ASCENT OF THE GUADELOUPE SOUFRIERE. 327 



the wonderful Caribs, of whom he had heard so much 

 in Hispaniola. The account lie gave of their neat 



villages, of the finding here of the fragment of a 

 vessel, and the first pine-apple, is extremely interest- 

 ing, as are all descriptions of first things, or the 

 discovery of things previously unknown, to us of the 

 present day. 



And this coast, which 1 later saw in all its grandeur 

 of lofty cliffs and towering mountains, in its loveliness 

 of curving bays and palm-bordered beaches, this 

 coast was right abeam, hidden behind the impene- 

 trable wall of night. A second time I sought a land- 

 ing on Guadeloupe shore before daylight. We sailed 

 into the roadstead of Basse Terre, on the open sea at 

 the southern end of the island. Darkness covered 

 everything ; a few cocks commenced crowing, a few 

 lights gleamed out. At five, a gun boomed out from 

 the fort, and the cathedral bell commenced at once, 

 as if from the vibration, tolling for early mass. Day- 

 light crawled slowly in and revealed the open market 

 by the landing, already crowded with people, the 

 noise of whose wrangling had reached us long since. 



Basse Terre is the seat of government of Guade- 

 loupe, as Fort de France is that of Martinique. Like 

 Fort de France, also, it is chosen by these far-seeing 

 Frenchmen as the depot of government property, that 

 other towns, like that of Point a Pitre, and St. Pierre 

 of Martinique, may not, by their superior advantages 

 for commerce and trade, draw all the population 

 thither. To this end, the distribution of wealth, 

 and the better cultivation of the soil, the French 

 have covered both their islands with roads, in striking 

 contrast to the rough bridle-paths of the English 



