Yet the islands are still as lovely as they were four centuries ago, and on the continent is a wealth of interest to the naturalist and lover of the beautiful. Now and again a tourist goes the round of the islands and publishes the result in a book of travel; but the countries are out of the track of civilisation and progress. Possibly if the Panama or Nicaragua Canal is ever finished things may be a little better, but at present the outlook is very dismal. In attempting to compress the story of the West Indies and Spanish Main within the covers of one volume we have undertaken a task by no means easy. Every island and every province has its own tale, and to do them all justice would require a hundred books. Every West Indian will find something missing--some event unmentioned which is of the greatest importance to his particular community. This is only to be expected, yet we believe that the reader will get a fairer idea of their importance when they are comprehended in one great whole. The photo block illustrations are from negatives prepared by Mr. Thomas B. Blow, F.L.S. CONTENTS. I. PAGE THE SPANIARDS AND THEIR VICTIMS 1-22 The native Americans--The Arawak and the Carib--Their independent spirit--Their country--The character of the Spaniard--He wants to convert the natives to Christianity--"A ton of gold"--First Spanish settlers in Hispaniola--They ravage the island and are entirely cut off--The second colony oppresses the Indians--Repartimientos--Cruelties to the Indian slaves--Decrease of the population--Slave-hunting in other islands and on the Main--Resistance of the cannibals--Decline of Hispaniola. II. THE QUEST FOR "EL DORADO" 23-47 Treasure-seeking and its dangers--Alonzo de Ojeda--The proclamation to the Indians--Disastrous voyage of Valdivia--A cannibal story--"El Dorado," the gilded one--The German knights--Ambrosio de Alfinger--George of Spires--Nicholas Fedreman and others--Pedro de Ursua and Lope de Aguirre--Pedro de Acosta--Diego de Ordas and Juan Martinez--The quest and its dangers. III. "SINGEING THE SPANIARD'S BEARD" 48-67 The Papal Bull of partition--English and French seamen in the Indies--Raids on the Spanish possessions--Master William Hawkins goes to Brazil--The Caribs friendly to the enemies of Spain--John Hawkins carries negroes from Africa--Francis Drake's attack on Nombre de Dios--The Simaroons--Drake captures the Panama train--John Oxenham--Andrew Barker--Drake's second voyage--He captures St. Domingo and Carthagena--Last voyage of Drake and Hawkins--Death of Drake--Exploits of other adventurers. IV. RALEGH AND THE FIRST BRITISH COLONIES 68-89