HOUSES.
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placed by them, or carefully spread along the sides of the most frequented streets, to attract the eye of the passer-by. As most of the Antiguan houses are raised a few feet from the ground, which necessarily requires the use of a step or two, the hucksters are very fond of monopolizing such appurtenances; and it is no uncommon thing to be obliged to wait until they remove their different wares, before you can enter the house, or else take the chance of breaking your neck over heaps of potatoes, or come in closer contact than is advisable with bottles of ginger-drink, or pots and pans of gorgeous colours, from the well-known English potteries. The houses are generally built of wood, painted of a white or light stone colour, with bright green jalousies, or glass windows and green Venetian blinds. The greater number have covered galleries running along the sides or fronts of them, in which the good people love to assemble in the cool of evening, and while away the hours in converse sweet, or scan over the island newspapers—two of which issue weekly from respective presses, to enlighten the worthy inhabitants as to what is passing in their little colony. Some of these dwellings are very commodious, and make a good appearance, particularly when shaded by a few beautiful trees, or standing, as many of them do, in a small garden, embellished with Flora's splendid children. But as for following any of the Jive orders in their architectural adornments, that is quite out of the question ; or at least, it is an order of their own invention they prefer, and which may be called the Antiguan. Within these last few years, a few houses have been erected, with low roofs and parapet walls ; the usual plan is to have that necessary part of the dwelling raised in the fashion of an English barn, or an Egyptian pyramid. One peculiarity which strikes the eye of a stranger in these dwellings, is the absence of chimneys—the kitchens being, in most instances, detached from the house ; and the heat of the climate, as a matter of course, renders all grates or stoves, and their accompanying flues, unnecessary.