THE FUTURE OF THE "WEST INDIES 407 



the average American Bteamer, except the larger vessels 

 of the Atlas line. 1 have made delightful trips on some 

 of the smaller and miscellaneous vessels, however, and 

 what they Lack in Luxuries is compensated by the freedom 

 of the ships and the absence of disagreeable company or 

 overcrowding. One's companions an- usually seafaring 

 men or West Indian natives, who are always interesting. 



The traveler will find the West Ladies anything but 

 unpleasant places; but the tourist will miss the luxurious 

 American hotels, except at Bridgetown, Barbados. For 

 my part, the absence <>t* these has not been regretted, for 



on.' gains little insight into the lit'*' of a place when ho 

 {tuts up at a foreign caravansary, and the West Indies 

 abound in small and hospitable inns where one can find 

 pleasure and entertainment. 



The stories of uncleanliness so often reported by 

 thoughtless travelers in the tropics have little foundation. 

 The buildings are everywhere neatly colored with paint 

 or calcimine, freely renewed. The streets of the smallest 

 villages, especially in Spanish communities, are paved with 

 blocks or cobblestone, and all contain some place of recre- 

 ation and attempts at ornamentation. Every Spanish 

 village possesses one or more public squares, beautifully 

 laid out with trees, walks, and tlowers. neatly ornamented 

 with seat- and railings, and usually with a band-stand in 

 the center. The English and French villages have botani- 

 cal gardens, preserving the floral beauties of every tropical 



land. 



Such uncleanliness as exists is not of a personal, 

 private, or visible kind, but solely that of a municipal 



and public character, such as the concealed cessj Is and 



lack <f modern sewerage, above which our may walk 

 even in some of our American towns. Perhaps the writer 

 i-; prejudiced by having seen in his own country unkempt 

 places of similar size, beside which the tropica] villages 

 are models of neatness and sanitation. Certainly no such 

 spectacle can be seen in tic tropics as the untidy public 



