THE BLACK MARATHON STARTS FROM ALLIGATOR POND To run 18 miles, from sea to mountain top, carrying a dead weight on one's head, is hardly conducive to the allotted "three score and ten" (see text, page 41). A TEST OF SPEED AND ENDURANCE IN THE TROPICS Jamaica's native runners, bringing baskets of fresh fish from sea level to the Mandeville market, 18 miles away, uphill nearly all the way (see, also, text, page 41, and illustration, page 39). finally made peace with the Cimarrons, and reservations were set aside for them in the area now called Trelawny and the Cockpit country. Later the blacks again rebelled, and this time 40 chaussers and a hundred bloodhounds were imported from Cuba. The news of the coming of the bloodhounds weakened their courage and the runaways promptly surrendered. Most of them were deported, first to Nova Scotia and then to Granville Town, in Sierra Leone. As was ever the case in the early days of the New World, the Spanish occupation spelled extreme cruelty and hardship for the slaves, and Jamaica was no exception. We come to rest for a day, and would like to spend a month, at an altogether charming resort, Montego Bay. Here the sparkling waters of the Caribbean are at their best, and to go into the sea feels like bathing in liquid velvet. The varied fish life of the warm sea is close at hand in this holiday spot, where oysters grow on trees (see illustration, page 34), and at night, from the windows of the small, but very charming, Casa Blanca Hotel, one can see far below, in the depths of the quiet waters, the little fishes that are equipped with their own. lights, thus to beguile their minute prey. There is another very comfortable hotel, the Ethel Hart, at Montego Bay, and to this spot come annually, to spend the winter months in the lap of summer, many visitors from England and Scotland, as well as the United States. I venture to say that many more would come and tarry for the season if accommodations were available and the fact made known to the tourist world. EAST INDIAN STRAIN HAS SAFEGUARDED JAMAICAN CATTLE At Montego Bay we leave the coast road and cut across the western end of the island to Savanna-la-Mar, passing en route the great cattle ranch at Shettlewood. It is an interesting fact that many of the famous breeds of beef cattle originated in Great Britain, as well as most of the leading milch breeds. But these, in their pure strains, are not suited to tick and lice-ridden tropical lands. The Zebu, or Indian breeds (see page 13), provide a crossing that makes a practically disease-immune stock. An infusion of from 10 to 20 per cent of Zebu blood leaves unspoiled in the British original breeds all the shape, quality, and size of British cattle, and yet produces the pigmented skin and short hair that fit them for tropical existence. The introduction of Zebu sires into Jamaica has also resulted in revolution izing the working cattle of the island, giving them strength of limb speed of action, and weight they never before possessed. From Savanna-laMar we leave a somewhat uninteresting coastal region and go inland through the logwood plantations (see page 23). Logwood not only is used in dyestuff production, but the flowers of the trees make the finest bee pastures imaginable. Logwood honey, properly gathered and marketed, stands at the head of the world's famous honeys on the London market. It has a delectable taste that simply defies competition. Photograph by Jacob Gayer A SILENT SYMBOL OF BYGONE DAYS (SEE PAGE 18) The old bronze church bell, dating from the sixteenth century, is one of the few remaining relics of the Spanish occupation which ended in 1655. It is safeguarded in the Institute of Jamaica at Kingston. THE END OF THE BLACK MARATHON There is a real charm in motoring on through the mountains, for at every hilltop a new scene of beauty unfolds, which has its climax as the ascent of Spur Tree Hill is made, and from its top a glorious panorama of a hundred square miles fills the eye. Passing over the summit of Spur Tree, we drop down to the flourishing little townlet of Mandeville, that nestles 2,200 feet above the wave-lapped strand. From Mandeville, the county seat of the parish of Manchester, it is nearly 18 miles to the sea, and the nearest source of fresh fish from the Caribbean larder is called Alligator Pond. Between these two points of supply and demand, 18 miles apart, is the daily scene of a Black Marathon that also has the tinge of heartbreak for the participants. Every morning at sunrise a group of native runners, each carrying from 20 to 30 pounds of freshly caught sea fish in baskets upon their heads, starts on the long run for the Mandeville market. Climbing a winding roadway up the slopes from sea level to mountain top is a feat that would tax most of our college Mercurys to their utmost in endurance (see page 40). Along the route the ebon runners pant, dogtrot succeeding sprint; then a few moments' rest, and they speed on again. The Mandeville housewives never can be sure of how many bearers start from the seaside; therefore the first to arrive get the best price for their fish, and the prize of a few shillings more awaits the fleetest. These runners do not last many years at this pace, for Nature frowns upon the overdraft on heart and lungs and the end is inevitable. One little old Ford would do the work of a dozen human engines panting up the mountain side; but-well, runners are numerous and much cheaper than gasoline in this part of the world. From Mandeville, where the Harvard University Observatory specializing in the study of the moon and planets is located, there is a captivating road that swings down to the coast again, carrying one along the beautiful Milk River; it returns north around Old Harbor Bay, where Columbus touched on his second voyage, and then winds into Spanish Town. THE COLONIAL CAPITAL OF THE ISLE, A delightful place is this capital of aboriginal, Spanish, and early English rule in Jamaica. There is nothing left to remind us of the mild "meal-eating" Arawaks who contrasted so favorably with the "man-eating" Caribs that gave their name to the sea they dominated. The only place left for the savages is on the coat of arms of the colony. Under the Spaniards this settlement of Spanish Town was called Sant' lago de la Vega, and is supposed to have been laid out about 1534. In 1536 the island of Jamaica was ceded to Louis Columbus (son and successor to Diego Columbus), who, in addition to his title of Duke of Veragua, became the Marquis de la Vega. It had taken the place of Sevilla d'Oro, or Golden Seville, on the north shore, as the Spanish capital, and continued to be the Jamaican capital until 1872, when Kings ton succeeded to that honor. An English merchant, describing life in Spanish Town two centuries ago, declared that "one gets no more credit for keeping a coach and six there than for keeping a horse in England, it is so common," and descriptions of the life of the rich planters, even as late as 1850, are filled with stories of coaches and fours, outriders and high-booted postilions running the highways between plantation visits. The glory of being the capital is gone, but in Spanish Town there is a mellow charm around the old Square, environed as it is by the King's House, the Rodney Memorial, the Court House, and the House of Assembly, that makes one wish to linger there, for romance is not far away. THE HISTORIC CATHEDRAL No visitor to Spanish Town who reacts to the call of olden days can forget the impressions that quietly surround him within the restful inclosure of the old parish church founded in 1655-restored, of course, yet the oldest cathedral in the British colonies. Beneath the gravestones that form its floors and inscribed on the silent monuments that guard the walls are such names as Catherine, wife of Sir Charles Lyttelton, 1662; Governor Sir Thomas Modyford, 1679; the Earl and Countess of Effingham, 1791; the wife of Sir Adam Williamson, 1794-these last several being beautifully carved tributes from the master hand of the English sculptor, Bacon. Over there is a simple stone, dated 1682, that marks the last resting place of the gallant Colonel Colbeck, who fought the Spanish for their golden. isle side by side with Admiral Penn and General Venables; yonder the sleeping place of the Countess of Elgin, and near by that of Samuel Long, who outgeneraled the Earl of Carlisle in safeguarding the privileges of the island for the planters. To glance through the old registers of baptismal and marriage entries fills the eye with names that brighten the page of English history. The courteous sexton will show you all of his treasures if you will but request it, and his pride in their guardianship is something of a lesson in restraint. OTHER VISITS TO DELIGHT THE MIND All good things must come to an end, it is said; so we leave quaint old Spanish |