CERTAIN THINGS THE WEST INDIAN TOURIST MUST NOT DO
Do not believe every story you hear which makes against the character of
the Governor or his wife. It is difficult for a high official, for the
direct representative of H.M. the King, to always please every
half-white woman and her husband. The jealousy of the half-white for the
pure white is very bitter. Do not utterly believe in the alligator
stories as told by the junior subalterns of West Indian regiments, or
yet the shooting yarns of medical officers of health. All white
Jamaicans do not spend all their time in following the festive alligator
or in spearing frisky sharks in Kingston Harbour. Do not trouble to
drive in any hackney-carriage if your destination is within easy walking
distance. The argument with the buggy driver is more exhausting work
even than a walk of two hundred yards. Do not go out in the sun without
a hat or with only a small cap. Do not drink too much either of the
cool, iced lemon squash, or the more-alluring whisky and mineral water.
Gin is not a particularly wholesome stimulant, but it is better for the
white man in Jamaica than the finest whisky. Water that is not filtered
should be avoided, and it is well always to sleep beneath your mosquito
covering. Iced drinks taken in large quantities are the best means of
securing a really bad digestion, especially if they are taken when one
is very hot. India-rubber shoes are easy to put on, but in the tropics
they are occasionally very difficult to discard. A qualified chemist
should be requisitioned to remove any half-melted rubber that may have
stuck to the soles of your inflamed feet. Panama hats which are loosely
plaited are excellent things for wearing on the suburban parades of cool
countries; in the tropics head-gear made of felt or pith is better. It
is not a good thing to wear heavy clothes, neither is it good to wear
too little. The wise man does not plunge into a cold bath when he is
very hot, neither does he bathe in the harbour among hungry sharks.
Inquiries should be made into the habits and customs of alligators
before the tourist takes a dip in some of the up-country rivers, and he
should avoid hunting the gaudy butterfly in malarious swamps noted for
the propagation of high fevers. It is never a good thing for a new
arrival to take risks, but if he insists, let him leave a written
document exonerating the climate from all blame of causing his death.
A Jamaican nigger should not be treated as though he were a dangerous
wild beast, and the tourist should remember that the blackest negro
tries to live up to a code of morals common to white men. All the blacks
who come in contact with you will be strongly
[Illustration: THE CAPITAL OF ST. THOMAS]
influenced by your conduct; you should treat a native just as you would
treat a white boy whose respect and affection you desired to retain,
always remembering that a black man holds his women folk in great
respect.
It is unnecessary that you should remind every coloured person that he
or she is coloured. Half-breeds prefer to pass as whites. On the other
hand be chary of believing that a person is pure white solely because
you have his assurance that such is his condition. It may be that it is
a matter of no moment to you whether he is black or white or yellow, in
which case give him the benefit and call him the colour of his choice.
Jamaican plantations are not waste lands, and should not receive the
treatment meted out to virgin territories. All fruit trees are not
planted for the convenience of curious tourists. It is not a polite
thing to pull down a banana-tree in order to discover the secrets of its
growth, nor is it kind to shake a ripe orange-tree in order to see how
many fruit will fall. Even the most luxuriant pine-apple field should
not be trampled through with a golf club, and that place which looks
like a private garden may really be one in fact. In such a case it is
not the thing for a stranger to pluck flowers or uproot rare ferns. A
country planter does not regard his private bungalow as a public museum
for the use of tourists, and as a rule he will resent any question as to
his ancestry. It is not good for a new arrival to accept all the
spirituous liqueurs proffered him, and Jamaicans will not admire a man
merely because he is a dissolute, dissipated dog. Do not offer emphatic
judgment on the qualities of a Jamaican horse until you have been on his
back for more than seven hours, and do not gamble at the three-card
trick on Jamaican race-courses.
Chasten your feeling of ultra superiority and do not put down every
untidy-looking white man you meet in remote country districts for a
tramp bent on gaining possession of your valuables. Important planters
in country districts, away from busy centres, sometimes pay but little
attention to outward appearances. Individual planters tire of much
reiteration of advice from young and enthusiastic tourists; likewise
they are not pleased to hear that you cannot understand how it is that
in such a wonderful climate all the planters are not the richest men in
the world. The Jamaican does not like the Englishman who imagines that
Britain keeps Jamaica going by charitable bequests; it is not pleasant
for a hard-working man to come across an individual who tells him to his
face that he is little better than a pauper. Above all, let it be
remembered that the inhabitants of Jamaica did not brew their 1903
cyclone with the idea of giving Englishmen a little shock in order that
British philanthropists might send cheques to the West Indies. Everyday
ideas on the politics of the island, on means by which the island’s
finances might be put on a better plane, on new industries, and better
conditions of labour, will occur to the bright young tripper. It is
better for a young man not to give emphasis to these ideas until he has
been in the country for several weeks.
[Illustration: BLACK RIVER, JAMAICA]
THE CARIBBEAN GROUP