72 ISLES OF SUMMEK, 



house to go to, Nassau would be far less desirable as a winter 

 resort than we found it. For the invalid especially a good tem- 

 porary home is essential to both health and comfort. We re- 

 member to have heard only one complaint of its management 

 while we were there, and that was because the breakfast and 

 dinner tables were for only a portion of the season supplied with 

 oranges, many deeming that fruit almost a necessary of life in 

 Florida and the Bahamas. 



Bath rooms, supplied with hot and cold water, constitute a 

 part of the establishment, and accommodate those who do not 

 indulge in the luxury of a bath in the sea, there being nothing 

 in the temperature of the air or Avater to prevent sea bathing at 

 Nassau every day in the year. The price of board is three dollars 

 a day, and while for many it is a large sum to pay, yet persons 

 who had boarded for a while at some of the cheaper houses in- 

 formed us that they obtained more for their money at the Eoyal 

 Victoria than any where else. Washing is an extra, the charge 

 being seventy-five cents per dozen. 



A small building at the west entrance of tlie hotel grounds is 

 used as a barber shop, and for drinking and ])illiard purposes. 

 North of it is the hotel garden. 



The court m front of the principal north entrance of the Eoyal 

 Victoria Hotel is entered on three sides through eight large, high 

 archways, and its ceiling separates it from the main parlor of the 

 hotel, which is projected out from the main building. Being 

 large, airy, and shaded at all times, it is a favorite place of resort 

 by the guests of the house. As a consequence, the colored yacht- 

 men, including the smooth-tongued, exi)ericnced and skillful 

 Captain Sampson, and the good-natured, capable, but less showy 

 Captains Johnson and Mitchell, when not on the water, Avere 

 ever, during the pleasant days, to be seen arranging for marine 

 exploring parties. The varied attractions of the adjacent waters, 



