2 ISLES OF SUMMER. 
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 water to prevent sea bathing at 
Nassau every dayin 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 Royal 
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 the hotel grounds is 
used as a barber shop, and for drinking and billiard purposes. 
North of it is the hotel garden. 
The court in front of the principal north entrance of the Royal 
Victoria Hotei 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, experienced and skillful 
Captain Sampson, and the good-natured, capable, but less showy 
Captains Johnson and Mitchell, when not on the water, were 
ever, during the pleasant days, to be seen arranging for marine 
exploring parties. The varied attractions of the adjacent waters, 
