Bloomington High School - Aepix Yearbook (Bloomington, IL)

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THE AEGIS 21 money. They seemed to have formed a kind of partnership and as soon as their cheeks were bulging with coins they always deposited their earnings with one of the rowers in the boat. All of a sudden I heard a terrible noise and screaming on deck and before I knew it one of those wiry little apes was climbing up the railing at my side. In a flash he was over the railing again and in the water below, grinning up at the sailor who was shaking a broom at him menacingly. For a shilling sev- eral of the boys offered to dive from the hurricane deck, some forty or forty- five feet from the water, and we had a. fine exhibition of high diving. After we finished breakfast all of the passengers, who were going to get off, assembled on deck to have their passports approved. We spent all of that morning motoring over the island never ceasing to wonder at the things we saw. We passed mile after mile of cocoanut, bread- fruit, royal and date palms. The eocoanut palms were simply loaded with cocoanuts. I learned that there were over fifty different kinds of palms on the island. Everything was green with luxuriant vcrdure and the gorgeous color- ings of the tropical plants, flowers and vines were startling in their splendor. Even the yards of the poorest seemed like gardens. Nothing has to be cared for there, things just grow wild. I could not find a spot that looked scrubby or bare. In Jamaica it rains practically every day, so there is no chance for the plants to get dry or dusty. Our chauffeur told us that during their last rainy season in October, a lake was formed over a hundred feet deep, by the rain pouring down the mountain side. All of the houses in the mountains were little huts woven out of laths of bamboo and the roofs were thatched. Once in a while we turned in on some road that led along one side of a mountain and then we could see thousands of feet, down into beautiful, green valleys with their odd little houses perched high on the mountain sides. One tenth of the population of Jamaica are whites and the rest are Jamai- cans Cblacksj and Coolies fHind0osl whom the English have imported from East India, to work. They are a very proud race and do not mingle with the Jamaieans. Certainly the mutilated faces of some of them attest the enmity between them and the native race. However, for the most part, these swarthy people have fine features and faces. They also dress very differently. The men wear large, white turbans and soft white robe-like costumes reaching to their knees. The women and children wear bright colors and their skirts are full and covered with designs or stripes of color. The coolies make wonderful jewelry by melting coins and then molding and pounding them into the desired shape, and carving strange figures and designs on them. They, themselves, are covered with this jewelry, consisting of nose rings, ear rings, neck rings, ankle rings, chains, finger rings, and brace- lets. Their ear rings were a subject of constant Wonder and admiration, being very beautifully and delicately worked out and very large. You can buy eoolie jewelry in the shops and once I priced a pair of these ear rings. They were sixty dollars.

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20 THE AEGIS A CRUISE IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA . Hicsrna Mrznwizv Leaving New York p lt was a cold, bleak February day in 1917 when we steamed out of New York harbor, on the good steamship Pastores, bound for the southern seas. There was a sharp, biting wind that seemed to pierce to the very marrow of my bone and everyone on board was bundled up in fur coats. l leaned over the railing, looking down at the cold, grey water with huge blocks of ice floating on it, and I shivered as I thought of a possible submarine experience and how horrible it would be to end one 's life in such a sea. Jamaica All passengers in the dining room for the doctor. This was our morn- ing awakening when we landed in port. It seemed foolish to me and a waste of time that we had to go through this silly performance before we were allowed to land. Not that I objected to being examined,-the doctor didn 't even look at our tongues, but it was the unearthly hour at which we were called,-Six 0'clock! On this particular morning I woke with the particular feeling that l wished I had a particular something to throw at the particular steward who called me. However, why grumble on such a wonderful morning? It had now been almost two weeks since we had left dismal New York towering in its greatness, black against the sky, and the cold grey water had given place to the clear blue waters of the Caribbean, dotted with its group of fairy islands of feathery verdure. The air was sweet and balmy and the sun shown brightly. Suddenly I remembered that we were in port,-I had for- gotten for the moment where we were. I jumped out of bed and ran over to the window and looked out. VVe were in the beautiful little harbor of Port Antonio, Jamaica. lt was lovely to behold with the surf rolling in, dashing up sprayg the lovely green rolling hills covered with palms and tropical plants, and the mountains in the background not snowpeaked as our Rockies, but enveloped in soft, fleecy clouds. There were no piers to mar the shore lille and no large factories or smoke to dim the clear atmosphere but here and there among the hills were sprinkled tiny thatched dwellings. All this added to its charm and it seemed to me that I could have stood for hours looking at it. A few minutes later when I reached the deck, everyone was leaning over the railing and laughing. Down in the water there were scores of black Jamaican boys diving for coins. They were shrewd fellows and knew from ex- perience, that if they refused to dive for a three-pence they were sure to get more. It was too funny to see them go after the money. The minute a eoin struck the water, all that you could see were black, shiny legs and when the upper portion of their bodies did appear there was always a gleaming tri- umphant face. I noticed one thing particularly, they never fought for the

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22 THE AEGIS Along the roadside were little children with huge bouquets of flowers which they threw into our machine as we passed by. All too soon lunch time arrived and by the time we returned to the hotel, I felt as if I had seen enough strange sights to fill a book. Rafting on the Rio Grande Rafting is rather unusual sport, to a new-comer from the 'States and the Jamaican rafts are no less curious. When I learned that seventy-five were going on this trip I thought, of course, that there would be about seven or eight rafts provided for the whole party and that each raft fprobably made of rough hewn logsj would accom- odate ten or more people. But what was my surprise and wonder to sec the shore simply lined with little light bamboo crafts, about thirty feet long and three feet wide. The bamboo used in making these were very large, perhaps five inches in diameter, and running across underneath were several poles of bamboo bound securely to the upper part by thongs. At the very end of the raft was a raised seat of the same material, to keep the water from washing up over us. On this strange craft only three persons were allowed, the two passen- gers and a guide. Soon all had chosen partners and our guides were pushing us off shore. No sooner had the raft, on which I was placed, reached mid-stream, than I heard someone calling and on turning around saw that we were being signalled from land. I guessed what they wanted before we landed again. The girl who was with me was only seventeen and they thought we each should have the protection of a man. Much to our disgust, we were separated, starting again with our new companions. The guide on my raft was a mere boy, black as all the rest, and only looked to be about eight or nine, so they exchanged him for his grandfather, a gentleman of some years. Once again we were off, the last ones to leave. We sat at the rear end and our guide stood at the very front steering us with a long pole of bamboo. The current swung us along at a great rate and we soon rounded the bend and saw many rafters ahead of us. In about five minutes we came to the first rapids. As we approached them the raft went faster and faster and in a moment we were shooting gaily over the bubbling, foaming surface. The water must have been rather shallow there because we could hear the rocks scraping against the bottom. At the foot of the rapids was a huge rock and our guide gave the raft a sharp turn, but the strong current soon caught. us and carried us in our old path, heading right for it. Just as it seemed we were about to strike it, he struck his pole against the rock. Only a moment we lingered, and then swung on down-stream. lt was great fun and quite a sensation, nevertheless I took a deep breath of relief when we were once more on our way. The second rapids were more exciting than the first and on the third ones I really thought for a moment that we were gone. The raft gave a terrible lunge and we both got a good dousing of water. But that was all and we were soon wishing for more rapids.