306 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 



dez ! Fort vent ! Coup de vent ! " — " Look out ! 

 Strong wind ! A squall." And when the wind 

 struck the boat, instead of luffing, they had three 

 negroes swinging at the ends of three ropes attached 

 a little more than half-way up the mast, who, with 

 feet braced against the rail, would sway their bodies 

 out over the water, and thus restore the equilibrium 

 when she heeled. It was a novel and interesting 

 sight, but one calculated to excite reflection, when 

 wind should prove stronger than African, with the 

 sheets made fast, a stubborn helmsman hanging to the 

 tiller for dear life, and the water pouring in over 

 the lee rail. 



We rounded the point and opened up the view 

 of Trois-Ilets just after dark. A low church, with 

 straggling tile-covered houses about it, backed by 

 purple hills, with a cane field stretching to the east, in 

 its center the presbytery surrounded by trees. The 

 stars were gleaming in the sky as we landed and 

 walked up to the house of the owner of the boat, a 

 boulanger> who also kept a shop. There was no 

 other place likely to afford me shelter, so I went to the 

 baker's shop ; but the first square look I had at the 

 owner convinced me that he was not a man prone to 

 hospitable acts. Subsequent events, I am happy to 

 say, proved conclusively that I was right. He said he 

 could give me a dinner, but no bed, so I went out with 

 a cobbler who could speak a little English, in search 

 of the cure, the parish priest, to whom I had a letter. 



We arrived at the presbytery at about half past 

 seven, knocked, and after some delay were bidden 

 to enter by the housekeeper, a comely woman. The 

 cure entered the room ; short, corpulent, with sensual 



