Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/21

 between British Honduras and Yucatan, stopping at the island for any cargo they can get.

As for the islanders' boats, they constantly come and go; some are exceedingly small. The fishermen handle them most skillfully, one alone easily manages rudder and sail; they frequently stand upright in the smallest craft, apparently as much at ease as on land. To balance large boats they tie to the mast a rope with a long loop at the other end. In this a man sits as in a swing, his feet resting on the edge of the weather-side of the boat that is thus kept straight in a very strong wind, the man swinging himself backward over the water.

The east side of the island presents a complete and beautiful contrast to the west. Rocks and crags run from one end to the other, the never-tiring waves ceaselessly dashing against them. What scope for the wildest fancy on this rocky shore!—with its millions of periwinkles and other shell fish. A lilliputian world—miniature caverns, shells of every shape and color, tiny tunnels, rivers and lakes, filled with sparkling bubbles of foam—and the sea eternally roaring.

We found a strange character living on the island apart from every one except two men who serve him. With them he makes houses, stone walls, and