Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 29.djvu/832

812 found that another member of the party, who had also been house hunting, had found one in the town which was much better fitted for our use. The owner and occupant was willing to vacate and rent to us, but he could not talk business on Sunday. The next morning a satisfactory bargain was made, and after our business at the customhouse had been dispatched we took possession and prepared to land our apparatus and furniture. This work went on slowly, for our house is at some distance from the water, and, as there are no horses or carts, everything was carried up. We found labor very cheap, and, while our nickel cents and five-cent pieces are not regarded as money, a big copper cent is highly appreciated. The pastor of one of the churches kindly exchanged some of our silver money for a pocketful of them from the contribution-box, and a large force of natives was soon hired and set at work. They quickly picked out all the lighter and smaller packages, and a long procession of men and boys and girls was soon on its way to the house, marching like a column of ants along the narrow path from the landing, laden with tin buckets, chairs, nets, oars, and small bundles. The larger boxes required more deliberation, and after one or two journeys most of our assistants resolved themselves into advisory boards and escorts, and a procession was formed for each package, but nothing was lost or stolen or broken, and before night everything was in the house, our beds were set up, and our cooking utensils and provisions were unpacked. The only available stove in the town was rented and set up, a cook was hired, and we were able to rest and to examine our new house while waiting for our first meal on shore.

The house is small, but by using all the rooms as work-rooms, and putting our beds in corners which are of no other use, we have found room for all hands. It is a two-story house, with the walls of stone as far as the second floor, and of wood above, nicely painted and papered, in good repair, with plenty of doors and windows, a large stone cistern of good, cool water, and on the second floor a large veranda overhanging the street in front, for, like all the large houses, it is close to the street, which, as a sign on the corner informs us, is Union Street. It is a narrow pathway about five feet wide, of smooth white limestone.

We are near the corner of Broadway, and on one side of us all the houses are large, well built, and in good repair, with well-kept gardens. On the other side, the street gradually narrows down to an unfenced foot-path, which leads to the brush through a jungle of rank vegetation through which little thatched huts are irregularly scattered. We therefore have all the advantages and comforts of the better portion of the town, but, being on the border-line, we are sufficiently near the more primitive and interesting portion to establish a familarfamiliar [sic] acquaintance with the people, and to get an inside view of their life. This we accomplish the better, as one of the members of our party, who is a