sixteen hundred,
and the Kanzas for twelve hundred, are only tri-
butaries to the latter river. The Ohio is two
thousand miles to Pittsburg, receiving into her bosom
from numerous streams the products of New York,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Western Virginia,
Tennessee, Indiana, and Illinois. The Arkansas, Big
Black, Yazoo, Bed Biver, and many others, all pouring
their wealth into the main artery, the Mississippi,
upon whose mighty current it floats down to the
grand reservoir, New Orleans. The population of
the Mississippi valley was ten millions in 1845, and in
that same year there were five hundred steamboats—
most of them of monstrous size and capacity—plying
upon its waters. Let me simply quote Mr. Norman's
concluding remarks after giving these statistics :—

" Such statements as these, large as they seem,
convey to the reader but a partial idea of the great
Yalley, and of the wide extent of country to whichHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

363

New Orleans is the key, and which guarantees her
present and future prosperity. To form a full esti-
mate, he must, beside all this, see her mountains of
iron, and her inexhaustible veins of lead and copper
ore, and almost boundless regions of coal. The first
article mentioned (and the phrase in which it is
expressed is no figure of speech) has been pronounced
by the most scientific assayer of Prance to be supe-
rior to the best Swedish iron. These, and a thousand
unenumerated products, besides the well-known sta-
ples, constitute its wealth; all of which, by a neces-
sity of nature, must flow through our Crescent City,
to find an outlet into the greater world of commerce.
With such resources, nothing short of some dreadful
convulsion of nature, or the more dreadful calamity
of war, can prevent New Orleans from becoming, if
not the first, next in commercial impoitance to the
first city in the United States—perhaps, in the world.
The flourishing towns upon the Mississippi and her
tributaries are merely the depositories for this great
mart. In twenty years she must, according to her
present increase, contain a population of three hun-
dred thousand, with a trade proportionally extended.

"AYith such views it may be deemed folly to
attempt to look forward to the end of the nineteenth
century, when this metropolis will, in all probability,
extend back to Lake Pontchartrain, and to Carrolton
on the course of the river. The swamps, that now364

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

only echo to the hoarse bellowing of the alligator,
will then be densely built upon, and rendered cheerful
by the gay voices of its inhabitants, numbering at
least a million of human beings. If, like Rip Van
Winkle, we may be permitted to come back, after the
lapse of half a century, with what surprise and asto-
nishment shall we witness the change which the en-
terprise of man will have wrought! But let us not
waste a moment in dreaming about it- Let us be up
and doing, to fulfil our part of the mighty achieve-
ment. It would not be strange, however, if the pre-
sent map, which is given to show the rapid growth of
the city, by comparison with one drawn in 1728,
should then be republished, with a similar design, to
exhibit the insignificance of New Orleans in 1845 !
We ask the kindness of the critics of that period,
should they deign to turn over these pages, begging
them to consider that our humble work was produced
as far back as the benighted age of steam !"

The stranger starts from his hotel, at New Orleans,
with the idea that he will go down to the river, and
see the " alligators." He follows the sidewalk, as
directed, but, to the confusion of his habitual notion
of where tide-water should be, he finds presently that
it is up hill to the river ! As he sees the shipping
from a distance, the harbour seems to be on the
second story—the city in the basement, and the Mis-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

365

sissippi on the parlour-floor. He approaches the
Levee, a pier of almost prairie extent, and it is a vast
slope ascending gradually to the water's edge. The
drays are tugging up hill to the vessel-sides. The
wildernesses of cotton-bales and sugar-hogsheads
look as if, with a slight push, they would all roll back
into the stores to be sold, of their own accord. The
gutter's vocation seems reversed—to bring clean water
in to the town, not to take dirty water out of it.
And—as one looks up from a street where children are
playing, and thousands of men and women thronging
hither and thither in unsuspicious security, and sees
the slight embankment that keeps the most powerful
of rivers from rushing down upon the scene with ter-
rific destruction—a mud wall holding a deluge up
above a crowded metropolis, and the floods and freshets
of seventeen thousand miles of mountain and valley
thus precariously guarded against and held in check
—one cannot but have a very mingled feeling, scarce
definable, half glad to belong to a more reliable high-
and-dry-dom oneself, but half sad for the horrible
calamity that may gather any hour in the clouds, for
those to whom this is a home. The " Guide-Book"
gives us what little can be hopefully said upon the
matter:—

" The fear is often entertained that the levees of
the Mississippi are not sufficient to resist the great366

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

body of water that is continually bearing and wearing
upon them; and these fears have, in several cases, been
realised, though never to any very great extent. In
May 1816, the river broke through about nine miles
above New Orleans, destroyed several plantations, and
inundated the back part of the city to the depth of
three or four feet. The crevasse was finally closed
by sinking a vessel in the breach, for the suggestion
and accomplishment of which the public was chiefly
indebted to Governor Claiborne.

"In June 1844, the river rose higher than it had
done for many years, marking its whole course, for
more than two thousand miles, with wide spread
destruction to property and life. It crept over the
Levee in some places near New Orleans, but caused no
actual breach in that vicinity. At Bonnet Carre it
forced a crevasse, doing considerable damage, and
causing great alarm in the neighbourhood; but the
mischief was not so serious as might have been anti-
cipated. and the embankment has been so increased
and strengthened as to leave but little apprehension
for the future."

It is a curious fact that the Mississippi is at work
like ten thousand wheelbarrows, dumping dirt upon
a ridge—its own bottom—which may be a terraced
site for the city hereafter. Most rivers will dig and
carry away dirt from their own channels—few willHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	367

bring and dump it there. Instead of deepening every
year, the channel is constantly rising with the deposit
of nrnd, and the embankments of the Levee are cor-
respondingly raised. In the progress of time, of
course, it will be so much above the city that it may
be necessary to turn off the stream upon the lowlands
on the opposite side, and then the present gradually
elevating bottom of the " Father of Waters" will
become the Broadway of New Orleans, its highest-
ridged thoroughfare and gayest promenade. This
naturally slow accretion is increased by the embank-
ments which are more and more confining the river
throughout its lower length, and the changes that it
may bring about, in the path of its navigable waters
at the Mouth, seems to be already occasioning serious
apprehension. The New Orleans Bulletin, in a recent
article, thus speaks of the assistance necessary to be
given by steamers to vessels entering the Mouth of
the Mississippi: —

"But towing large and heavy draughts up and
down stream is only a comparatively small part of the
business of towboats, as we have before observed.
After their work proper is done, there is another
extra labour to be performed, in the execution of
which the strength and power of steam, iron, wood,
hawsers, springs and cordage of every kind, are tested368

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

to their utmost capacity of endurance. At the mouths
of the river there are barriers to the ingress and
egress of vessels propelled by wind and sails alone, as
impassable as if constructed of solid rock, instead of
plastic mud. Through, not over, these mud flats, in
water twelve and fourteen feet deep, ships from
eighteen to twenty feet draught are dragged by these
boats. Sometimes they stick and hold fast with an
adhesiveness which it seems no power can overcome,
requiring the work of hours, often days, and even
weeks, to remove them from their tenacious moorings.

" The mouths of the Mississippi (and there are
now only two that are used at all for the passage of
vessels of even tolerable size) are so choked up with
the alluvium that is brought down by the current, and
deposited at the debouche of the river, that they are
impassable without the application of steam power;
and no vessel of any size worth speaking of ever
attempts to cross the bar, inward or outward bound,
without the aid of a towboat, oftener two, and fre-
quently four, pulling and dragging her through the
mud with all their concentrated power, at a snail's
pace. This, as it may well be supposed, is hard and
tedious work, involving often great risk of property,
sometimes jeoparding life, requiring consummate
skill and prudence, and always attended with serious
responsibility. The boarding of a large ship at sea,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

369

with a fresh breeze and a heavy swell (and these
boats sometimes go out fifty and sixty miles), and
arranging all the necessary preliminaries for towing
her into a harbour, is a nice and hazardous under-
taking."LETTER XLII.

The Levee, (or grand single quay of New Orleans,)
is made to look somewhat Oriental by the numerous
tableaux vivants presented by the overseers and their
negro labourers. Under a moveable awning, stretched
upon four poles, and stuck any where among bales of
merchandise, reclines a gentleman in broad-brimmed
straw hat, loose cravat, and white jacket, never with-
out a cigar and a newspaper, and forming a centre to
the Ethiop group around him which an artist would
very much admire. The shining negroes, with quite
as little clothing as a sculptor would accord to his
model, are almost never out of attitude favourable for
sketch or daguerreotype—and indeed it seemed to me,
that the Levee, from one end to the other, was but a
series of capital subjects for the " Pictorials." They
would only not do as illustrations to " Uncle Tom,"
for you would scarce find in the world a class of
labourers who are as habitually cheerful as these
blacks; and no white working men, I am very sure,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

371

anywhere in Europe, who take their daily task
half as easy. For a lean or discontented one,
I looked in vain. And this, I confess, somewhat
surprised me; for, in New Orleans, if anywhere,
with the rush of business in the mercantile season,
and the city's renown for recklessness, I had ex-
pected to see the slave hard driven. The oppor-
tunity to observe them here is large. You may form
some idea of the number employed on this one
pier, from another statistic given by Norman. In
1845 there were three thousand drays in constant
employ upon the Levee; and there are probably
three negroes to one dray, lading, unlading, and
driving.

The Alligator crafts, as well as the other shipping,
have a curiously inquisitive and mere morning-call
look, from having only nose-room at the water's edge?
and from the slope of the Levee outward, like a
natural beach. There are no projecting wharfs, and
no perpendicular abutment against which a vessel
could be moored. If she draw too much water to
come close, a long plank runs off from the sloping
descent of the shore to the prow or stern;
and this gives, as I said before, a most momen-
tary and accidental look to the whole vast multitude
of boats and shipping. The flat boats are un-
sightly structures enough. They are built only to
come dovm stream, and are, of course, of the372

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

cheapest construction that will hold together. The
cabins are made to serve as groceries, bar-rooms,
dry-goods stores, music saloons, &c., &c„ on the
voyage, and, though of rough boards innocent of
paint, have such splendid names as " The Alhambra."
'' Great Men's Retreat," " Planters' Exchange,"
" Rotunda," &c.,—the walls, meantime, drying into
higher-priced lumber, while fulfilling this interme-
diate destiny.

The " Alligators" are themselves too sharp-eyed
to be easy under observation. It is hard to find one
of them indifferent to your eye, or so carelessly off
his guard as not to know when he is looked at. The
only kind of man they seem not to notice at all is a
loud talker; and so common and vulgarized a gift
does oratory seem to be, and so readily does drink
run into it in the West, that I fancy the surest way
to observe, and be yourself unobserved, (at least in
the most crowded part of the Levee,) would be to
mount upon a hogshead, and appear anxious for an
audience* I saw many scenes, or parts of scenes,
scarcely describable, where there was a most curious
indifference to that which excites attention or moves
a crowd elsewhere—giving one the impression that it
was a class of people so familiarized to threat and
violence, that nothing in that line, short of a bowie
knife or a revolver, would make one of them lift an
eyelid. Yet, to the movements of a quiet and silentHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

373

stranger—one who would wholly escape notice ordi-
narily— they seemed, 011 the contrary, unaccountably
attentive. They think it no offence, or, at least, one
for the consequence of which they are quite ready,
to sidle up and listen when two persons are talking
quietly, or walk round a man and survey him like a
wax figure in the museum. Three times out of four,
when I stopped to take a more leisurely gaze at
something, I found myself thus walked round and
scanned—partly because I proved myself a stranger
by my curiosity, probably—but evidently from
a habit of neglecting no indication of what
was going on. And this manifestation of mingled
cuteness and simplicity is made more characteristic
by a peculiar look never seen in a lower class in
Europe, a savage unconsciousness of owing you any
respect whatever. Personal presence, as felt in a
man more than in a tree, is utterly unacknowledged
by the Alligator. He shows you this in his face—
in a sort of negative insolence of expression,
quite at your service, if you like to take offence at it,
and best explainable, perhaps, as Yankee indepen-
dence in the fungus state, run rank with over-
luxuriance.

I fancy that it is from there being no interchange
of respect between him and any other man, that the
Alligator is so reckless of his personal appearance.
He evidently never gives it a thought. The contrast3 74

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

is curious, in this respect, between him and the
French labouring man or mechanic, who stands shirt-
sleeved beside him on the Levee—the latter being
invariably in high physical condition, with beard all
grown, form erect, and enough care in his dress to
show his proportions to the best advantage. As to
worldly condition they are about equals—yet the
Alligator, with twice the energy, twice the enterprise,
twice the pride of the other man, and ten times his
capability under emergencies, looks a beggar in com-
parison. He buys articles of dress at hap-hazard,
lets the law of gravitation fit and arrange them, and
is slovenly, unwashed, and half buttoned: but it is
more particularly in his way of moving and bearing
himself that he shows the absence of the common
human starch of remembered visibility. He sits
down like a wet rag, simply collapsing into a heap.
He walks wTith a stoop, his knees bent forward and
his hat carelessly on the back of his head, but still
with the lithe ease with which a cat draws one leg
after the other. Though probably the most deadly
and formidable combatant that could possibly be
enlisted, particularly to fight " on his own hook," he
is the most unsoldierlike looking man in the world.
I noticed that they were generally oval-faced, with
a slighter jaw-bone and a less animal construction
than any other labouring class I had ever seen, and
remarkably slight-limbed, hollow-chested, and sallowHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

375

—all of which could be easily accounted for by the
malaria to which they are exposed, and their peculiar
occupations; though how the mind has quickened
and the character formed into new and strong
features under this physical deterioration, is more of a
mystery.LETTER XLIII.

NEW ORLEANS PIQUANCES

There is a common nuisance in New Orleans, the
mention of which to a London beggar would make
his mouth water, viz. that a gentleman brings home
upon his boots after a walk on the Levee, a sugar
mud, the scrapings of which would about keep a
small family in molasses. The spillings, from the
innumerable boxes and hogsheads of this, their great
staple of merchandise, are prodigally careless and
perpetual; and the sprinkle of the water-carts converts
it into a saccharine cement, which is most inconve-
niently adhesive. From the difficulty I found in re-
moving my own sweetness of sole, with a common
scraper, after every walk by the river side, I should
suppose, (and the Messrs, Berrian are welcome to
patent the idea at their Museum of wonderful use-
fulness,) that a door-mat, with something like an
inverted carpenter's plane imbedded in the centre,
would be a saleable article in New Orleans. Clean
floors are desirable even in haunts of business; andHEALTH TRTP TO THE TROPICS.	377

ladies, (those, at least, who find time to think of
their carpets during a gentleman's morning call,) have
occasion sometimes, of course, to wish that the re-
membrance of the pleasure could be a little less sweet
and sticky.

But, as if New Orleans were the most piquant city
in the world, there is another peculiar liability at-
tached to the simple matter of taking a walk in its
streets. With the elevation of the bed of the river
above the level of the town, the gutters of course
must either flow up hill to find an outlet, or evaporate
at their sulky leisure. The latter is their choice, as
far as my observation extended. Hackney-vehicles
being in great demand, at the same time, in so warm
a climate, and the stands for these conveniences being
along the side-walks of the principal streets—and flies
(thirdly) being active and numerous amid such fecund
stagnation—the dashing of the hoofs of kicking
horses, into the pools along which you walk, and in
which they stand waiting for your custom, is as per-
petual as fly-biting can make it. With at least fifty
thousand pair of white pantaloons daily exposed to
the broadsides of this unsavoury artillery, gentlemen
spotless in the afternoon are of course the conspi-
cuous exceptions—a clean outside to a man's leg being
tolerable evidence that he has not, that day, been out
of doors. Like the yellow fever, for which the city378

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

is so formidable, at a distance, however, this trouser
varioloid is an epidemic to which the inhabitants
themselves are curiously indifferent. The stranger
is naturally disturbed by it—but you may know a
resident by the easy nonchalance with which he
makes his bespattered entrance into bar-room or hotel.

Sitting at breakfast, one morning, at the St.
Louis Hotel, I found my attention interested in a face
at the upper end of the table, and, without more than
the caprice which one's fancy thus takes, over a silver
fork, I insensibly made quite a study of the physiog-
nomy and manners of that one out of the thirty or
forty persons persons breakfasting around me. I should
be taking a liberty—not having made the acquaintance
of the gentleman, and he being a private citizen 011
whom the digito monstrari has no claim—to do
more than allude to the genial countenance and
general air of superiority which thus drew my atten-
tion; but a friend coming in, after a while, who
pointed him out to me as the purchaser of Powers'
statue of the Greek Slave, the feeling which it
stirred made an event of my seeing him, for which I
am inclined to give New Orleans, whose citizen he is,
the tribute of such mention of the matter as I find
coming to the tip of my quill.

That beautiful statue, I believe, is allowed to be
the triumph of modern Art, and the price paid for itHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	379

was a small fortune. I cannot very well explain the
glow which ran through my blood at thus unexpect-
edly seeing the purchaser, without reminding the
reader how unequal are the uses of money—how the
same dollar, for instance, spent for a supper with an
indigestion, might have bought the needlework of a
sleepless mother, whose toil for her babes, that weary
night, drew angels to look down upon her from
heaven.

To buy a creation of genius, like that statue, was
not the mere giving of ten thousand dollars for an
equivalent. The price was noble—offered with a
noble appreciation of what it bought—but there was
so much more than the marble which had been obe-
dient to the money. The skill, the industry, and the
perfected object of beauty, were little to the inner life
which had been lived for it—the glow of inspired first
conception, the strengthening of self-confidence, the
disciplining agonies of doubt and obscured vision, the
raptures of progressively developed ideal, the alterna-
tions between hope and dread, between tears and
triumphs—the superhuman portion, we muy almost
say, of the history of genius. And there sat a man
who had made himself the master of so much more
than it would seem possible to bargain for—a Pros-
pero whose wealth

" Correspondent, to command,

Doing his spiriting gently,"380

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

had indeed done him the service of an Ariel. Why,
it seemed to me like seeing a potentate who had ex-
ercised a rare kind of power. It was better than
seeing a king. And I trust that a breakfast, in
which such an event could occur, will be thought le-
gitimately within reach of the traveller's chronicle
of adventure.

I find it takes new eyes to be surprised at very
thought-stirring scenes, sometimes; but, to give a
strong instance of what people may get so used to as
to give over looking at it with any particular curio-
sity, I will describe what was set out upon two tables
on the opposite sides of the bar-room of my hotel.
The reader will perhaps remember the description
already given of this drinking-saloon—a vast dome,
like the body of a cathedral, around which the hotel
is built, and to which it seems a secondary appur-
tenance. It is thronged at the drinking hour, and
on the morning I speak of I had gone down to take
a lounge through the crowd, interested as always in
the faces and manners of a strange city, but looking
for no special novelty beyond. The day was warm
and the drinkers many. I was amused with the con-
trast, as I went in, the architectural sublimities com-
monly reserved for places of sacred resort, (a dome
sustained by lofty columns, and admitting light onlyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

381

from the meridian sky,) enclosing a throng so careless
and lively. I strolled along one side, and saw the
lunch-table spread out with terrapin soup, olives,
sandwiches, &c., and then, with a chance turn, I
crossed the crowded floor and came upon another
table on the opposite side, set out with—what does
the reader suppose ?—half a dozen pretty and nicely
dressed negresses, from eighteen to twenty five years
of age, seated in chairs upon the top of the table,
and waiting to be sold presently at auction.

And, to this, nobody was giving a second look.
Groups of men stood about, on the marble floor of
the vast area, with hats on and glasses in their hands,
conversing gaily. The white-aproned waiters ladled
out the soup. The gracious and gentlemanly master
bar-keepers stood braiding rainbows across their fir-
mament of decanters as they flung the ice and the rosy
liquor backwards and forwards into fragrant contact
with the mint. Politics were talked aloud, and busi-
ness was talked low. But it was not quite the hour
—lacking a few minutes—when the destiny of these
other warm dishes was to be decided.

Feeling themselves to be wholly unnoticed, pro-
bably, the negresses were perfectly natural, and their
amused interest in the scene around was sufficient to
make them as gay as children at a show. The front
of the table was on a line with the circle of columns,
and it extended back across the corridor in the rear382

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

—one of the women, who had two children at her
knee, sitting back against the wall of the dome.
This last was the only one whose face expressed any
seriousness or anxiety, though all were modest in
their cheerfulness, and they were evidently girls of
good conduct, as well as in admirable bodily condition;
two of them were really handsome, I thought, and
by the taste with which their bandannas were coifed
they had inhaled a little of the French atmosphere of
the city.

The auctioneer mounted a chair, presently, and
the sale proceeded—too rapidly, however, for any
very critical observation. With what I could see of
it I was exceedingly interested, though, of the
crowd around, no one else except the bidders seemed
to have the curiosity to look on. The girls seemed
bashful more than anything else, dropping their eyes
as the auctioneer told their ages and qualities, or
stealing furtive glances at the low-voiced namers of
the dollars they might be worth—their vanity, doubt-
less, somewhat excited in watching the ladder up
which their value was so reluctantly ascending.
Imagination might paint very touching pictures from
this scene. It was over before I had got out my "brushes
and colours." I just remember that the mother
looked pleased with the destiny of herself and her
children. The others were gone without my having
been able to designate even their prices—deficient asHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

383

of course I was in the practised alacrity of the market.
But I looked down from the gallery above, upon the
two bare tables, later in the day, and indulged
reverie over the contrasted disposal of the respected
viands—the stomach's digestion of what had been
spread upon one, and Fate's digestion of what had
been spread upon the other.DESULTORY NOTES,

AND

INFORMATION PICKED UP ON THE WAY.

Breathing, which is among the negative sensations
in other climates, seemed to me a positive pleasure—
as positive as delicious feeding when hungry—in the
balmy sea of the Lesser Antilles. I could have
heartily " said grace" after every breath. Perhaps
my nicer and quicker sensibility, as an invalid re-
cently from a harsh winter at the North, may have
made my experience a relief as much as an enjoyment;
but it was a bliss of living, which kept me perpetually
conscious of the enjoyment of it. Yet it was pro-
bable that I was in this latitude at its most favourable
season, and one, too, that is a brief exception to the
rest of the year. Dr. Evans (an English physician)
thus describes the usual effect of the climate upon
the newly arrived French officer and soldier sent to
his post in the Islands of St. Lucia or Martinique :—

" The arterial system is excited ; the blood is deter-
mined to the surface of the body; the skin is eitherHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

385

preternaturally warm and dry, or covered with profuse
perspiration. There is a desire for cool drink, which,
when taken into the stomach, increases the perspira-
tion, until the clothes become saturated with moisture.
The skin then becomes irritable, and covered with a
lichenous eruption, known by the name of " prickly
heat." The body seems to have acquired an inflam-
matory diathesis; and, if blood be taken from a person
under these circumstances, it will be found to be of a
brighter colour than in Europe."

Speaking of the effects of the marshes in the neigh-
bourhood of some of the French stations, the same
writer says :—" A European, or a native after a long
residence in a temperate and healthy climate, arriving
in these places, complains of a feeling of weight in
the atmosphere, a something which resists the wish
for exertion or exercise. Both his mind and body
are oppressed : his intellect is clouded; his spirits
are low and desponding, and all pre-existing love of
enterprise vanishes. If his residence be protracted,
he has slight febrile movements, which come on regu-
larly or irregularly, not sufficiently severe to prevent
his usual avocations, but which, nevertheless, are
sufficient to induce him to throw himself on a sofa,
and require a powerful resolution to combat In this
manner his body may gradually accommodate itself
to the climate, but he may consider himself fortunate

s386

health trip to the tropics.

if he escape so easily. In general, if he be guilty of
any imprudences, he feels restless at night, and can
only sleep during the cool of the morning. He feels
out of sorts; has pains in the back and extremities,
as if from fatigue; he complains of headache, sick-
ness, and nausea; and, if these symptoms are not
attended to immediately, suffers what is called an
attack of seasoning fever "

It would seem that the long sustained opinion of
the salubrity of change to warmer climates for con-
sumptive patients, is losing ground, even with the
medical authorities. The following is from the
" New York Times" of a recent date:—

Climate on Consumption.—It appears that the
medical faculty are beginning to question the opinion
which has so long prevailed among medical men, that
a change of climate is beneficial to persons suffering
with the consumption. Sir James Clark, of England,
has assailed the doctrine with considerable force, and
a French physician named Carriere has written against
it; but the most vigorous opponent of it is Dr.
Burgess, of whom a recent article in Chambers'
Edinburgh Journal, which we find condensed in a
Philadelphia paper, gives an account.

Dr. Burgess contends that climate has little or
nothing to do with the cure of consumption, and that
if it had, the curative effect would be producedHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	387

through the skin and not the lungs. That a warm
climate is not in itself beneficial, he shows from the
fact that the disease exists in all latitudes. In
India and Africa, tropical climates, it is as frequent
as in Europe or North America. At Malta, right in
the heart of the genial Mediterranean, the army re-
ports of England show that one-third of the deaths
among the soldiers are by consumption. At Nice, a
favourite resort of English invalids, especially those
afflicted with lung complaints, there are more native-
born persons die of consumption, than in any English
town of equal population.

In Geneva, this disease is almost equally prevalent.
In Florence, pneumonia, in the Doctor's words, " is
marked by a suffocating character, and by a rapid
progress towards its last stage." Naples, whose cli-
mate is the theme of so much praise by travellers,
shows, in her hospitals, a mortality by consumption
equal to one in two and one-third, whereas in Paris,
whose climate is so often pronounced villanous, the
proportion is only one in three and one-quarter. In
Madeira, no local disease is more common than con-
sumption. The Journal adds :—

" The next position of Dr. Burgess is, that as the
beasts, birds, and fishes of one region die in another,
a change of climate cannot, unless exceptionably, be
beneficial to an invalid. Notwithstanding the greater
adaptability to climate which man preserves, the388	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

human constitution, it is plain, cannot endure changes
of temperature without being more or less affected by
it. The frosts and thaws of England have corroded,
during the lapse of ages, the solid stone on it of
which their cathedrals were built. In like manner a
foreign climate gradually undermines the health. Dr.
Burgess refers to the shattered constitutions of every
officer who has served for any length of time in India;
and to the well-known fact that the children born of
white parents in India are delicate as a class. The
African, as we know by the experience of this country,
cannot endure severe and protracted cold. Canada
is the common grave, as well as refuge of fugitive slaves.
If such is the effect of changes of climate on persons
in health, what must it be, argues Dr. Burgess, on
invalids ? And he fortifies this theoretical conclusion,
by reminding the reader that it is not only the natives
who die of consumption in Madeira, but that the.
grave-yards of that island are whitened by the head
stones of thousands who have gone there for health,
and remained to die.

" Persons, not professional, imagine that the con-
sumptive patient, by breathing a mild atmosphere,
withdraws irritation, and leaves nature free to work
a cure. But this notion Dr. Burgess characterises as
entirely erroneous. It is through the skin, not through
the lungs, he contends, that a warm climate acts
beneficially. When a sudden change in the tempera-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

389

ture produces a chill, cutaneous perspiration is checked,
the skin becomes dry and hard, and the lungs suffer
from excessive action, for they are compelled now to
eliminate what should have passed off through the skin.
The doctor illustrates this by referring to the instan-
taneous relief which is generally obtained through
free perspiration, where difficult breathing or oppres-
sion of the chest has been occasioned by artificial
heat. What is best for consumptive patients,
therefore, is an equable climate. It is the fluctua-
tions, not the high temperature of a climate, that is

injurious."

* * * *

The statistics of the Isles of the Caribbean Sea
along which our steamer glided like a cruiser among
the islands of Paradise •— so enjoyable was every
minute with scenery and intoxicating balm of atmo-
sphere—show bountiful provision by Nature, with
bountiful drawbacks as well. The soil of St. Lucia
and Martinique is stated to be " twelve times more
productive than that of Europe, half an acre being
sufficient to supply the wants of a man !" In the
valleys and alluvial plains it consists of a deep vegeta-
ble mould mixed with clay, and, in the more elevated
positions, of red earth. The substratum is a mixture
of sand and ground. The mere enumeration of the
productions of St. Lucia (which I find in an English
Report on the subject) makes one's mouth water:—390

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

" The staple productions are sugar, coffee, and
cocoa. Maize is the only corn grown : it is princi-
pally used for poultry. The principal spices, dyeing-
stuffs, and medicinal plants, are cinnamon, ginger,
vanilla, cloves, pimento, nutmeg, indigo, logwood,
cassia, aloes, castor-oil, quinquina, cactus, ipecacuanha,
jalap, simaruba, sarsaparilla, and lignum vitse. Yams,
edoes, sweet potatoes, and cassada, are produced in
great abundance. The other leguminous plants and
esculents are cabbages, cucumbers, peas, parsnips,
beans, carrots, salads, radishes, egg-fruit, beet root,
celery, mountain-cabbage, sorrel, spinage, pumpkin,
tomatoes, succory, ocros, and calalou.

" All the delicious fruits of the West Indies and
many valuable exotics grow to perfection in St. Lucia.
The most attractive are the pine-apple, cocoa-nut,
grape, melon, date, fig, sappodillo, orange, shaddock,
lemon, lime, citron, guava, plantain, fig-bananna,
mango, star-apple, pomegranate, plum, cherry, ma-
mee, grenadilla, water-lemon, avocado-pear, chestnut,
tamarind, bread-fruit, cashew, papaw, bread-nut,
custard-apple, golden apple, sugar-apple, and soursop.
The quarter of Soufriere in particular is justly famed
for the great variety and exquisite savour of its fruits
and vegetables. Its pine-apple, muscadine grape,
melon, and fig, are considered of a superior quality
to those produced in any part of the West Indies.

" St. Lucia is covered with forest trees of everyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

391

form and of endless variety. They are, with few
exceptions, indigenous to the soil. Many of them
furnish valuable materials for building, and some,
excellent specimens of fancy wood. The locust or
native mahogany grows in great profusion. The
other principal trees are the palm-tree, trumpet-tree,
oak, white cedar, black cedar, bully-tree, poplar,
orange-tree, cotton-tree, sand-box, cinnamon-tree,
Indian fig-tree, bamboo, sandal-wood, cocoa-nut-tree,
satin-wood, mango-tree, tamarind-tree, cashew-tree,
bread-fruit-tree, calabash-tree, citron-tree, date-tree,
mamee-tree, manchineel, soap-tree, rose-wood, avocado
pear-tree, iron-wood, guava-tree, laurel, bois immortal,
bois diable, sour orange-tree, willow, sea-side grape,
simaruba, lignum vitse, acacia, logwood, bois riviere,
boistan, acoma, grigris, angelin, gommier, chatanier
grand-feuille, pois doux, bois violon, bois sept ans,
bois pian, barabara, boit d'Inde, bois flambeau, galba,
mangrove, macata, rose mohaut, bois fourmi, fromager,
balisier, latanier, paletuvier, and fougere.

" The domesticated animals are the same as those
of Europe, whence they were originally imported.
Of the horse, ass, ox, mule, cow, hog, sheep, goat,
duck, cock, hen, turkey, cat, dog, rabbit, goose,
pigeon, and Guinea bird, there are various species,
and they all thrive admirably. The woods are inha-
bited by the wild ox, musk-rat, wild hog, iguana,392

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

and agouti, which afford excellent sport to the native
chasseurs.

" The game is plentiful; and from August to
November (the shooting season), the island is visited
by a great variety as well as quantity of birds. Among
them are the partridge, the plover, dove, wild pigeon,
parrot, snipe, banana bird, egret, thrush, humming
bird, water-hen, erabier, hawk, galding, ground-dove,
goat-sucker, swallow, cuckoo, wild duck, booby, frigate,
trembler, white throat, nightingale, woodcock, curlew,
and yellowlegs. The erabier is a native of the moun-
tains, and measures generally five to six feet in height,
and six feet from wing to wing.

" The fish are abundant in variety:—The sprat,
cutlass, eel, dolphin, anchovy, herring, sole, flounder,
mullet, ray, mackerel, doctor, flying-fish, baraconta,
captain, king-fish, parrot-fish, and snapper. Crabs,
cram-fish, and lobsters, are in great abundance, and
an amazing quantity of sea-turtles and delicious
small oysters."

In contrast with these prodigalities, which make
hunger or pauperism wholly unknown in these islands,
it may be instructive to name the reptiles and
insects:—

" The yellow serpent is only found on the two islands
of St. Lucia and Martinique. It measures between
six and eight feet in length, and its bite is generallyHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	393

fatal. There are numerous other serpents, and they
multiply amazingly,—the female bringing forth from
thirty to forty young ones at a birth. In most cases,
the bite, if immediately attended to, may be effec-
tually cured, and the negroes are very skilful in the
application of the various specifics. The yellow ser-
pent subsists on birds, insects, and poultry. He has
an enemy, and a formidable match, in the cribo, or
black snake, an animal having the appearance and
shape of the serpent without his noxious power. A
careless observer would be liable to mistake one for
the other. In every encounter the cribo is the aggres-
sor, and generally comes off victorious. It coun-
teracts the mischievous bite of the serpent by rolling
itself on the plant called pied-poide, and returns to
the attack with renovated strength. When (as is
frequently the case) the body of the serpent is larger
and longer than that of the snake, the latter, retaining
possession of its prey, feeds upon it for several days,
gradually sucking in such portions of the carcase as
may be sufficient for the wants of the moment. The
cribo is sometimes found with the lower parts of the
serpent protruding between his jaws.

" The insects are the scorpion, wood-slave, annu-
lated lizard, locust, tarantula, centipede, blacksmith,
wasp, mosquito, bat, cockroach, fly, chigre, beetle,
fire-fly, spider, wood-ant, butterfly, bete-rouge, cater-
pillar, cricket, and bee. Of these the scorpion and

s 2394

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

centipede are the most dangerous, the ant and wood-
ant the most destructive, the mosquito the most trou-
blesome, and the cockroach the most repulsive. The
destruction caused by the ant is generally confined to
plants and flowers; but the depredations of the wood-
ant extend to the houses, furniture, and clothes of
the inhabitants; and the mischief they occasion is no
less incredible than the promptitude with which it is
accomplished." (The same nuisances were described
not long since by a writer in the Edinburgh Review,
and rather humorously:—) ' The bete-rouge lays the
foundation of a tremendous ulcer. In a moment
you are covered with ticks. Flies get entry into your
mouth, into your eyes, into your nose—you eat flies,
drink flies, and breathe flies. Lizards, cockroaches,
and snakes, get into your bed; ants eat up the hooks;
scorpions sting you on the foot. Every thing bites,
stings, or bruises; every second of your life you are
wounded by some piece of animal life. An insect
with eleven legs is swimming in your tea-cup,—a
nondescript with nine wings is struggling in the
small-beer,-—or a caterpillar with a dozen eyes in its
belly is hastening over the bread and butter. All
Nature is alive, and seems to be gathering her ento-
mological hosts to eat you up, as you stand, out of
your coat, waistcoat, and breeches."

The alarming increase in the frequency of earth-
quakes and hurricanes in the Antilles, threatens,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

395

ominously, the depopulation of their white inhabi-
tants ; and the ever-increasing power of the negroes,
by their more rapid reproduction and constitutional
adaptation to the climate, will, in all probability,
soon give over these beautiful islands to an exclusively
black population. The negro is the better soldier in
these latitudes. " Stout, agile, expert in the use of
arms, he can also endure patiently the scorching sun
and the torrents of rain of the tropical climate. He
can live on the roots, or on what grows spontaneously
or with little culture in the fields; and being bold
and cunning, he is ready to oppose his enemies by
force, or deceive them by stratagem." Property, in
that island of gardens, Santa Cruz (I was authenti-
cally informed), is, at present, almost valueless from
these causes, and considered as quite unsaleable.

But, of the earthquakes which are now becoming
the perpetual terror of the Caribbean Archipelago, the
one in the island of Gaudaloupe in 1843 was the most
frightful on record. It took place in the forenoon;
and, on the night preceding, there had been a grand
ball, which, with the sitting of the Court of Assize,
had drawn in the population from the country around
in great numbers. The town of Point-a-Petre, which
was the scene of it, though not the seat of govern-
ment, was, in fact, the capital of the island; and, for
the elegance of its buildings, both public and private,
and the extent of its mercantile relations, it was con-396

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

sidered one of the most flourishing cities of the West
Indies. A writer of great graphic power thus describes
this awful calamity :—

" The Court of Assize had just assembled for the
administration of human justice ; the principal hotel
was thronged with strangers and planters from the
interior, discussing matters of business, or seated
together at the table-d'hote; and on the quays and
along the streets trade and traffic were proceeding
with their wonted bustle and activity. At the fatal
hour of twenty-five minutes to eleven, there was
heard a noise, a hollow, rolling, rumbling noise, as of
distant unbroken thunder; the sea dashed tumul-
tously on the beach ; the earth heaved convulsively
and opened up in several places, emitting dense
columns of water. In an instant all the stone build-
ings had tumbled to the ground—a wide-spread heap
of rubbish and ruins: and in that one instant—a
dreadful and destructive instant—five thousand human
beings, torn from their families and friends, were
ushered into the abyss of eternity. But the work of
desolation did not stop here ; hardly had the earth-
quake ceased its ravages, when a fire broke out in
several places at once—and such were the terror and
confusion of the surviving inhabitants, that not a
single house was rescued from the flames. In
another instant the pile was lit up—the devouring
element was sweeping over the immense holocaust;HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	397

and a long shriek from the living, and a long and
lingering groan from the dying, had told the tale and
sealed the doom of Point-a-Petre.

" The scenes of horror that followed it would be
difficult to describe. Fathers ran about in search of
their children—children screamed aloud for their
mothers—mothers for their husbands—husbands for
their wives; and the wild and wailing multitude that
wandered over the ruins, in search of a mother, a
father, a husband, a child, a brother, a sister, or a
friend, found nothing but headless trunks 'end severed
limbs. Kich and poor, black and white, planter and
peasant, master and slave—all lay confounded in one
vast sepulchre—all were crushed, calcined or con-
sumed—all hushed in the shadow of death or the
silence of despair.

" The night that succeeded was a night of wretched-
ness and want—of sorrow and suffering—twelve
thousand inhabitants, without food, without raiment,
without money, without means, without house, or
home, or hope, had sought refuge under a temporary
tent, erected in the open air. Who can depict, who
imagine, the visions of darkness and danger that
haunted these widowed thousands, weeping over the
burning remains of the departed city ! Three days
did the devouring element, fed in its progress by a
forest of projecting timbers, continue with unabated
fury ; three nights did the funeral pile send forth its398

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

lurid glare—a beacon to mariners, pointing to where
Point-a-Petre stood no more.

" On the morning of the 9th, the task of explo-
ration began; but, to enable the workmen to proceed
without danger, it became necessary to batter down
several walls and portions of houses, whose shattered
impending fragments threatened destruction on all
sides. In the space of one week, six thousand bodies
were dug out of the ruins, fifteen hundred of which
were still living, but mostly in a horrible state of
mutilation. These were immediately removed to the
town of Basse-terre, and placed under medical care ;
yet, sad to say, not more than one third of them
recovered. With regard to the dead bodies, an at-
tempt was made, at first, to have them buried in the
public cemetry; but, as the exploration proceeded,
so many were found that it was resolved to have them
sunk in the sea. At this melancholy task hundreds
of boats were employed for several days. At length
the inconvenience of the floating corpses, many of
which were washed ashore, compelled the authorities
to resort to the expedient of burning them in heaps—
and this proceeding continued till the whole were dug
out and consumed. Some of the soldiers employed
in the task had gone mad, doubtless from the

harrowing impression produced by the sight."
********

I must confess to have been exceedingly interestedHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

599

in the coloured population of the Antilles. As they
will, unquestionably, soon become the masters of these
islands, curiosity as to their capabilities of progress
was natural enough; but, besides this, there was
something in the look, mien, countenance and man-
ners of the negroes there, which was the "shadow
cast before the coming event." I took many notes
of peculiarities that struck me, from time to time,
but it would require much discriminating labour to
make their contradictory chronicles read plausibly or
intelligibly. In a volume kindly given me by the
English Consul at Martinique, (a gentleman whose
courteous dignity and intelligence eminently adorn
his office) I found some most valuable and curious
information on this subject. The book, though
printed in London, is one not likely to have been met
with by the American reader. Its author, Henry
Breen, was thirteen years a resident in the Island a
few miles from Martinique, (St. Lucia,) and he writes
most graphically and understandingly of the people
of these latitudes. I do not think I can, in any way,
throw more light on the character and grade of negro
habits and manners here, than by quoting a portion
of his account of them :—

"The Negro language is a jargon formed from the
French, and composed of words, or rather sounds,
adapted to the organs of speech in the black
population. As a patois it is even more unin-400

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

telligible than that spoken by the negroes in the
English Colonies. Its distinguishing feature consists
in the suppression of the letter " r" in almost every
word in which it should be used, and the addition of
" ki's" and " ka's" to Assist in the formation of the
tenses. It is, in short, the French language, stripped
of its manly and dignified ornaments, and travestied
for the accommodation of children and toothless old
women. I regret to add that it has now almost
entirely superseded the use of the beautiful French
language, even in some of the highest circles of
colonial society. The prevalence of this jargon is
one of the many disadvantages resulting from a want
of educational institutions. It is the refuge of
ignorance, and the less you know of French, the
greater aptitude you have for talking Negro; a child
three years old will speak it more fluently than a
man of thirty. I can say for myself that, although
possessing an extensive knowledge of the French
language, acquired during a sojourn of five years in
France, I have failed in obtaining any thing like an
adequate notion of this gibberish, during a residence
of nearly fifteen years in St. Lucia and Martinique.
Having remarked that I was laughed at by the
negroes whenever I attempted to use it in con-
versation, I have adopted the plan of addressing
them in my best French—and now the laugh is all
on my side. Nothing can be more amusing than theHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

401

faces they put on to convince you that they are
unable to understand French. "Pas tan" (Je
n'entends pas) is the reply to every observation; but
the truth is9 they often pretend ignorance in order
to allure you into their own soft, silly dialect, whose
accents are always flattering to their ears, however
imperfectly it may be spoken.

" Nor is this corruption of the language confined to
mere w^ords : it also extends to proper names; so
much so, indeed, that there are few persons in the
island that are not designated by any name but their
own. Some have the sobriquets of Moncoq, Mont out,
Fan/an, Laguerre. Others have their names mol-
lified by means of certain dulcet, endearing ter-
minations : thus, Anne becomes Annzie, Catherine
Catiche, Besson Bessonnette: w hilst the greater
number, dropping altogether the names given them
at the baptismal font, have adopted others of more
modern vogue. Jean Baptiste is supplanted by
Nelson; Francois by Francis; Cyprien by Cammille;
and what is still more preposterous, not only are the
christian names altered in this way, but the
patronymics of many are entirely suppressed. M.
Jean Marie Beauregard considers Jean Marie too
vulgar, and adopts the name of Alfred, and his
friends consider Beauregard too long, and omit it
altogether in their dealings with him. By this
process M. Jean Marie Beauregard is metamorphosed402

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

into plain M. Alfred; and his wife if any lie have
goes by the name of Madame Alfred. This con-
fusion of names would be merely ludicrous, if it were
not pregnant with mischief to the community.
From being first sanctioned by intercourse of every-
day life, and introduced into family circles, the
alterations and substitutions had gradually crept
into the more serious relations of trade and litiga-
tion ; so that, when the Commissioners of Compen-
sation were about to adjudicate upon the claims and
counter claims from St. Lucia, scarcely a single
individual was found to have invariably preserved his
proper name in the different documents submitted
on his behalf. Difficulty and delay were the result;
and many persons only succeeded in establishing
their identity and securing their fortunes, by ob-
taining affidavits, certificates of baptism, and notarial
attestations, at considerable expense, from various
parts of the world.

" The higher class of Creoles are distinguished for
their courteous manner and cordial hospitality.
Although few amongst them ever attain any emi-
nence in literary or scientific pursuits, they are
nevertheless generally intelligent and well-informed.
The practice of duelling, so common in their " days
of chivalry," has now almost totally disappeared.
Impelled by a mistaken or exaggerated principle of
honour, they were wont to seek reparation in singleHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	403

combat for the most trivial injuries : nor were they
deterred from such exhibitions by the stringent laws
of Louis XIV., then, as now, in force in St. Lucia.
In those days no scion of colonial aristocracy was
deemed qualified to enter on the business of life,
until, in the phraseology of their code of honour, he
had given proof in a duel of his daring and dexterity.
To have shot his man and debauched his friend's
wife were the surest recommendations to honour
and distinction—without these he was held incom-
petent to assume the solemn duties of a husband and
a father; without these he was exposed to the taunts
and trials, the sneers and slander, of the self-styled
brave. Now-a-days, however, this disgraceful
practice is only resorted to in extreme cases. The
example of our neighbours of Martinique, by whom
the fashion of duelling was once regarded as the pink
of gallantry, and the "ne plus ultra" of social
refinement, contributed in no small degree to
promote a bellicose disposition amongst our friends
in St. Lucia; and the abatement of the evil in the
"Faubourg St. Germain du Golf de Mexique," has
produced a kindred feeling and corresponding results
in the once sister Colony of St. Lucia.

" The Creole women are a race apart; and, as far
as I am able to judge, are not inferior to those of
any country for elegance of form, gracefulness of
carriage, suavity of temper, and buoyancy of dis-404

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

position. To them may be truly applied Lord
Byron's description of the Italian women :—

Heart on her lips, and soul within her eyes,

Soft as her clime, and sunny as her skies.

" Dancing, with its train of airy and gay some evolu-
tions, is the idol passion of the fair Creole; and in no
place or position do her delicate beauty and exquisite
loveliness appear to greater advantage than amidst
the attractions and superficial excitement of the ball-
room. Even the dance itself is not with her what it
is in the more extended circles of European society—
a thing of attitudes and gestures—a round of skim-
ming and shuffling. Here it is all gravity and
decorum—there nothing but flutter and frivolity.
In France it is the wild creation of fashionable
extravagance; between the tropics a chastened and
rational exercise, which is often carried to the utmost
extent, without infringing any of the decencies of
life.

"Amongst the lower orders the dance exercises a still
greater influence. Not satisfied with aping those
above them in finery and dress, the negroes carry
their love of dancing to the most extravagant pitch
—much too extravagant perhaps for their means.
True, the evil has its bright side in the encouragement
of trade and the promotion of a spirit of emulation
and industry amongst the labouring classes; but itHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

405

must greatly impair their physical energies, if it does
not ultimately mar their independence. The best
that can be said of it is, that it is inherent in, and
common to, all colonial populations of French origin
—and that it is not to be put down either by preach-
ing or persecution. The spoiled children of artificial
enjoyment, French negroes, like their betters, will
have their feasts and festivals, their dressing and
dancing. Let us hope that these recreations may
long continue to preserve their primeval character of
innocence and simplicity—nor, by contact with
fashion and false refinement, becomes the vehicles of
corruption and crime.

" In order to gratify their propensity for dancing,
the negroes have formed themselves into two divi-
sions, or ' societies/ under the somewhat fantastic
style of ' Roses9 and < Marguerites/ * These
f societies' exist by immemorial usage in the French
colonies, and are still to be found in more or less
activity in St. Lucia, Dominica, and Trinidad. The
history of the Antilles is involved in such total
obscurity in all that concerns the black population,
that it would be impossible at the present time to
trace the origin of the Hoses and Marguerites. It
appears that at one period they were invested with a
political character; and their occasionall alusions to
English and French, Republicans and Bonapartists,

* The Marguerites are also sometimes called " Wadeloes."406

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

would seem to confirm this impression. Their con-
nection with politics must have ceased at the termi-
nation of the struggle between England and France,
from which period their rivalry has been confined to
dancing and other diversions.

" These societies, which had remained almost in
abeyance during the latter days of slavery, have
been revived within the last five years with unusual
eclat and solemnity. Although few persons, besides
the labouring classes and domestic servants, take any
active part in their proceedings, there is scarcely an
individual in the island, from the Governor down-
wards, who is not enrolled amongst the partisans of
one coterie or the other. The Roses are patronized
by Saint Rose, and the flower of that name is their
cherished emblem. The Marguerites are in the holy
keeping of Saint Marguerite, and the Marguerite, or
bachelor's button, is the flower they delight to honour.
Each society has three kings and three queens, who
are chosen by the suffrages of the members. The
first, or senior, king and queen only make their
appearance on solemn occasions, such as the anni-
versary of their coronation or the fete of the patron
saint of the society: on all other emergencies they
are represented by the kings and queens elect, who
exercise a sort of viceregal authority. The most
important personage next to the sovereign is the
chanterelle, or female singer, upon whom devolvesHEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	407

the task of composing tlieir Belairs* and of reciting
them at their public dances. Each society has a
house hired in Castries, in which it holds its perio-
dical meetings. Here the women, whose attendance
is much more regular than that of the men, assemble
in the evening to rehearse some favourite f belair'
for their next dance, or to receive a lecture from the
king, who may be seen at one end of the room,
pacing up and down with an air of dignity and im-
portance suited to his station. If any member has
been guilty of improper conduct since their last
meeting, the king takes occasion to advert to it in
terms of censure, dwelling with peculiar emphasis
upon the superior decorum observed by the rival
society. Gross misconduct is punished by expulsion
from their ranks.

" The c belairs9 turn generally on the praises of the
respective societies; the comparative value of the
Rose and the Marguerite; the good qualities, both
physical and mental, of individual members; the
follies and foibles of the opposite party, and of
persons supposed to be connected with or favourable
to them. Nothing can surpass the poetical fecundity
of the chanterelles: almost every week produces a

* The Belair is a sort of pastoral in blank verse, adapted
to a peculiar tune or air. Many of these airs are of a
plaintive and melancholy character, and some are exquisitely
melodious.408	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

fresh effusion and a new belair. Some, indeed,
are of a higher order than one would be entitled
to look for from untutored negroes; and it is
but natural to suppose that they are assisted in
these by their friends among the educated classes.
Of this description are the following stanzas in
praise of the Roses, which appeared in print in
1840:—

LES EOSES.

Venez, amis; venez, dansons;

De Sainte Rose c'est la fete :

Disons pour elle nos chansons,

Et que cliacun de nous repete :

Chantons, amis ; rions, dansons.

C'est aujourd'hui jour d'allegresse ;

Nargue des soucis, des chagrins;

A nous le plaisir et Viresse,

A nous les vifs et gais refrains.

Venez, &c.

Des fleurs la Rose est la plus belle:

"Par mon parfum, par mes couleurs,

" Par mon eclat, je suis, dit-elle,

" Oui, je suis la reine des fleurs!"

Venez, &c.

Sur sa tige trist et fletrie
La Marguerite nait, perit;

Mais la Eose, toujours fleurie,

Eenait toujours et reverdit.

Venez, &e,HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

409

La Rose est la reine du monde,

Elle est aussi celle des amours!

Qu' a nos chansons chacun reponde
Vive la Rose pour toujours !

Yenez, &c.

" The occasions of festivity and dancing are ushered
in with universal demonstrations of gaiety and joy-
ousness. After assisting at a solemn service comme-
morative of the day, the Messieurs and Dames, decked
out in their most costly dresses, proceed in groups to
visit their friends amongst the higher classes, distri-
buting cakes and flowers in honour of the fete. The
costume of the men differs little from that commonly
worn by gentlemen in England or Prance. The silk
or beaver hat, the cloth coat, the swelled cravat, the
sleek trowsers, the tasselled cane—in short, the whole
tournure and turn-out of the male exquisites, would
do honour to Bond Street or the Palais Royal. But the
dress of the women is quite another affair : although
in many instances the Jupe* has given way to the
regular English gown, yet, on fete days, the former
re-asserts its preponderance, as being more in harmony
with the general costume. First you have the head-
dress set off by the varied and brilliant colours of the

* " The Jupe is a species of gown worn by the negresses and
some of the coloured women in the French Antilles ; having
neither sleeves nor bodice, it presents the exact dimensions of
a petticoat—hence the name."

T410

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

Madras handkerchief, erected into a pyramid, a cone,
or a castle, according to the fancy of the wearer, and
spangled over with costly jewels; next a huge pair of
earrings of massive gold; then several gold and coral
necklaces, tastefully thrown over the dark shoulders;
then the embroidered bodice trimmed with gold and
silver tinsel; and lastly, the striped jupe of silk or
satin unfolding its bright tints and broad train to the
breeze. Add to these a profusfon of bracelets and
bouquets, of foulards and favours, and you will have
a faint impression of this bizarre yet brilliant, gro-
tesque but gorgeous costume. Thus travestied the
dancers proceed at sunset to the place appointed for
the bamboula.* A circle is formed in the centre of
some square or grass plot. On one side appear four
or five negroes, quite naked down to the waist, and
seated on their tamtamsf. These, together with two
or three timbrels, compose the orchestra. Flags and
banners richly emblazoned upon a red or blue ground,
and bearing characteristic legends in gilt letters, are

* " The negro dances are of two kinds—the ball and the bam-
boula, When conducted within doors it is always called a ball
—when ' sub dio' a bamboula. The use of them varies ac
cording to the state of the weather; but there is a marked pre-
dilection for the out-door recreation."

f "The tamtam is a small barrel, covered at one end with a
strong skin. To this, placed between his legs, the negro ap-
plies the open hand and fingers, beating time to the belair
with the most astonishing precisiou."HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.	ill

seen fluttering in the air; and, as the groups of
dancers advance in all directions, the darkness of the
night disappears before the blaze of a thousand flam-
beaux. Now the chanterelle, placing herself in front
of the orchestra, gives the signal with a flourish of
her castanet : she then repeats a verse of the belair ;
the dancers take up the refrain; the tamtams and
timbrels strike in unison ; and the scene is enlivened
by a succession of songs and dances, to the delight
and amusement of the assembled multitude.

" To a superficial observer these exhibitions present
somewhat of a profane and even heathenish appear-
ance. In this light they were doubtless regarded by a
reverend gentleman, who visited St. Lucia in October
1842, and on witnessing the dance exclaimed with a
sapient shake of the head: ' Juggernath ! Jugger-
nath !' But the truth is, there is no Juggernath at
all in the matter; and the Christian moralist, who
takes the trouble to examine and inquire, will find
less to censure in these primeval though fantas-
tic diversions, than in the more civilized seductions
of the quadrille, the gallopade, and the waltz.

" The whole labouring population being divided into
Roses and Marguerites, it follows that, upon the good
understanding which subsists between them, must
mainly depend the peace and prosperity of the colony.
This good understanding, however, is liable to be
disturbed by the intrigues of interested partisans, on412

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

the one hand, and officious, would-be patrons on the
other: and then their rivalry, habitually characte-
rised by the most friendly relations, will assume all
the acerbity of a political feud. Thus, in 1840, an
attempt was made by an unscrupulous planter to set
one society in opposition to the other, by pandering
to the worst of passions of undisciplined humanity,
and exciting their emulation beyond its legitimate
sphere. The object was to allure the labourers to his
estates, and get them to work on his own terms : for
this purpose he took one of the societies under his
special protection; had himself elected their king;
purchased superb dresses for the queens; and got up
splendid fetes for their entertainment. Attracted
by these dazzling frivolities hundreds of the labourers
hastened to range themselves under the banner of
the f white king/ For some time all went on well,
and the planter had every cause to rejoice in the
success of his scheme; but when the day of reckon-
ing came, and the labourers discovered that all their
wages had been frittered away in gilded extravagance,
the prestige of the white king's popularity speedily
vanished, and his estates were deserted.

" Another interruption of the general harmony oc-
curred in September 1841. At the instigation of
two or three individuals, in the assumed character of
Patrons of the Roses, these foolish people procured a
blue flag (the colour peculiar to the Marguerites) andhealth trip to the troptcs.	413

paraded it in derision through the streets. In the
evening they gave a bamboula, and the flag having
been again exhibited, a party of the Marguerites
rushed into the ring, seized the flag, and were car-
rying it off in triumph, when the Attorney-General,
who happened to be present, ran forward, and by
threats of vengeance succeeded in wresting it from
the discomfited Marguerites, amidst the vivats and
vociferations of the Roses. The pretext for this
proceeding was the prevention of a breach of the
peace; but if such had really been the object, a more
obvious and efficacious means would have been to have
interdicted in the first instance the insulting display
of the rival flag. In fact, the course pursued, instead
of allaying the popular excitement, only fanned it
into a flame ; for when the dance was concluded, and
the Roses were returning to their houses, they were
assaulted by a numerous body of the Marguerites.
A general melee ensued, in which the chief com-
batants were the women, and their chief weapons the
flambeaux which they had brought away from the
dance ; and these they used with such indiscriminate
fury against their opponents, that the respectable
inhabitants were compelled to interfere to prevent the
town from becoming a prey to the flames.

" Amongst the numerous peculiarities of the
negro character, as it is moulded or modified by
French society, is their constant aping of their superiors
t 2414	HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPTCS.

in rank. Daring slavery, the most venial offence, the
most innocent familiarity, was regarded as an ' inso-
lence and all the year round the din of c Je vous
trouve bien insolent' resounded in the negro's ear.
From long habit this expression has now become a
bye-word with the lower orders: it is, in fact, the
staple of their abuse of each other, and most oppro-
brious epithet in their Billingsgate vocabulary.
Canaille is deemed too vulgar, and negraille too
personal; while " in-so-lent" carries with it a pun-
gency and privilege which receive added zest from
the recollections of the past.

" But if to be deemed insolent is the lowest depth
of degradation, to be held respectable is the highest
step in the ladder of social distinctions. From
Marigot to Mabouya, from Cape Maynard to the
Mole-a-chiques, respectability is the aim and end of
every pursuit. With the baker in his shop, as with
the butcher in his stall, it is the one thing needful—
the corner-stone of social existence; and though it
may not, like charity, cover a multitude of sins, it
will screen a vast amount of meanness and misery.
Nothing can be more amusing than to observe the
talismanic effect of this word upon the lower orders :
even the common street-criers take advantage of it in
the disposal of their wares. Some time ago, a female
servant, being commissioned to sell # quantity of
biscuits of an inferior quality, hawked them about toHEALTH TK1P TO THE TROPICS.	415

the cry of " Mi biscuits pour les dames respectables."
As she passed along the street the conceited recom-
mendation did not fail to attract the attention of
those for whom it was thrown out. The hawker was
stopped at every door, and so great was the anxiety
of the negresses to test the quality of her biscuits
as a patent of respectability, that before she reached
the end of the street she had disburdened herself of
the contents of her tray.

" A still more striking illustration of the charm of
respectability is presented in the following circum-
stances, which occurred in August 1842. A dispute
had arisen between the queen of the Roses and a
coloured woman—a warm advocate for the Margue-
rites. During the altercation the parties came to
blows, and the queen being a strong, lusty woman,
inflicted a pair of black eyes upon her antagonist. The
matter soon reached the ears of the Attorney-General,
and both combatants were brought up before Chief-
Justice Reddie in the Court of Police. As the quarrel
had grown out of the previous dispute about the blue
flag, the Court House was crowded to suffocation by
the friends and supporters of the accused—each party
anxiously expecting a verdict against its antagonist.
This feature of the case did not escape the penetra-
tion of the Judge, who resolving not to give either
any cause of triumph, dismissed them both with a
severe admonition, expressing his surprise that two416

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

such 'respectable demoiselles' should have so far
forgotten what was due to themselves, as to have
assaulted each other in the public streets. The word
' respectable' shot like electricity through the
audience. A thrill of exultation seized every breast ;
the Marguerite looked at the Rose; the Rose smiled
at the Marguerite; and as they retired from the
Court, pleased with themselves and proud at the
Judge, a murmur of applause ran from mouth to
mouth. Since that period nothing but harmony has
prevailed between the rival societies; and it would
now require no small amount of provocation to draw
them down from the niche of respectability in which
they are enshrined.

" The negro's pretensions to respectability are
founded more upon the contrast between himself and
the European labourer, than upon any positive good
qualities he can lay claim to. In some points there
is a decided superiority on his side. His person and
his hut, apart from the influence of climate, are
cleaner than those of the white peasant; his holiday
dress more stylish, and his gait and attitude less
clumsy and clownish: but he is surpassed by the
whit^ man in the more solid advantages of industry
and perseverance. A negro espies his fellow at the
end of the street, and rather than join him in a tete-
a-tete, he will carry on a conversation with him for
several hours at the top of his voice, to the un-HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

417

speakable annoyance, perhaps the scandal, of all those
who may occupy the intermediate houses. Should
the wind blow off his hat and warn him to depart,
he will continue the conversation and let some one
else pick it up for him; or if he condescend to notice
the occurrence, he turns round with an air of offended
dignity, puts his arms a-kimbo, takes a quiet look at
the hat as it rolls along, shrugs up his left shoulder,
and walks leisurely after it until it meets with some
natural obstruction.

"The general character of the St. Lucia negro,
physical, moral, and social, may be summed up in a
few words. His person is well proportioned, his
movements are brisk, his carriage easy, without
stiffness or swagger. His disposition is uncommonly
gay and good-humoured—he is always singing or
whistling when compatible with his actual occupation.
He is submissive, but never obsequious; and though
born and bred in slavery, there is not a trace of
senility in the outward man. Unlike the European
peasant, who seldom presents himself before a clean
coat without a feeling of crawling obsequiousness and
degradation, the St. Lucia negro is polite to a point;
he can touch his hat to any one, but he will not
uncover himself in the open air, even for the
Governor of the Colony. He is docile, intelligent,
and sober—active but not laborious—superstitious
but not religious—addicted to thieving without being418

HEALTH TRIP TO THE TROPICS.

a rogue—averse to matrimony, yet devoted to several
wives; and though faithful to neither, he can
scarcely be deemed debauched. His friendship is
sincere, his gratitude unbounded, and his generosity
to all about him only surpassed by his affectionate
attachment to his children. In him the un-
disciplined character of the African is tempered by
the accident of his birth. He is, in short, a com-
pound of savageness and civilization—the rude pro-
duction of the desert, transplanted to a more genial
soil, and polished off externally by the decencies and
humanizing contact of English and French society;
but without that culture in religion and education
which alone can impart either weight or moral
dignity to the social man."

THE END.

London:
Wilson anrl Ogilvy,
Skinner Street.47, Ludgate Hill, Oct. 30, 1853.

Tfm Cttgltsji atrit Sltntrtran Wmk$,

now publishing and importing by

SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND CO.

Professor Silliman's IVew Work.

NARRATIVE OF A VISIT TO EUROPE IN 1861.

By Professor B. SILLIMAN, Sen., of Yale College. 2 vols. 12mo. with
Illustrations.

*** This work embodies much new and curious information on matters
of science and art, and personal sketches of eminent savans and men of
science. As the matured impressions of the distinguished and veteran
author, on revisiting Europe after an interval of nearly fifty years, it is
specially interesting and valuable.

Mrs. Robinson's New Book.

THE EXILES: A TALE.

By TALVI, Author of " The Literature of the Sclavic Nations," &c. &c.
1 vol. 12mo. cloth.

VENICE, THE CITY OF THE SEA,

From the Invasion by Napoleon in 1797 to the Capitulation to Radetzky
in 1849; with a Contemporaneous View of the Peninsula. By EDMUND
fXAGG, late Consul of the United States at the Port of Venice. 2 vols,
post 8vo. 16s. cloth.

ISAAC T. HOPPER: A TRUE LIFE.

By MARIA CHILD, Author of "The Mother's Book," &c. Post 8vo.
with Portrait, 9s. cloth.

" Isaac Hopper, as we have said, was born in 1771, and he did not go to
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