dren's lives are vitiated and demoralized by constant contact and companionship with the irresponsible negro.

In the negro there seems to be a larger promise. He is the true Baha

man.

When he gets where he can look the white man level in the eyes and forget his race-stigma he will grow. He belongs to the climate and to the soil. Even where he is now his vices do not seem repulsive, his immoralities are hardly shocking (except when shared by his dominant brother), and his kind disposition, sunny temper, and hap-hazard methods of working and living render him generally attractive and always interesting. Perhaps his most prominent failing is his want of proper pride. He is eager to agree with your opinions even to the extent of frequently contradicting himself. A lack of strong personality is strikingly shown by his readiness to change his name. If you have occasion off a gang of men, half the claim

to pay

that George Ambrister is converted into Henry Cartwright, and so on through the list. A man's nominal identity does not seem to be a matter of the least importance to him. Besides this, there is a general readiness to accept charity. even when remunerative work may be staring the mendicant in the face. The better educated negro may not ask for a shilling, but he will not hesitate to let you know how you may serve or benefit him. There was a white-haired old fellow, with a skin so fair that in another climate no one would suspect his lineage to be of the house of Ham, who began his attacks upon my sympathies before I had fairly got the northern chill out of my blood, and continued his interested attack long after I was brown as a native and as well known as the oldest inhabitant. He brought shells which he was willing to part with for twenty times their value in silver; he hinted, yes, more than hinted, that he

had a warm admiration for certain articles of personal apparel which I possessed. He even sank so low as to laugh convulsively at the derision which I heaped upon him. In the end he succeeded in securing a shilling, and straightway began to lie awake nights to contrive a plan by which to get another.

A very pertinent question was recently asked by a thoughtful man, anent the moral status of the colored natives: Are they immoral or only unmoral?" This is a question which seems to answer itself. They are only unmoral, Many fine points and nice distinctions in ethics, which usually engage the attention of civilized people, they never trouble themselves to consider. There is no logic in their morality. One may love his neighbor, and then extend the affection to his neighbor's family. If a man appropriates somebody else's wife, for example, he does it in a manner so kind and gentle that the offence is robbed of half its unpleasantness.

jails are usually empty. There is rather a good story, by the way, which is told of the Inagua jail, which, common report claims, is haunted. The ground upon which the building stands used to be subject to voudoos or obeah, or witchcraft in some other African form, so that no one liked to stray there after sunset. After the prison was erected it stood for some time empty, till at last the au

thorities secured a culprit in the person of a sailor who had committed some criminal offence. We may imagine that the rejoicing of the state's officers at thus proving their right to have a jail must have been great when the culprit was safely incarcerated; but such feelings, if they indulged them, did not last long. Shortly after midnight there was a terrible outcry heard in the building, and those who at length summoned courage to investigate found the sailor almost dead with terror. The old spell was evidently still operative; he had seen the ghosts. At his urgent entreaty the officers, being sensible men and persuaded of the justice of his reasoning, set the unfortunate man at liberty.

There is another common trait, whether mental or moral it is hard to determine, which may best be described by an illustrative story. An old man whose daughter, lately grown to womanhood, was among the best-dressed and best-behaved damsels of her native town met her one day upon the street, and, stepping up to her, without a word struck her two or three sharp blows. When interrogated as to his motive for such an act, he replied: "Dat my own chile. She ain' do nuttin', on'y she get too fine. I mus' hit her jus' to show 'tority." The deed was a typical one. There are many absurd, irrational things done by this race "just to show authority."

Larceny is rare in the islands. The inhabitants are seldom thieves, and the

In their dealings with each other the people are so sharp that business transactions are frequently followed by an envoy in a police court. In fact, the Magistrate's Office is a favorite resort for the black folks of both sexes, their charges often being of the most trivial character, and seldom permanently interrupting the good feeling which usually exists between the litigants.

One magistrate complained to me that he hated to fine the delinquents who were brought daily before him, because they generally ended by borrowing of him the money with which to pay their fines.

Rudimentary education is general.