Narrative of Bahama Expedition. 197 



or three living chihlren, and many of these are ill-formed, 

 delicate, rachitic, or scrofulous. The girls told sad stories of 

 their sufferings, and the married women of protracted and 

 painful maternity. The }-oung ladies were trained to the 

 idea that it was a hazardous undertaking to marry anv young 

 man not a nitive of this particular island. In this villatJ-e I 

 met three little •• tuidgets," all women and cousins, but of 

 what degree I am unable to say, as they seemed to have little 

 idea of degrees of relationship. The smallest of these is a 

 woman thirty-four 3-ears old, twenty-seven inches high, and 

 weighs forty-five pounds. A male dwarf that we saw in 

 Key West is a cousin of these Spanish Wells midgets, mak- 

 ing four in one faniih'."^ 



In spite of all these drawbacks, the citizens of Spanish Wells 

 are by no means an unhappy people. Indeed as I look back 

 to my residence among them, they seem to have found con- 

 siderable enjoyment in life. The young men and women 

 were as light-hearted as the most fortunate of their cousins 

 across the water. They have their social gatherings and 

 games. I well remember being an interested spectator one 

 moonlight night, when they assembled down on the pure 

 white coral beach and plaved the old-fashioned •• kissing 

 games" to the tune of •• King William was King George's 

 son, and he the ro\al race did run,"' each verse ending up in a 

 manner which was evidently much to the satisfaction of the 

 parties immediately concerned. The Spanish Wells voun^ 

 folks are celebrated throughout the islands for their excellent 

 singing. The grand old hymns of John Wesley are sung h\ 

 the sabbath congregation with a volume and swing that is 

 refreshing to hear after nmch of the emasculated congrega- 

 tional singing in the North. The time is perfect and the parts 

 well sustained, and there is a ([uaintness in the lining out of 

 the leader, followed by the ready volume of response that 

 makes the coral structure fairly quiver. One evening the 

 .school-teacher brought his pupils on board the schooner to 



'Dr. Leora Johnson. 



