322 CUBA AND PORTO EICO 



wickerwork with thatched roofs, each encircled "by a 

 wicker fence, and so huddled together that in order to walk 

 through the village one follows serpentine paths barely 

 wide enough for a single person. 



At present the island is leased by a Scotch company, 

 which derives a small revenue from hunting the deer for 

 their hides, and cutting the yellow sandalwood. The 

 overseer, the only white man on the island, lives in com- 

 fort in the one civilized building, known as the Great 

 House, which was formerly the Coddrington hunting-lodge. 



Barbuda has been seldom visited by travelers ; in fact, 

 the writer is one of the few who have had an opportunity 

 to explore it within recent years, thanks to the courtesy of 

 Mr. Donald Dougald, the genial Scotch agent, who kindly 

 granted the hospitality of his private schooner and the 

 attendance of his servants upon the island. 



There are several ruins of old forts, strongholds built 

 by England during the last century, whose massive walls 

 and round towers are still found in various parts of the 

 island, reminders of the days when every foot of the West 

 Indies was so valiantly struggled for by the European 

 nations. 



The island has no harbor, and landing is made through 

 the surf on the backs of sailors, who deposit one on a beach 

 of shell-sand. In the distance this beach looks like a nar- 

 row band of white intercalated between the blue of the 

 ocean and the green of the land. Upon close approach, 

 however, beautiful blushes of carmine can be seen to glow 

 and fade away with each dash of the ocean surf. These 

 blushes vie in color with the iridescent tints of the royal 

 Caribbean sunsets. This phenomenon was easily explained 

 upon close examination. Each wash of the waves brings 

 up millions of tiny pink shells, which are deep red while 

 wet, but fade as they dry between long rolls of the surf. 



Antigua is the principal island of the Leeward group, of 

 which it is the political capital, being the residence of the 

 governor and his staff. Until recent years this was one of 



