It was at Magen’s Bay, a large inlet on the north side of St. Thomas, that surveys recently made by the American Indian-Heye Foundation of New York uncovered the remains of a primitive settlement. Vessels found in burial mounds were without decoration, and were in other ways unlike those that have descended to us from the first inhabitants of Porto Rico and San Domingo. Archeologists accept this as proof that the aborigines of the newly-acquired American group were not Arawaks, as previously supposed; nor do the crafts disclosed by research reflect the Carib culture of the West Indian islands farther south. As yet, the tribe that hunted the cottonwood groves of St. Thomas, built canoes and fished the swarming bays has not been classified. It is hoped that future excavation on the Virgin Islands of Great Britain may aid identification. On the island of St. John there are no indications of aboriginal life beyond a few rock carvings, from which evidence it is judged that this island had no village site, but was used for ceremonial meetings. On St. Croix, ten village sites have been discovered by various investigators. Visitors to St. John find special interest in the bay rum industry. Here the bay tree is indigenous to the soil, no orchards having been set out by man. Three times a year the leaves are picked by nimble youngsters, who throw down twigs bearing perhaps a dozen leaves to women standing ready with bags that have a capacity of sixty to seventy pounds. Oil distillers pay two cents a pound for the leaves and the labor of picking them. When the essential oil is extracted from the leaf, it is mixed with rum or alcohol and water and further distilled to make bay rum. The latter process is mainly carried on by St. Thomas firms. The average price of bay oil in the islands is five dollars a quart; of bay rum, seventy cents a gallon. “If you love beautiful scenery,” says the author of “Isles of Spice and Palm”--“if you are interested in strange people and quaint ways, visit that chain of island gems which stretches in a broad curve from Porto Rico to the tip of South America, and which is known as the Lesser Antilles. By days of travel these islands are close at hand; by customs, manner and life they are remote as the Antipodes.” Admiral David Porter called St. Thomas “the keystone to the arch of the West Indies.” Transportation from New York to this sunny isle of storied days and fortunate location is by the Quebec Steamship Line, which maintains comfortable ships on regular nine or ten-day schedule. The trip each way consumes a little over five days. A call is also made at Frederiksted, St. Croix, (and in the sugar season at Christiansted), before the steamer proceeds to South America. Between Charlotte Amalie and San Juan, Porto Rico, a voyage of about fifty miles, there is a monthly steamer service. Fast sailing vessels also carry passengers to and fro among the islands.