TRINIDAD: THEN AND NOW. 



188 



the night, the corporal hospitably invited him to sup- 

 ner and slung a hammock in the court house for him 

 to sleep in. After dinner, as they were quietly 

 smoking, the road overseer asked : " What were you 

 entering in your book as we rode along ? " The cor- 

 poral replied : " I have been told to ascertain if the 

 distance, between the mile posts is correct, and I 

 thought the easiest way to do so would be to take the 

 time between each of them." How did you find 

 them ? " asked the overseer, " I found them very 

 irregular. The man who placed them must have 

 been drunk when he was doing it ; between the 8th 

 and 9th posts only took ten minutes, while be- 

 tween the 9th and 10th it took over fifteen minutes ; 

 this cannot be correct.' ' The overseer said : " It 

 was I who placed then and you say I must have been 

 drunk." " Yes," said the corporal, " you must 

 have been drunk or very careless ; surely you can't 

 ride between any two mile posts with the animal 

 walking in ten minutes ? You must have been 

 drunk." The overseer got furious and said : " I 

 will report you for saying I was drunk, and also for 

 being insubordinate to me as your superior officer. " 

 " Dont' be a fool, man," replied the corporal, " you 

 are not my superior officer, and you may report me 

 if you like. 9 1 The overseer went sulkily to his ham- 

 mock, left early the next morning, and true to his 

 threat, did report the corporal. 



The Governor of the day, who was a common- 

 sense man, and enjoyed the joke, ruled in his minute : 

 " Let the road be surveyed and if the corporal's 



