A VISIT TO AN OLDWORLD SUGAR-MILL 67 



being modernized by the disappearance of windmills 

 and the appearance in their place of factory shafts, 

 belching forth smoke. From the pm'ely commercial 

 standpoint, Barbados will have to be congratulated 

 when all her old-fashioned factories have been replaced 

 by up-to-date ones ; but we as sightseers rejoice that 

 this island still preserves some of the strikingly pic- 

 turesque relics of the Sugar World in olden days. As 

 sightseers, too, we are particularly interested in tho 

 " spider men " of this island. They are to be found 

 in large numbers in the capital, taking hogsheads of 

 sugar and syrup from the warehouses to the wharves 

 on skeleton carts called " spiders." They steer through 

 the most crowded thoroughfares at break-neck speed, 

 and generally seem to regard their occupation as fine 

 sport. 



In some parts of the British West Indies, other 

 primitive methods of sugar-making are still practised ; 

 but in such cases, the sugar is kept for home use. 

 For instance, there are cattle-mills, driven by oxen, 

 mules, or donkeys, on the principle of the very old- 

 fashioned merry-go-round. And there are places in 

 which the juice is boiled gipsy-fashion, in an iron pot 

 hung from a tripod, over a fire on the ground. 



CHAPTER XVII 



THE CENTRAL FACTORY SYSTEM 



When the British West Indies realized the stern neces- 

 sity for taking steps to bring their sugar industry up 

 to date, various changes were effected by the owners 

 of estates. All such changes naturally called for an 



