F

IRST impressions of Nassau are as pronounced as the last, for the quaint little town of tinted limestone houses, with tall, plumy palms waving everywhere, holds the interest continually. It is so fascinatingly foreign and so distinctly tropical.

The beauty of the region is felt even before the ship has cast anchor in the clear turquoise water. The native boys are expert divers, and their motions in the water can be easily followed as they plunge to the bottom after coins cast by tourists, and then dart to the surface. They have soft, caressing voices, and call out to the passengers, showing their white teeth: "Heave a penny, boss," and then go head-first after the twinkling coin, which they tuck into their

cheeks upon catching, having their faces. stuffed out full by the time the ship is fast.

No matter how early the steamer drops anchor, there is always a crowd of natives to watch the newcomers with curious eyes.

There is no excitement,

no bustle, but the wharf teems with people-colored women and boys with baskets and trays on their headswatching the proceedings with goodnatured interest, but never with the least show of animation or excitement. They are the embodiment of climatic influence, and one feels imbued with the careless languor even before leaving thegangplank.

The little city or town of Nassau nestles at the feet and upon the northern slope of a low range of hills, and its

The Governor of the Bahamas is appointed by the English crown.

Fort Fincastle is an interesting old structure, erected by Lord Dunmore in 1789, receiving its name from one of his titles. It is used now merely as a signal station for passing or approaching craft.

But even more interesting than Fort Fincastle is the Queen's Staircase, which forms one means of approach to the fort. This is a colossal passageway to the sea, cut through the solid coral rock seventy-five feet deep and thirty feet .wide. The authentic history of this staircase has been lost, but one can easily surmise that it was built as a masked passage for troops from the fort to the sea.

Fort Charlotte, two miles to the west, is the largest defense work on the island,

and was also built by Lord Dunmore in 1788, and named after the Queen. The fort contains numerous subterranean chambers, and rumor has woven quite a romance about them and the Spaniards who languished there. Like Fort Fincastle, Fort Charlotte is now used as a signal station.

There are two companies of negro troops on the island, the barracks being erected in front of Fleming Square, which is now used as a parade ground.

The policemen of the town are colored, and are very faithful to their duties. They wear neat uniforms of navy blue with crimson trimmings and white helmets, and are immaculate in their tidiness.

Grantstown is one of the chief points of interest. It is a suburb of Nassau where the colored people live. As the

population of the island is in the proportion of four-fifths colored and the remaining fifth white, the relative size of Grantstown can be easily understood. Their little thatched cabins and huts nestle in the midst of the most luxuriant of tropical gardens, with the blaze of 'sunshine flooding everywhere. The roses run riot and the tall cocoanut palms wave in the breeze above dense masses of bananas, oleanders and sour sap trees.

Each little hut has its own garden, where vegetables are raised. Most of the homes are of wood with palmettothatched roofs. There are no glass windows, wooden shutters with bars being the only means of closing the windows. The houses have no chimneys, cooking being done out of doors over a fire of fagots about which stoves are built, a little black pot with legs being the chief cooking utensil.

There is no more fascinating experience here than to drive through Grantstown just at sunset, when the air is heavy with perfume and the breeze is like velvet against one's face, and while mocking birds are flooding the whole air with their music. Then the colored people are cosily cooking their suppers over their little fires; and they smile and bow as one passes. These colored people are an amiable, happy lot. They never appear to be at work, for their needs are small and they can always find something to eat in the way of sugar cane, fish conches and fruit in abundance. The women dress in bright calicoes and palmetto hats, and the men wear trousers and shirt, the small children being scantily covered with a single garment, and all go barefooted.

The social life of the white residents is not in any sense care free, for in the little court circle formed by the Gover