is/.Axns 



459 



and cassava, tin eii|)-. and stray lislics 

 ilt'w al)out. Even those \\*ho lost all 

 tlicii- pureliases showed no resentment 

 hnt only a roarini;- a|i|)i-eciatioii of tlic 

 joke. In this rush we were almost up- 

 set with the erowd, and we hegan to 

 look forward witli dread to any more 

 streinious defense of our eoinf(n-t. 



Till' little Fi'i'Uch mulatto pliannaeist 

 \\ho was responsible for the oeeasional 

 joyful outbursts of cdii. scHMucil to 

 profit hy our presence, for a number of 

 interested onlookers who had puslie(| 

 into the shop to watch us fi'om behind. 

 when cornered and hailed by the irate 

 owner, staninieringly asked for some 

 small thing, by the purchase of which 

 they bought their liberty. The regular 

 business of this little sho]) alone was 

 worth}- one's whole attention. A pre- 

 sci'iption was l)eing pounded wyi in a 

 mortar and when the clerk reached 

 out for a scoop and for something to 

 scrape the sides clean, an eight of 

 hearts was the nearest and with this 

 the chemicals Avere mixed. Within the 

 next fifteen minutes eight or ten dif- 

 ferent prescriptions, powders and 

 crystals, were measured, shaken, mixed 

 and scraped by the same eight of 

 hearts, and the combination of ingredi- 

 ents which the last purchaser ol)tained 

 must surely have had some radical 

 etfect on his system — salubrious or 

 otherwise. 



Then came . the unusual one — the 

 super person who is always to be dis- 

 covered sooner or later. Externally 

 she was indistinguishable from the host 

 of her sisters. She was garbed in a 

 wrapper, flowing and reaching the 

 ground, purple and pocked with large 

 white spots. A diminutive turban of 

 yellow and red madi'as was surmounted 

 by an ancient and crownless straw hat. 

 l)ut at the first word she was revealed. 

 A British subject, she had been here 

 at the eruption of Mt. Pelee fifteen 

 years before. That day she and one of 

 her daitghters happened to be far away 

 from St. Pierre. When the explosion 



eanie. they were outside the danger 

 zone, but her hushaiul, son, and other 

 daughter were burned to death. She 

 regretted the im])olitoness of the French 

 here and apologized for them for crowd- 

 ing ns. Later she 1)rought a gift of 

 i-ose bananas to the artist, saying that 

 .\inericans had given her food and 

 clothes when she lost everything. 



The crowd was curious, thoughtless, 

 sellisb, with its dominant hope a laugh 

 at some one's expense. Here was one 

 who sought us out, who left unguarded 

 lier little tray of bananas and garlic 

 to speak a word of thanks, to present 

 a handful of fruit which in her station 

 was a munificent gift, and who was 

 satisfied with and grateful for our sin- 

 cere appreciation. She has sisters in 

 graciousness over all the world, but they 

 are rare and widely scattered, — like the 

 Akawai Indian squaw who gave me 

 her last cassava, like the wrinkled 

 Japanese crone who persuaded her son 

 to become oiie of my best servants, like 

 the wife of the headman of an isolated 

 village in Yunnan, who from among 

 her sodden, beastlike neighbors came 

 forth and offered fowls and vegetables 

 with a courteoits s])irit worthy of any 

 station in life. 



St. Lucia, a Study ix Contrasts 



Each time I have visited Castries it 

 has seemed more somber and less pleas- 

 ant. It is colorless because it is full 

 of coal and no change of Aveather 

 brings amelioration. When the sun 

 fills the air with a blinding glare and 

 palpitating heat waves (as it occa- 

 sionally does), each step raises a cloud 

 of coal dust, and when the tropical rain 

 falls in a steady downpour (as it usually 

 does), the whole world seems covered 

 with coal mud, as if about to dissolve 

 into some carbon! fei'ous slime. 



Castries is an important military and 

 coaling station, which perhaps explains 

 much. Military exigency compelled 

 me to procure a special. pass from the 

 Chief of Police to paddle about its 



