New York to act on the proposal to hold a general congress of colonial representatives. In Hamilton’s boyhood, St. Croix, a sugar-producing island, shared the richest commerce of the West Indies. The first sugar plantations were laid out about the middle of the eighteenth century; towns named for Danish kings, Christian and Frederik, were plotted, and good roads built. The south side of the island is level and well adapted for agriculture. Here are many estates owned by corporations that operate sugar factories. As a resort, St. Croix has much to commend it. The climate is warm and dry. The daily variation of extremes of temperature the year ’round is moderate. The winter and early summer months are the most agreeable for outdoor recreation. August and September are the hottest months, but prostrations from heat rarely occur. In an average year, the maximum temperature in summer is 92° F., and the minimum 74° F. The normal maximum winter temperature (in January) is 83° F., and the minimum 65° F. There is no malaria in either St. Croix or St. Thomas. The charming scenery of St. Croix is disclosed by pleasant roads that wind among the sugar plantations and up to the fields on the slopes, where a high-grade sea island cotton is successfully grown. An English physician, long resident in the islands, styles St. Croix, “The Garden of the West Indies, on account of its superior cultivation, its beautiful homes and its fertility.” He says, “Its scenery is extremely varied. To the lovers of dark gloomy hills and large waste lagoons, the eastern part of the island offers many attractions. A rich, fruitful valley occupies the central and most southerly portion of the island. A drive through this, upon the splendid road that runs from Christiansted to Frederiksted, a distance of fifteen miles, will amply reward anyone who cares for picturesque scenery. On each side are cocoanut trees, sometimes varied by the areca palm. Between these and behind them may be seen sugar-fields, perhaps full of undulating cane ready for cutting. A manager’s house peeps out from a dark clump of mango and tamarind trees. Hard by is the negro laborers’ village. Cultivated to their very tops are many of the hills. A windmill here and there, and a glimpse now and then of the sea, complete a landscape not often seen outside of the tropics, and not often seen outside of St. Croix.” PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 6. No. 13. SERIAL No. 161 COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH BY E. M. NEWMAN COUNTRY ROAD. ST. CROIX. VIRGIN ISLANDS] _THE VIRGIN ISLANDS_ _The People_ SIX