Gardens of the Caribbees (Vol. 1&2). Ida May Hill Starr

This work features the sketches written during a cruise to the West Indies and the Spanish Main in the winter and spring of 1901. The author's intention was not to write a West Indian guide-book, but rather to give preference to the human side of the picture through glimpses of the people and their ways of life and thought. With this idea it was thought best to give attention only to such of the ports visited as were full of human interest and typical of the life about the Caribbean Sea. The author believed that it might be of interest to remember as well that at no time since could this voyage have been made under the same conditions: by the publishing of this book in 1903, several ports have become dangerous because of fever and plague; proclamations in French and pronunciamientos in Spanish have adorned West Indian street corners; Haiti has reverted to its almost chronic state of riot and revolution; the Dominican republic has again chosen a President whose nomination came from a conquering army; Venezuela has been full of alarms and intrigues; while already the Germans were beginning to show their hand in the Caribbean; Martinique and St. Vincent have been desolated by volcanoes then thought to be practically extinct; and of delicious St. Pierre there remained but a sadly memory. Contents: The Voyage Port-au-Prince, Haiti Santo Domingo San Juan, Puerto Rico Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas Martinique Martinique, «Le Pays des Revenants» Island of Trinidad, Port of Spain Island of Trinidad, «Iere» Island of Trinidad, La Brea The Spanish Main In Venezuela, Caracas In Venezuela, Caracas to Puerto Cabello Curaçao, City of Willemstad The Southern Cross Kingston, Jamaica "Cuando Salide La Habana" A Memory of Martinique