TRINIDAD : THEN AND NOW. 



149 



nicely folded silk umbrellas, or silver mounted canes. 

 Seeing this in a country place I wondered, were these 

 the people I saw but a few days back toiling in the 

 field, then offering but a slight contrast to the 

 ground they were so industriously tilling, and being 

 answered in the affirmative, I was obliged to feel that 

 they too in conjunction with their town brothers and 

 sisters were equally content. 



Let me now, as if in a dissolving view, show the 

 fairer sex in a more distinct shape separating them 

 from " mere man." Where will you see finer figures 

 or women of more stately carriage than you fre- 

 quently come across in Port-of-Spain or other towns 

 or villages in the colony, as they glide along uncon- 

 scious of their gracefulness — and therein lies the 

 charm. With what freedom and dignity of motion 

 do they carry themselves even in the performance of 

 their duties, of the simplest kind ; a gracefulness and 

 freedom of action that many " a lady of high 

 degree " might and would, if they saw it, envy. But 

 when they appear at a ball, even the " dignity " of 

 the humbler classes, one is reminded of the sublime 

 passage about the arraying of the lilies of the field. 



In a previous chapter I have stated that Mr. 

 Irving came here as governor about six weeks 

 after my arrival. As was the custom on the arrival 

 of a new governor, preparations were made to 

 royally receive him and celebrate the event by a 

 public ball. This was naturally looked forward to 

 with keen and delightful expectation. I therefore 

 waited to see the youth and beauty of the whole island 



