CHAPTER VII 
ENGLISH HARBOR 
The next morning at sunrise we witnessed from our portholes 
a sight that for splendor of coloring I never saw surpassed. 
We were gliding through perfectly calm water in the lee of St. 
Lucia off the sharp pinnacles of the Pitons, twin cones slender 
almost as church spires, twenty-six hundred feet high. Between 
them and framed by them the rising sun glorified a sea of fleecy 
clouds like ripples on a sand-beach of an intense fiery crimson 
changing to gold—the burning brilliancy of the iridescent: 
breast of the ruby-throated hummingbird! The sombre blue of 
the mountains framed the picture on the right hand and on 
the left, while their shadows of deepest blue were cast on the 
brooding, quiet sea beneath. That picture of heavenly glory 
will remain as one of the most vivid of the entire cruise. 
The cabins of the ‘‘Korona’’ were the largest and most com- 
fortable that we occupied during our trip, although the ship > 
itself is the smallest of the Quebec Line. Last year I enjoyed 
my return trip on her immensely, although she is only an old 
eargo boat not primarily designed for passenger traffic. 
We did not come to the dock at Castries, the port of St. Lucia, 
but anchored in the beautiful little harbor and admired the 
surrounding hills with their rich vegetation and handsome 
villas. This is the most strongly fortified place that we visited, 
and is evidently an important naval base and coaling station. 
In the afternoon we anchored off Fort de France, Martinique, 
to leave mail and take on passengers. Then a short run took us 
to Roseau, Dominica, which we reached about six Pp. M. We 
took a run ashore here and again visited the botanical gardens, 
this time by moonlight. There is little attraction, however, in 
a West Indian town at night when there are no lights, and we 
were soon willing to return on board. In the night we touched 
at Guadeloupe, leaving for Antigua about three a. m. 
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