L<LAXI)S 



457 



iiiii- into tlio oalin (|uit't of this tropical 

 sea. 



Wc aiK-hori'd off Bassetoriv and 

 waited in vain for the doctor. Tliere 

 seemed no chance of hindinir for some 

 time, so several of its dived dlf and 

 swam ahout the ship for an hour. The 

 jov of this tropical water is something 

 which can be communicated only by ex- 

 ]K'rience. It was so transjiarent that in 

 diving one hardly knew the moment he 

 would enter it. Paddling along just 

 beneath the surface, there was a con- 

 stant temptation to reaeh down and 

 grasp the waving sea ferns and bits of 

 eoral which seemed only just out of 

 reach, whereas tliey were a good thirty 

 feet beneath. Whether floating idly or 

 Ijarging clumsily along in the only 

 fashion possible to us terrestrial hu- 

 mans, we longed for the sinuous power 

 of the dolphins, whose easy sculling im- 

 parts such astounding impetus. Xow 

 and then we saw a deep-swimming fish, 

 Ijut the line of envious fellow voyagers 

 along the ship's rail were denied all this 

 joy by reason of their fear of sharks. 

 They had read in many books and they 

 had listened to many tales, and they did 

 not know what we shared with the little 

 nigger boys who dive for pennies — the 

 knowledge that the chance of an attack 

 from a shark is about equal to that of 

 having your ears sewed up by devil's 

 darning needles. Over all the world I 

 have swum among sharks ; from Ceylon 

 to the Spanish Main I have talked inti- 

 mately with scores of native captains 

 and sailors and learned the difference 

 between what they tell to the credulous 

 tourist and what they believe in their 

 hearts. 



In time the St. Kitts doctor arrived, 

 and. as he rowed past, looked at us 

 critically as if he suspected us of in- 

 fecting the waters of the sea with some 

 of those mysteriously terrible diseases 

 which he is always hoping for on the 

 ship's papers, but never seems to find. 



Walking hastily through the town, 

 we reached the first of the ffreat sugar 



cane fields, and skirting these diago- 

 nally came I'ver nearer the sloping base 

 of the high land. Ravines are always 

 iiitfi-cstiiig for they cannot be culti- 

 \atcd. and it was u]) one of these lava 

 and w iitci'-woi-ii gullies that we began 

 to clind) Monkey Hill. We went slowly, 

 for there were many absorbing things 

 on the way. I'alm swifts swooped 

 about, while noisy kingl)irds gleaned as 

 industriously l)ut witli shorter flights. 

 IIeavy-l)illed anis whaleeped and flut- 

 tered clumsily ahead of us : honey creej»- 

 ers s(iueaked and small Ijlack finches 

 watched us anxiously. From a marshy 

 pool half a dozen migrating sandpipers 

 flew up and circbMl down to the shore. 

 Every shi'uliliy field was alive with bttt- 

 terflies of many kinds and the vigorous 

 shaking of each bush yielded excellent 

 harvests of strange insects which fell 

 into the open umbrella held beneath. 

 In a grove of wild mango and acacias 

 were hosts of green filigree butterflies, 

 dropping and swirling from the foliage 

 like falling leaves, the comparison being 

 heightened by the brown spots, like 

 fungus blotches, which were etched 

 upon their wings. 



Leaving the ravine we climbed over 

 great lateral shoulders of the moun- 

 tain, grassy slopes with bold outjutting 

 rocks, and rarely a clump of small 

 shrubs, bringing to mind the lower foot- 

 hills of Garhwal and Kashmir. Higher 

 still came a dense shrubl)y growth, 

 much of it thorny, seamed l)y our nar- 

 row trail, and threaded here and there 

 by glowing fronds of golden shower 

 orchids, (xround doves perched on low 

 branches and an occasional ])igeon 

 whistled ])ast. From the summit a 

 wonderful view stretched out — the long, 

 sloping, green cane fields, the clustered 

 roofs, and beyond the curving beaches 

 the blue water with our vessel resting 

 at anchor. Xow came a search for mon- 

 keys, regardless of thorns and rough 

 stones, for, strange though it sound?, 

 St. Kitts possesses many of these ani- 

 mals. Whatever the accident of their 



