MEMORIES OF DAYS WHEN THE JOLLY ROGER FLEW

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 128, 1 June 1935, Page 25

MEMORIES OF DAYS WHEN THE JOLLY ROGER FLEW

Multiplying sea cruises and air flights to the Caribbean indicate increasing interest in the isles that were the first stepping stones from the Old World to the New, and the "bases of pirates who chased treasure galleons and rich merchantmen about the Spanish Main, says the "New York Times." Aside from the soft climate and tropic beauties of the West Indies, the great attraction of the region derives from the romantic associations stored away in the minds of visitors.

Jamaica, wrested from the Spanish by the. British 280 years ago, is one of the more interesting islands. Among recent sojourners were the Duke and Duchess of Kent, who spent part of their honeymoon at Montego Bay, and the Duke of Gloucester, who was a regular attendant at the races and polo matches in Kingston.

Across the harbour* from Kingston is old Port Koyal, once known, in buccaneering days, as the "wickedest city in the world." It is now a sleepytown of narrow streets, stately residences, and here and there the strange-ly-curved figureheads from old British frigates. There are a bathing beach, a quarantine station, and old Fort Charles, the only building left standing when the town "slipped into the sea after the .earthquake of 1692. Admiral Nelson, when a youth of twenty-one, was. in charge of Fort Charles.

Port Royal in .the. last quarter of the seventeenth century was the metropolis of the pirates who plundered their way to wealth. Visitors usually hire a boat and native guides to take them to the point where, under the clear waters of the Caribbean, the. coral encrusted remains of the "wickedest city" are visible.

It was here that Sir Henry Morgan had his base. A Welsh boy, he stowed away on a ship headed for Jamaica, was discovered and sold into slavery. He escaped and in a meteoric fiveyear career became the-most ruthless and fearsome of the pirates and raiders. He was arrested after desolating Panama. As most of his depredations had been against Spanish possessions, he was knighted and sent back as Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica.

Kingston oilers the' traveller that rare feeling of being among familiar surroundings and, at the same time, in a foreign land. The town has the conveniences of a modern city. American planters operate many of the interior banana plantations. A short drive from the city is Spanish Town. It now reminds one of a sleepy English village; with "its white painted, green shuttered cottages, its plaza and open market, and the Anglican cathedral where one may find relics of the Spanish rule.

A few miles beyond is one of the natural wonders of- the island, a stone arch rising sixty feet above the water of the River de Oro, in a luxuriant setting of palms, bamboo and poinsettias. A short trip is that to Hope or Castleton Gardens, where one may see a wide variety of plants and flowers. The drive through the mountains from one place to the other'yields a glimpse of the life of the island, its vast banana, cocoa, coffee, and sugar plantations.

Other popular trips are up Blue Mountain Peak; or to Roaring River Falls; to the smaller Cane River Falls; or to the three medicinal springs where one can combine health with pleasure.