A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 112: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A QUEER RACE. 109 shelter-huts; they had a rudimentary knowledge of gar- dening and agriculture; the make of their flint and bone tools and weapons showed considerable skill; their orna- ments were deftly wrought; and they contrived, in a rude way, to spin and weave, fashion into clothing, and even to dye, the indigenous cotton of the island. Phys- ically well made, with senses wonderfully acute, they had a ready wit and dignified manners, and Commander Fane was not long in coming to the conclusion that the islanders might easily be converted into a Christian and civilized people. | Ihe first idea of the castaways was to build a boat big enough to carry them to England or the Bahamas; to which end they lost no time in taking out of the Santa Anna everything likely to be useful to them, and that was pretty nearly all she contained—ropes, spars, sails, tools, arms, ammunition, and the rest. ‘’hey even broke up and took some of the planking, and stripped as much of the copper sheathing as they could get at. J’he treas- ure was all removed and safely stored. All this occupied two months or more, and it was barely completed when the Santa Anna, which had been terri- bly buffeted in a storm, went to pieces. So far the men had worked willingly and well, obeying their officers without hesitation; but when it became a question of building a boat and “ affronting new dan- gers” (to use Commander Fane’s own words), they began to murmur. Why, they said, should they undertake a perilous voyage in a frail craft—a voyage of at least two thonsand miles (that being the distance to the nearest British possession)—-with the almost certainty (if they should escape shipwreck a second time) of falling into the hands of the Spaniards and being immured for years in some horrible prison, possibly tortured and put to death by the Inquisition? Why not stay where they were? The country was fertile and beantifn], the climate genial, the people kindly. What could they do better than make the Fair Island* their home, and let the world wag? Whether this idea had already occurred to Fane does * A name conferred on the country by the sailors because of its supposed resemblance to the Isle of Wight, which in the last century was generally known as the ‘‘ Fair Island.” Gom JOO CS O) (eo) m