THE TOWN. 3 



few clumps of coco-palms raising their feathery 

 heads above the houses. 



The town, consisting of a square and several 

 narrow streets, is built on a spit of sand not a 

 mile long by less than half-a-mile broad, and 

 is surrounded by a marsh, which, however, has 

 been drained within the last few years, and 

 a sea-wall built ; so now, except after heavy 

 rains, it is dry, and the town is consequently 

 healthier. Two hard roads have been made 

 across the marsh,, and beyond it rises a hill 

 which appears to be very low when seen from 

 the town, but which is in reality about 150 

 feet above the level of the sea. 



Many of the small retail traders and canteen- 

 keepers have established themselves in two 

 roads leading up the hill, and in course of time, 

 as new roads are made, there will be quite a 

 large suburb outside the town walls. A new 

 township was, in fact, planned in 1887, and 

 looked very nice on paper : new roads were 

 made ; that is to say, miles of sand were ex- 

 posed to view and much money wasted, and 



