Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present dayLanaghan, Mrs.
History
Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day
Lanaghan, Mrs.
Antigua -- Description and travel; Antigua -- History
This town, if town it can be called, is, as regards architective
arrangement, a perfect nondescript; for streets there are none,
but here and there a straggling house. There is the _beach_,
indeed, which may justly be termed “_the strand_;” but, unlike
that far-famed street in London, boasts no splendid shops—no
arcades or bazaars, with their “euterpeons”—no brilliant lines of
lamps, or crowds of well-dressed and busy passengers. A plentiful
supply of bushes and “rock-stones” (as the Creoles call all
descriptions of stones) make up for those deficiencies; and the
murmur of old Father Ocean is the only music heard. Of the houses
which are to be found, a few of them are in repair; but the
greater part are falling to ruin, and have become a receptacle
for hordes of green lizards. One of these buildings struck me as
rather peculiar in appearance. Nothing remained of it, it is
true, but the walls of rough masonry, with huge gable-ends
pointing to the skies; but still it seemed as the work of another
race of beings. Upon making inquiries about it, an inhabitant
informed us her grandmother (who had died several years before,
at the advanced age of 116) remembered it in the same ruinous
state from her earliest years; but we could learn no further
particulars.
Our principal object for visiting “Old Road,” was to see a
tombstone in the church, laid down to the memory of Col. Rowland
Williams; and consequently, as soon as we arrived, our first
inquiry was for the person who kept the keys of the church, and
who acts in the capacity of sexton. While waiting for this
official, we walked down to the beach. The harbour is a very fine
one, and forms a complete rotund, except in the opening, where
the sea stretches out beyond ken. A line of smooth silver sand
borders the sea, diversified with clumps of mangrove, manchineel,
and sea-side grapes; while here and there a cocoa-nut tree rears
aloft its proud head, as if scorning to herd with the lowlier of
its kind. For some time we amused ourselves with picking up
various small shells, matted sea-weed, and corallines, which were
scattered about the beach in profusion; but the heat,
notwithstanding the fresh sea-breeze, was beginning to be felt
oppressive; when turning the angle of one of the old buildings, a
man with a bunch of keys in his hand appeared in sight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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