SAN JOSEF. 



men are licwiiig duwn llie giant grass with cutlasses; tlie 

 women stripping off the leaves, and then piling the cane in 

 carts drawn by mules, the leaders of which draw by rope 

 traces two or three times as long as themselves. You wonder 

 why such a seeming waste of power is allowed, till you see 

 one of the carts stick fast in a mud-hole, and discover that 

 even in the West Indies there is a good reason for every- 

 thiuii', and that the Creoles j^now their own business best. 

 For the wheelers, being in the slough with the cart, are power- 

 less : but the leaders, who have scrambled through, are safe 

 on dry land at the end of their long traces, and haul out 

 tlieir brethren, cart and all, amid the yells, and, I am sorry 

 to say blows, of the black gentlemen in attendance. But 

 cane-cutting is altogether a busy, happy scene. The heat 

 is awful, and all limbs rain perspiration : yet no one seems 

 to mind the heat; all look fat and jolly; and they have 

 cause to do so, for all, at every spare moment, are sucking- 

 sugar-cane. 



You pull up, and take off your hat to the j)arty. The 

 Negros shout, " Marnin', sa !" The Coolies salaam gracefully, 

 hand to forehead. You return the salaam, hand to heart, 

 which is considered the correct thing on the part of a 

 superior in rank ; whereat the Coolies look exceedingly 

 pleased ; and then the whole party, Avithout visible reason, 

 burst into shouts of laughter. 



