THE WEST INDIES 69 



about by the ship's company being granted leave in the evenings 

 and their playing of football and cricket, at first among themselves 

 and later against local teams. This vs^as by no means the first 

 occasion on w^hich the Navy has employed football and cricket 

 to restore a sense of normality to an excited populace. 



The local police, aided by the Grenada police who had arrived 

 in Challenger, v^^ere now^ able to turn their full attention to the 

 rioters in the outlying country districts. Within a very few days 

 all was quiet again and the shopkeepers were taking down the 

 boards from their shop fronts and glass and litter were being re- 

 moved from the streets. Life became normal again in Kingstown. 



Soon after Challenger^ s arrival the Chief of Police had cracked 

 up under very considerable strain and the Captain was asked to 

 relieve him temporarily. This meant all-night duty at the Police 

 Headquarters. 



About 6.30 a.m., a policeman brought in a person accused of 

 looting. The night had been a busy one at the H.Q. and the 

 situation in the town at the time was very tense. The prisoner 

 was one of the aboriginals of St. Vincent, people who live in 

 the dense jungle in the highland interior of the island. They 

 speak no English and never wear clothes ; they seldom visit civilisa- 

 tion ; but they had heard vaguely of the riots and a few of them 

 had ventured into the towns hoping desperately for food, and this 

 aboriginal indicated by signs that it was food he had in the parcel 

 he was carrying. The bundle was ordered to be opened in front 

 of Commander Alun Jones, and a lady's pink boned corset was all 

 that it contained — little use as food or clothing for this miserable, 

 naked man, who stood trembling before his captors. 



Six days after arriving at Kingstown, at 3 o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, Challenger crept away like a white ghost, and by 10 a.m. the 

 surveying boats were being lowered in Grenada Harbour. A day 

 or so later. Commander Alun Jones received a letter from His 

 Excellency the Governor of the Windward Islands thanking 

 Challenger for her valuable assistance to the Administration in its 

 efforts to restore law and order, and expressing his sincere ap- 

 preciation of the good conduct and discipline of her ship's com- 

 pany and the friendly relations with the people of Grenada and 

 the Grenadines which had existed throughout her numerous visits. 



Challenger again acted as policeman at the St. Lucia coal strike 



