110 Naturalist at Large 



was a considerable turnover in the resident population. 



It was the general practice of all local leaders to have 

 a man's total wages for a coming trip completely- 

 swallowed in trade before that individual ever em- 

 barked. This practice definitely assured the men that 

 they would earn nothing if they depended solely on 

 the rewards of honest labor. Thievery of cargo in 

 vessels' holds and, for the more daring, from ware- 

 houses in southern ports, led each individual to a com- 

 mon understanding that the only way a man could 

 possibly profit was by dishonest means. The resultant 

 situation on Inagua was that of men vying with one 

 another to show their prowess at various forms of 

 gangster technique. This was evidenced in a blatant, 

 bawdy sort of life in which Saturday-night wife beat- 

 ings, drunkenness and various rather futile attempts at 

 knifing were the common order of the day. 



It was a particularly unsatisfactory situation in that 

 no one valued money as such, and no one seemed able 

 to conceive how they might be benefited by what we 

 think of as a higher standard of living. A standard of 

 living to them was nothing more than an abysmal pov- 

 erty which had its one soul-satisfying outlet in boast- 

 fulness of how tough one could be. No one was anxious 

 to earn money in excess of that required to fulfill the 

 most meager purchases of food and clothing; all the 

 so-called luxuries such as cheap rayons, silks and 

 gaudy wearing apparel having been acquired through 

 the aforementioned pilfering. No one dreamed of hav- 

 ing money in terms which could possibly mean a decent 

 house to live in and, for that matter, even a decent 



