Antigua and the Antiguans Volume I Part 17

Two young ladies, the daughters of a respectable merchant of Ba.s.sterre, (the capital of St. Kitts,) met with so great a fright, that they were obliged to forego paying their court to the "dancing muse." The duties of the toilet were scarcely finished, when, as before observed, the earthquake commenced. In a moment the ceiling of the apartment was rent, and, as they supposed, a heavy fall of rain penetrated through the aperture, and extinguished the lights.

The youngest of the ladies, terrified at the concussion, and not knowing the extent of their danger, threw herself upon the ground, calling loudly for help. The trembling domestics quickly came with a lamp, when, horror of horrors! they found the delicate white satin in which their young mistress was enrobed, completely saturated with _blood_! The other members of the family, alarmed by the screams of the servants, a.s.sembled in the room, and with eagerness inquired where the wound was. This was not to be discovered; and, accordingly, another elucidation of the mystery was sought for, and no long period elapsed before it was found. Their father, as before observed, was a merchant, and the attic over the room the young ladies occupied had been converted into a temporary wine-store. From the severe shock of the earthquake, a cask of port wine got staved; and what had the appearance of _blood_, was nothing less than its contents which so liberally bedewed the ball-dress of the fair sufferer.

But the first shock did not intimidate many, however, and consequently the ball-room was crowded with visitants. "Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles," flew around; innumerable lamps illumined the room, but their blaze was eclipsed by the radiance emitted from the dark brilliant eyes of the Houris, who, on the "light fantastic toe," glided through the mazes of a quadrille.

All was joy fulness, and every heart responded to the genial influence of the scene, when another shock more violent, and of longer continuance, converted this feeling of pleasure into the opposite one of woe. Instead of the lively scene described, all was now tumult and distress. Some of the ladies fainted, others threw themselves upon their knees, while the greater number rushed out of the apartment, which now looked hateful to them, and hastened to the beach.

Shock followed shock in rapid succession, and the poor "Kittefonians" thought their little island was doomed to destruction. Nor was it from the quaking of the earth that all their terror proceeded; the sea rose so high, and the waves rolled in such a tumultuous manner, that an inundation was feared. In such a situation the inhabitants were almost paralyzed with fear; some went on board the different ships in the harbour, while others remained all night upon the beach, exposed to the "pitiless pelting" of the storm.

I chanced to visit St. Kitts a short time after this awful occurrence. The inhabitants were still trembling from apprehension; and upon the slightest motion of the floor, the colour fled from the lips of many of the fair s.e.x, and left them of a pallid white. I was present, upon one occasion, when a gentleman requested a young lady to favour him with a song. "Oh, no, sir! you must excuse me," said she, lengthening her very pretty face, and throwing an air of gravity into her countenance; "we never sing since the earthquake." If no other good was effected, it had the power of alienating her mind (for a season at least) from some of the vanities of the world, if a simple song can be called one.

Another dreadful visitation of elementary strife, to which Antigua, as well as the other West Indian islands, is liable in the months of August, September, and October, are the hurricanes, or _tornadoes_. When they come, they are armed with every terror- rain, thunder, lightning, and sometimes earthquakes, attend their progress. The sea feels their influence, and, by its swelling and roaring, expresses it-

"The waves behind impel the waves before, Wide-rolling, foaming high, they tumble to the sh.o.r.e."

The years 1670, 1681, 1707, 1740, 1772, 1780, and 1792, are those in which the severest hurricanes have occurred at Antigua. The hurricane of 1670 was most memorable. It raged with intense severity for four hours, and in that short s.p.a.ce of time destroyed the new town of St. John's, which had been rebuilt since the French invasion, and levelled almost every house with the ground. The ships lost in the harbour were the "Robert," of Ireland, William c.o.c.ks, master; the "Merchants' Adventure," of the same place; the "Margaret Pink," from Tangiers, and another large ship called the "Five Islands," besides several smaller vessels which had come there for shelter. A wreck was also driven ash.o.r.e, in which was found the corpse of a boy, some palm oil, and elephants' teeth, supposed to be from Guinea. That of 1707 was also very severe, being considered one of the most violent ever experienced in the Leeward West India Islands, although Antigua suffered more than any of the neighbouring colonies. It blew down houses and entire sugar-works, tore up the largest trees by the roots, and devastated whole fields of sugar-canes; indeed, so tremendous was the hurricane, that it caused an almost general destruction. The oldest inhabitants of the present day unite, however, in saying that they never experienced one so awful as that of 1835.

About four in the afternoon it commenced to look very wild, although the wind was moderate; the sky was of a deep saffron colour, and the sun shone with a fiery red. Between five and six in the evening the wind rose, and continued increasing until about seven, when the havoc began.

Houses were levelled in an instant with the ground; many of the small dwellings were completely lifted from off their slight foundations, and carried by the wind to some distance. One old woman in particular had a narrow escape of her life. The house in which she resided was raised about five feet from the ground by the violence of the wind, hurried along with the greatest velocity for about the s.p.a.ce of twenty feet across the road, and then placed in what was once a pond. Luckily, however, for the good old dame, the pond had been filled up, or, in all probability, her aerial flight would have finished her course of existence in this transitory sphere.

The hurricane raged with unabated force until a little before nine, tearing up large trees by the roots, and snapping asunder others as if they had been twigs; when, suddenly, in a moment, the wind dropped. Not a sound was to be heard-not a single breeze was abroad: A deep, solemn silence reigned around-a silence which harrowed up every feeling of the soul, for it spoke of dire mishaps.

This continued for some time, when again the wind returned with redoubled fury, as if its strength was recruited by the short respite it had gained, and shook the very earth. The hurricane raged until the sun got up, and then slowly and sullenly it sank to rest; until towards evening, nothing was to be heard but its sobs and sighs.

A great many small vessels belonging to Antigua were sunk during the gale, and many poor mortals that night found-

"Their death in the rushing blast, Their grave in the yawning sea."

[66] Although in Antigua the tide does not ebb and flow more than from six to twelve inches in ordinary instances.

[67] "Pic'nee" is the negro term for children.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Description of the town of St. John's, the capital of Antigua- Situation-Arrangement of the streets-Hucksters-Houses-Springs- Small shops-Stores of the retail dealers-Grog-shops-Merchants'

stores and lumber yards-Definition of lumber-Auction sales- Scotch Row and Scotchmen-Incongruous display of goods-Fire in 1797-Ruins-Fire in 1841-Its devastations.

St. John's, the capital of Antigua, is situated on the west side of the island, and contains about 979 houses. It is built upon a slight declivity, and commands a beautiful view of the harbour, which is one of the prettiest in the West Indies.

The town, which is well arranged, covers a s.p.a.ce of about 150 acres of land; most of the streets are wide and well-kept, and intersect each other at right angles-the princ.i.p.al ones running in a straight line down to the sea. There is one peculiarity attending the construction of these streets, which is, that there are no causeways; and consequently, the pedestrian traveller has to elbow his way amid trucks and handbarrows, gigs, carriages, and hors.e.m.e.n, droves of cattle, or cargoes of mules, just landed from other countries, cattle-carts, or moving houses.

At the corners of the different streets are seated hucksters, (black or coloured women;)[68] some with their shallow trays, containing cakes of all descriptions, parched ground nuts, (the _arachis hypoga_,) sugar-cakes, and other confections, and varieties of fruits and vegetables; others have piles of cottons, coloured calicoes, bright-tinted handkerchiefs, &c., placed by them, or carefully spread along the sides of the most frequented streets, to attract the eye of the pa.s.ser-by. As most of the Antiguan houses are raised a few feet from the ground, which necessarily requires the use of a step or two, the hucksters are very fond of monopolizing such appurtenances; and it is no uncommon thing to be obliged to wait until they remove their different wares, before you can enter the house, or else take the chance of breaking your neck over heaps of potatoes, or come in closer contact than is advisable with bottles of ginger-drink, or pots and pans of gorgeous colours, from the well-known English potteries.

The houses are generally built of wood, painted of a white or light stone colour, with bright green _jalousies_, or gla.s.s windows and green Venetian blinds. The greater number have covered galleries running along the sides or fronts of them, in which the good people love to a.s.semble in the cool of evening, and while away the hours in converse sweet, or scan over the island newspapers-two of which issue weekly from respective presses, to enlighten the worthy inhabitants as to what is pa.s.sing in their little colony.

Some of these dwellings are very commodious, and make a good appearance, particularly when shaded by a few beautiful trees, or standing, as many of them do, in a small garden, embellished with Flora's splendid children. But as for following any of the _five orders_ in their architectural adornments, that is quite out of the question; or at least, it is an order of their own invention they prefer, and which may be called the Antiguan.

Within these last few years, a few houses have been erected, with low roofs and parapet walls; the usual plan is to have that necessary part of the dwelling raised in the fashion of an English barn, or an Egyptian pyramid. One peculiarity which strikes the eye of a stranger in these dwellings, is the absence of chimneys-the kitchens being, in most instances, detached from the house; and the heat of the climate, as a matter of course, renders all grates or stoves, and their accompanying flues, unnecessary.

Since the serious droughts in 1833, springs or wells have been dug in various parts of the town, which, although the water is brackish, are of great use for many domestic purposes, particularly to the lower cla.s.ses, who do not possess a cistern.

These springs have been lately modified by having water-engines attached to them, and enclosed by a low wall and wooden palisadings, painted of a bright sky-colour. Methinks, however, that Master Sol will soon spoil their flaunting beauty. It is a pity the directors of these improvements did not choose green instead of the other colour; for, from the whiteness of the streets, and the extreme glare of the sunbeams, we require something to relieve and cool the eye; and much as we admire the lovely tint of the heavens, light blue palings do not equally fascinate our gaze.

In different parts of the town are numbers of small shops, of about six or eight feet square, in which varieties of trades are carried on. In one may be seen a cobbler-no! I beg their pardon-a _cordwainer_; himself shoeless, busily employed in forming, from his not very fragrant materials, a pair of creaking high-heeled boots, for the use of some black exquisite. A bunch of human hair attached to the end of a long stick, and moving with every breeze, bespeaks the abode of a barber and hair-dresser; while a multiplicity of shreds of cloth, half-finished vests, a goose, and other _et ceteras_, with a group of mortals seated _a la Turque_, proves beyond doubt that the inmates are of that particular cla.s.s of beings, nine individuals of which are required to form one ordinary man. Others, again, of the receptacles of trade, are stocked with provisions, such as small quant.i.ties of salt pork, corn, flour, candles, b.u.t.ter, (of the consistence of honey,) a few dried peas, or horse-beans, and any other little matters; while some contain _dry goods_, as it is customary, in this island, to term all articles of drapery. Small as these tenements are, many of them are divided by a lathed part.i.tion, forming on one side a butcher's shamble, where an array of sheep's heads, miserable specimens of legs of mutton, and saffron-coloured pork, may be met with, which, carnivorous as it must be allowed we all are, few like their eyes to dwell upon; while, on the other side, gown-pieces, and "blue checks," with other "odds and ends," claim the frequenters' attention.

Next to these small shops, come the stores of the retail provision dealers, which are upon a larger scale, and of course better supplied with goods. Then there are the _grog shops_, as they are termed, where to the heterogeneous ma.s.s of eatables, crockery, and tin-ware, is added the more exciting articles of brandy, rum, gin, porter, wine, &c.; and where of an evening, amid fumes of every description, (from Yanky cheese to Virginia tobacco,) and dim smoky oil lamps, parties of soldiers, sailors, dingy-looking blacks, and unfortunate females-ay! and men of better rank of life, who ought to blush to be found in such places-love to congregate, and barter health and money, for dirty goblets of those fiery liquids.

When pa.s.sing, in an evening, these _store-houses for crime_, they forcibly bring to my mind thoughts of Pandemonium. The dusky lamps, at one moment sending forth their long flaming tongues, the next, only serving to make darkness visible; the crowds of negroes, with their gleaming eyes and glittering teeth, presenting the appearance of so many attending demons; the groups of white soldiers or sailors, looking more pallid in the flickering lamp-light, and greedily quaffing the deleterious fluid, which, sooner or later, preys upon their very vitals-and then the various sounds of cursing and quarrelling, idiotic laughter, discordant singing, and incoherent talking, as the miserable frequenters arrive at the different stages of intoxication,-conspire to render it more like a council-chamber of tormented spirits, than the self-chosen place of amus.e.m.e.nt of rational creatures.

The next grade of these places of merchandise are, the merchants'

stores or warehouses, with their attached lumber-yards. These are, in most instances, large, dismal-looking buildings, whose unwashed rafters afford safe protection to innumerable spiders of every size, or present a desirable spot for the freemasons (the ichneumon bee) to erect their clayey dwellings upon. One corner of these vast emporiums is latticed off, forming a counting-house, decorated with a coat of white, green, or yellow paint, and shewing its chequers of red tape, for the purpose of sticking orders, letters, or bank-notices for payments, due at the Colonial or West India Bank. Here, on a high-legged stool, of dingy look, sits the merchant, dressed in his round, white jacket, snowy pantaloons, Panama or Paget hat; and, with pen in hand, and a pinch of _Lundy-foot_ between his fingers, (to a.s.sist his ideas, I suppose,) calculates the probabilities of his _'specs_, which in other days afforded such golden harvests as to give rise to the belief, that the streets in the West Indies were paved with doubloons and dollars.

But let it not be imagined that this worthy and numerous cla.s.s employ all their business-hours in calculating their gains and losses, poring over the leaves of a dusty ledger, or puzzling their brains over their "bank accounts." Oh! no, no-the Antiguan merchants are far too wise for that-many a bowl of "pepper-punch"

is brewed; many a long cork of approved brand is drawn, and the "rosy red" _Vin de Bordeaux_ is poured into the tendered crystal; and many a bottle of champagne, or "Tennent's pale ale," is unwired, uncorked, and its creamy excellence effused for them.

Nor is the tongue idle; well-seasoned jests and brilliant repartees abound; news is discussed, wit flies like arrows, and many a rosy face grows more roseate, and many a laughing eye becomes dewy before they part.

But I must say something more about the stores-what a scene of confusion they present to the unaccustomed eye!-what varied and multiplied articles do they display! In one part are hogsheads of salt cod, herrings, and other salted fish; bins of Indian corn, rice, peas, and salt; flour, tobacco, barrels of blacking, and kegs of lard. In another part may be found barrels of beef and mess-pork; hogsheads of prime c.u.mberland hams, kits of ox tongues, and barrels of biscuits; sparkling Moselle, hock, seltzer-water, and lamp-oil; preserved meats and soups, and kegs of crackers; pitch, tar, rosin, and oats; block-tin tureens, spirits of turpentine, and Cognac brandy; crates of earthenware, rose nails, and hogsheads of tin-ware; with London pickles, agricultural implements, and hair-brooms. On another side of the store lie huddled together hogsheads of Barclay's brown stout, boxes of soap, bundles of wood-hoops, and cases of gilded cornices; boxes of raisins and currants, paving flags, and masts and oars; firkins of Cork b.u.t.ter, hogsheads of lime, and patent corkscrews; Hyson teas, Durham mustard, loaf-sugar, and Havannah cigars; potatoes, onions, Bologna sausage, and blacksmiths'

coals; artificers' tools, anti-corrosion paint, currycombs, and _gold watches_; the whole wound up with Rowland's Maca.s.sar oil, floating soap, and quack medicines, consisting of Morrison's pills, and Swain's Panacea, which, if we believe the labels, are to cure every ill "that flesh is heir to;" while from the ceiling dangle in graceful negligence, coils of rope, and horses'

halters.

To prove to any of my readers who may be sceptical of the truth of such a _various_ a.s.semblage of goods, as I have stated the merchant's stores contain, I will give a _correct copy_ of a cargo handed about to the different merchants, as brought by an American vessel arrived to-day:-

CARGO ON BOARD BRIG "RANDOLPH," FROM PHILADELPHIA.

12 barrels pitch 1 box fine beaver hats 118 covered hams 100 boxes cheese 2 casks of shoulders 3 doz. Windsor chairs 30 barrels pilot bread 16 nurses' rocking chairs 10 do. navy do. 8 ladies' cane do.

30-3 do. sugar biscuits 1 doz. children's do.

20-3 do. soda 49 barrels potatoes 20-3 crackers 18 gross lucifer matches 50 kegs lard 1 mahogany spring-seat sofa 30 blls. mess pork 1 do. wash-stand, marble top 100 kegs b.u.t.ter 3 boxes stationery 13 boxes lump tobacco 4 backgammon boards 20 do. champagne cider 12 bridles 20 doz. buckets 22 doz. black ink in boxes 50 boxes soap, 24 lbs. 1 mahogany spring-seat, rocking chair 700 do. 16 lbs. 2 wooden arm chairs 50 do. mould candles 17 do. do.

Offers in cash, or negotiable notes, 1 o'clock.

From the store we will take a walk into the lumber yard. But before I proceed to describe it, it will be necessary for me to make another digression, and let those of my readers who may be yet ignorant of the real meaning of the term know what "lumber"

is. Upon my first acquaintance with West Indians, I was particularly surprised to hear them talk so much about _lumber_, and of Mr. This and Mr. That dealing in such commodity. As my mind has ever been apt to roam far and wide, I no sooner heard the merits of this peculiar article (if I may so call it) discussed, than my schooldays' tasks presented themselves to my recollection, and I mentally murmured with Dr. Johnson, "lum-ber, lumber, old useless furniture."

Having arrived at this definition, again I fancied myself amid broken chairs and tables, sofas minus a leg, shattered looking-gla.s.ses, musty, dusty, rusty, grates, antique bottles, and similar chattels, where in one of my hoyden days I had scrambled to look for a bird-cage in which to imprison a poor half-fledged skylark, captured for me by a little ragged _protege_ of mine, known by the true English name of "Bill."

Yet still I was not satisfied; for what, thought I, can West Indian merchants find so particularly valuable in all these divers specimens of mutilation, as to induce them to deal so largely in them? I could only answer mine own query by exclaiming "'tis strange! 'tis pa.s.sing strange!" Time wore on, however, and I arrived at Antigua; then my wonder soon ceased, and I found out that in fact a _lumber merchant_ signifies nothing less than a dealer in _timber_.

Having endeavoured to give the Antiguan definition of lumber, I will now proceed to describe "the yard." It is generally entered by pa.s.sing through the store, at the hazard of putting your foot into pools of rosin or varnish, slipping over stray peas, or half-breaking your neck over heaps of brickbats. At length the yard is gained, and drawing a long breath, as much from heat as exercise, I look around. On each side of the door are huge stacks of staves, piled up in a very uniform manner, used for making hogsheads or tierces for packing sugar, or puncheons for the conveyance of rum. In other parts of the yard are bundles of cypress or cedar shingles,[69] white and pitch pine boards, planks and scantlings, all packed in appropriate order; that is, when they are not landing cargoes, and the master has an eye to tidy appearances; but if this is not the case, the different species of lumber are tumbling about in all directions.

Then there are large sheds erected in various parts of the yard, for the purpose of securing "hard-wood" (as mahogany, mill-timber, &c.) from the effects of the weather. There is also very generally a pigeon-house or two to be met with, and their pretty inmates may be seen gliding about, picking up the scattered grain, or, perched upon one of the lumber stacks, watch your every movement with their bright round eyes, while their variegated b.r.e.a.s.t.s glitter in the sun-beams like so many gems. At the bottom of the yard large gates open to the sea, furnished with a huge crane; and here it is that all those incongruous articles which fill their stores, and bring wealth to their coffers, are landed.

When the merchants are visited by certain fears and twitchings, relative to the fact of their not being able to dispose of their diversified merchandise, they "call an auction;" and under the auspices of the red flag,[70] and with the a.s.sistance of the auctioneer's lungs and hammer, instead of harlequin's magic wand, turn all these "creature's comforts" into pounds, shillings, and pence.