XAYMACA; THE ISLAND OF MANY RIVERS 301 



Our contract provided for a kitchen having an 

 American cooking stove, as the landlady ex- 

 plained with pride ; but this room we did not 

 inspect on our first visit. Lacking experience in 

 West Indian ways, Mrs. Scott assumed that the 

 kitchen and its furnishings would serve our needs. 

 We drove up from the hotel in leisurely fashion 

 after luncheon, and having unpacked certain 

 possessions, began to think of dinner. Mrs. Scott 

 with her tw^o maids, the cook, Margaret Douglas, 

 and the butler, Letitia Pink, departed to take 

 possession of the kitchen. The perturbed state 

 of mind of the housewife responsible for the daily 

 provisioning of a family may be imagined, when 

 she found, on entering, a small room of closetlike 

 dimensions, with dirt floor, rough and unkempt, 

 one end slightly higher than the other, and on 

 this mound of earth a tiny " American cooking 

 stove," minus pipe, doors, covers, and legs, the 

 only utensil a little " shetpon," or tin bucket. As 

 there was no hope here, an alcohol stove was 

 called into immediate requisition, and furnished 

 the cup of chocolate which, with boiled eggs, 

 bread and butter, composed our first dinner at 

 Fort George. 



Our landlady could do nothing ; the kitchen 

 answered her needs, why not ours ? The next 

 day we went in to Kingston, made the purchase 

 of two coal oil stoves and the necessary pots and 



