CARIB
BUILDINGS.
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island, one of which I had the curiosity to enter. It appeared to have consisted of two distinct buildings, the materials of which were composed of the stone which is common in all parts of the island, cemented with a rough kind of mortar. The one nearest the north is about fifty feet long and twentyfive broad ; in the middle is a circular hollow ; small square window-places are on all sides, and the door-place fronts the west. I stood before that open door, and memory carried me back to “by-gone" ages. The sun had set, but his golden beams still lingered in the west, and tinged the clouds with a thousand beautiful colours. Not a single living creature was in sight, but one poor solitary grounddove, who sat by the ruined walls and uttered her plaintive notes. The negroes are of an opinion that this bird is the harbinger of death ; be that as it may, her melancholy cry on such a spot called up many an image. Who might not have stood upon the very place where I was standing and watched that glorious sun while he set ? The formidable-looking Carib, his meek, degraded, uncomplaining wife ; his miserable, wretched victim, the unhappy Arrowawk ! All might have once stood there and gazed upon that very scene. And those crumbling walls ! what tales might not they have told ! how many scenes of bloodshed might not they have witnessed ! how many harsh, discordant notes of revelry, from the wild beings who once inhabited them, might not they have echoed to ! how many piercing shrieks for mercy from those poor wretched creatures, immolated upon that family altar for the darkling ceremonies of superstition, or for the daily meal, might not they have heard ! The other adjoining building has the appearance of a square tower, and must, in its day, have been a place of some strength ; it is considerably higher than the one before described. I felt inclined to believe it was built by the buccaneers, who, many years ago, made these islands their place of resort. In the island of St. Thomas is still standing a kind of castle, built by that renowned and formidable capB
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