AUX ANTILLES FRANÇAISES

Thème.

It takes ten or eleven days to go from Havre to Martinique. As soon as one lands, one tinds France again. Houses, streets, buildings, and even the ringing of church bells, remind one of his native country.

One usually lands at Fort-de-France, where the highest officiais of the colony réside.

Saint-Pierre, the business centre, ranks only second, but she may be proud of her wealth. To her wharves are anchored staunch vessels loaded with coffee, cocoa, etc.

Life is easy in tropical countries. Nature yields without labor the most delicious fruits ; oranges, bananas, guavas, grow uncultivated.

Créoles are very hospitable. It is said that, a few years ago, a man spent several years in Martinique without having any home of his own. He used to go from one house to another, spending a month hère, six weeks there.

People rise at between five and six o'clock, breakfast at eleven, dine at seven, and go to bed at ten.

On Sunday they go to church in the morning, and s pend the rest of the day in delightful idleness.