BARBADOS-ANTIGUA EXPEDITION 49 
through the channel with great force and speed. We often got 
more or less of a sousing here, but admired the way in which 
these occasions were reduced to a minimum by ‘‘Charon,’’ as we 
ealled him. 
Kach member of the party was assigned to his or her quarters 
immediately upon landing. The married people and single 
ladies were housed in comfortable rooms in a building 110 feet 
long and amply adequate for the purpose, containing also a 
dining room, sitting room, store room, and kitchen; with an 
inner hall running the whole length of the building and a piazza 
in front facing the mainland. There were also toilet rooms and 
shower baths. The furniture was simple but adequate. There 
were no mosquito nettings, nor were they needed. After din- 
ner the members of the party usually met on the piazza or 
occupied seats facing it. Here we discussed our plans, or in- 
dulged in singing, accompanied by Stoner with his mandolin. 
The unmarried men were accommodated in another building, 
150 by 20 feet, near the inner sea-wall, where they had comfort- 
able cots with mattresses and pillows, but not separate rooms. 
There was a veranda along the entire length of this building on 
both sides. Some of the men moved their cots out on this 
veranda, and many of them took an early morning dip from the 
sea-wall when the tide served. Near this building was a small 
cabin-like house where Ricker fitted up his photographie studio 
and dark-room and did excellent work. Ice for his purpose was 
available, and this and other buildings were supplied with pure 
fresh water piped over from the general water system of the 
main island. This water, by the way, was a God-send, being 
perfectly pure, having its source in underground streams, 
furnishing excellent cool water in abundance. 
Along the streets of the city of Bridgetown and the country 
roads throughout the island, these pipes are frequently sup- 
plied with faucets from which the people take freely of the best 
of water and use it without apparent limit. I know of no better 
system anywhere, and it doubtless accounts in a large measure 
for the remarkable good health of the Barbadians, and _inci- 
dentally of our party, during our stay. 
The buildings just described are separated from the rest of 
Pelican Island by a high stone wall with a gateway to the 
