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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



tion of the town had to find room for 

 expansion by climbing up the side of the 

 mountain. 



Just outside of and above the town are 

 the two old towers, commonly known as 

 Bluebeard's Castle and Blackboard's Cas- 

 tle. Legend has it that here these daring 

 old buccaneers had their headquarters 

 and played their romantic roles as "the 

 hornets of the Spanish Main" ; but his- 

 tory disputes legend, for it says that they 

 were built by the Danish Government as 

 a measure of defense in 1689. 



By climbing the mountain to Amapolie, 

 within easy walking distance of Charlotte 

 Amalie, one can, on a clear day, get a 

 view of Porto Rico, St. Croix, and Be- 

 quies. A little farther one , reaches 

 heights where views, unsurpassed in all 

 the Caribbean region, may be had of 

 Porto Rico to the west and the Lesser 

 Antilles to the south. 



The West Indian-Panama Telegraph 

 Company has a cable office at Charlotte 

 Amalie, and it was from this place that 

 the world got so much of its news during 

 the Spanish-American War, as well as 

 during the Martinique disaster. 



WL WILL BUY A LOTTERY 



The governor of the colonies lives in 

 Charlotte Amalie from October 1 to April 

 1, and in Christiansted, on the island of 

 St. Croix, from April 1 to October 1. He 

 is assisted by a Colonial Council, consist- 

 ing of four members nominated by the 

 Crown and eleven elected by the people. 

 How well the population is represented 

 may be judged by the statement that out 

 of nearly 11,000 inhabitants, in 1891, only 

 200 were voters. There is no color line 

 in St. Thomas, or in either of the other 

 islands, for that matter, and the larger 

 part of the population is of mixed blood. 



The State Church is Lutheran, although 

 all others are tolerated. The Catholic and 

 Episcopal congregations are the largest. 

 The former has established a fine school 

 for girls. The Jews have a well-built 

 synagogue, while the Moravians have 

 long been doing an important work 

 among the negroes of the island. The 

 Dutch Reformed and Wesleyan churches 

 have also been engaged in like work. 



If the purchase of the islands is con- 

 summated, the United States will acquire 



an undesirable institution, known as the 

 Danish West Indian lottery. How much 

 the people of the islands appreciate this 

 institution may be judged from the fol- 

 lowing statement by one of the leading 

 residents : "Much has been said about the 

 establishment of a lottery in the Danish 

 West Indies. Those who consider it a 

 form of gambling, detrimental to millions 

 of the people, may cavil at it, but those 

 who remember how these islands were 

 once flooded with lottery tickets from 

 other countries, many of them of shady 

 reputation, can only be pleased at the es- 

 tablishment of our own, whose profits are 

 to be used for the benefit of these islands, 

 and which, atTeast, possesses the merit of 

 keeping our money amongst ourselves." 



AN AMERICAN GIBRALTAR 



Naval officers declare that St. Thomas 

 possesses advantages enabling it to be 

 converted into a second Gibraltar. The 

 structure of the island, with its long cen- 

 tral ridge, having a general elevation of 

 about 1,000 feet, with some points 1,500 

 feet, is especially fitted for the emplace- 

 ment of fortifications commanding both 

 shores at the same time, making it ex- 

 tremely difficult for an enemy to approach 

 or obtain a foothold on the island. The 

 elevated ground in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood of the excellent roadsteads 

 makes the question of harbor defense a 

 comparatively easy one. While being 

 near other islands, St. Thomas is practi- 

 cally in the open ocean, and permits en- 

 trance and egress of a fleet without being 

 observed. 



St. John, smallest of the three islands, 

 with a good harbor in Coral Bay, is only 

 8 miles long and 4 miles wide in its 

 broadest part. It has a population of less 

 than 1,000; but it is an island that has 

 done great service to America, for it is 

 from here that come the leaves of the bay 

 tree (Pimcnta acris), from which that 

 well-nigh indispensable toilet article for 

 men, bay rum, is prepared. While most 

 of the bay rum is made in St. Thomas, 

 St. John produces most of the raw ma- 

 terials from Avhich it is distilled. 



This island once had many logwood 

 trees on it, but they have almost entirely 

 disappeared. Charcoal has long been in 

 demand and the natives use losrwood in 



